A Well-Played $15-$30 Hold'em Hand

I was playing in a $15-$30 hold'em game at Wynn Las Vegas while waiting for the $40-$80 game to start when the following hand came up. Since the hands involved actual players, I have changed their names to protect their identities. The game was loose-passive and the hand involved the following four players: Bill (the small blind), Ray (under the gun), Lou (the cutoff seat), and Glen (the button). Lou and Glen are very loose and will call with some pretty feeble holdings. Bill is a good player. Ray had the Q Q.



Question No. 1: What should Ray do?



Answer: He should raise. This may seem like a trivial question, but I have seen players just limp in with a hand like this in order to avoid "losing their market." They are afraid that by raising, everyone will fold and they will get no action.



They want someone else to raise, enabling them to reraise. If no one raises, they are hoping they will get extra bets later since they have disguised the strength of their hand. But I think you need a tighter game and a better hand to make this play. With pocket aces, you don't have to worry about overcards. With pocket kings, only one overcard concerns you. But with pocket queens and jacks, you are very vulnerable. Furthermore, in a loose game like this one, it is completely unnecessary since the players are coming in with all kinds of holdings, like ace-little suited, king-little suited, suited or unsuited connectors, and small pocket pairs. You figure to get action regardless, so you might as well raise.



Ray raised, and Lou, Glen, and Bill called. There were nine small bets in the pot. The flop was J 8 7, giving Ray an overpair. Bill checked.



Question No. 2: What should Ray do now?



Answer: He should bet. The flop has both a two-flush and three cards that tie together. Checking, with the intention of check-raising, is bad because there is too great a risk that no one will bet. Giving out free cards to three opponents with a coordinated board like this one would be very bad.



Ray bet, Lou and Glen called, and Bill raised. There were 14 small bets in the pot.



Question No. 3: What now?



Answer: I like calling rather than three-betting. He may have the best hand with his big overpair, but there are several bad cards that could show up on the turn, such as a spade, a 9, or a jack. If one of these cards shows up and there is any significant action, he probably will have to fold, in most cases. For example, suppose he three-bets, everyone calls, and a non-spade 9 shows up on fourth street. Consider the following scenarios:



Bill comes out betting. There would be 11 big bets in the pot. Ray can safely assume that Bill has a 10, since he is a good player. Ray would need a 10 on the river to make his queen-high straight. If Bill has a 10, that leaves only three tens left from 45 unseen cards, so the drawing odds would be about 14-to-1 against. With the 11-to-1 pot odds, he would have to fold. Furthermore, even if he makes his hand on the river, if the 10 is a spade, he could lose to a flush.



He might even tie if someone else has a queen. The bottom line is that the pot odds wouldn't be there to continue, and even if he hit his long shot, he could tie or even lose anyway, so he would have to fold.



Suppose Bill checks. Ray checks with four parts to a straight on the table and three opponents. If Lou bets and gets raised, Ray will have to fold. If Lou bets and gets called, Ray has a dilemma. If he is up against two pair, he is getting the right pot odds to play. But if someone has a straight, he isn't. Hands containing a 10 are frequently played, such as A-10, K-10, Q-10, J-10, or 10-9. This covers lots of hands that loose players like Lou and Glen love to play. Finally, a spade can show up on the river, giving one of Ray's opponents a flush, so he will often lose anyway.



One could argue that by three-betting, he may get Lou and Glen to fold, but I think this is unlikely. They will call with any flush draw or straight draw, or just any pair. Keep in mind that if Ray three-bets, there will be 16 small bets in the pot and it would cost them two small bets to call. With 8-to-1 pot odds, they would be justified in calling.



Ray called, as did Lou and Glen. There were eight and a half big bets in the pot. The turn card was the 2. Bill bet.



Question No. 4: What is Ray's play?



Answer: Raise. Since a blank has arrived on the turn, now is the time to lower the boom. By correctly calling on the flop, Ray induced Bill to keep betting, thereby enabling him to raise now that the price had doubled. After raising, there will be 11.5 big bets in the pot and Lou and Glen will have to call two bets cold, thereby giving them pot odds of about 6-to-1. They are still getting a good price to pursue any flush draw, but not with a lower pair or a gutshot-straight draw. Hands like A-8 suited (not in spades), A-7 suited (not in spades), Q-10, and Q-9 represent the type of hands with which loose players like Lou and Glen might be hanging around. Ray's raise will probably knock them out of the hand. If not, they are making a big mistake by calling. There is an excellent chance that Bill has a top pair of jacks with a decent kicker, which means Ray is still in the lead. Driving out the other two players and getting to play heads up with Bill having a worse hand than his dramatically increases Ray's equity.



Ray raised. Lou folded and Glen called. Bill also called. There were 14.5 big bets in the pot. The river was the 7. Bill checked.



Question No. 5: What should Ray do?



Answer: Bet. While it is possible that someone now has trip sevens, it is far more likely that Ray still has the best hand. If he bets, there will be more than $450 in the pot, and for another $30, he will get called by many worse hands.



Ray bet and both opponents called. Ray won as Bill flashed the A J before mucking. Glen mucked without showing.

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