Some Misplayed Hands

During the World Series of Poker I had the opportunity to play in numerous hold'em side games ranging from $15-$30 to $40-$80. The games were full of new players, many of whom had little experience playing limit hold'em. I saw a number of hands that I believe were seriously misplayed, and thought they would make for an interesting column. Since the hands involved actual players, I have changed their names to protect their identities.



Hand No. 1 ($30-$60 game): Ike is in early position. The under-the-gun player limps in. Before Ike can look at his cards, the player on his left calls as do two other players. The dealer stops the action while Ike looks at his cards. He has the J 8. Normally, this is a fold in early position, but since four other players are already committed, plus the blinds figure to play, Ike limps in, as well. The action goes to the small blind, who calls. The big blind checks and there are seven small bets in the pot. The flop is Q Q 10, giving Ike gutshot-straight and backdoor-flush draws. It is checked to Ike, and again before he can act, the player on his left throws his hand away, as do the other two players. Ike now decides to bet, hoping to win the pot outright, but having some outs if he is called. Only the big blind and the under-the-gun player call. There are now 10 small bets in the pot. The turn is the 5. Both opponents check to Ike. What should he do?



Answer: He should bet. If he gets raised, he can fold. There are five big bets in the pot and he can easily win more than 20 percent of the time when you consider that both opponents may fold and he can make the best hand at the river. If neither opponent has a queen but one has a 10, a jack might add three more outs, assuming he even gets called.



Ike quickly checked, delighted to get a free card. But, this free card cost him the entire pot. The river was the 4. It was checked around. The under-the-gun player won with the 7 7, while the big blind had the A 7. Ike told me that with two opponents, he thought one might have a 10 or even a queen, so he figured that taking a free card was the right play. The problem is that this is a big drawing flop containing both a two-flush and two Broadway cards only one gap apart. His two opponents could easily be on draws and might decide to fold if he bets the turn and follows that up with a river bet when a blank comes and it gets checked to him again. If one opponent has a 10 but no draw, he might fold on the turn, concerned about Ike having trip queens. He almost certainly would have won the pot by simply betting the turn. As an aside, the flop calls made by his two opponents were terrible.



Hand No. 2 ($15-$30 game): Bill is in the big blind with the A 7. The under-the-gun player, an early-position player, two middle-position players, and the small blind all limp in. There are six small bets in the pot. The flop is A 5 2, giving Bill top pair. The small blind checks. Bill bets. The under-the-gun player calls, as do two other players. The small blind folds. There are 10 small bets in the pot. The turn is the 7, giving Bill the top two pair. Bill bets and all three of his opponents call. There are nine big bets in the pot. The river is the 4. Bill checks. The first opponent bets and the other two call. What now?



Answer: With 12 big bets now in the pot, he must call, especially since his call closes the action. It is quite likely that one of his three opponents has a trey for a straight, but the pot is too big to fold. He would have to be right better than 12 out of 13 times (about 92 percent) to make folding correct.



Bill took a timeout and thought for a while. Since he was not raised on the flop or the turn, he reasoned that no one had two pair until the river. The 4 on the river must have helped his opponents. While it might have given one of them a lower two pair, what about the other two? Surely, at least one of them must have a trey. Bill reluctantly folded. The under-the-gun player had the A 4, the second player had the A 4, and the third player had the 4 2. So, Bill gave away a $360 pot. It's agreed that this is a peculiar result to the hand, but as a noted Internet poster once stated: "Trying to make tough folds at the river is not the way to make money at limit hold'em." Amen.



Hand No. 3 ($20-$40 game): Glen was two off the button with the Q J. A new player entered the game and immediately put up a $40 straddle bet. It was folded to Glen. He raised to $60 since he had a decent hand against a player holding two random cards, and a raise may fold the two late-position players and the blinds. This would enable Glen to isolate the straddler with position. Only the straddler called. There were almost eight small bets in the pot. The flop arrived with the 9 5 5, giving Glen a backdoor-flush draw with two overcards. His opponent checked and Glen bet. His opponent called. There were almost 10 small bets in the pot. The turn was the 9, double-pairing the board but giving Glen a flush draw. His opponent checked. What should Glen do?



Answer: Check. It is too easy for him to get check-raised, and right now he is a dog to any ace, king, or pair higher than fives. His opponent will not be folding, since he knows that this board has probably not helped Glen's hand. However, from Glen's standpoint, he really doesn't know where his opponent is at. If he is in the lead with his queen high, it is unlikely that a river card will hurt him. If he bets, there is an excellent chance that against a player who straddles, he will get played with. This situation screams for a free card.



Unfortunately, Glen bet. His opponent then raised. With eight big bets now in the pot, Glen called, hoping to snag a diamond, a queen, or a jack. And maybe a 9 or a 5 would enable him to tie. So, Glen called. The river was the 8. His opponent bet and Glen folded.



Hand No. 4 ($30-$60 game): Ted was in the small blind with the A 10. It was folded to an aggressive player in the cutoff seat who opened with a raise. The button folded and Ted correctly three-bet. The three-bet will drive out the big blind, and A-10 is a good hand against a late-position open-raiser. The big blind folded and the cutoff called. There were almost seven small bets in the pot. The flop arrived with the A 8 2, giving Ted top pair. Ted bet and his opponent called. There were nine small bets in the pot. The turn was the 9. What should Ted do?



Answer: Check. Most likely, the cutoff has an ace, which means that Ted is either way ahead with his opponent having only three outs, or way behind with his opponent having either a bigger ace or aces-up, resulting in Ted having three outs. By checking, he will induce his opponent to bet with a weaker ace. When this is the case, Ted collects something on every street with the better hand. If his opponent doesn't have a pair of aces and takes a free card, it is not the end of the world. Against a pocket pair, Ted is giving a free card to a two-outer, which is a 23-to-1 shot. If his opponent has something like middle pair or bottom pair, he has five outs, which is an 8-to-1 shot. There are currently only about four big bets in the pot, but if his opponent has a bigger ace or two pair, Ted will get raised and probably pay off at the river. This will cost him an extra $60.



On the actual hand, Ted bet and got raised. The river was a blank and Ted check-called as his opponent showed the A 9 for two pair.

Jim Brier has co-authored a book with Bob Ciaffone titled Middle Limit Holdem Poker. It is available through Card Player. Jim can be reached at [email protected].