Playing on the Fourth of July

For this year's main event at the World Series of Poker, I elected to play on day 1B, which also happened to be the Fourth of July. Americans were given a small U.S. flag to wave during the opening ceremony and singing of the national anthem. While I was at a relatively quiet table, with not too much in the way of fireworks, there were some interesting hands. I will describe one of them a little later. First, I want to discuss the politics of poker a little. While I was growing up, and for most of my adult life, the United States of America was always represented as a bastion of freedom, especially individual freedoms. Everything I was taught compared U.S. freedom with USSR repression. We were a free people. We could do what we wanted as long as it didn't harm anyone else, and the government left us alone. In other countries, citizens were restricted in a variety of ways, and their governments used vast spy networks to keep track of their behavior. That all seems to be changing. America is becoming more and more restrictive. The government is conscripting some companies, such as banks and phone companies, to become a network of electronic spies. The excuse for these violations of our rights is the War on Terrorism.

The War on Drugs didn't work. The War on Poverty didn't work. The War on Terrorism isn't working. Our invasion of Iraq has been a perfect recruiting tool for terrorist organizations. But among the many lives lost, people injured, and property destroyed, online poker is another potential victim of collateral damage. Anti-gambling factions managed to convince Congress that online gaming could be used to aid and abet terrorists, so the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came into being. Suddenly, our right to play poker, a truly American game, in the privacy of our own homes is being threatened. I could continue ranting about this deprivation of our civil rights, but let me end my political pronouncement by urging everyone to call or write your congressman, the presidential candidates, and anyone else in the government to state the view that online gaming, especially poker, should be legal. If you need more information on the ways of contacting your congressman, join the Poker Players Alliance or go to http://pokerplayersalliance.org/ for more details.

Now I will step down off my soapbox and discuss a poker hand from early in day 1 of the WSOP main event that illustrates a couple of interesting points. I am the 50 small blind with the A J. There are four limpers -- one in early position, one in middle position, and two in late position. What should I do? I frequently like to make a big raise in this type of spot. Only the first limper can have a strong hand, and if I get by him, I'll usually pick up the pot. The fact that I raise a big group of limpers with a variety of hands may provoke a reraise on some other occasion when I really do have aces or kings. On the other hand, the blinds are still small, and it is quite possible that someone will call with a speculative hand, hoping to catch a big flop and bust me. I decide to call, but the big blind raises to 500. He may have the same larcenous idea that I had, or he may have a big hand. Both the early- and middle-position limpers call. My call ends the preflop action, so I call.

The flop is 9 6 3, and I am first to act. I could bet out, but I decide to represent a big hand by check-raising. This strategy assumes that the initial raiser will bet. I expect him to do so nearly all the time. If he has a big pair or an A-K that missed the flop, or is on a complete bluff, he'll usually make some sort of continuation-bet. After my check, he makes the expected bet, 1,500. The first limper folds, but to my surprise, the second limper raises to 3,500. What's going on? The preflop raiser's bet was expected, and probably shows at best a high pair. The raiser must have a hand with which he is willing to fight against a high pair, most likely a set. He also might have some sort of semibluff hand, like the 8 7, a straight-flush draw. Note that this hand uses up four of my outs, in that it contains two of the clubs that I need, and two others that make my flush also make a straight flush for him. I am in terrible shape against a set or the combination of the opener's pair and the raiser's draw. I reluctantly fold. The opener calls. On the turn, a 9 comes, pairing the board. The opener checks and calls a bet again. The river is a small club. It goes check, bet, and call again. The bettor shows a pair of sixes for sixes full, and the opener mucks what was probably aces or kings without showing his hand. If I had bet the flop, and play had developed slowly enough for me to make my flush, I might have gone broke in the first hour. As it was, I dodged a bullet with my name on it.

Steve "Zee" Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on FullTilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A in New York City - Nice Guy Eddie's on Houston and Doc Holliday's on 9th Street.