Playing Junk From Late Position

My current VPIP/PFR stats: UTG: 11/11. MP: 11/11. CO: 22/20. BTN: 30/27. My attempt to
steal blinds percentage: 31. The last five numbers used to be even higher when I was playing
a higher variance style; Im sure many good players can provide numbers higher than these.
Note how sharply the numbers jump from MP to CO, and from CO to BTN. Winning players
generally make most of their money from late position (cutoff and button).
From late position, Ill often raise with anything suited, anything connected, and if conditions
are right, any two cards.
Why Do It?
In order of importance:
1. To steal the blinds:
Theres little reason for me to elaborate much on this; Pokey covered all the details (and
more) in his thread. The gist of it is that stealing blinds = $$$; if you check PokerTracker,
youll see that your PTBB/100 skyrockets when you attempt to steal the blinds. If you want to
steal the blinds 25, 30, 35 percent of the time that youre on the button, you have to be willing
to raise 25, 30, 35 percent of the hands youre dealt from this position (actually, the
percentages are even higher, because PT only registers a blind steal attempt if there are no
limpers to you). If you want to raise 30 percent of your hands from the button, youre gonna
have to raise some absolute junk.
2. Position makes it profitable to play many more hands:
If, in theory, its profitable to play X% of hands UTG at a 6max game, then it will be
profitable to play X+Y% (Y>0) of the hands youre dealt on the button. Position is a HUGE
advantage; obviously, this is not a new concept for SSNL.
3. Table image/metagame (this is less important than the above two reasons, but still worthy
of a mention in my opinion):
When weak players see you show down 75o after raising preflop from the button, theyll
think youre a fish and give you action the next time you raise aces UTG. Stronger players
might realize youre positionally aware, but A) sometimes youll get aces on the button, B) if
they suspect youre playing a bunch of junk from late position and decide to tangle with you
without hands, guess what? In general, neither of you will have hands, and youll have
position after the flop comes, and C) at SSNL, strong players are MUCH less common than
weak players.
When To Do It?
1. Use PT stats:
If youre on the button, use the statistics Folds BB to steal and Folds SB to steal to
evaluate the preflop tendencies of the players in the blinds. It is notable that you can only get
these statistics in your hud if you have Poker Ace Hud. This is one of many reasons to
upgrade if youre using GameTime Plus, but thats an issue that probably deserves its own

thread. In general, the more these players are relinquishing their blinds, the better, but this
doesnt necessarily mean I wont steal if I expect to be called. If, say, Im on the button, the
SB is a nit who folds his blind to steals every time, and the bb is a 65/1/1 fish who A) rarely
folds his blind and B) rarely folds postflop, Ill raise to isolate the fish with almost any two
cards.
If youre in the CO, youll still want to glance at the percentage of time the blinds fold to
steals, but youll also want to look at the percentage of time the button calls a preflop raise. In
the past, Ive been guilty of not paying enough attention to this statistic; if the player on the
button is constantly calling raises preflop and has a reasonable postflop game, it makes sense
to cut down on the junk youre playing from the CO.
2. Use non-statistical reads:
Maybe youre on the button, and the players in the blinds tend to defend their blinds by
calling preflop, but tend to shut down if they miss postflop. In a case like this, its profitable
to raise (and continuation bet, of course) with any two cards. Maybe effective stats are deep,
and neither of the tags in the blinds likes to fold to steals, but both of them have a tendency to
overvalue top pair, overpairs, etc. Ill be much more likely to raise with junk in a spot like this
than with 100bb stacks against players in the blinds whom I respect. I could spend time
coming up with more examples; the bottom line is that its not difficult to find excuses to
play more hands if youre a thinking player and will have position throughout the hand.
How To Play With Your Junk After The Flop
WARNING: NOT EVEN CLOSE TO SAFE FOR WORK
But seriously, when I came up with the idea for this post, I intended for this section to be the
meat of it. Playing junk from late position is easy when you pop it up preflop, everyone folds,
and you get the blinds. But sometimes youll get a caller or two. What follows is a list of the
situations in which youll find yourself when you raise from late position with a not-so-great
hand and get called, and fabricated hands designed to illustrate the written principles. For
simplification, Ill assume that theres one villain per hand, that the villain wont 3bet preflop,
that he wont donkbet the flop, and that stacks are always 100 BBs. This is obviously
unrealistic, but this article is theoretical in nature. Note that I ordered the three categories in
this list in a way that I think proceeds from easiest to hardest to play, and also in a way that I
think proceeds from least interesting to most interesting:
1. You hit the flop hard (two pair, trips, set, straight, flush, boat, quads, royal flush, big
draw):
You lucked out with your junk, and its time to get the villains monies. Slowplaying can be a
reasonable option once in a while when A) you have the board crippled and your hand is
beastly enough to let the villain catch up without having to worry about being outdrawn, or B)
the villain is a thinking player and you want to throw him a curveball for shanias sake. But in
general, you flopped huge and want to get some money in the pot. Poker at its core is about
playing big pots with big hands. You have a big hand, so start building the pot. Bet, bet, bet is
usually the play here. If a scare card hits, youll want to slow down sometimes; this is readdependent, of course.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game

