Draw When the Draw is Right!

I've had to listen to a lot of no-limit hold'em stories from my pals lately, as they have made the transition from limit hold'em to that more popular game. While there are many differences between the games, one of the most important is that the ability to size your bets in no-limit hold'em enables you to price your opponents in or out of situations to create the greatest edge for yourself. If I were going to make a list of the top five skills a no-limit player needs, bet-sizing would be on that list. For limit players, alas, that is not a tool. But as is the case with so many things, the fixed bet is a double-edged sword. It can cost you, but it also can make you money.



"You can't ever protect your hand in limit," a no-limit player complained to me after showing me two aces and tossing them into the muck after two different players had made two pair on the river. And, he is mostly right. The bets are not big enough to fold the many players who like to chase hands. The thing is, they often are not getting the correct price to draw and are taking the worst of it in regard to edge. And limit hold'em is mostly about accumulating small edges over the course of time. Plus, you have the same opportunities to draw out on the villains, but do it selectively, only when your price is right; that is, of course, assuming you can figure out the equation!



The game was $30-$60 limit hold'em, and I was in the big blind. Bob, a Canadian snowbird with whom I am friendly and who was in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, limped in from under the gun. Ms. Beatrice, a local player, raised from two seats to his left and was called by two other players and the small blind. I peeked down to see the J 10 and tossed in three chips. Bob, the up-front limper, three-bet the pot. I immediately read Bob for having aces. So, it seemed, did Ms. Beatrice, who stated, "I think I'm drawing dead," and she folded for the single bet in the rather large pot! I thought she held an A-K or A-Q and folded to avoid trapping herself. All of the other players called, as did I.



The flop came 10 6 4, giving me top pair, jack kicker. Knowing I was beat, I checked. Bob bet, was called by one opponent, and I called behind, hoping to snap off a 10 or jack. No such luck! The K hit on the turn. I checked once again, Bob bet, the other opponent folded, and I was the only other player left in the pot.



I seldom draw on the turn to a single pair when knowing I am beat. You're about 8-1 to hit either your pair or your kicker. And you need to extend the price the pot is laying you beyond that, because you can seldom assume that you are going to win if you hit. Often, an opponent in the pot either improves with you by holding the same pair or kicker or has you drawing to an inferior hand to his holding. And sometimes you're drawing dead to half!



But this particular case was different. I knew what Bob held, and knew I was drawing live. Also, I didn't have to worry about a third opponent's holding. There was $660 in the pot; thus, it was laying me a current 11-1 price, and I was only about 8-1 to improve. I also thought Ms. Beatrice had held cards that were different from my hand, thereby increasing my odds slightly – as two additional cards that did not affect my holding were gone.



Plus, I could obtain additional action if I hit my hand. Even if it wasn't indubitable that Bob held A-A, the pot/price overlay made up for a significant amount of plausible error. Although I like Bob, I called, knowing I would put what would appear to be a bad beat on the guy if I caught the right card.



Swish … nothing but net! The J hit on the river. I thought about check-raising my friend, but Bob often checks one-pair hands on the river, and I thought he would be very likely to check this one, thinking that I knew what he had and that the board was looking dangerous to one pair. So, I spared my friend the check-raise and bet, not because I'm a nice guy, but because I wanted to make sure that I got a bet in! He called.



Bob gave me a wry smile, showed me the two aces, and mucked.



The situation speaks to several concepts.



First, if your opponents can read your hands with accuracy, they are much more prone to play you correctly. It is worth making the effort to vary your play some, even if you take the worst of some situations, to prevent yourself from becoming too predictable. (But don't go overboard with this idea, as so many losing players who are looking for an excuse to gamble do.) If I hadn't almost unquestionably known Bob's hand, I couldn't have called on the turn.



Second, always figure your outs and the price the pot is laying you. Even many good players throw away hands that they would be correct in drawing to because they don't take the time to figure the price. Every time you fail to make a correct draw, you are costing yourself equity, equity that costs you big money over the long haul.



If this hand had been played no-limit, Bob could have priced me out of the pot and won it. But limit is a different animal, and while you get sucked out on more often, you can do your share of sucking out.



As long as the price the pot is laying you is right, suck … suck … suck until you do "suck-ceed."



Roy Cooke has played more than 60,000 hours of pro poker and has been a Card Player columnist since 1992. His longtime collaborator, John Bond, has played more than 20,000 hours and is a freelance writer in South Florida. They have four books currently in print from ConJelCo Publishing. Please see Roy's real estate ad on this page.