Cappelletti in Motown

I recently attended the National Bridge Championships in Detroit. Why Detroit in the wintertime? Because the tournament was held at the Renaissance Center, which is essentially a covered (indoor) mall. From the Marriott Hotel lobby, you can easily go to several restaurants, go shopping, or visit the food court without venturing outside (it snowed several times while I was there). The Renaissance Center is also a stop on Detroit's "People Mover" train, which circles through downtown Detroit, making 12 stops. The second stop from the Renaissance Center is Greektown, where there is a casino with a large poker room.

In addition to the usual variety of limit and no-limit hold'em games, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pot-limit Omaha high table with a $300 buy-in and $5-$10 blinds. I bought in for $500, but did not get involved in any big pots for the first hour. Of course, in any new game, it is usually a good idea to sit back and get the lay of the land. Although the game was not particularly tight, everyone respectfully folded both times that I raised the pot before the flop ($45) with two limpers in front of me, first with "bad" pocket aces (no flush or straight couples), and then with pocket kings.

My first real action came on my big blind when a small raise on my left made it a "family pot" $25 to go. I called with my A 2 K 4. In six-way action, the flop came Q 5 3. So, not only did I flop the nut-flush draw, but I also had 11 straight outs (not counting the 4 and 6).

Since I had noticed that the preflop raiser was a very reliable lead bettor, I checked from first position. Sure enough, "Old Reliable" led with $50, and got one caller back to me. What would you do here, looking at $250 in the pot with about $550 in chips in front of you? Old Reliable had a large stack of chips, but the caller had only about $100 left. Think about it.

There are essentially three reasonable courses of action here: a call, a $50 to $100 "spike" raise, or a pot raise. With two cards coming, I am more than 70 percent likely to make a flush or a straight.

If, instead of the nut-flush draw, I had merely a lower flush draw, and if the caller was not short-stacked, I would probably choose to raise the pot here (a $300 raise). They both would fold perhaps one-third to two-thirds of the time, and if I got called, I would probably win a large percentage of the remaining time. But here, because the short stack would probably call most of the time, that almost eliminated my chance of grabbing the pot. That changed things drastically.

So, I would probably have to hit to win this pot. Note also that if I hit my nut-flush draw, I would prefer not to have chased out any lower flush competition. Also, raising the pot here, if called by the big stack, would leave me with almost half of my stack and acting first on the turn. Would you go all in if you did not hit here (a come-bluff for the side pot)? That's not my cup of tea. All in all, I do not like the raising-the-pot option.

But because I like my hand due to the excellent drawing chances, would it not be generally correct to try to get some more money into the pot? If I just call and then hit on the turn, I will merely be able to bet the pot at $300 - about half of my stack. One of the most time-honored strategies in pot-limit Omaha (which, of course, is famous for river-card disasters) is to get all of your stack into the pot when you flop or turn the nut straight, which greatly reduces the implied odds of someone drawing against you by eliminating the fruits of subsequent betting (also, you don't have the problem of facing a huge bet after a scary river card).

Thus, in pot-limit Omaha, after a good flop, it is often best to adjust the size of the pot ("spike" the pot) so that you can get all or most of your stack into the pot if you hit on the turn. But note that strategy is most effective when you are in last position. Then, if it is checked around to you, you have the option of getting a free last card. But if, as in this case, you act first after having spiked the pot and don't hit the turn, and then check, someone acting after you might make the big bet that you had hoped to make.

All in all, because of your positional disadvantage, the short-stacked caller, and the probability of future cooperation from Old Reliable, I think it is best to simply call here. The 6 turned, giving me a low straight (but a 7-4 would have the nut straight). So, now there was also a diamond-flush draw (in addition to the spade-flush draw, which I had dominated). What would you do now, acting first?

The time had come to bet the pot. It was very unlikely that either of them would be playing a hand with a 7-4. The most likely way I could lose this pot was if someone hit a diamond flush or if the board paired. But anyone calling my $300 pot bet with either of those draws would be getting bad odds.

Things went the opposite of what I expected! Old Reliable called and the short stack folded. The river card was the safe J. Obviously, I "might as well bet" (see my recent column, "The MAW Bet") my remaining $200-plus, since if he had the nut 7-4, he would bet and I would call. So, I might as well bet just in case he had any other holding. He chose to call me with his queens up, so I won $700-plus on that one hand. We all enjoyed Motown - even though it did snow a lot.

Formerly a career lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice, Mike Cappelletti has written numerous books on poker and bridge, and is considered to be one of the leading authorities on Omaha. Mike has also represented the U.S. in international bridge competition, and he and his wife were featured in a four-page Couples Section in People magazine. His books include Cappelletti on Omaha, Poker at the Millennium (with Mike Caro), and Omaha High Low Poker.