Saturday, February 28, 2009

This is the Big Slick

By Noel Miller

A great hand that should be played in an aggressive way is known to be a "Big Slick". It includes an Ace and King, although for the most part the thing that I see is players losing their full stack with these two cards. The reason why we see the pot being taken away by a low-grade hand is because of this supposition that a certain hand is unbeatable.

Now the mumbo jumbo starts! This is where the game becomes a play of chance. Try making an attempt to put those luck out of your way as it would only distract you while you play. You are the captain of your ship! Keep that in mind, your decision should only imply that should win the game! Or perhaps you would rather want to lose the game. It's really up to you!

"So how do I play Big Slick?" would probably be the first question that comes to your mind. The answer is plain and simple: avoid being reckless but retain that aggressive impression in your game. Let me give you an example as to of how these things are manage.

I was instantly right of the button in a $1-2 no limit game when I was dealt the monster! Peter, one of my opponents, the third person to act before the flop and made a raise of $10 to play. Two of my other opponents call the bet while the action is on me and my AK of diamonds. By this time this is where I was sure to locate where I'm at in the hand, in contrast with other players. So I challenged Peter to see how strong he actually is. I re-raise it by $40 to play.

If you are wondering what the point of the re-raise is; it is because that re-raising gives you an idea of your standing. It gives you an idea of what your opponents are actually holding, a rather accurate read about your opponents. Supposing that one of your opponents made call, what this implies is that you have an excellent hand compared to all of your opponents. Another one is to have the power over the course of betting. It is very necessary to re-raise, because you would find out where you're at in a hand.

Strong players are determined to follow up a pre-flop raise during a post-flop raise. So having to be the one to raise the preflop means that my opponents are fairly expected to check me on the flop. This situation is to my big advantage, even if it takes not hitting an Ace or King on the flop. It doesn't matter what hits as I've gotten myself in a very good position to win this game after the flop, even if it was Peter, who would re-raise it for $40, which would call my preflop.

Now that Peter is pretty much not hint of what awaits him, an A-K by the way, I can start playing a real aggressive approach to my play. As was expected of Peter, he checks. This gave a chance to stand for the wired pair with a $50 bet. And so I raked in a good pot with my Ace high that had caused Peter to be left with mucks on his hand.

The point to the re-raise prior to the flop is basically to get you out of hand. This is if you really need to, that's why it's extremely important to do so. I would have gotten mucked the hand if only Peter had come back with a larger bet or an all-in. Always consider re-raising the flop, as you can see it really did it for me.

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