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If, in fact, you have a very strong hand such as a bicycle it is usually best to check-raise weak opponents and very strong opponents while betting into mediocre opponents.
The very strong opponents may get suspicious of your raise, reasoning, “Why will he give his hand away this early?” And the weak opponents won’t reason anything and just pay you off.
The mediocre opponents in this spot might worry about a check-raise but not worry that much if you come right out betting. Sometimes in this spot, you might check and call on fifth street hoping to catch a bad one on sixth street and getting your raise in on sixth poker street.
Unfortunately, the question on how to play a bicycle on the first five cards is not something you will encounter frequently. A more reasonable situation would be where you have three good cards showing but actually only have an eight low with the 8 in the hole.
A play that is frequently good is to raise when your opponent bets even if you suspect that he has you beaten. Now, if you both catch bad cards on sixth and he checks you may check it right back.
It has cost you the same amount of money as calling him twice and it gives you an extra chance to make more money if you catch a good one. Also by playing it this way you might get him to fold a good hand on sixth street if you catch another baby after raising on fifth street.
This baby could very well have paired you and you are sitting with an eight low and he is throwing away a seven low thinking that this sixth street card almost had to make you a monster even if you didn’t have one already
If you have paired on fifth but still have a four-card hand and your pair is hidden you should usually bet if your three upcards are lower than his three.
However, if you have paired and your upcards are higher than the three he has showing, you have at best a marginal call. Depending on the cards that are out and the amount of money in the poker pot, a fold might not be correct.
Remember that if you have a bike draw or a six draw, your hand is favored over his if he has a rough nine. It’s close if he has a rough eight. If you are up against the type of player who will bet even if he has paired, you should usually raise with a a good four-card hand.
The reason for this is that you are either raising as a slight underdog when he has his eight made or as a major favorite when he is betting a pair.
The combination makes the raise very profitable. If you appear to have a four-card hand but have just paired on fifth street, for example you should usually play poker hand away.
However, against those players who are scared of your board you might call or even raise when you have paired in the hope that you will catch a baby on sixth and with it right there. When you can make this play only comes with the experience of knowing your opponents.
In general, fifth street has the most opportunities for tricky plays and traps. You may slowplay a big hand or over-play a weak hand. Remember, however, that these opportunities only arise when you both appear to have about equal hands showing. If you check
into
only an idiot won’t realize that you must have a big hand and are trying to suck him into a later round. In fact, slow playing a big hand made on five into an apparent four-card hand will not work, except against inexperienced players.
These tricks and traps must only be attempted against good players when the hand appears to be fairly even. This, unfortunately, is the major drawback to razz poker.
Many of the situations are absolutely automatic, and you have no choice but to play them that way when they come up.