Greg's Dilemma

Greg Pierson is the man! No, you haven't heard of him yet, but mark my words, GP's new company, IoVation – an Internet security company – will have a billion dollar valuation by 2008. Considering how much respect I have for Greg and the fact that I'm lucky enough to be an investor in IoVation, I vowed to him that he could get some private lessons from me anytime.

Greg was playing in the $10-$20 blinds no-limit hold'em game at Bellagio when the following hand came up. He had run his $1,000 buy-in all the way up to about $4,200, and limped in with the 9 7. When the fellow behind him also limped, and the aggressive player behind both of them made it $100 to go, Greg called, as did the fellow (Player B) behind him. So far, so good, I told Greg. There's nothing wrong with taking a flyer here or there for 2.5 percent of your chips.

When the flop came down 9-9-2, Greg and Player B checked, the original raiser bet $200, and Greg smooth-called. This was OK as well, I told him, as you probably should smooth-call and bring the third party into this growing pot, unless a 9 and deuce provided a possible flush draw, in which case you may want to raise immediately and put the raiser to the test, or get him to commit all of his chips with a flush draw. In any case, Player B also called the bet.

The turn card was a deuce, Greg and Player B checked again, and the original raiser bet $400. Greg smooth-called again with his nines full of deuces, as did Player B. Good play, I again told my friend. On the end, after a 3 hit the board, Greg bet out $1,000, and Player B raised $600 more all in. Greg called, and Player B showed down four deuces.

My expensive advice here was: Don't make top full house when your opponent has four of a kind! Seriously, there was no way of saving any money in this situation. Greg summed it up well: "I'm just glad he didn't have any more money in front of him!"

A second hand played out as follows. First of all, let me say this: Greg has decided that he wants to be a player, not just someone who sits there anteing off his chips. So, here we go. Greg called $20 with the Q J, and the same aggressive player raised, making it $100 to go again. Greg called the raise quickly, and everyone else folded before the flop.

The flop came down 9-4-4, Greg checked, and his only opponent bet $100. Greg called the $100 bet with the intention of bluffing out his aggressive opponent on one of the two ensuing rounds of betting. The next card was a 10, and Greg checked again. His opponent now bet $600, whereupon Greg studied for a moment and then moved his opponent all in for his last $1,000.

After what seemed like an eternity to Greg (it always seems like a long time when we "sweat out" someone calling our big bluff), his opponent called with A-9. Now, Greg could still win with an 8, a jack, a queen, or a king. As fate would have it, the last card was a 3, and Greg lost the pot.

I told Greg, "GP, I like the way you played your hand here. You gave yourself two ways to win the pot: one by having your opponent fold and the other by hitting your hand. Give your opponent credit for making a good call here, but also understand that he is now set up to call you down. All you have to do is wait until you have a strong hand, play it the same way you just played your bluff, and you'll get all of your money back and then some."

Experimentation is a good thing in poker. If you always play your hands the same way, you'll become predictable and easy to read. This lesson cost GP a few dollars, but after all, he could have won the pot!

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