Some Interesting Hands and Situations

In the last few months, I have participated in a variety of tournaments in both the United States and the Bahamas. I was at the Wildhorse Hotel and Casino in Pendleton, Oregon, for the November Poker Roundup, and ran into a few situations that I can only label as, "What were they thinking?" The first hand involved me. We were deep in a no-limit hold'em tournament with the blinds at 800-1,600 with a 300 ante. I was in the big blind, and after posting, I had less than 3,200 remaining. I was going to be forced to call with a wide variety of hands if somebody moved in on me. We were about 10 players short of the money when this hand occurred. Everyone passed around to the small blind. He thought for a moment, and then moved in. The move-in bet was for more than 50 percent of his stack, and I was going to call with almost any two cards. I held a J-10, and thought this was plenty good enough in this situation. He turned over 7-5 offsuit. Needless to say, he caught a 5 on the turn to win the pot. I even had an open-end straight draw but could not connect. Now, why anybody would want to put more than 50 percent of his stack in preflop with a 7-5 against a player who was probably going to be forced to call with almost anything is a mystery to me. What you don't want to do in this situation is give away more than half of your chips and double up a short stack when you are that close to the money - especially with a hand as weak as 7-5. This player should have folded the small blind and waited for the button. He would have had a better chance to at least make the money this way than by making a high-risk move-in bet with a bad hand.

The next unusual hand was described to me by my friend Paul Fischman, who was playing a cash game at the Wildhorse and was involved in this pot. The blinds were $2-$5 and the maximum buy-in was $400, and Paul had just sat down with that amount and taken the big blind. There were five limpers, and the button raised another $5 and everybody called, including both blinds. Paul, in the big blind with 6-5 offsuit, was definitely priced into the pot for such a small raise. The flop was A 7 4. Everyone checked to the button, who bet $15 on his gutshot wheel draw and backdoor-flush draw (with the 5 2). He got three callers, including both the small blind and Paul with his open-end straight draw in the big blind. The turn card was the 3, and all hell broke loose. The small blind led out with a bet of two-thirds the size of the pot. Paul then moved in for the rest of his $400 starting stack. The button also moved in, and the small blind called the rest of his stack. The small blind had the same nut straight as Paul. The button, who had hit his wheel, could not make a bigger straight and split the pot; he had to hit the flush, and when the 9 came on the river, he scooped a nice pot.

Now, let's see if the button played the hand correctly. Again, what was he thinking? This is a good hand to evaluate. I think he made four mistakes in this one hand. Remember, players should not be results-oriented; they should always be thinking about what the correct play should be under the current circumstances. The fact that he won this hand does not mean that he played it correctly - far from it, in fact. The first mistake he made was raising the minimum amount from the button. With that many players, why not just limp in and see a cheap flop. He reopened the betting, and anybody could then reraise and he would not be able to call. I wouldn't blame him for calling with the 5-2 suited from the button, because he had a nice price for his hand and position, but his raise for such a small amount only makes the pot bigger, with a hand that will have to be folded after the flop the vast majority of the time. His second mistake was betting on the flop when it was checked to him. Why not just take a free card with your gutshot draw? Also, why bet such a small amount and risk getting raised out of the pot. It's hard to make two mistakes on one betting round, but he succeeded. His worst mistake was calling a big move-in bet on the turn with his flush draw and just one card to come. He had so little invested in this pot, and with one card to come, he was not a favorite to make his hand, so why put in that much money to draw? The fact that he won this hand is immaterial. If he continues making plays like this, it is inevitable that he will go broke.

The final hand is not as involved as the last one, but again, I was on the receiving end of a beat that knocked me out of a tournament. At least this time I was in the money before it happened. It was the Omaha eight-or-better tournament at the Wildhorse, and the blinds were 300-600. I had A-A-Q-10 single-suited. I raised and was called by the big blind. The flop came J-J-7 rainbow.

I bet, and he called. The turn card was an 8. I bet, and he called again. The river card was a 5. Now, he bet out. I knew that he did not have a jack in his hand, so I was hoping that he had only backed into a low. Unfortunately, he had a 6-4 in his hand and had made a straight. His other two cards were a 5 and a deuce. Why he would continue calling after the flop with nothing but a weak backdoor draw to a low is another mystery to me. We were heads up, so he was getting no price on his hand, and he did not have an A-2, so a low might not have been good if he made one. Also, he barely had me covered, so he would have been crippled if he lost.

Well, if your hands don't lose to these types of beats and you continue to make the right plays, I hope to see you at the final table one day.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He can be found playing under his own name on PokerStars, and is happy to chat when he can.