Rudy Edwards

Something I learned early on last year playing limit here in Vegas - The Straddle is a tool's tool. This lesson has served me well, and it's been true throughout my small live career. In a limit game, the Straddle is so clearly -EV, anyone who straddles is a man to target - he's obviously planning on playing aggressively, probably very loose, and is either bad, or playing a limit that doesn't mean much to him. Either of these last two options makes a very profitable player to isolate, although you'll do a lot better if you're quick to figure out which one the player is.

I just assumed the lesson would translate perfectly into NL. Leave it to my young friend JJ to teach me a new lesson, this time about assuming connections between Limit and No Limit without proper analysis.

I guess I should explain what the straddle is, for those of you who haven't played much casino poker. When Under The Gun, you put in a blind raise that allows you the last action preflop. (technically, this is a "live straddle" in casinos without live straddles, you aren't buying PF position and the straddle is really just a preflop raise in the dark.) Different casinos have different rules for straddling, and you should really pay attention if your casino allows the "Mississippi Straddle" which lets you straddle from anywhere, including the button, to buy position preflop.

In limit it should be fairly obvious how bad a blind raise UTG is, and at first glance you'd expect that it would be worse in No Limit games, where position is even more valuable. This "first glance" doesn't take a few things into account.

1. At Caeser's, in NL the straddle is a minraise. I've been playing 1-3, so it's a $6 raise in a game that allows me to take a full stack off of someone when they adjust poorly to the straddle. the payoff here is very high. In limit, you're risking a lot more to win a lot less comparatively.

2. Straddling immediately forms the wrong impression of your play with most of your opponents. by risking a mere $6, I can form a Loose Aggressive impression in everyone's minds who are paying attention. It may take a few laps for players to correct their image of you, and players who don't pay attention may never pick up on it. The best part is, there are plenty of players who do pay attention, that will never learn you aren't LAGgy if you maintain a few straddles here and there.

3. The straddle takes players out of their "comfort zone". Open raises have to much larger than usual, and pots tend to be bigger on straddled hands than they would otherwise. This is especially valuable against players who have established patterns at the game, and suddenly have to adjust them. This is also a huge benefit when people just don't pay enough attention, and put in too-small raises, creating a lot of potential for value.

4. Limit players, or players who just haven't put enough thought into what is happening, will play over-aggressively at your blinds, giving you a lot of potential for profit.

All of these reasons don't even touch on the fact that it did buy you position preflop, something that can have a lot of value.

JJ and I sat down at a 1-3 NL table at Caeser's Palace yesterday. It was a fresh table, and Justin was UTG first hand, and straddled it on up. While I had already discussed the straddle with him plenty, and was aware that there wasn't really anything wrong with it, I hadn't come to most of the conclusions above yet, but was primarily thinking it was cheap way to establish an incorrectly LAGgy table image. I took advantage and started making fun of him for his straddle, and acted like I was really disappointed I didn't have a hand good enough to play back at him with. I'm not really sure why I did this, but it worked out for the better just a few hands later.

My second hand, the guy to JJ's left opted to straddle as well, and I picked up Queens. A limper came in front of me, and so I put in a pot size raise or so (probably about $25) The straddler called, and struggled but folded to my pot size flop bet after an AT3 rainbow board was established.

For some reason, the straddling caught on, and I pretended to make a little bit of a stink about how stupid it was. on the fourth consecutive straddled hand, I open pot-raised KQs and got two callers. Looking like an opportunist, when I flopped top two pair on a KQ7 board, I continuation bet pot and the gentleman to my left decided to test me with a minraise. Now, I've certainly done nothing but give the impression that I was over-reacting to the straddling, and despite being a little bit concerned about a set of sevens, went all in over the top. I couldn't have been more right about my image, as he instacalled with AK, doubling me up.

I felt pretty good about that whole series of events, and feel that I may have gained a lot of value appropriately adjusting to the image I've created for myself at the table.

When I was UTG, I think I surprised everyone by keeping the "straddle lap" alive, saying something about not wanted to be the asshole. The table actually went a full lap and a half of straddles, before the attractive hispanic woman two seats to my right decided she didn't want to keep it up. After that, only JJ and the guy to his left straddled, with one exception.

I had ATo in the small blind, and completed with 4 limpers. The board came down AT5 with two clubs (of which I had none) and for some reason I spaced out and stared at the board for about 20 seconds. By the time I recovered and realized I was off in dreamland, I felt that my standard bet out for two pair would be far too obvious, and i'd make a play for a C-R. unfortunately, it was Justin who put in a $7 position bet, and I couldn't really call with two pair, so I Check raised him pot, and everyone folded including JJ (who had A9, and showed me) while I didn't really feel bad about the C-R, I made a little deal about it at the table for some reason unknown to even me. When my UTG came around, I put in a straddle as a public "compensation" for Check Raising my buddy at the table. I got raised by the button, who was pretty aggressive, and 3 bet him with TJs. He laid it down preflop and I felt pretty good about how I was doing.

The play continued for awhile, with the table being a decently live game. I built up a very good sized stack (about $900 from a $300 buyin) and probably should have cashed out and found another game, as I'm not particularly so stable that I should be gambling with a $1000 NL stack. after a few hours of play, I'd picked up a KQs on the button. JJ had straddled this hand, and with a limper coming in before me, I raised to $25. The small blind, JJ, and the limper called. The flop gave me a flush draw with an A66. When it checked to me, I put in a $100 continuation, and the small blind thought for a brief moment and raised to $300. Now, the small blind was a quality player, although a little tipsy, and was the only player at the table with near as many chips as my stack. about a lap earlier, he'd hit a boat with pocket As, and I didn't feel that there was much of a chance of him having the boat. Justin, next to act, laid down a 6, and later told me he was confident we both had big hands. I had plenty of time to think while JJ was in the tank, and had decided to push at the SB's last $460. I was all-in, and if the SB calls, I'd need a heart to win the largest pot i'd ever been a part of, a $1700 monster.

after a few minutes of talking out loud about whether or not I could have AA or 66, He revealed AKo, and spent a few more minutes in consideration of whether or not to call. I never called time on him, and perhaps that was a mistake, but I really felt he deserved the time to decide whether or not to call. I also didn't really think I could get an advantage one way or another, so I'd let him think it out.

I thought his play made sense for any decent A, and could get him to fold most of them. I thought I'd have a decent chance of getting an AK to fold, although I didn't take into account that the Ace of Hearts on the board takes away a player's fear of facing AK of hearts. He called, and I missed. Oh well.

The table fell apart about an hour later, and Justin and I were moved to the same table, where we both started regularly straddling. Here it became very apparent that one of the players was actively trying to steal our straddles, and I felt that I did a great job of playing back appropriately. I'll experiment more with the live straddle.

I finished out the night at 2-5 NL, where my friend Aziz was playing with a guy who was randomly opening to $65 all night. I didn't get any action from 65 dollar guy, but I did get a few continuation pots to ease the damage from the earlier 1-3 game.