Poker clinic

HOW DID I STACK UP?

Here is a hand that I am not sure if I played correctly recently. It was in a live £1/£2 pot-limit hold’em game at the Big Slick in Croydon, London. I am sitting with about £265 and have the image of a rock. The other players at my table don’t ever seem to fold, so I have to wait for big hands.

The turn is J♠. I am fairly certain that UTG has Ace-x. And I think it’s likely the other player has either a flush draw or a set of 9s. I doubt even he would call the flop with Q-10. Given the tricky stack sizes, and the fact that any large bet will commit me, what is my best action on the turn?
Ashley Chase, via email

My first instinct was that you should check-fold on the turn because there are so many monster hands out there – a flush and a straight, possibly a set of 9s. You’ve committed £65, a fair chunk of your stack, but not so much that you are in any way committed to this pot. If you were to give it up now, I don’t think that would be a bad play. It’s galling because your hand was so strong on the flop, but you just have to accept that poker throws curveballs at you.

I think it would be a mistake for you to try and represent the flush or straight, because if you’ve been tagged as a rock, what could you have raised pre-flop with? The A♠ and J♠ are already on the board which would leave you with K♠– Q♠ at best (for the flush) or Q-10 (for the straight).

If you were just up against the UTG, who is passive and has a smaller stack, you could make a case for making a feeler bet of around £60. But with a loose- aggressive player in the mix who has you well covered, you would almost certainly be inviting a re-raise. A bet of 2/3 the pot (£135) might drive out the UTG player with his weak Ace but, like you say, it also commits you to the cause if the LAG player either calls or comes over the top.

If you check and the LAG player bets 2/3 the pot, it wouldn’t be the worst call in the world, but it’s a pretty ugly play. As regular readers of this column will know, I much prefer to be the aggressor; so if you are going to commit money to this pot, I’d rather you pushed on the turn, whilst you still have fold equity. You might still get called, but then you still have the chance – albeit slim – to make your full house.

KING WRONG

In an online $1/$2 cash game recently I had K♦-K♣ in late position and was delighted to see the UTG player raise to $10. There was one caller in mid-position and I re-raised to $30. Both players called. So there was now $93 in the pot. The flop came 8♦-6♦-4♠. It was checked around to me and I led out for $60. Both players folded. Did I bet too much here?
Alistair Reed, via email

You definitely did nothing wrong. A lot of players I talk to think that they deserve to double their stacks every time they get Kings or Aces – they forget that even a big pocket pair is just a pair and it hates to see all five cards in a multi- way pot. I ask them why they can’t be happy with the fact that they just didn’t go broke?

Let me ask you this: if both players had called your bet and the turn had been another diamond, would you have been happier then? The pot would now be very tasty but you’d have a very tough decision to make if one of the players led into you. You’d end up folding and cursing the fact that you had Kings and just lost. It’s amazing to think that just one card can have that effect but I guess that’s what’s so great (or not so great) about poker.

The idea that I’m trying to instil is that even if you had got no action pre-flop, you just have to accept it and move on to the next hand – don’t be greedy!

VEGAS VIRGIN

I have recently returned from my first trip to Vegas and, although I came back well in profit, there was one cash game hand in particular I’m really not sure I played correctly.

I have J♥-10♥, and make the standard opening raise of $12 and I get a flat-call from a solid, local player who I reckon thinks I am at it (that may have something to do with the fact that I’ve shown 8-3 and 5-4 to take down a couple of pots). The flop comes K♠-Q♥-8♠. He leads out for $25 and I call. The turn comes K♥. He leads out for $40. What is your move now? What range of hands do you put him ????on? What did you think of the play up to this point?
John Loosemore, via email

You have to pass on the turn. You have an open-ended royal/straight flush draw, which might sound like a lot, but in reality you have Jack-high with one card to come. Against a solid player who is leading into you on the turn – you’re well behind. Depending on the stacks, you could re-raise; but if you’re right and you know he thinks you’re at it, he’ll call with his trips.

Worse still, let’s say the river does bring an Ace, 9 or a heart, you could still be drawing dead. He could easily have housed up on the turn when the King paired – in which case unless the A♥ or 9♥ hits, you’re probably going broke on this hand. Again, the lesson of the day is to be thankful you lost the minimum that you could with your hand.

ASK WILLIE!
If you’ve got any poker problems – strategy, etiquette, anything at all – Willie will be only too happy to answer your questions. Just drop him an email at WillieTann@dennis.co.uk or post to Willie Tann, Poker Clinic, InsidePoker, Dennis Publishing, 30 Cleveland St, London, W1T 4JD. Letters may be edited for length.