Controversial Hold'em Hands

In January of 2002, my collaborator Jim Brier and I came out with a book called Middle Limit Holdem Poker. Our first printing of 4,000 copies is just about gone, so we have been preparing for a second printing. We are not going to make so many alterations that it will be a different edition, but we still want to take advantage of the situation and make any needed changes.

Our book contains more than 400 poker problems, most of which are taken from actual play. We make a special effort to use quite a few problems that contain a high degree of difficulty in answering, so, unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees with our choice of answers. A number of these problems have been hotly debated on some Internet poker forums and elsewhere. Some of those who disagree with us are excellent players. We also have some excellent players who agree with the answers we give, so it is far from being the two of us against some consensus of expert opinion.

Jim and I thought it would be interesting for you to read some of the problems that created the most controversy. (We eventually decided to stick to our original answer in each of these problems, although that answer was rewritten for the new printing, in a number of cases, to shed further light on our reasoning.) Accordingly, we worked together to write this column, with more columns like it to follow.

After the problem and our answer, we provide what those who disagreed with our answer said, and then add some further commentary after we saw their reasoning.

Hand No. 1 ($30-$60 game): An early-position player limps in and you limp in from early position with the 9 9. Two middle-position players, the button, and the small blind (a top pro) all limp in. There is $210 in the pot and seven players. The flop is 6 6 2, giving you an overpair. The small blind bets, and the big blind and the early-position player fold. What should you do?

Answer in book: Call. Normally when you flop an overpair, especially in an unraised pot, you should raise when it is bet to you - but this is an exception. A top pro will probably not lead into a field of six other players from the small blind position when the board pairs small like this (with the odd card being a deuce) without trips. There is a slight chance that he may have a smaller pocket pair like sevens or eights and be leading here, but even so, there are lots of voices yet to be heard from. Raising would be a very risky play. Someone behind you may have a 6 if the bettor doesn't. If the pot gets raised behind you or if the turn gets bet when a blank comes, you may want to consider folding, since the pot is not large enough to play a two-outer.

What some critics said: Many players thought raising was right. They argued that your hand is very vulnerable to overcards when it is good, and that you must protect it by raising. If you get three-bet or someone shows some serious strength on a later street, you can re-evaluate.

Our commentary: What sort of hand would a pro have here to bet into a large field from up front? He is almost certainly not bluffing, or pumping a gutshot-straight draw with an open pair on the board. The only legitimate hand he would have is a pocket pair or a 6 for trips. If he has a pocket pair smaller than nines (other than 2-2), you have him beat. Otherwise, you're toast.

In a $30-$60 game, the small blind is $20, so it costs the small blind only one $10 chip to play. People usually play the overwhelming majority of hands they are dealt when getting such a cheap admission price. Unlike the other players in the pot, it is very unlikely that the small blind has a pocket pair, because he would play most other hands, as well. So, he is a strong favorite to have a 6, rather than any other hand. On the rare occasions when he does not have a 6, there are others in the pot who may. Someone could even have a boat with pocket deuces. Against a 6 or pocket deuces, you have only the other two nines to catch, making you about a 22-to-1 underdog to improve. The current pot odds are only 8-to-1. We suggested a call rather than a fold partly because there is some possibility your hand is good - plus, if you are lucky enough to hit a 9, you will be hauling in a biggie. But, a fold does not look like a bad play at all.

A medium-size pocket pair is a vulnerable hand. We admit that because it is so hard to improve the hand, and so easy for others to draw out on it, the normal way to play a hand of this character on the flop in a multihanded pot is to either raise or fold. But in the given situation, where it appears that you are in serious trouble, is it worth investing another $30 (and perhaps $60) to optimize your winning chances? We decided to stick with our original answer and say no.

Hand No. 2 ($30-$60 game): You are in the cutoff seat with the A J. A middle-position player limps in and you raise. The big blind and the limper call. There is $200 in the pot and three players. The flop comes J 9 7, giving you top pair, top kicker. Both opponents check, you bet, the big blind calls, and the middle-position player now raises. What should you do?

Answer in book: Fold. It is tough to dump top pair with an ace kicker, but when the board flops all of one suit, it is too easy to be drawing dead to a backdoor boat. If another spade shows up, other than the ace, your hand is instantly dead. You also could be looking at a straight or two pair. There is a chance the raiser could be check-raising with a pair and a spade, but even then you are not a huge favorite, and there is still a third player to worry about. You should fold because you are quite likely beaten with hardly any outs, and even if you are folding the best hand, you can be easily overtaken. Calling now does not accomplish much because you will probably be folding on the turn. It often happens that calling with the best hand doesn't win because you cannot go the distance.

What some critics said: Many players thought the pot is simply too large and there are too many things that may happen to be folding. There is $320 in the pot and it costs you $30 to take off a card. These are pot odds of almost 11-to-1. Since the big blind will frequently call, this will put the pot odds at almost 12-to-1. It is argued that with a pot this large, you should take a card off for $30 to see what will happen. The turn may not even get bet, depending on which card comes off.

Our commentary: It may cost you more than just $30 to see the turn, since there is a third player in the hand to act after you do. Unless the check-raiser is a particularly tricky or aggressive player, we think it is unlikely that he is semibluffing a draw or has a worse hand than yours. When considering a call in the face of a flop bet or raise, you have to take into consideration what happens if the opponent continues to bet. We would be hard-pressed to stick around with our pair even if we called here on the flop. So, if you call and catch the opponent with the hand you are hoping for, there is a good chance you will lose the pot anyway - and have tossed away an extra bet, to boot. Calling someone who is representing a better hand than your own is even riskier when there is nothing in the deck that will sufficiently help your hand beat the one he is representing.

We hope you enjoyed reading how a group of expert players can look at a poker problem from different perspectives.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's new book Middle Limit Holdem Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available now (332 pages, $25 plus $6 shipping and handling). This work and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free.