Poker Hands From Vegas

In this article, I would like to give you some hands that I played in Las Vegas when I went there this June for the 2012 World Series of Poker. I played in several cash games and three tournaments.

I have seen a number of people write that there are only two reasons for betting; either to get a better hand to fold or to get a worse hand to call. I find this proclamation to be a bit too simplistic. For example, I bet fairly often to get a worse hand to fold. Perhaps we will see some examples of this.

In the $1,000 Senior’s (over 50) event, we started with $3,000 in chips. I think all the WSOP events give you three times your buy-in chips. The first betting level was 25-25 blinds. My table was probably typical for this event. There was only one person I knew in the game, a reasonable player nicknamed Red. The player on his right was what I call a “chipper,” constantly betting small amounts into the pot on mediocre holdings. There were a couple of ladies in the game who were experienced players, although not particularly aggressive. Several of the men were passable and three of the men were totally clueless.

Early on, I picked up pocket nines in the big blind. I am always happy to be dealt an intermediate pair, as a set is the hand you are looking for to double through an opponent. There were two middle position callers, plus the chipper. Red on the button raised to 75. I called, as did the other three players. The flop came Q-Q-4 rainbow and three of us checked. The chipper bet 75 into a pot of 400. Red called, and I decided to just call, in case one of the checkers was sandbagging a queen. The remaining players folded. The turn card was a seven of the fourth suit. I thought there was a good chance that my hand was the best, because the chipper was doing his usual chipping and I thought that if Red had a good hand, he might well have raised. I bet 400 and they both folded without much of a problem.

So what type of bet was my 400? My purpose was to discourage the opponents from going on a big steal and possibly prevent anyone from drawing out. I thought that my hand was good, but I would hardly call it a value bet. It was one of my typical bets, not really sure exactly where I stood, and hoping to win the pot right there. It was neither a bluff nor a value bet.

Not long after, I again picked up pocket nines. Several players called a small raise by the chipper, so I called from the small blind. The flop came K-8-4 rainbow. I checked and so did everyone else. A deuce came on the turn. Since the field had checked to the preflop raiser, it was entirely possible that someone had a real hand, so I checked again. All checked to the chipper, who made a small bet. I called and a lady who had played under-the-gun called. On the end came a king. I was pretty sure that my hand was good, so I bet about half the size of the pot in case someone felt like keeping me honest. There were no customers, so I won. Intermediate pairs often turn out to be the best hand, even though one plays them with the hope of flopping a set and busting someone. There is an old Chinese saying: “When no tiger in house, then monkey is king.”

A little later, I saw a hand played between two of the weaker players. There was a flop bet and call. On the turn, the board was paired with a three-flush and four parts of a straight. Now they went to war with a bet, raise, and reraise all-in. I expected to see a hand such as the nut flush losing to a full house. Instead, one of them showed pocket queens for queens up, and the other hand presented a medium flush. I was pulling for the queens to boat up, but he did not.

Later on in the session, I actually picked up a big hand. Playing 50-100 blinds, I had pocket queens in the cutoff seat and opened with a raise to 300. The big blind called. The flop came Q-7-2 rainbow, as perfect as one could hope for. My opponent checked; should I check or bet? In my opinion, a check from the preflop raiser with that board looks extremely suspicious; what is he afraid of? I bet 400, a type of bet that can get called by a midsize pair such as tens or nines, and starts to build a big pot if the opponent is unlucky enough to have flopped a set. My opponent thought for a bit and called. A king came on the turn and we both checked. I put my opponent on an intermediate pair and did not want to deprive him of a chance of hitting a two-outer for an under-set. Here, the advantage of a flop bet is obvious, as there is no way my opponent has a chance to make a straight. On the river came an ace. To my surprise, the fellow bet into me. I raised him all-in and he called. His hand was not what I had expected; he had A-K. He had hit it twice, but won only the place pool of zero.

So I did have some luck early on, but had a long dry spell and had to make a stand. I got all-in on two overcards against a pair, and busted out. All the top tournament players are good at either side of that confrontation (or so it seems).

The next day, I entered a special $610 entry seniors event at Caesars Palace, hosted by Oklahoma Johnny Hale. Here is an interesting hand from that event.

After a few hours, I picked up two jacks on the button. I raised some limpers, and wound up with a bunch of callers. The flop came J 9 8, giving me top set. There was just over five grand in the pot, I had about twenty grand left. Everyone checked to me, so I bet 4,000. Three people called me. The turn was an ugly T, putting a four-straight on the board and two possible flush draws. To my amazement, everyone checked to me again. I did not expect anyone had the nut straight; was it possible that no one had a queen? I decided to go all-in. I did not think anyone with the low end of the straight would call, and maybe the board would pair if a queen called me. Sure enough, one player called and the board failed to pair. He showed Q-9 for the straight. He had called four grand on the flop with a pair of nines and a gutshot. When this was pointed out to him, he insisted that he had been open-ended.

Now you know why I like the senior events! ♠

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered (autographed to you) from Bob by e-mail: [email protected]. Free U.S. shipping to Card Player readers. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons at a reasonable rate. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.