6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 5 4 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
Everyone folded to you. You dont have to do it every time, but this is a good spot to try to
pick up the blinds.
Flop: 5 A 4 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB calls $13
One caller. Thats about the best flop you can ask for. The board has two diamonds, and I
didnt provide a read on the villain, so theres no reason to slowplay. I like a bet of close to
the pot because the board is drawy.
Turn: J ($41, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $35, BB calls $35
Same logic as above, really. Our hand is vulnerable, but at this point its almost always the
best hand, so bombs away.
River: 6 ($111, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $78, BB folds
Bet size is preference. Since theres no need to protect anymore, its reasonable to make a
smaller bet. I have shoved in these spots before, though.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 8 6 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5

Blinds, position, metagame, etc.

Flop: 6 J 6 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11, BB raises to $29, Hero calls $18
When the board is drawless, I tend to continuation bet a bit smaller. Yum, he raised. Youre
not afraid of being outdrawn (he has two outs at most), so call and let him think continue to
think his AJ is the best hand or fire another barrel with air. Its possible that he has something
like A6, but when you raise preflop with a 6 in your hand and flop trips with it, youre not
folding the hand when the stacks are this size.
Turn: T ($73, 2 players)
BB bets $60, Hero shoves, BB folds
The turn was another diamond and provided air like KQ and AQ with straight draws, so he
theres a small possibility that he has some outs now. I can see just calling anyway -- and Id
do it fairly often, especially with the right read -- but shoving is a bit safer and perfectly
reasonable.
Read: The villain in the following hand is a level one thinker with no handreading skills. He
plays at about 25/9/1.5, and has a tendency to call big bets with draws, to go too far with top
pair, etc.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: T 7 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
See above.
Flop: 2 9 8 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB calls $13
You flopped an open-ended straight flush draw, which is a favorite over any hand except a set
(and even against a set, it has about 42% equity). Its possible that the villain has you in bad
shape with something like K J , but its unwise to worry about that; you should think of
your hand as an absolute monster. You want to throw out on a continuation bet on the flop
because you have an equity advantage over the villains range and you want to build the pot.
If you get raised, youre shoving. If you get called and hit on the turn, youre making another
big bet. If you get called and miss on the turn, both betting and checking are reasonable; the
better the villain, the better an option betting becomes, in my opinion. This is the case because

a good player will generally raise a wet flop like this with a big hand, and if a good player
doesnt have a big hand, he wont call a turn bet.
Sidenote -- its important at this point to clarify what I meant above when I used the phrase
big draw. Everyone knows what the terms two pair, trips, set, straight, flush, boat, quads,
and royal flush mean, but the phrase big draw is somewhat ambiguous. An OESFD will
always be a big draw, but how about an open-ended straight draw, a flush draw, a gutshot and
two overcards, etc.? A big draw, for the purpose of this article, is just a draw that youre
willing to felt on the flop. This is heavily dependent on reads and flow, of course; its more of
a feel thing than a science.
Turn: Q ($41, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
Our read indicates that checking is probably better than betting in this spot. Were not
confident that the villain will fold to a bet, and our hand no longer has an equity advantage
over a pair. Betting is good because it disguises your hand, but the villain is only thinking on
one level and will probably pay off a river bet if you hit anyway. Checking does carry the
disadvantage of making it impossible to stack the villain if we hit on the river, but rarely in
poker are there flawless plays.
River: K ($41, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $30, BB calls $30
Time to value bet.
Read: The villain in the following hand is very aggressive postflop and likes to raise your
continuation bets with a wide variety of hands. Hes a solid player, though, and has respect for
your play.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 7 9 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
See above.
Flop: 6 Q 8 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11, BB raises to $40, Hero shoves, BB folds
Im calling this a big draw and including it in the first category of hands because against

