Leading out unusually small

Sky_Poker

Following on from yesterday's discussion on bet sizing...

What do you tend to think when somebody leads out very small compared to the pot size?

Lets say you are in an MTT with the blinds at 100/200, there's say 2,500 in the pot and someone leads for 200 chips.

- Is that strength? (trying to look weak to induce a raise)

- If it is that, is it better than checking?

- Is it weak?

- Is it just to confuse?

Obviously situations are different and what you do next might depend on the opponent, your hand and the board etc.

But what would your initial impressions be most often?

jimb0d1

Weak....time to punish.

jimb0d1

But equally I have been stung a lot at cash attacking weak leads

shakinaces

Ha ha yeah I'm the same... in cash you tend to get a consistent answer quite quick (ie you raise, they fold, so you raise every time they do it - or they 3b / call down a monster and you tone down the aggression in future).

It does confuse as to what the right play is though... like when you raise a hand like 78s and are min-donked into where you've missed the flop. Folding 1bb into a pot of 7+bb just feels like such weakness and sets you up to be bluffed off a lot of pots... yet it sure must be a leak when you call down knowing the oppo tends to have *something* to bet with and can easily call down bottom pair type hands if you try and bluff.

peter27

In my experience (albeit limited) this would be a blocker bet or a bet for information.

Sky_Poker

In Response to Re: Leading out unusually small:

But equally I have been stung a lot at cash attacking weak leads
Posted by jimb0d1

Is that exploitable?

Do you think that people do that to make you think they are super-strong?

TeddyBloat

weak donks in dry pots i 100% raise readless. you can almost always barrel them off a weak holding by the river. i'd need reads not to barrel the living daylights out of them. sooo profitable.

on wet boards its more problematic as a lot of draws are trying to set a cheap price and arent going to be bossed out of the pot.

sharkscope is useful too in these situations.

unknown_username

In Response to Re: Leading out unusually small:

Weak....time to punish.
Posted by jimb0d1

Agree, sort of bet I would expect from someone who's hit a small part of the flop and wants to keep it cheap to see if they can connect..... but also the sort of bet I would expect from better players who a big hand and were trying to keep you in and build the pot without scaring you off....

as with all these hands its as much about how you judge your opponent....