Jonathan Little

tip of the month:

Season VI World Poker Tour Player of the Year and two-time WPT title winner Jonathan Little shares his thoughts with readers this month. Little, an online pro turned very successful live pro, has been winning big on the live tour for two years and has made almost $4 million in live tournaments. A native of Pensacola, Florida, he is known as “FieryJustice” online and has made 11 final tables during his short stint in live play. His most recent victory was the WPT’s World Poker Finals at Foxwoods for $1.1 million, beating a final table that included David Pham and Mike Matusow.

What are your thoughts on continuation betting? I keep hearing opposing thoughts on the matter. What are examples of good continuation and bad continuation betting?
– Cop on a Bad Beat, New York

In tournaments, continuation betting depends a lot on your stack size. You have to make sure you aren’t putting in too much money as a total bluff. You should also be more prone to check behind when you have a decent amount of showdown value, like 9-9 on a Q-10-3 board, whereas you would usually want to bet 9-8 on an A-K-Q board because your hand is unlikely to win on the river. You should also be continuation betting when you hit the flop, like with A-K on a K-Q-3 in order to get value from your hand.

What should you do when you raise with K-K and get two callers behind you and the flop comes K-7-7? Are you really supposed to bet the nuts when it’s not likely that flop hit anyone else? Or does checking look too obvious? If the blinds are 20-40 and there is 300ish in the pot, if you were to bet what would be a good bet size?
– Greedy Bastard, Wendover, Nevada

It depends on how likely your opponents are to think you are capable of bluffing in these spots. If they have seen you bet into two people before with nothing, then it is fine to bet to try to represent a bluff. Usually though, I tend to not bluff into two people, even on a flop like this that doesn’t look like it hit them, simply because you won’t get a whole lot of credit. If you have shown that you could check the flop with a hand like 8-8 in this spot, then bet the turn, that would probably be the best line to take, as they might try to take you off the hand, especially if any card over seven comes. When I bet, I usually bet two-thirds to three-quarters of the pot to make sure my bet sizes don’t give away anything about the actual strength of my hand.

What is a more profitable game, limit or no-limit hold’em? Where – online or in casinos? Cash games or tournaments? This is assuming you are versed in both games, all situations.
– Need Some Sugar,
Commerce, California

First off, we will assume a $5-$10 no-limit game is about equal to a $30-$60 limit game, as the pots in no-limit get very large in proportion to the blinds and the pot doesn’t in limit. At limit in a casino, a good player will average one big bet per hour, which would be $60/hr. At no-limit, in a casino, a good player could average around five big bets ($20) per hour, which would be around $100/hr.
Online, you can play many more hands per hour, but your win rate will be much less. At $5-$10 no-limit online, you might win at two big bets per 100 hands, which would be $40, but if you can play eight tables at a time, that would be $215/hr., assuming 67 hands per table per hour. At $30-$60 limit, you could win one big blind per 100 hands, which eight-tabling would be $160/hr., assuming 67 hands per hour. Also, you should probably have at least a $75,000 bankroll to play $5-$10 no-limit online and a $24,000 bankroll to play $30-$60 limit online. Those numbers can be smaller for live play because your actual edge is bigger, even though you won’t win as much because you won’t play as many hands as an online player.

When buying into a cash game – how many big blinds should you be
getting in for? Is it
necessary to get in for the table max?
– James L., Hartford, Connecticut

I basically always buy in for 100 big blinds at a no-limit cash game simply because that is how the games are online and that is what I have learned to play. When you move up to the higher buy-in games, like $10-$20 at Bellagio, you can buy in for any amount. Some people always like to have everyone else covered and will buy in for $50,000, so if you know someone to be a weaker player, you should probably sit with enough to cover him so you have a good chance to stack him. Just be careful to not play over your bankroll.

When buying into a cash game I have heard mixed reviews about posting your blind immediately and playing as soon as you sit down. Is this a good idea or bad? Should you wait till your blinds?
– Impatient Pat,
W. Palm Beach, Florida

It is always better to wait. Your win rate will not be big enough to overcome giving away 1BB, and even if it does, it won’t be by much, so you will just be adding a lot of variance. The one exception is when there is a super-wild bad player who you know to be leaving very soon and you want to get in a few hands with him. Don’t take that too far, though, because very few people are “spewy” enough to make it worth it.

Is it really a horrible idea to be open-limping at a super-loose table? Are there any situations where that is the correct play?
– Nothing to Do, Waupun, Wisconsin

Limping in is a fine play in certain games. If you could limp in every hand at a loose table that will put a ton of money in post-flop regardless of the pot size, then you should limp a lot and wait to hit a hand. There are also times to limp in late position when you know the blinds are super aggressive and will reraise over your raise, but just check if you limp.
What is the best way to utilize poker forums online? Do you need to be posting, or is just reading through the info enough?
– NeedaLife, Laredo, Texas

When I first started playing, I posted numerous hands on www.twoplustwo.com and eventually made a lot of friends. Now when I have a question, instead of posting a hand and letting everyone know how I play, I just ask my close poker friends for advice. Also, it helps to know who you are getting info from because a random poster on a forum may have no clue how to play but is just talking to make himself feel important. Basically, get lots of advice, but know which advice to take.

In a tournament…blinds are 100-200 and you have A-4 offsuit in the BB. Middle position shoves all-in for 3300 chips and you have about 12,000. Is it worth it to call? In what situations would you call? Smaller stack? Different hand?
– Trixie in Dixie

This depends entirely on how the opponent plays, but he will have to be pushing basically every hand for me to call with a weak hand like A-4. Against a “standard” player who hasn’t pushed a lot, I would probably call with 9-9+, AJs+, A-Q+. While calling and losing won’t hurt you, calling and winning won’t help a lot either. Also, calling middle-position pushes with hands like ace-rag for 15BBs is basically always terrible because they either have a better ace, where you have 30 percent equity; a pocket pair higher than fours, where you have 30 percent equity; or 9-8/
K-Q/J-8 where you have 60 percent equity. Basically, none of those options are good, considering that someone in the blinds could pick up a hand and cost you more money.

What kind of stack do you need relative to the blinds to be shoving in late position to steal?
– Cookie, Chicagoland

The best stack to re-push someone with is around seven times their raise, so if at 100-200, they make it 600, a great pushing stack would be somewhere between 3600 and 4800 to give you a ton of fold equity while still offering a little odds to call. If you have more than 6000 or so, pushing is usually bad and if you have 2000 or so, you should only be doing it with good hands, as you no longer have fold equity and will get called most of the time.

How do you know when to shove all-in and when to just raise? Besides chip stacks, are there any other factors?
– David B., Henderson, Nevada

Your stack size is very important, as if you have 100 BBs, pushing preflop would be awful, whereas if you have only eight BBs, you shouldn’t be making any other play. Obviously, your hand is also important, as you want to have some equity when you get called. The people you are pushing into is also an important factor. If you know there is a really tight player in the big blind and you are in the small blind with 3-2o, it still might be a +ev push with eight BBs just because they are going to fold so often.
Also, the stage of the tournament is important. Say you are on the bubble in a $10,000 event and the big blind has ten BBs and you have 12 BBs. If it is folded to you, you can push any two cards because he is only going to call with a few hands, because very few people want to risk going out on the bubble.

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Last Updated on Monday, 02 February 2009 09:13

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