One of the issues I deal with sometimes when playing loose NLHE cash games is that I get too passive preflop. I limp a lot and hope to hit big hands that can bust someone, like sets, but sometimes I overdo it. That preflop passiveness can carry over into my postflop play, and I may also see my stack steadily dwindle if I'm missing, or being forced to fold by raises or reraises behind me.
Here's a very simple example of a potential drawing hand I played more aggressively preflop, and how it paid off. This won't be rocket science to experienced players, but it's a useful concept.
I was on the button with Th 8h, and two people limped in front of me. I wanted to raise. The point of the raise was not to shut everyone out, I was happy to have some potential customers in case I happened to hit a big hand. I decided to raise four times the big blind, not a big raise when two people have already limped into the pot.
The blinds both folded, and so did the first limper. The second one called.
The flop came 3s Ad 9c.
You might say this was a bad flop for me. I didn't hit a pair, and no hearts flopped. The big draws I was hoping for did not materialize. There was something good about this flop for me, though. An ace flopped, and since I raised preflop the other player may believe I hit my pair of aces.
The other player checked to me. I made a bet that was a little less than the size of the pot, and they folded.
I had ten high, which was quite possibly the worst hand, but because I continued my preflop aggression I won the pot. (People use the phrase "continuation bet" to describe that type of bet, when you bet the flop after raising preflop even if you miss.)
This idea of raising preflop with a drawing hand is a similar to the idea of semibluffing when you flop a draw. By raising preflop I gave myself another way to win. If I flopped a good draw I had a chance to make a big hand, and I could possibly get paid off well because my opponents might not put me on it. If I missed, I might be able to take the pot by representing that I hit.
If I limped preflop and saw the flop with three or four players they still may all check to me, but I am going to have a harder time convincing them that I have flopped something when I limped in from late position. I might make that same bet on the flop in this case and get called by one or more players. Then on the turn I'm probably left with either trying to put more pressure on to bluff them out, or giving up on the pot.
There are a couple of caveats here. First, I made this play from the best possible position. I'm not likely to open with a raise holding this hand under the gun :) I would much rather make this play from the back. Second, the continuation bet has a risk of its own -- you leave yourself vulnerable to a checkraise. For that reason some people would bet less than I did in that situation, possibly fifty or sixty percent of the pot. (In my case, I thought the other player had most likely missed, and I wanted to give him less of a reason to call.) And I would not recommend always making a continuation bet -- as with most things in poker, doing the same thing every time makes you too predictable. The same goes for even raising with hands like this -- use it to help mix up your play, not as the standard move.
I didn't pull a huge pot here, my profit was about seven big blinds. But compare that to losing one by limping and missing, and even making this play occasionally with some success can make a noticeable difference in your win rate.
Ted