A lot of strategy pieces like to focus on what to do when you’re one-on-one with an opponent. And this is certainly very useful since you’ll find yourself in a lot of situations where you’re pitted against one person. However, the majority of the time you will be dealing with several players in multi-way pots which require a different strategy. Here are a couple things you should be aware of when in multi-way pots.
Calls are very Important
Whether semi-bluffing or trying to push the advantage on a great hand, many players are stuck on raising. But the truth is that calling can be just as effective as a raise in many multi-way situations. For instance, if you’re in a multi-way pot with a strong hand and simply call the first two streets while others are betting and raising then you’re setting them up.
If you raise or re-raise on the last street then you show how strong your hand is which might force others to eventually fold their hand. Even assuming you don’t have the best hand, the call will save you from wasting any more chips when going against the nuts.
Using the Squeeze Play
Another great move you can do in large, multi-way pots is the squeeze play. With the squeeze play you let a player in early position raise, watch the person before you call the raise, and then you re-raise (or possibly go all-in) in an attempt to take down the pot. Of course the situation has to be right in order for you to successfully pull off the squeeze play.
The best situations to execute the squeeze play arise when a really loose player is the first raiser and you think they’re trying to steal a pot with a weak hand. You should also be fairly sure that the player in the middle is only calling with a weaker hand too (or at least tight enough to fold to a big re-raise).
Tags: Betting, Poker Hands, Strategy
