Bet Something!

In my last column, I recounted a hand in which I cracked pocket aces for more than $200 in a $2-$4 no-limit hold'em (NLH) cash game (Card Player, Vol. 20/No. 16 - "With Big Hands Come Big Losses"). My opponent made two big mistakes: First he let me make my hand cheaply, and then he paid off a huge river bet.

Those two errors commonly go hand in hand. I call them "Suck and Stuck," or "S&S" for short. You suck someone into a hand, often by checking when you should bet, and you end up stuck for your entire stack. People regularly tell me what they think are bad-beat stories, but in reality they often committed S&S, and have no one to blame but themselves.

Many players have an overwhelming desire to check a big hand on the flop. For example, you're in a NLH cash game. Two players limp in from middle position, and you raise a reasonable amount from late position with the A A. The two limpers call, the flop comes A K 7, and they both check to you.

It's amazing how many people I've witnessed checking it back in those types of situations. For them, flopping top set equals an automatic check, yet it's rarely the correct play. There are a number of reasons to bet something in that spot, and over time I plan to discuss several of them. But for now, let me offer up my favorite reason to bet out in these situations:

You Must Allow Your Opponents the Chance to Make Mistakes
In general, winning poker is about making the fewest mistakes. That means not just avoiding them yourself, but also inducing them from your opponents. If you check, you are offering absolutely no opportunity for your foes to play incorrectly.

With the A K 7 flop, an opponent easily could have a Q-J or J-10 type of hand. He will gladly take a free card, and, frankly, you'd be a fool to give him one. But, if you make a legitimate flop bet and he calls without the proper pot odds, you've just profited.

Regardless of the outcome of the hand, his mistake equals your profit.

However, when I talk about offering your opponent incorrect pot odds, you have to take into account the action that will transpire if and when your opponent hits his gutshot. After all, it's not as if you have bottom pair, or some other hand that you easily can throw away. You have top set, and therefore have to be realistic; you're probably not going to lay it down, and if you get outdrawn, you can expect to lose heavily.

It's certainly better to make an undersized flop bet than none at all. But I still don't suggest betting only $10 when you have the potential to pay off $200 or more later on. If you check the flop, or bet too little, that is unquestionably your mistake. And if someone gets lucky and hits a gutshot, that equals his profit, and it's all coming from you.

Let's Take This Idea of Mistakes One Step Further, Though
We've been focusing on one specific mistake - an opponent calling without getting the correct price to draw. But it's entirely possible that one of your opponents could make a much worse mistake, if given the chance. To show you what I mean, let me recount the following online hand, which actually happened to one of my poker students; we'll call him "Hero."

In a $1-$2 NLH game, an early-position player (EPP) opened for $6. One player called, and then Hero called from the big blind with the J 10. The flop came A-9-5 rainbow. Hero checked, and the EPP made an undersized continuation bet of $7 into the $19 pot. The next player folded, and Hero had what was essentially an easy fold.

But he wasn't ready to fold so quickly. He started thinking that the raise from the EPP probably signaled a big pocket pair, and he might have bet small because he had something like K-K or Q-Q and didn't like the ace on the flop. If that was true, he shouldn't be able to stand a raise. Hero went ahead and check-raised to $17. The EPP thought briefly, and called.

The turn was a 10, and Hero thought, "The EPP probably called on the flop to save face. I'll bet again, and now he should be ready to lay it down." Hero bet $25. The EPP thought for some time, and then called.

The river was an 8, for a final board of A-9-5-10-8. Now, Hero thought, "Wow, this guy is stubborn. I don't think he has a big hand, because he would have raised me somewhere along the way. I originally thought he had K-K or Q-Q, but maybe he has a big ace. I don't think my pair of tens is any good, but I've come this far, and I've built a pretty big pot. Maybe I can get him to lay down a hand like A-K if I go all in on the river." Hero moved in for his remaining $100 or so. The EPP instantly called, revealed pocket aces, and took down the sizable pot with his top set.

I'm not going to start dissecting Hero's play, because that's not the point of this story. The point is that he drastically misread his opponent's strength, which caused him to go broke on a hand when he had essentially nothing! And what got the ball rolling was the bet from the EPP. If the EPP had checked the flop, the whole hand would have played out differently. Hero still probably would have taken a shot at the pot, but he never would have gotten so deeply involved, and it's highly unlikely that he ever would've ended up all in.

By opening the flop betting, the EPP not only gave Hero the opportunity to make a mistake, but he also allowed ample time for that mistake to snowball. By the time the river arrived, the pot had become big enough that Hero decided it was worth trying to steal with an all-in bet, and that was his crowning mistake.

Conclusion
I don't like underbetting the flop with a big hand. In our A K 7 example, you are not protecting your hand properly against a potential flush draw, or even against a gutshot-straight draw, given that you can be expected to give significant action if, for example, a 10 comes to make a straight for a Q-J; not to mention that you might be falling into a detectable betting pattern of betting less with a monster hand, and vice versa.

But at least you are betting something! That's the most important thing. Don't commit S&S. When you have a hand that warranted a raise, good things happen when you open the betting and build the pot. Why limit your profit potential by checking instinctively? You never know when someone might put you on a bluff and decide to test you. That's one test you'll be happy to take.

Matt Lessinger is the author of The Book of Bluffs: How to Bluff and Win at Poker, available everywhere. You can find other articles of his at www.CardPlayer.com.