Slow-Play With a Short Stack?

In late February, I headed to L.A. to play in the $10,000 buy-in WPT (World Poker Tour) event at the LAPC (Los Angeles Poker Classic). This tournament is held at Commerce Casino, and is six days long.

Last year, we had one of the best final tables in WPT history, with Phil Ivey (he won it), Quinn Do (second), Nam Le (fourth), Scott Montgomery (fifth), and me (sixth). I had a massive chip lead at that final table, but couldn’t convert it into a win.

This year, I made it past day one pretty much risk-free, but on day two, with the blinds at 300-600 and an ante of 75 a man, I found myself with a mere 6,400 in chips when I looked down at the K Q. I was in early position and had three options: I could move all in for 6,400, I could raise it to 1,800 to go, or I could limp in. Folding here wasn’t an option. Currently, the “standard play” is to move all in with this hand — with around 10 times the big blind in chips — and most of the world likes this move. The advantages to moving in are that you can force someone to fold a hand like A-10 or a small pair, and thus pick up the antes and the blinds (1,575) and increase your stack size roughly 20 percent. Even if someone calls you with 10-10, you’re only a small underdog to win the pot. Of course, if someone picks up A-K behind you, you’re in big trouble.

Option number two is to make a standard raise of three times the big blind. This option is not a good one, but it does give you the chance to fold your hand when you’re reraised, thus giving you a chance to save your last 4,600. But realistically, how often are you going to fold your K Q for 4,600 more when the pot already has roughly 8,500 in it? I would not recommend making this fold to an amateur player or an intermediate player. Thus, I would not recommend making it 1,800 to go unless you have amazing reading abilities, and can call the 4,600 raise every time except when your opponent is holding A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, or A-Q. That’s a tough read for even a top pro to make!

Option number three, merely calling 600 preflop, also gives you some flexibility, but I do not recommend it for an amateur player or an intermediate player. This is an advanced play that even most pros shouldn’t make.

Basically, when I limp in here, I am trying to trap someone behind me — either before the flop or on the flop — with the option of saving most of my chips if I run into someone holding a hand that has me dominated. Just calling 600 is a tricky thing to do, and involves one ability: read, read, and read. Before the flop, you have to be ready to move all in when someone behind you raises with a worse hand (read), fold when someone behind you raises and has you dominated (read), or call or move all in when someone behind you raises with a small or medium pair (read).

And then you have to be ready to play your hand the right way on the flop. This involves either slow-playing if you flop a huge hand or fast-playing if you flop a huge hand, depending on the texture of the board and your read of your opponent’s strength and ability to fold a hand; folding when you flop top pair or second pair, or moving all in if you flop top pair or second pair, again depending on the board and your read of your opponent; bluffing or rebluffing, or folding when you flop nothing; and moving in, betting, or checking when you flop a drawing hand. One thing is certain: You have options galore when you limp in for 600, but you’d better be experienced enough to find the right one for the right situation!

I limped in, another played limped in behind me, and the flop was 10 7 3. I had flopped a flush, and now I was glad that I had limped in, as it gave me a chance to win a bigger pot if someone else also had flopped something. Four of us checked, and the turn card was the 2. I hated that card, not because I was worried that I was beat — it took someone holding the A to beat me — but because I felt that I would win less money now. The players in the blinds both checked to me, and I checked. Now, the guy behind me bet 2,000, and the player in the small blind called. At this point, I was licking my chops! The big blind folded, and I raised it to 5,000 to go. Both opponents quickly folded, and I won a decent pot. By the way, if I had moved all in preflop, I would have won 1,575, but my limp won me an extra 4,900! Again, I wouldn’t recommend the 600 call to anyone other than a top pro, but it worked pretty well for me, at least this time.

Learn more about Phil by going to his website, www.PhilHellmuth.com, and visit his webstore at www.PokerBrat.com.