Quad Q on the table. What would you do?

Replay Poker Poker Strategy
61

But if you fold to avoid losing to the rake in a chop, you lose more than the rake.

If we are SB and are heads-up with BB, no one else puts anything into the pot. We bet say 200, BB calls. 400 in pot, rake is 20. Just to make this easy there’s a royal on the board, say. Then BB bets 2000. If we call, that’s 4400 in pot, rake 220, so the pot is now 4180. We chop and win 2090 each on 2200 bet, or lose 110 chips. If we fold to the 2000 bet to avoid losing rake, we lose 200 chips of now dead money. So we should still call.

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62

Here’s a crazy hand.
I lost 80 chips due to the rake. But I wasn’t thinking about the rake at the time. And I count myself very lucky that the River came out and saved me!

63

Kinda unrelated but here’s the WORST time to hit quads. Lost all my value on that river. : (

76di

64

How many chips am I risking to call? Is my ten suited with a nine, eight, or seven? Is my Ace also suited, with a decent kicker? Also, has anyone else called and how many players have yet to act?

The ten is only an option if the all-in is minimal in relation to my stack, it has flush and straight possibilities, and I am last or next to last to act. In any event I am only calling, and doing so in the hopes of hitting the flop in a big way and cultivating a decent side pot.

The ace’s kicker similarly matters. The larger the all-in, the bigger it needs to be, and also preferably suited. If other players have called or are yet to act, I’d better have an AK and be re-raising to isolate the all-in.

Otherwise, it’s someone else’s problem.

65

Surely the flush and straight options are irrelevant because there are already quads on the board?

And why would the ace’s kicker matter?

This was the hand, in case it got lost amongst the replies:
1217883580

66

The ace’s kicker doesn’t matter but I think that was just brought up as a reason someone would be in the hand in the first place. But I am not sure. Obviously QQQQA is best possible hand. I probably would have played it the exact same way. The only downside to it being at a ring game table would be if you had to split you’d likely lose chips to rake. But again I’d play it exactly the same way as tripling up is a better upside to losing on the rake’s downside.

67

Why would your kicker matter when QQQQA is the best hand? If theres quads on the board and you have an ace you CAN’T lose the hand. If someone went all in and my high card is a 10 I’m folding 99.99% of times. With an ace Im instantly calling as the only way I’m losing chips is to rake.

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68

Sorry, only saw the post to which I replied. Didn’t realize there were quads on board and thought it was a preflop, hand selection question.

Having looked at the hand, and thanks for the link, btw, I would have raised 3BB from the button preflop. It’s a four-handed table. I’m odds on the best hand, and when you believe you have the best hand, you should be betting. Slow playing his hand is how the hare lost to the tortoise. Judging by their willingness to call a quad board with rags, I think the big blind and probably the small would have called my raise anyway.

I’d have then value bet the flop, and, if they still called, the fish, I’d have bet big on the turn, which, with your short stack, probably would have been a shove. At worst, I’m chopping with one or more players, which is a minimal loss to the rake if only aces are in the hand. Otherwise, I’m in with a nice pot.

Now, if I had ten high, which you seemed to be asking in the other comment, I’m still raising preflop from the button, to see if I can steal the blinds, then value betting the flop and the turn, folding to any reraise, but checking the river rather than losing whatever I have left to one of the 495 possible hands with better kickers, at least one of which I’d anticipate someone having given they’ve called my preflop raise and bets on the flop and turn. In that scenario, I’m chopping the 6-8’s contributions, plus anything Jambey put in before folding, with the 10-2.

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69

Ace call, The 5th Q fold or get shot :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

70

No worries.
The reason I asked about the two options were because:

  • I had the Ace and wanted to see if other people might have done something different.
  • One of the other players went all-in with ten high and I couldn’t believe they would do that!
71

Well, they called from the big blind, then checked down to the turn, where you shoved. Since you didn’t reraise pre-flop, I have no issues with that, but once you went all-in, both the 10-2 and the 8-6 should have just let you have the pot. What could they possibly hope for on the river other than an ace, or maybe a king, for a chop? I’m certainly not risking more than a quarter of my stack on that (10-2), nor 2/3 off it (8-6). They were both mental.

Can I ask if there was a specific reason you didn’t raise preflop? Four-handed, A-10 is almost always the best hand.

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72

With how much I see best hands lose, especially with how loose people are with weak hands I don’t always raise with top starters and go mostly on how I feel. Get burned so often it is discouraging at times lol.

73

I’ve only been playing poker since the beginning of 2024, initially local live games. On Replay, I play a few games a week. I’m still learning a lot, but I just don’t have the time to read up too much, so I’m just figuring out strategies as I go.
Plus, as @bdon33 said, I’ve had a number of bad beats where my hand was strongest pre-flop and lost. I only really go all-in pre-flop with AA, KK or sometimes QQ. Otherwise I make my decision based on the flop.

74

If you limp with strong holdings, such as suited broadway hands (AK>>JT) and mid-to-high pocket pairs, you will lose more often than not. However, if you raise at least three big blinds pre-flop with such hands , as well as your monsters, you’ll find yourself taking down a few hands before the flop and, if you do it right, facing only one or two callers much of the rest of the time.

There are other factors, such as the player under the gun limping. If you’ve noticed that they don’t play every hand, their call is a concern. You can limp behind and invite a multi-player hand if you’re at the lower end of the range I just discussed, but if you’re nearer the top, say suited KQ or better, a half-pot raise could serve as a value bet. If they call, be careful going forward. If they re-raise, fold anything other than KK or AA.

If you do raise pre-flop, you’ll be expected to make a continuation bet. Again, it should be a half-pot or pot bet. Remember that you’ll only hit one in three hands on average with unpaired hands and the same applies to your opponents. If they’ve missed, they’ll usually fold and you can take down the pot. If they call, it’s a judgment call whether to make another bet on the turn. Whenever you don’t bet, flop, turn, or river, other players will often fill the void and you’ll be the one making the tough decision. You have to strike a balance between not losing big pots and not being bullied. That sense only comes with experience.

One thing I don’t recommend is leading out with min bets (one big blind), not ever, but especially after you’ve raised. It just looks weak. I know some players use that as a trick to draw a raise when they’ve got the nuts, but as a rule, it’s a horrible play. Again, if you raise and are re-raised, take a minute before shoving.

Best of luck going forward.