John's Jacks

My buddy John is playing in the South Florida house game he frequents three nights a week. It's $20-$40 limit hold'em with $30-$60 overs and $40-$80 superovers, played 11-handed, with one and sometimes two rovers, to accommodate 13 players. It's a center-dealt game, one of business owners, retirees, firefighters, and such – not a pro in the bunch. It's a sweet game.



I like 11-handed games, as there's that much more money in play. There tends to be more callers, not just because of the extra player, but because callers beget callers, making for lots of multiway pots. In John's game, most pots are played at least fivehanded, and there's a lot of hand-reading value when playing with the same players night in and night out.



Short-steps, the tightest player in the game, raises from under the gun in the No. 10 seat. This is a guy you can put on a narrow range of hands in this spot: pairs, tens or better; A-K; and maybe A-Q suited. If he's stuck and steaming – which he isn't – maybe 9-9, A-Q, or A-J suited. There are no other possibilities.



Big George, second to act in the No. 11 seat, ponders for just a moment, and hits it again. Big George is the most experienced player in the game, and the most aware. He can be really loose with starting hands when limping in, recognizing that a lot of the value in a game like this is in after-the-flop play, and sacrificing some preflop edge is OK if you can make it up on later streets. This is particularly true when you're playing for $20 bets before the flop, and maybe $80 bets on the turn. He's probably the best after-the-flop player in the game, and prides himself on avoiding traps and making the right laydown. As loose as he can limp in preflop, though, George is screaming tight when it comes to preflop raises. While he occasionally can get creative with something like 10-9 suited or a small pair, nine out of 10 times if he reraises preflop, his range is as narrow as Short-steps', especially from such early position. To three-bet Short-steps in this spot, he pretty much has to have a pair of queens or better, A-K, or maybe A-Q suited. There are no other possibilities.



The No. 1 seat mucks. It's three bets to John. He peeks down at two black jacks. John has been playing since the '80s, and in all of those decades, he has never mucked a pair of jacks preflop. But even John knows that a call here is not automatic. John hems and haws, and takes longer than usual to think about his play. The good news is that the players yet to act behind him, impatient for him to act, begin to give off tells.



John's thinking that he may have to flop a set. If enough players will come, he's correct to call. Then he realizes from the tells that the field is likely to fold behind him; only the big blind may come. None of the worst players who give this game so much value will be involved. It was not enough of a price. But, the big blind and Short-steps are in $30-$60 overs, and John and Big George are in $40-$80 overs. That improves John's implied price, he figures to have position, and he has his opponents' hands well-defined, so he makes the crying call of $60. Everyone mucks back to Short-steps, who calls, and they take off the flop threehanded.



Bingo! J-6-2 rainbow. John struggles to hold back his glee. Short-steps leads, Big George raises, and John mulls. If he raises, Short-steps will lay down an A-K or A-Q suited, or even a 10-10, with which he might call Big George's raise. Also, if John raises, he is likely to get checked to on the turn. But if he blows out Short-steps, he can play George, who he is now sure holds an overpair, for $40-$80 on the turn and river. An over-thinker who's somewhat addicted to "Fancy Play Syndrome," John goes for the deceptive play and calls. Short-steps calls.



The turn is the Q, an overcard that might well have hit John's opponents and also put up a two-flush. Short-steps checks, Big George bets, and John ponders again. He's certain that George holds A-A, K-K, or Q-Q, and pretty certain that Short-steps does, too. Short-steps is capable of playing for the check-raise if he has Q-Q. John, afraid that he might be beat, just calls. Short-steps flat-calls behind him, convincing John that he holds A-A or K-K. The river card is the Q. Short-steps checks and Big George bets. John, now more confident of his holding because there is only one possible Q-Q for an opponent to hold, and sure that he has Short-steps beat, raises. Short-steps flashes K-K to the player in the No. 9 seat and mucks. George makes a crying call. John shows his jacks full and George slips his two aces into the muck faceup.



As usual, I hate John's play on pretty much every street. He's a dog preflop and should fold. Even in loose games, you sometimes are confronted with tight situations. He should raise on the flop and try to blow out Short-steps, reducing the number of cards that can beat him, and getting into superovers with George. Likewise, on the turn, if the queen beat him, it beat him, but he's still a 2-1 favorite to have the best hand against his opponents' likely holdings. On the river, there is less risk and a more likely return by flat-calling George's bet and seeking an overcall from Short-steps than raising George. I sure wouldn't have played it that way. If I'd held John's hand, George would have won the pot with his aces. And if I'd seen the flop, there would have been more chips in the pot, by blowing Short-steps out on the flop and getting into superovers with George.



The best games around used to be on the Internet. Things have changed. Those of you who live outside poker meccas like Vegas, Atlantic City, and California are going to find your best spots in private games. If you're lucky, you might find a sucker like John to fill a seat.



Roy Cooke has played more than 60,000 hours of pro poker and has been part of the I-poker industry since its beginnings. His longtime collaborator, John Bond, is a freelance writer in South Florida. Real Poker III: The Best of Cooke 1992-2005 is available at www.conjelco.com.