Hands

Fish in the Middle

(Villains flaw)

(Difficulty rating)

(Heros exploit)

Some people say there are only three ways to play pocket Jacks preflop and
that all three of them are wrong. Pocket Jacks can be difficult to play. But
as you improve your skill you begin to find ways to play Jacks better than
ever before. In this hand we take Jacks to war against not only one
opponent, but two.
$1-$2
Image:
NJ
Underground
game
UTG+1
Short stack

Action:

Hand:

Starting
Stack:

$10/???

$90

Cutoff

Loose passive

Call

$435

Button

Hero

$45

Covers

When we raise, we will either win it preflop or see a flop with one or
two opponents. Let us look at the most realistic outcomes:
Scenario Short Stack:
UTG+1
1
Shove
2
Shove
3
Fold
4
Fold

Loose passive: Result

Cut off
Fold
+EV: All-in pre-flop
Call
+EV: Can re-raise
Call
+EV: Play normally
Fold
+EV: Win

Scenario 1: Short Stack Shoves, Loose Passive Folds:

We expect the Short Stack to shove or fold once we squeeze. In this
scenario he shoves and the Loose Passive player folds. At this point we are
getting about 3:1 on a call. Would we be happy calling off?
In this hand our $45 squeeze represents half the open-raisers effective
stack. The rule preflop is that you do not put in more than of the
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Red Chip Poker: Late Position

effective stack and fold. The logic being that against any shove you will be
getting 2:1 or better to call. With these odds, you are often times correct to
commit your chips.
Once he shoves we are getting about 3:1 on a call, which means we
need at least 25% equity. Versus a tight range of QQ+/AK, our JJ has
36% equity. If he shoves any wider our equity only increases and we make
more on average.
Backing up for a moment, before we even make the original squeeze to
$45 we need to have a plan for this shove. A Short Stack is going to be
raising tighter from early position and will stack off a larger density of his
range. Because of this, we need to understand that our squeeze effectively
risks $90, since we will always call his shove here. Lets proof this with a
simple fold equity calculation:
EV of shove of $90 into a pot of $23 over a bet of $10
100

25

25

90
80

50

60

-2
5

50

25
0
-5

30

0
0

25

5
-7

10

-25

20

75

40

50

Fold percent

70

20

40
60
Win percent when called

80

100

Assuming UTG+1 would never fold we need at least 47% equity to

breakeven on a shove. Realistically, he will fold against our three-bet
enough of the time when he open-raises with hands like 77, AJ, and KQ.
The more often he folds the better our three-bet becomes. Follow the
contour line of zero EV up and to the left to see the trade-off between how
much we need to win and how much they need to fold.
Let us construct some reasonable ranges for UTG+1. Let us start with
the Short Stack opening with 77+, AQ+, KQs. We then consider which
parts of that range he would shove with. We call that their stackoff range.

72

Hands

vs.
Stack range
TT+/AK
99+/AQs+

Equity:
Us vs. Them
43%-57%
49%-%51

Their fold
percentage
48%
Always +EV

We can profitably get JJ all-in preflop against the Short Stack given
these conservative range assumptions. The wider they are opening and
calling, the better for us.
Scenario 2: Short Stack Shoves, Loose Passive Calls:
The Short Stack is rarely going to just call our $45 three-bet. He is
most likely going to push all-in or fold. If we size our three-bet correctly,
the Short Stacks shove will reopen the betting. This will allow us to re-raise
the times that the Loose Passive player calls. We want to re-raise because
we have a hand that we expect is ahead of any range the Loose Passive
player would continue calling with. We would like to make a big side pot
while holding the better hand.
If we three-bet to $70 and the Short Stack goes all-in, the betting is no
longer opened. To reopen the betting his all-in would need to be equal to,
or greater than, the size of our re-raise. Making a three-bet to $70 is a raise
of $60. To reopen the betting the Short Stack would need a raise to $130
and he cannot do that. If we three-bet to $45, that is a raise of $35. To
reopen the betting the shove would need to be to $80. The Short Stack
shoves to $90, so the betting is re-opened.
The question of is the betting re-opened is often confusing.
Different card rooms can have different rules. Some rooms consider half the
raise amount to re-open the betting. This rule about a half raise re-opening
is from limit poker, but is used in certain no-limit games. Be sure to know
your local rules.
By three-betting to $45 we ensure the betting is reopened. We create a
situation where we three-bet, the Short Stack shoves, the Loose Passive
player calls again, and then we can five-bet for value. Awareness of these
nuances is what allows forward-thinking players to capitalize in unique
ways.