this villain, youre willing to reraise all in with it after he check-raises your continuation bet.
You have at least eight outs no matter what the villain is holding and against a hand like AQ,
youre less than a 2:1 dog. The villains range is very wide, and hell fold often enough to the
shove for it to be a good play.
2. You missed the flop entirely (no pair, very little drawing potential):
Your hand is more or less hopeless at this point, and the only way to win the pot is to bet. The
play in this spot is generally to make a pure bluff on the flop, and to continue at times on the
turn (and I dont make a habit of three-barreling, but sometimes its +EV with the right board
and the right read). Against the 65/1/1 type I described at the beginning of the post, the best
play is often just passing up on a continuation bet and shutting down. It might feel strange to
raise preflop with a garbage hand and then not even bet the flop, but if hes not folding and
you have a minute chance of improving to a real hand, putting more money in the pot might
as well be burning it.
Read: The villain in the following hand is a straightforward tag, say 17/13/3.5 or so. He plays
solid, but youve played a ton of hands with him and never seen him make a move or a
tricky play postflop.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 7 6 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
Im raising suited connectors in this spot almost every time.
Flop: K Q 3 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB calls $13
Bad flop. The club provides our hand with a runner flush draw, but thats hardly a good draw.
You want to bet based on the texture of the flop and not on the strength of your hand, so you
make the same bet as you made with the monster hand on the drawy flop above. He calls,
which more or less means he has a king, a queen, JT, or diamonds.
Turn: 2 ($41, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $35, BB folds
The turn is a brick, which is a good thing in this spot. Betting here is a solid option, because
A) the villain is straightforward enough that we can assign him a fairly tight range, and B)
most of his range will fold to a turn bet. The villain most likely wont continue to draw

against us with these pot odds, and theres a good chance hell fold a queen, maybe even the
weaker kings in his range. Not a play Id make every time, but this is a thinking players turn
bet.
Read: The villain in the following hand has folded to 7 of 11 continuation bets thus far, but
aside from that seems like a donk and Poker Ace Hud shows that he has gone to showdown
28 percent of the time, which is fairly high.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: J 8 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
Blinds, position, suited cards, implied odds, etc. You know the big blind has a tendency to
pay off. Raising will steal the blinds pretty often, and if you flop big, you might get rewarded
with a stack.
Flop: A Q 5 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11, BB calls $11
Hes folded more than half the time to continuation bets, so theoretically even a full pot cbet
should show a profit. You bet a little over two thirds of the pot because the flop is pretty dry
and again, consistency is a good thing.
Turn: 5 ($37, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
The continuation bet didnt work, the runner flush draw we flopped was eliminated by the
turn card, and our read is that this villain likes to go to showdown. We still dont have a pair,
so we cant semibluff either. Now is a good time to give up.
River: 2 ($37, 2 players)
BB bets $24, Hero folds
J-high is good almost never in this spot, even against this villain, and raising is just asking for
it. As Taylor Caby would say, just pitch the hand.
Read: The villain in the following hand is the 65/1/1 megafish described earlier. He has
folded to continuation bets only two times out of 15 and gone to showdown 53 percent of the
hands hes played.

