What Are My Options?

Dealer Chris Hardin of San Jose's Garden City Casino sent two interesting questions by e-mail.



"I have a question pertaining to proper poker parlance. If someone exercises his option in the big blind by placing more chips in the pot, is it called a bet, or a raise? Usually, when it gets to the big blind, I say, 'Option, check or bet.' Some people say I should say, 'Check or raise.' I figured I'd ask someone whose opinion I trusted."



Technically, the options are "not raise" and "raise." The big blind has already bet. Both blinds are mandatory bets made before the cards are dealt. They are certainly bets (and not, for example, equivalent to antes, because when it is time for either blind to play, the player has already put some portion of the bet into the pot, and that amount is considered part of the player's bet). In the case of the big blind, if no one has raised, the player has already put in one full bet and is not liable for any more. But it's awkward for a dealer to say, "Option, not raise or raise," and potentially confusing (due to misunderstanding). I like "Option, call or raise." Unfortunately, that too is confusing. You're likely to have the player to whom you say it respond, "Call? What do I have to do to call?" Or, "How much do I have to call?" Illogical though it seems, I think "Check or raise" is the only response that doesn't need further clarification.



Chris also asked about two phrases that mean the same thing. First, he gave the example that "cash out" has the same definition as its apparent opposite, "cash in." He then referred to "another pair of phrases with the same definition, 'head up' and 'heads up.' I was dealing the $8-$16 game and announced 'heads up' when it was down to two players. Another player said, 'Actually, it's head up.' After checking my handy compendium of poker vocabulary, I found they had the same definition. That said, I was wondering if one was more appropriate than the other. Since childhood, I have always referred to two people as 'heads up' – mostly in schoolyard competitions and the like, rather than poker. So, was the player correct, or can either be used?"



As it turns out, both can be used. They mean exactly the same thing, but "heads up" is probably more common in cardrooms. Now, there is a distinction between using and not using a hyphen. Without the hyphen, the term is an adverbial phrase, with two possible meanings:



Heads Up: 1. Pertaining to two players playing a game by themselves. "They're playing heads up for a big one." (Translation: Two players are playing a freezeout for $1,000.) Also, two-handed and head up. 2. Head-to-head; that is, only two players in a pot. When a house dealer says "heads up," he means there are exactly two players in the current pot.



With a hyphen, the term is an adjective:



Heads-Up: Pertaining to playing heads up. "They're in a heads-up game." "It's a heads-up pot."



The Last Word on Zero Pot Equity in Hold'em



Reader Jack M. has submitted what seems to be the optimal solution to the problem I posed regarding the minimum number of hold'em starting hands required such that at least one has zero pot equity. I concluded eight hands were required, but Jack sent a new solution that uses only seven sets of hands, and only one has zero pot equity: 7 7, 7 7, 8 8, 8 8, A A, A K, A K.



The 8 8 hand has zero pot equity. Here's why:



The pair of eights cannot improve to three of a kind or eights full (since the other eights are accounted for).



Any two pair or trips on the board that does not improve an existing hand causes the eights to lose to the aces. Similarly, any one- or no-pair hand on the board that does not improve an existing hand gives a winner to the aces.



The only possible straights that the eights can be involved in are 9 through queen on board, in which case the A-K makes a bigger straight, or 9 through king on board, in which case the aces and A-K hands make a bigger straight.



All flushes are always won by one of the hands involving aces and kings, so the eights can never win; neither can there be a multiway split.



No full house or four of a kind on board can produce a winner for the eights or a seven-way split.



Now let's look at straight-flush possibilities. With deuce through 6 on board, the sevens make the highest straight flush. With 9 through queen or 9 through king of the same suit, if the suit is black, the black eights make the best hand if the king is not on board; if it is, the A A hand wins. If the 9 through queen is in hearts or diamonds, the A K or A K makes a royal flush when the red eights make a queen-high flush.



No other board combinations exist that would involve a seven-way split.

Michael Wiesenberg's The Ultimate Casino Guide, published by Sourcebooks, is available at fine bookstores and at Amazon.com and other online book purveyors.