Overplaying for Value

by Roy Cooke | Published: Jan 18, 2002

I've been hanging out in Las Vegas for 23 years. There are not a lot of poker pros still here who were here when I arrived. For many players, poker is not a long-term career. As hard as it is to attain professional ability in poker, it is even harder to maintain it over the course of time. The stresses, peripheral traps, and potentially unhealthy lifestyle wear down even the toughest of people, both mentally and physically. Alex is one of the handful of poker pros remaining from when I arrived in town; he's still as tough as nails and grinding out a living playing poker.

In a recent game, a weak-playing tourist had called up front, and Alex had raised him from a late position, folding everyone to me, in the small blind holding A-K. I chose to reraise, hoping to fold the big blind and the tourist, and get heads up with Alex. If Alex had a hand with an ace (excluding aces) and I folded the other two players, I would be a huge favorite and would be getting laid a price by the pot – a combination of circumstances with which I would like to live forever. I understand this scenario did not have to be exactly that in this situation, but the fact that it was possible made the overall play much stronger. Just as when you are either a small favorite or a big underdog, you should lean more toward folding, when you can create a situation in which you are either a small underdog or a huge favorite, you should generally do so.

Like many of my plans in life, there was soon need for adjustment. The big blind folded, but the tourist called, as did Alex. The flop came down A-5-3 with two spades, which was favorable for my hand – or so I thought.

I led into both players. The tourist folded, and Alex raised me. Still fairly confident that my hand was good, I three-bet him. Alex responded by four-betting me. I went into one of my "huddles" and thought about what to do next. I considered Alex's tendencies. He could have me beat by having flopped either two pair or a set. There was some chance that he held one of those hands, as he plays aggressively and deceptively enough to do so. He could have a spade draw and be raising for a free card, or he could have an ace with a smaller kicker than mine. I have seen Alex both raise the flop and take a free card with a draw and reraise with a hand he was going to pay off anyway. By betting the turn and checking the river with a marginal hand, Alex would save himself a small bet over just calling down, and would gain equity if he improved his hand into one that he wished to continue betting or if I held a draw and missed. Both of those plays are quality plays, and when used in the right situation, they can add a lot of value to your poker game. These kinds of plays are part of what makes Alex so tough an opponent.

I wanted to take those plays away from him. How could I accomplish that? A standard play is to flat-call the flop and then bet the turn. But, a player of Alex's capabilities knows that play and is capable of raising the turn to take that play away from me. He is ingenious enough to make that play as either a bluff or a value bet. A major part of my problem was giving up position in a hand against a player who knew how to use it effectively. I thought about capping the flop and then betting the hand down. Even if Alex had me beat, I know that he would have a lot of respect for a hand in which I capped the flop. He would have to fear that I had wired aces and would stop raising at some point. I decided to overplay my hand early by capping the flop and stopping Alex from using his position to outplay me out of any bets. If my hand was no good, I might lose more than I should, but if it was good, I would not lose the value from getting outplayed by him. I also knew that Alex knows I will make plays with a draw, and for that reason, he pays me off when a draw flops but misses. With the spade draw on the flop, Alex's play would be affected, and I believed he would not fold a hand that was inferior to mine.

I fired the hand down when blanks hit. Alex paid me off, and I turned over my A-K. He hesitated for a moment, looked over at my hand, and then turned over a set of threes. Several players at the table made comments that they were surprised that I held only one pair, expressing the opinion that I had overplayed my hand.

Overplaying hands in comparison to "conventional wisdom" betting strategies can have much value. It can get you free cards, make you extra bets, get you through hands cheaper, cause confusion in your opponents' minds, and get opponents to fold hands with which they should call. It is a very situation-dependent play, based on position and the tendencies of your opponents. Good hand-reading skills and good situation analysis are a must before considering such a play.

Alex and I have been smashing heads with each other for more than 23 years. I'm sure it has not been worthwhile for us financially. In fact, it has probably made each of us age a little faster, but maybe it has made us a little wiser.