Hand to Hand Combat: Raj Saha

Hand No. 1

Craig Tapscott: Since a lot of online players are traveling to their local casinos to play cash games, let’s examine two hands from medium-stakes games. Raj, please set this hand up for us.

Raj Saha: It’s a $300 minimum/$500 maximum buy-in game at Hollywood Park Casino in Los Angeles. When I take my seat, I notice a player with a lot of chips in front of him and quite a few bottles of beer. I’d never seen him before. Over the course of the next few hours, he manages to lose around $2,500, whereas I build my initial $400 investment to around $1,300. Then, he gets up and leaves.

CT: So, the fish left. That always makes everyone sad.

RS: The whole table was very disappointed. There were no two cards that he didn’t like to play. The game then tightens up and gets pretty boring. After around two hours, I suddenly notice that the same player is back and playing in a $200 game. I walk over to see that he already has $1,000 in front of him.

CT: Table change, please!

RS: Exactly. I specifically ask the floorman (rather, tip him), and downgrade to that $200 game. I guess this is called “following the fish.” Since the fish and I had played together earlier, we are kind of pals now, and go back and forth. He keeps getting extremely lucky and cleans out half the table, and now has around $2,000 in front of him.

CT: Have you been able to build up your stack?

RS: I somehow don’t get involved in any big hands with him, but manage to chip up to around $1,200. Then, the hand I have been waiting for happens.

Raj Saha limps in from the cutoff with the A♣ 4♣.

CT: Why not raise from this position with a pretty strong hand?

RS: Well, my “mark” is in the big blind. I normally would have raised this hand with only three players behind me, but here, I just limp, as I’m pretty sure that he’s going to raise, because I can see chips in his hand. He has constantly been telegraphing his intentions. The reason I do this is that if an ace flops, he won’t believe that I have one, as I would have raised with an ace in my hand from late position.

The small blind completes. The villain raises to $25. Saha calls. The small blind calls.

Flop: A♦ 4♥ 2♦ (pot: $75)

The small blind checks. The villain bets $50. Saha snap-raises to $150.

CT: With the speed of your raise, how are you trying to throw the villain off track?

RS: Well, the quickness with which I raise might indicate that I have a flush draw, which is what I want him to think. I don’t like just calling here, as the only way that I can get any money from him is if he has an ace. If he doesn’t, just calling gives him a chance to hit a magic card, which will cause me to stack off to him, since he’s so loose and unpredictable.

The small blind folds. The villain calls.

Turn: 7♠ (pot: $375)

CT: Any read?

RS: I don’t think he has the flush draw. If he had a hand like the K♦ Q♦, I would expect him to put in a third bet on the flop. I am almost sure that he has a big ace here.
The villain checks. Saha bets $200. The villain shoves all in.

CT: What now?

RS: I can’t put him on a set, as I think he would have put in another big bet on the flop to discourage me from drawing to the possible flush. Did he get lucky with pocket sevens? No, he wouldn’t have called the $100 raise on the flop. So, what does he have? This is where reading your opponent and fully understanding the type of image that you have in his eyes becomes so important. I think that he thinks I have a flush draw and am trying to buy the pot. So now, he’s taking a stand with an A-X type of hand.

Saha calls.

River: 7♣ (pot: $2,425)

CT: That’s not a good card.

RS: No.

The villain reveals the A♠ 10♠ and wins the pot of $2,425.

RS: Moral of the story? Was it the right move to follow him and play a big pot with him? Yes, of course it was. The fact that I got rivered shouldn’t change anything. I picked out the fish, got into his game, built up my chip stack, and put myself in a great position to win a big pot against him. Everything worked as planned, except the river card.

Hand No. 2

The player under the gun straddles for $10. Five players call the straddle.

CT: What’s your image at the table?

RS: I have been raising a lot of hands preflop, especially when a bunch of guys call the $10 straddle, which creates a sizeable pot to take down or at least reduces things down to one opponent. I have the table covered in chips, so people are kind of hesitant to play a big pot with me. In this hand, I’m on the button and five players have called the $10 straddle. So, I …

Saha raises to $75 with the K♠ K♣, and only the villain in the big blind calls.

CT: It’s a perfect setup for your image.

RS: I know. It looks like an obvious steal from the button.

Flop: K♦ K♥ 8♦ (pot: $215)

RS: Wow! But my jubilation lasts only a couple of seconds, as I realize that it’s going to be very tough to extract any money in this hand — unless …
The villain bets $100.

CT: What’s up with that donk-bet?

RS: I liked it (laughing).

Saha calls.

RS: I put my best poker face on and make a crying call. I obviously can’t raise here. What can my opponent have? Obviously, there are no more kings left, and he wouldn’t lead out with pocket eights. He doesn’t have one 8 in his hand, as he called $75 out of position preflop. So, the only hand I think he could have here is the nut-flush draw or a pocket pair smaller than kings, trying to test the water.

Turn: A♣ (pot: $415)

RS: If my read is right, he hit that ace.

The villain bets $100.

RS: He’s definitely trying to control the pot size, so I …

Saha raises to $250.

CT: Why that bet-sizing?

RS: I don’t want to lose him, and giving him 5-1 odds is definitely going to keep him around.

The villain calls.

CT: What’s your dream river card?

RS: My best river card is an ace, which should fill him up. The next-best card is a diamond.

River: 6♠ (pot: $915)

The villain checks.

RS: That’s a bad card for me, as he missed everything and is left with just aces up. He has around $600 left. An all-in bet seems too strong, but I don’t want to bet only $200 and miss out on getting value. I know that he has the ace, and the whole table by now thinks that I have nothing. I think for a minute, and bet $400, leaving him with $200. I believe that this is probably a good play psychologically, and is consistent with my effort to buy the pot (in his eyes, as there is really nothing he can beat here). At least he’s not going to go broke if he calls.

Saha bets $400. The villain tanks, and then calls and reveals the A♦ J♦. Saha wins the pot of $1,715.

RS: I obviously got lucky with that hand, as my opponent made a hand that had showdown value. But I never could’ve gotten paid $800-plus without my loose-aggressive table image. ♠

Raj Saha received a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Alabama in 2004, and worked in the information technology industry for nearly five years. After “discovering” poker on ESPN in 2005, he started religiously playing live poker twice a week while working his day job. He quickly realized that he could make more money at poker, and quit his job in October of 2009. He plays five days a week and has been winning almost double his previous salary.