$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game

6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: Q T ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
You know the big blind is probably calling preflop, but raising is good anyway because its
+EV to isolate this dude with pretty much any two cards, especially with position.
Flop: 2 K 4 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Hes not folding, so theres little reason to bet. If youd flopped top pair (either the queen or
the T) youd be betting this flop with a plan to get three streets of value. The only reason to
consider betting now is if you think queen-high is good enough for value, but even thats
illogical because you wont get three streets of value out of even the biggest fish with a high
card hand, and we dont even have an ace.
Turn: 3 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
See flop analysis.
River: T ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB calls $12
Time to take this noob to valuetown. Its not a certainty that your hand is best, but youre
losing major value if you check behind against this guy.
3. You got a piece of the flop (bottom pair, middle pair, low top pair, a mediocre draw):
I left this for last because I think its the most discussable situation. A mediocre draw is any
draw that youre not willing to felt on the flop -- depending on your read of the villain and
your feel for the situation, this can mean overcards, a gutshot and an overcard, even a hand as
good as an open-ended straight draw or a flush draw.
This category is interesting because its the only one of the three in which there are usually
two reasonable ways to play the flop and the turn:
A) Check behind. If you have a weak pair, your hand might be good but cant stand to play a
big pot. A check behind with a hand like middle pair is a value check -- it keeps the pot
small, induces bluffs, and ensures that you wont get raised off your hand and that it gets a

chance to improve to trips or two pair. A check behind with a mediocre draw like a gutshot
and overcards is somewhat tricky, but its a reasonable option at times because it guarantees
that you wont get raised off a hand that has something like six outs, ten outs, etc.
B) Bet. Bets in spots like these are semibluffs. If you flop middle pair and elect to
continuation bet, youre generally not betting for value. Your goal is to take down the pot, but
if that doesnt occur, at least youve inflated the pot for your five outer (two outs to trips,
three outs to two pair). If you have a draw that youre planning to fold to a raise on the flop,
you are betting and hoping the villain folds, but with the knowledge that your hand has some
outs if you get called.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: J 4 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
This hand is some serious junk, but it is reasonable to open with it once in a while from the
button.
Flop: J 3 Q ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB calls $13
You flop middle pair and elect to semibluff with it. It doesnt make much sense to bet your
jack for value at this point, because its going to be pretty tough to bet all three streets with
this hand unimproved and see a showdown. You bet $13 because the board is drawy.
Unfortunately, the villain calls. You might have the best hand at this point, but that doesnt
mean the continuation bet was for value.
Turn: 3 ($41, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
You decide not to continue the semibluff this time. If the villain can read hands, hell know
that you dont have a good made hand now, but in this hand the villain is unknown. If the
river bricks and the villain makes a reasonable bet, you have little choice but to fold.
River: Q ($41, 2 players)
BB bets $30, Hero folds
The villain could be betting missed spades or air, but its probably more likely that he has a
queen or a better jack than we have. Ill try to pick villains off in these spots in the right
situation, but the standard play after semibluffing, checking through a blank turn, and missing

on the river is folding if the villain makes a river bet.

$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: J 4 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
You have the same hand and elect to raise it again; youre going to play the flop differently
this time, though.
Flop: J 3 Q ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Oh my, a very similar flop. Last time, you tried semibluffing with your flopped middle pair,
which was perfectly reasonable. This time, youre going to check behind and try to see a
cheap showdown. I tend to be more likely to try this with dryer flops. I changed this flop
slightly from the last hand -- this flop was rainbow, the last one was two-tone -- but Im
capable of semibluffing on a dry flop and checking behind on a wet flop, etc. Its also better
to check behind with a pair of jacks or queens than with a pair of fours or fives, of course,
because overcards are scare cards when your hand is just one pair.
Turn: 3 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
This is a good turn card. Theres still not much of a reason to bet, because youre not getting
more than one street of value out of this hand. If the river doesnt scare us and the villain
checks again, its time to think about betting. If the villain bets the river, you have little choice
but to call since you induced a bluff.
River: Q ($15, 2 players)
BB bets $9, Hero calls $9.
Theres a chance the villain has you beat, but Im not folding after the way we played the
hand. Theres no reason to raise the river (save for very high level thinking against a villain
with whom you have a lot of history), so calling is the only option in this spot.
Read: Villain is nitty and bad. He runs at 9/5/4; when he calls a raise preflop, it usually means
he has a pocket pair. If he flops an overpair, hes generally felting it. He likes to check-raise
continuation bets big with small overpairs, unaware that against good players, this turns his
hands into bluffs.

