It occurs to me that, although my latest poker strategy article has been up since the beginning of the month, I haven’t actually mentioned it here yet. You can read The Button Tax in Two Plus Two Magazine to learn more about the value of position in multiway pots:
I think of my button as a tollbooth that enables me to collect a tax from anyone who wants to come into the pot this hand….
The button is particularly valuable in multiway pots, because I get to collect this tax from each player. There are plenty of hands that I’d fold on my button to a single raiser but call behind if there have already been two or three calls.
Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of it!
Your point about the button being increasingly valuable in multiway pots is a great reminder. I often find it very annoying when the button takes a stab on either the flop or the turn in these situations (everyone has checked to him and he makes a 1/4-1/3 pot bet) as my range (along with everyone else’s) does not have enough check-raise for value to allow me to c/r bluff a thinking player. Calling down OOP also sucks.
Two takeaways that weren’t explicit in your post:
1. Given that the value of the button goes up in multiway pots, it may be profitable to bluff in situations like the one described above, even though the general rule of thumb is to not bluff in multi-way pots. This is because the straightforward approach required by multiway pots lets you know that no one else has anything.
2. (More generally) Pay attention to what other players do that you find annoying/uncomfortable–especially if it deviates from your own style. There is a good chance that you have something to learn/emulate, as bad play on the part of your opponent should make you happy. I know that I generally do not call wide enough on my button (especially in raised pots) and probably do not go “wide” enough postflop in these multiway pots either. This post made me realize that.
Thanks for the feedback. Those are good takeaways. The only thing I want to nitpick about is “the general rule of thumb to not bluff in multi-way pots”. I would say “bluff less and in different ways in multi-way pots”. This article is only one example of how to take advantage of players who either expect you to play this way or don’t know what to do about it if you don’t.
Also your point about how weak your checking range is suggests a few adaptations to make when you have a player such as myself on the button… 😉
I should have clarified that I meant that this general rule of thumb is one of those things that you learn early and don’t later think critically enough about. I agree that it is not a good rule, even though it’s one that I’ve been following too slavishly.
I’m curious about why you didn’t think of value betting small with 86 on the river, esp. as you said you didn’t think he’d fold if you bluffed a random 7?