Playing poker isn’t always a game of heads up confrontations. Sometimes, another person enters the fray; even more may sometimes choose to take part in the action. Playing multiway pots, especially when the stakes are high and the stacks are deep, are times where understanding how multiway action can affect your hand values and play styles will help you make correct decisions and keep your stack intact.
When taking flops where you know the action will be multiway, hand values are going to shift a little bit; connected suited hands gain in value, as do small pocket pairs, while big broadway hands and big pocket pairs lose a little; this happens because flops like 3410 rainbow may be hard for some players to get away from with KK, while a hand like 78d can quickly release when they completely whiff the flop. Because of this, if you’re the aggressor preflop with a premium hand preflop, realize that most flops will help one of your opponents in some way; keep the pot in a state that is controlled and worth the value of your hand; QQ doesn’t want to see the pot be for stacks on a 4410 board when the stacks are 500 blinds deep. You’ll see the queens be good on a flop like that very infrequently unless you’re playing a complete maniac. So, keep pots in relation to the strength of your hand when you have the preflop aggression.
When you’re a caller, evaluate the flop based on the texture of the board to your hand and the potential value you can extract from your hand if it hit or is a powerful draw. Basically, the more vulnerable your hand is, the more likely you should be trying to end the hand (or betting, if you can get all-in) even if it does have a lock at the moment. Think about it like this; you have 77 in a 4 way pot, and the flop is 267dd, giving you top set on a drawy board; 45/89 now have open enders, there are diamond draws out, and letting them see a cheap card is a big mistake, especially when the stacks are deep. There are a few ways of defending the hand in a multiway pot; either leading out for a full pot bet or more, or check/raising if you’re certain the opponent is going to fire a continuation bet. But remember, in multiway pots, the likelihood of your opponent firing a continuation bet is lower, as it’s less likely that the pot can be stolen. So, only go for the check/raise if you think your opponent has a strong enough hand to fire out on an innocuous flop such as this; if it gets checked around, you missed a vital opportunity to protect your hand. Be careful and cautious when in multiway pots; they play much differently and more volatile than your standard heads up pot.