73

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

$1-$2
Image:
NJ
Underground
game
UTG+1
Short stack

Action:

$10/$90 (All-in)

$90

Cutoff

Call/Call/Call

$435

$45/$185

Covers

Button

Loose
passive
Hero

Hand:

Starting
Stack:

Everything is going according to plan. We have gotten the Short Stack

all-in, and then the Loose Passive player calls the $90. Now we need to
focus on maximizing value against the Loose Passive player and create the
largest side pot possible. Our edge is huge against the Loose Passive player
since his range is filled with many speculative hands and weaker pairs. We
expect him to three-bet QQ+ himself when the Short Stack originally
opens to $10.
In low-mid stakes live play we rarely see four-bets wider than Kings
and Aces. Yet we sit here happy to five-bet with Jacks. Why?
We believe we have a better hand than the Loose Passive player. Not
only do we beat the hands he called the $90 with, but we expect to be ahead
of any range he would give our five-bet action with. Our five-bet size is
important as we do not want to go so large that we drive away those worse
hands.
Regardless of our five-bet size the SPR will be small on the flop. Even
when we make a smaller sized five-bet, like $185, and he calls, there will be
$463 in the pot and $250 in the effective stack. With an SPR of less than
one, we are always going to stack off post-flop.
We choose to five-bet $95 on top because we want to ensure he will
not fold pre-flop. Psychologically this kept the amount he needed to call
underneath the important $100 price-point. People are far more likely to
call $95 versus $105. The math does not change much, but the psychology
of it does.

74

Hands

Short Stack

Main Pot: $277

Side Pot: $190
(All-in)

Loose passive

Check/???

$250

Hero

Shove

Covers

(UTG + 1)

(MP2)

(Button)

Range:

Starting
Stack:
(All-in)

Not all flops will come low, but we cannot complain when they
do. Once the Loose Passive player checks we shove for value without any
hesitation. While it is possible that the Loose Passive player flopped a set or
two pair, there are only nine combos of possible sets and only three
combos of 43s. If the Loose Passive player is bad enough to have 43s here
then he is bad enough to have 76s.
We crush 76s and lots of other hands. If he put in that much money
pre-flop with 44 and happened to flop a set; good for him. All the
decisions were made pre-flop, this flop shove is our default play.
Some players may consider going for a smaller bet on the flop. We do
not think it is best. Given the player, if he has any piece or overpair hell be
inelastic with it and call regardless of our size. Why bet small if he would
call the entire $250 right now? That means the only options are between
checking and shoving ourselves. We would rather shove now and stack his
88 type hands rather than check and risk missing value. If a big card or
Five fall on the turn we may not win his stack.
Unfortunately, the Loose Passive player folds. The Short Stack reveals
99 and we win the $467 pot when the turn and river do not help him.
Scenario 3: Short Stack Folds, Loose Passive Calls:
We just play this as a normal three-bet pot. There is a $100 in pre-flop
and we are in-position with the initiative and $390 effective stacks.
Loose passive players, and bad players in general, tend not to adjust
based upon starting stack sizes. So it is reasonable to assume that the
Loose Passive player has worse pairs, suited connectors, and weak
Broadway hands. We have an edge on that kind of range and we will use
our postflop skills to maximize value.
Scenario 4: Short Stack Folds, Loose Passive Folds:
We win $23.

75

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

Conclusion:
At the end of the day, Scenario 2 happened and we won a sizable
pot. However, we cannot stress enough how horribly the Loose Passive
player played the hand. He put in almost $185 pre-flop and then folded in a
0.5 SPR pot. These are the players we can exploit by playing our big hands
fast pre-flop and getting lots of money in the pot when our card edge is
huge.

76