Jonathan Little's Weekly Poker Hand: Sometimes Middle Pair Is Good for Two Bets
Poker pro and coach Jonathan Little has been producing a wide variety of strategy content for poker players for some time, including authoring multiple books and sharing videos and articles on his website and elsewhere, much of which is free to players of all levels seeking to improve their games.
Little started his popular "Weekly Poker Hand" series on YouTube several years ago, and recently he decided to switch up the format to begin featuring footage from live small- and medium-stakes cash games and tournaments.
In the episode shown below, Little returns to Stones Gambling Hall in California to analyze a hand from a fun $1/$3 no-limit hold'em cash game featuring very deep stacks and a lot of loose and aggressive play — not unlike what you'll encounter sometimes in certain low-stakes live games.
Following a straddle, action begins with Veronica raising to $30 from the hijack seat with K♥10♣. It folds back around to Cathy (who straddled) who calls with K♦J♦, and the flop comes 10♦6♠5♠.
Cathy checks and Veronica continues for $40, a bet Little comments might be a little on the small side considering the somewhat coordinated board. With her two overcards and backdoor draws, Cathy calls the bet to bring the pot up to $144, and the turn brings the A♥.
Cathy checks again, and Veronica keeps firing with a bet of $60. Here Little suggests checking behind might have been better, although notes how in this particular game where the play is loose and sometimes passive, betting again might be okay. Cathy calls again — not necessarily what Little would recommend — making the pot $264.
The river brings another ace — the A♦ — and Cathy checks once more. Should Veronica bet here? Take a look and see what happens and listen to Little's analysis of the players' decision-making.
Some of the concepts Little discusses in the hand analysis include:
- continuation betting
- board texture
- ranges and range reading
- bet sizing (and stack-to-pot ratios)
- passive vs. aggressive play
Take a look:
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,900,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. Sign up to learn poker from Jonathan for free at PokerCoaching.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
