Poker Clinic

YOU CAN’T WIN ‘EM ALL

I was playing in a nine-handed no- limit hold’em ring game, and the blinds were $5/$10. I was in middle position and picked up K?-K?. My stack was $1,200. The under the gun +1 was new to the table – he had about $1,000. He raised it to $30. I re-raised to $90 and he called after a few seconds.

The flop came A?-J?-9?. UTG+1 checked, I bet $120 and he raised to $240. I called. The turn was 8?. He instantly went all-in and I folded. Afterwards he said, ‘Good fold, I had an Ace.’ I’m always suspicious when someone says that; I’m also suspicious of his min-raise on the flop. What I want to know is, was my pre-flop raise okay? Should I have checked behind on the flop and, was I right to fold?

Gary, via email

Your re-raise of three times the initial raise is fine. You need more information about the strength of his hand and you certainly get that when he calls. But when you take pre-flop heat with Kings, the one card you don’t want to see is an Ace. It’s possible he might have a big pocket pair, so you could still be in good shape, but you need to get more information.

Checking behind him would not get you any more information and I think in this situation, betting out may be safer as you do not yet have a clear read on him. So you put out a perfect feeler bet, say about 2/3 the pot. It is a massive tell as to the strength of his hand when he min-raises you.

In my experience of playing in deep-stack cash games, players use the minimum raise to draw their opponent into the pot when they have a big hand. In this situation, it smacks of two-pair, maybe A-J or even a possible set, 9s or Jacks. However, even though you figure you are most probably behind, you know that for just $120, it’s worth a call.

If you hit one of the two Kings left in the deck, you have the chance of picking up a huge pot, or even busting this guy. Moreover, your call may slow him down enough to let you see a free card on the river – so at this point all is not lost. But, when he goes all-in on the turn, you are right to fold.

Many players get married to Kings, unable to understand why they haven’t got paid off. But the fact is you have committed less than 20% of your stack. You are done with this hand and were right to fold.

TOP OF THE CHOPS

I was recently heads-up in a tournament at my local casino. We were about even in chips, but the other guy wanted to do a deal. I’ve been playing poker for a year online and have never accepted a deal at all. On this occasion, I felt like I was better than him, but it was late so I accepted splitting the money more evenly – but so that the winner still got a few hundred pounds more. He went on to win and I felt like I should have refused to chop.

Neil, via email

In my experience, doing a chop can’t help but change the dynamic of a game. When a player knows he’s got money locked up in the bank, it gives him more reign to play loose – it’s just human nature. When I won a WSOP bracelet in 2005, we were even in chips. The other guy, Matthew Smith, asked if I wanted to split the money and just play for the bracelet. I said no, because I knew that with my years of experience I could outplay him.

If I had agreed to a deal, I would have been far less confident of coming out on top. At the end of the day, if you feel you have an edge over the other player(s) and aren’t imperilled, don’t give in to their demands. If you lose, so be it – but at least you know you gave it your best shot.

TOUGH SPOT

I was playing in a six-handed $5/$10 no-limit hold’em game. All the stacks were around 200x the big blind. Two players limped and I raised to $50 with A?– Q? on the button. Only the big blind called – his image was tight aggressive, as was mine. The flop looked a dream: A?– A?-7?. The big blind checked, I bet $90 and he then raised to $270. I called.

The turn was 5?. The big blind bet $550 and I called again. The river was K? and the big blind went all-in. I reluctantly folded, believing that he could have any number of hands that would beat me: pocket sevens, A-K, A-7, A-5. Was I right to fold? Should I have played this hand at all differently?

Angela, via email

I must say that whether you were beating him or not, your eventual fold was very disciplined. Flopping trip Aces with a strong kicker is a hand that many poker players long to see. Although there are several hands that could beat you on the flop, I think realistically – given that you tagged him as a tight-aggressive player – there are only two hands that would be beating you: A-K and pocket sevens.

Either of these hands would justify him calling your pre-flop raise. Of course that’s not to say these are the only two hands he could have; when he checks to you on the flop, it’s possible he could have a club draw, J?-10?, K?-Q?.

However, when he raises to $270, I think you have to put him on some sort of Ace and decent kicker. The 5? on the turn is no help; following on from my pre-flop reasoning, I don’t think there’s any way this guy could possibly have A-5 – suited or otherwise. So at this point, I still think you may be ahead, this is why on the turn – when he bets $550 – I personally would have moved all-in.

There are still only two hands that can beat you, and you still have three Queens to hit to make your full-house if he happens to call with one of them. My feeling is that with a hand like A-10, A-J, he would have laid down if you put him to the test for the whole of his stack. I wouldn’t say that your call is a terrible move, but I’d prefer you to ask questions of the other player.

The King on the river is definitely a scare card and made even scarier when he moves all-in. I was thinking about this hand for a while and figured that because it was a cash game, I would have called, knowing that while 200x the big blind is quite a lot to lose, it’s only a percentage of my total bankroll. Were this hand to play out exactly the same way in a tournament, I would have folded on the river.