Cowards Live

In order for you to make a judgment in the problem stated below, you need some background information. I had been playing quite tight in a pot-limit Omaha high game for several hours. I had bought in for the minimum of $500 and now had about $1,000 in chips in front of me.

About an hour earlier, a hand occurred in which I had made a $500 all-in raise against the big stack in the game, who had about $5,000 in chips and playable $100 bills. A rather vocal opponent, he folded while saying that it was not worth drawing against me (which was certainly true in that hand).

About a half-hour later, I was in the $15 big blind (the small blind was $10) and he made it the usual $50 to go before the flop. There was one caller around to me, and I chose to defend my blind (for $35 more) with a small wrap – 8-7-5-4 double-suited. There was $160 in the pot.

A good flop came: Q-6-3 rainbow. I checked, he bet $100, the other player folded, and I simply called. I considered raising the pot on a "come bluff," but partly because of my earlier raise, which he passed (suspiciously), I had the feeling that he might call to see what I was all about.

I got lucky when a deuce hit the turn, giving me the nuts but creating a flush draw. He bet $150, which conveniently made the pot large enough for me to go almost all in by raising the pot. Note that being able to get all of your money into the pot when you have the nuts on the turn is highly desirable in either pot-limit or no-limit play, since if a scary card (a nut breaker) hits on the river, you might lose, but you don't have to worry about calling a big bet (a possible bluff).

He mulled over the $660 raise for a while and said, "I think I'm going to take a look," and called. A 4 hit the river, which "broke" my 5-4 nut cards, but luckily I had the "extension card" 7, so now my 7-5 constituted the nuts.

My opponent smiled when he saw the 4, said, "Gotcha," and pushed in his huge stack – apparently for practice, since I had only a few chips left. I called and he proudly turned over a 7-5 also (along with two aces). He was very disappointed to split the pot (as was I), although he had managed to hit the only card that prevented him from losing.

I then didn't get seriously involved in a hand for about a half-hour. That same opponent won a $2,000-plus pot and was betting frequently with great confidence, including raising me off my blind twice. I finally picked up a hand in a pot in which he had made it $50 to go. I merely called while holding Q-Q-J-10, as did two other players. In four-way action, the flop came 10-9-3 rainbow. He bet $100 and the other two players folded around to me.

I called. Note that I had the wrong amount of chips to make the $400 come-bluff raise, since he might reraise the pot (and I would have to fold, having about $900 left).

A 10 hit the turn, giving me trip tens with a not-so-good kicker. He bet the pot, $400 plus. What would you do with my hand with about $1,300 remaining?

On the National Archives building it says, "The past is prologue." From what you have seen above, do you think he is bluffing or steaming, or has something like pocket aces again?

I made the cowardly fold. I might well have had the best hand, but I had only $150 invested in the pot at that point. If I put in $400 more, I might end up losing my hard-earned $1,300. The only river cards that would really make me feel warm and fuzzy would be a queen or the case 10 (three outs).

You might think that if he really had a full house (or trip tens with a big kicker), he might check to me trying to trap me. Maybe. Generally, it is not part of my game plan to be a hero and catch other players' (especially winning players) big bluffs – especially when I have a lot to lose if I'm wrong. It is the bottom line that matters.

Otherwise put, rather than risk losing an additional $1,300 on this hand, I'd rather concede my $150 investment and save the rest of my money to go on to greener pastures.

If your solution to this problem was to call (or even raise), you might well have been right. He might have had a lesser hand. We'll never know for sure. But again, if I had lost $1,300 chasing on that hand, it certainly would have negated what turned out to be a profitable session. What was it that Maverick said about cowards and 1,000-to-1 odds?

Editor's note: Brett Maverick once said, "I heard a coward dies a thousand times before his death. Hmm, a thousand to one odds – sounds pretty good to me."