Letting Them In

I was in a 10-handed, loose-passive $20-$40 hold'em game. The player under the gun flat-called the $20 and the action was on me. I peeked down to find the A 5.

As a general rule, I dislike calling with A-X suited hands from early position, and I rarely do it. Too often, I am in kicker trouble if I hit my ace. I have found over the years that limping in with this type of hand and hoping enough players come in behind you to provide a good price for a flush draw is not generally a good strategy.

I do like the deuce through 5 kickers better than a 6 or 7 kicker, as they add a straight possibility to the equation and I will some tim es flop a gutshot and perhaps get the right price to draw, particularly if the ace may also be good.

But as a general rule, I don't like the hand in early position.

That said, the hand plays well with lots of loose callers and a cheap preflop entry price. That way, if I flop a flush draw, players are around to give me an overlay on the draw and give me action (often dead bets) when I connect! The game I was in fit that bill; I was likely to get lots of callers and there wasn't too much preflop raising going on.

I called the single preflop bet. Several players trailed in behind me. The player one off the button raised to $40, both blinds called, and so did all the limpers. We saw the flop eighthanded for two bets; $320 was in the pot.

The flop came down J-8-2 with two spades. The small blind checked and the big blind, a loose player, led into the field, causing the player in between us to fold. I had two viable options: I could flat-call or I could raise.

The situation with this flop was one that could bring a lot of action: flush draws, straight draws, and players who were looking to be involved. Raising with a flush draw adds value if you can get a free card or you have a large volume of customers to create an overlay for your draw. It can also give you an increased percentage chance to win by either thinning the field or enabling you to win with a bluff without making your hand.

If I raised here, I would not likely get position, and therefore would not be likely to get a free card based on my raise. Since I would be likely to get calls behind me, I could get the right price for a raise as a value consideration. But if I made that play, I might cause someone to fold who might have called, and I also might get three-bet, which would further induce players not to call.

Getting volume with a single bet can often have more value than the value received by making it two bets and thinning the field, even if you are getting the best of it in both situations. That may seem obvious, but it is something I see that is often overlooked.

Eliminating players generally increases your likelihood of winning the pot, even if only those eliminated were drawing to two runners. The larger the pot, the greater the value of increasing your likelihood of winning. In this case, if I could eliminate all aces with a higher kicker, it would give me a better chance to win the pot. But, would they fold? If the raiser had an A-K or A-Q type of hand, he probably would be the type of player to call a raise, anyway. Also, one pair was unlikely to win this hand with eight players seeing the flop and the likelihood of many of them taking their hands to the river. Additionally, the concept of eliminating players does not apply if you think your opponent(s) are drawing dead.

I flat-called the bet, with the thought of letting players call behind me. Nobody raised, and six players took a card off for $20.

The turn card was the 10 , giving me the nuts. Once again, the big blind led into me. Once again, I was faced with the decision of calling or raising. If I flat-called, I might get callers behind me who were drawing dead. That said, it also might allow a player with two pair to make a correct call by drawing to a full house. But in this game, I might even get callers drawing to a straight if I didn't raise, and maybe I really could get lucky and they would hit their straight. Because there was no raise on the flop, I felt much safer about giving the cheap card, as the likelihood of someone having a full house draw was somewhat reduced.

I flat-called and got two calls behind me. The river brought a fourth spade. The big blind now checked, and I bet and got a call from one of the players behind me. I showed my hand and dragged the pot.

There are different ways to play draws based on position, the texture of your hand, and the texture of the game. One must take all of these factors into account, weigh the advantages and disadvantages of all applicable concepts, and draw a correct conclusion.

On a different subject, please remember that if you have suggestions for a national poker association, e-mail me at [email protected]. I'll be writing about some of the ideas I get, and hopefully will be able to hook up people willing to put effort into this venture with those who eventually will undertake it. It's slow going, though, so please be patient.

Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for more than 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas. If you would like to ask Roy poker-related questions, you may do so online at www.UnitedPokerForum.com. His long tim e collaborator, John Bond, is a free-lance writer in South Florida.