Hidden Bonuses

How many times have you seen a deal where both no-limit hold’em players had to put all their money into the pot, because they both had fine hands. One of them was mighty unlucky when the other guy or gal won the whole pot. A lot of players think with this kind of layout it is simply a question of good luck versus bad luck — and that often is the case. However, it is also often the case that even when the play is impeccable after the flop, someone never belonged in the pot to start with.

Let’s look at a couple of hands and decide whether the loser was unlucky or sowed the seed of his own destruction. Assume the game is $5-$10 no-limit hold’em blinds and both players start with a grand worth of chips.

Here is a simple situation. Player A holds a pair of jacks and opens with a raise to $40. Player B on the button with pocket Kings, reraises to $125, and player A calls. The flop is K J 3. Player A checks, Player B bets $200 and Player A raises $400 more, not wanting to give a cheap card when there is a two-flush on the board. Player B raises all-in and Player A calls.

Whatever happens from here, one cannot argue with two facts. Number 1, Player A was unlucky to run into the only hand he could not beat; top set. Number 2, Player A was brought out of his comfort zone by the preflop reraise of Player B. By committing more than ten percent of his stack, Player A was betting that he had a better starting hand than Player B, because he was not getting the right price to try to flop a set, and, besides, was out of position. By over-extending himself preflop, he was responsible for his own demise.

For those of you that think there is nothing wrong calling a preflop reraise out of position with pocket jacks, instead of arguing with you, I will simply lower the hand down to pocket tens, then pocket nines, and so forth, until you admit to Player A making a bad call of the reraise. With second set against top set, I would never argue about going all-in with your hand, but I need to ask how you got there in the first place. Often, the answer is you played too loose preflop.

Here is another matchup. In an unraised pot, Player A under the gun has K 10 and Player B on his left has A J. Three diamonds come on the flop. I don’t know if Player A is going to lose all his chips or not, but anyone would take a sizable loss with the second-nut flush. I will do what I did on the first hand. I do not think K 10 is worth a call in first position. For those of you who do, we can just keep lowering the rank of Player A’s kicker until you agree he has no business calling preflop. Again, playing a starting hand that is inappropriate for the situation would have avoided the big loss.

It is my observation that on the big pots where two players have a hand they will play for a lot of chips, the person with the worse starting hand is usually the one who enters a trap with the worst of it. So the hidden benefit of playing good starting hands is that when two players have a fine hand they cannot get away from, the solid player is the one who usually has the best of it. Being on the right side of a trap is a big deal at no-limit play.

Events that are no-limit traps such as set-over-set are rare occurrences. But at no-limit, a trap will swing a large amount of money, so it’s a big part of the game. Since the essence of poker is betting that your hand is better than the other player’s, you would think people would be a bit fussy about what hands they get involved with. Some are, but a lot are not. So one hidden bonus of playing good hands is being on the right side of a trap where all the money is going in.

I admit to being a tight player in cash games where the blinds are small and the money deep. I sometimes think this way, “if I enter a pot with this hand, I could have seen a whole round of cards for the same price. Am I holding a better hand than I could get with eight more starting hands?” If the answer is no, perhaps I should wait for a better spot.

Some people hate to put money into the pot, so are tight regarding starting hands, don’t raise without the near nuts, and seldom bluff. I do not play that way and don’t teach that style of play. I simply am fussy about my starting hands. However, once I am involved, I fight very hard to win the money out there. Frankly, playing few starting hands enables me to win pots that a looser player would have a hard time capturing. I regard tight play with regard to starting hands as an asset. If someone folds whenever I put money into the pot, it does not take me very long to figure out that they think I almost always have a real good hand and look for a chance to exploit that situation. And I find it amazing when these people who wish to avoid me make it clear to one and all that they folded a good hand against me, and will do so the next time as well. I hold more hands where I welcome someone saying “you win” than I do someone saying “I raise.”

I admit to betting a lot of flops when I have only a few opponents. It is not so easy to hit a good hand as some players make it look when they are catching cards. Bones Berland often told me that I should not let the money rot out there in the middle. He also stressed that ending pots quickly was a fine form of euthanasia. Poker players appreciate a fast-moving game, and ending pots quickly was an important responsibility of a professional who wants to earn a living at poker. The more hands dealt, the higher the earn. The other players will simply get out of his way if they do not have a quality hand. So another valuable bonus of a player who has the patience to play few hands is his bets have more power.

When you enter a lot of pots, aggressive players are liable to throw some money in your face, putting you under pressure. They see you in the pot often enough to put you on a mediocre hand, because nobody can hold that many good hands — or even decent ones. However, few players want to mess with someone who rarely plays a hand. Avoiding pressure is another hidden benefit to playing good starting hands, to go with avoiding traps and easy stealing. ♠

Bob Ciaffone’s new poker book, No-limit Holdem Poker, is now available. This is Bob’s fifth book on poker strategy. It can be ordered from Bob for $25 by emailing him at [email protected]. Free shipping in the lower 48 states to Card Player readers. All books autographed. Bob Ciaffone is available for poker lessons.