When Pots Get Large

Playing large pots presents some unique problems, the solutions to which are frequently counterintuitive. Occasionally, we get lucky and have a great hand or a great draw when the flop arrives and there is a large pot at stake. These situations are not difficult to play. But most often, our involvement in a large pot is when we don't have the best hand and have a small number of outs. Pot odds, both current and implied, often mandate that we play by betting or raising when our instincts might tell us to call or even fold. These instincts are driven by the desire to avoid involvement by taking a "wait and see" attitude. It seems natural to strive for a free card in these situations. But due to pot size, this can cost the player money in the long run, even though the player may save some money the majority of the tim e. The following hands illustrate some of these situations. You may want to decide for yourself what you would do before reading my answer.

Hand No. 1 ($20-$40 game): You are in the big blind with the A Q. Seven players limp in, including the small blind. You decide to raise and everyone calls. There are 16 small bets in the pot. The flop is K 8 3, giving you an overcard and backdoor nut-flush draw. The small blind checks. What should you do?

Answer: You need to bet here. You have represented a big hand with your preflop raise out of the blind after a large field has entered the pot. A king-high flop would help many of the hands you are representing. Furthermore, this flop is both rainbow and disjointed, so there are no flush or straight draws out there. If you check, players with middle pair, bottom pair, or just a pocket pair may correctly believe their hand is the best. If the flop were more coordinated, checking would be fine. But with this flop, you must keep betting until someone tells you to stop by raising. You won't get a top pair of kings out of the hand, but no one may have a king and you may get a lower pair to fold when you follow up your flop bet with a turn bet (assuming you are not raised). If you get raised, you are still getting good pot odds to take off a card to your backdoor nut-flush draw and ace overcard. Keep in mind that you would at least call if someone else bet, so checking may not save you a bet anyway.

In the actual hand, the player checked. It was checked around. The turn card was another diamond, giving our hero the nut-flush draw. He bet and got called by one player. The river was a blank. He bet, got called, and lost to a pair of treys. In all fairness, betting the flop may not have changed the outcome, but checking the flop made calling on the river easier for his opponent.

Hand No. 2 ($15-$30 game): You are on the button with the A K. Four players limp in and you raise. Both blinds and the limpers call. There are 14 bets in the pot. The flop is Q 10 3, giving you a gutshot-straight draw and a backdoor-flush draw along with your two overcards. It is checked to you. What should you do?

Answer: I like betting, although taking a free card is very tempting. Two well-known experts thought checking their overcards was right because they don't want to reward those players who like to check-raise. But you have a lot more than just your overcard outs working here. Your gutshot is worth four outs and your backdoor-flush draw is worth about one out. This is five outs to the nuts in a 14-bet pot. By checking, your opponents will correctly put you on A-K. By betting, they may check to you on the turn, giving you a free play to the river if you wish. The only real downside to betting is when it gets raised and three-bet back to you. But even then, you still have a thin call, and this is very unlikely to happen in all but the most aggressive of games.

Hand No. 3 (A loose, aggressive low-limit game): You are in a low-limit game in which about seven players on the average are taking a flop, and there is a lot of raising preflop by players who like to build big pots. Post-flop, the play is more like a normal low-limit game. You are under the gun with the A K and open with a raise. Two players call, the cutoff reraises, the button and small blind call, and the big blind caps the betting. Everyone calls. There are 28 bets in the pot. The flop is 9 6 3, leaving you with overcards. The small blind checks and the big blind bets. What should you do?

Answer: The first thing to realize is that the cutoff's three-bet and the big blind's cap does not necessarily mean that they have premium hands like pocket aces or kings. This is a game in which players like to "jack it up" with a wide range of hands. I think a pot with 29 bets in it is too big to fold for one bet at this point when you have six outs to top pair, top kicker. So, you have a definite play here. Raising to try to thin the field does not figure to work. After you raise, there will be 31 bets in the pot, and for two bets, players will call with virtually anything when they are getting almost 16-to-1 pot odds. Therefore, I think calling is right.

Hand No. 4 ($30-$60 game): You are in the big blind with the K J. An early-position player raises and five players call. You call. There are 14 small bets in the pot. The flop is K 10 6, giving you top pair with a backdoor-flush draw. You bet and two players, including the preflop raiser, just call. There are 17 small bets in the pot. The turn is the Q, giving you an open-end straight draw in addition to your top pair. You bet. The preflop raiser now raises and the other player calls. You call. There are 14.5 big bets in the pot. The river is the 3. You check. The preflop raiser bets and the other player calls. There are now 16.5 big bets in the pot and it costs you one big bet to call. What should you do?

Answer: Despite the large pot, I don't see how you can call, especially given the presence of an overcaller. Had the third player folded, you had to call. But a board containing a king, a queen, and a 10 figures to give an early-position preflop raiser a better hand than yours. A third guy involved means that your hand cannot be any good.

Hand No. 5 ($20-$40 game): You raise an under-the-gun limper from early position with the J J. The cutoff and the button both call. The limper now reraises and everyone calls. There are 13.5 small bets in the pot. The flop is Q 10 8, giving you a gutshot-straight draw in addition to your pair. The under-the-gun player bets. What should you do?

Answer: With almost 15 bets in the pot, you would be calling anyway, so you might as well raise in order to drive out the cutoff and the button. If the bettor has A-A or K-K, you are unlikely to get three-bet, given that board and your preflop raise. Furthermore, you have six outs to beat A-A or K-K. If the bettor has A-K, you are raising with the better hand.

Jim Brier has co-authored a new book with Bob Ciaffone titled Middle Limit Holdem Poker. It is available through Card Player.