$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game

6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 4 5 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
Your hand sucks, but the BB is the perfect player to blind steal against because hell usually
fold his hand, and if he doesnt, you have implied odds out the wazoo.
Flop: 6 7 2 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
You flop an open-ended straight draw on a rainbow board, but the villains range consists
mostly of overpairs and sets. Given the provided read, the villain will check-raise if you
continuation bet. PokerStove says your hand only has a 29.26 percent chance to win against
the range of JJ-66 and 22, so if you get check-raised big by the villain, you cant shove and
you wont have the odds to continue with the hand. You decide to check behind and ensure
that you get to see a free card, knowing that theres a good chance of stacking the villain you
peel off a 3 or an 8. In addition, if you miss on the turn and the villain bets, you can call the
bet knowing that you generally have the implied odds to continue.
Turn: 9 ($15, 2 players)
BB bets $12, Hero calls $12
The turn doesnt complete your draw, but its a low enough card that the villain can still have
an overpair with JJ or TT (Im assuming he wouldve reraised preflop with QQ+), and he
could have a set with 99, 77, 66, or 22. Calling is a slam dunk against this villain.
River: 9 ($39, 2 players)
BB bets $44, Hero folds
You have close to the nut low, and judging by the villains tendencies and his overbet, theres
a good chance he just filled up. Its possible the he just has an overpair, but our read is that he
wont fold that to a shove anyway, and in this case he might even be right to felt it if you
pushed because a river push would make your line strange as hell. Just fold this time and
stack him when you have a real hand.
Read: Villain is loose preflop and likes to call raises out of position with hands like QJ, KT,
etc. Hell fold to a continuation bet if he misses the flop, though; thus far, Poker Ace Hud
indicates that hes folded to 13 of 16 continuation bets.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game

6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: 4 5 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
Against a BB like this, you can probably raise profitably and then continuation bet with any
two cards. This analysis ignores the SB, of course, but for the purpose of this article, the SB
doesnt exist.
Flop: 6 7 2 ($15, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB folds
The flop is the same as in the last hand, but the villain is different. Whereas a check-raise
loomed against the last villain and implied odds were plentiful if you checked behind, this
villain will probably fold to a continuation bet (and a hand like KT or QJ is about even money
against our draw at this point), and its tough to say how much money well make if we check
behind and make our hand. If the villain makes a big raise, we probably wont continue, but
thats an unlikely scenario. Against this villain, the play is to continuation bet and try to take
the pot down.
Read: Villain is a 44/18/5 lagfish who loves to attack weakness. He folds fairly often to shows
of strength -- in fact, he has folded to five of seven continuation bets so far -- but you have
seen him fire three barrels with air when he thinks he can steal pots.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Ring Game
6 Players
LegoPoker Hand Converter
Stack Sizes
SB: $Whatever
BB: $200
UTG: $Not
MP: $Very
CO: $Relevant
Hero (BTN): $200
Preflop: J 9 ($3, 6 players)
UTG folds, MP folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5
From the button, this hand is an auto-raise for me.
Flop: J

($15, 2 players)

BB checks, Hero checks

You flop top pair and check behind. The flop has two spades and any Q, K or A is a bad card
for you, but given your read, checking behind is the play. If the villain fires the turn, youre
calling 100 percent of the time regardless of the turn card. The river is trickier if he bets again,
but its important to keep your read in mind.
Turn: 4 ($15, 2 players)
BB bets $14, Hero calls $14
The turn was an undercard and didnt scare you. As expected, the villain bet out. This is an
easy call against this villain, and theres little reason to raise.
River: K ($43, 2 players)
BB bets $23, Hero calls
The king is a bad card because you no longer have top pair. The villain leads for $23 into a
pot of $43, giving you 66:23 odds (a little less than 3:1). Its possible that the villain hit the
river, but you reason that your hand will be good more than 25 percent of the time against his
range. This is good reasoning against a villain like this one -- if hed bet the pot on the river,
youd have a harder decision, but with pot odds this generous, the river bet is a pretty easy
call.