A Small Pocket Pair Disconnects Big Suited Connectors

In the "old" days of poker – in other words, about two years ago – if you told someone you played hold'em, he understood that you were talking about the limit form of the game, in which you can bet only a prescribed amount of money at one time. Nowadays, he's likely to think you mean no-limit hold'em, in which you can gamble your entire stack in a single bet. And this is understandable, since entries in no-limit hold'em tournaments are outstripping limit hold'em events by a mile in today's big-field, big-bucks contests. For example, the field in the $2,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament at the 2004 World Series of Poker numbered 834 players. The field in the $2,000 buy-in limit hold'em event, which my fellow Card Player columnist Daniel Negreanu won, was 287.

Although Daniel is equally tough in no-limit and limit hold'em, big-bet no-limit hold'em isn't for everyone. It requires a different mindset than the less volatile limit game, as Rich, a Canadian who regularly plays limit hold'em online, attested to in his e-mail: "I've been playing online tournaments for a while now, and I really prefer limit hold'em events because I'm a tight-aggressive player," he began. "Therefore, when I lose on the river, it usually doesn't cost me my stack. And if I make a bad call, I can usually bail out if the turn makes my hand worse! I've placed in the top five in multitable tournaments three times now, and I've been in the money three other times. I think I'm finally on the edge of making the next step to being a top contender regularly."

If Rich had ended his e-mail right there, I could've simply congratulated him on his success. But no winning streak goes without some punishment, as he found out in the next multitable online tournament he played in which he finished seventh. "With two tables left, I was in first place with $34,000 in chips, and the lowest stack had $2,000," he continued. "The player directly to my left had raised every time I had tried to limp into a pot. Luckily, I had just knocked him out of the tournament after making a good call, hitting the nuts, and check-raising him all in. On the very next hand, I was in the big blind and looked down to see the K Q. Only one player had called and the small blind had folded."

a. Just call

b. Raise

"I decided I could finally limp into a pot safely," he said. "The player who had called had about $9,000 in chips and was in jeopardy of not making the final table. The flop came down A 10 7! I had made the nut flush."

a. Bet and hope your opponent calls

b. Check with the intention of raising if your opponent bets

"I checked, he bet, and I raised. He called. The turn was the 2. Again, I bet, but this time he raised. I reraised him all in. He showed his 7-7 (for a set) and I showed my nut flush. You guessed it – the river brought the 2 to make a 'boat' (a full house) for my all-in opponent, and I went from first to fifth place in a blink. I'm not sure there was any better way for me to have played this hand. I suppose I could have raised before the flop, but would he have folded pocket sevens in a limit tournament? I guess I also could have bet the flush on the flop, but would he have laid down a set? He was only one more bet from being all in, so even if he was chasing, I figured he would go all in no matter what. What's your opinion, Tom?"

Before the flop in limit hold'em, a single raise against a limper would not have induced him to fold his pocket sevens. After the flop, it didn't really matter how you played the hand – as all the money was going in one way or the other. Your lucky opponent would never have folded a set on the flop when heads up, no matter what you did. I think you played it correctly after the flop. Just hope for better luck next time.

If your connectors hold up and you can overcome a bad beat here and there, perhaps you and I will meet limit hold'em expert Negreanu one day soon at the final table.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the co-author (with T.J. Cloutier) of Championship Hold'em, available through Card Player. His newest book, Beat Texas Hold'em (with co-author Shane Smith), is due to be published in August.