Harry and His Pocket Threes

No, this is not part of the Harry Potter series. This is a different Harry, a friend of mine who was playing with me recently in an extremely loose hold'em game (and, no, Harry is not his real name). He dragged a fairly big pot, then a few minutes later pulled me aside to ask if he had played the hand correctly. He had questions about his play on every street, and I thought those questions brought up some decent teaching points.

It's a 10-handed game. Before the flop, just about everybody calls. Harry is on the button with the 3 3. He correctly calls, the blinds call, and basically everyone and his mother is in to see the flop. The flop comes A 7 3, an excellent flop for our hero. Everyone checks to the player on Harry's right, who bets. Harry decides to just call.

Harry's question No. 1: Should I have raised there or was I better off waiting until the turn?

Let's assume that a set of threes is the best hand, which is a pretty safe assumption. He has only two objectives: protecting his hand against possible drawouts and maximizing his win if it holds up. I think raising on the turn accomplishes both objectives.

Since there is no flush draw, his primary concern is that someone is in there with a gutshot-straight draw (or if someone has 5-4, he has the only two-way draw). The game was so loose that I think anyone with a gutshot-straight draw would call two bets on the flop, so a raise would not get them out. Furthermore, with multiway action and such a loose game, the implied odds actually justify calling with merely a gutshot draw.

If Harry raises the flop, everyone will probably check to him on the turn. At that point, players know they will have to call only one big bet to see the river, and again, gutshot-straight draws will be getting the correct price to call. So, now Harry has the worst of both worlds: He's not charging opponents the maximum (he's getting two small bets and one big one instead of the other way around) and he's not moving the hands that can draw out on him.

On the other hand, calling the flop and then raising on the turn gets two big bets out of anyone who wants to see the river card. At that point, gutshot-straight draws would clearly be getting the incorrect price to draw, so if they decide to call, that's fine by Harry. He is taking the chance of letting someone pick up a backdoor-flush draw, and then that player would correctly call two bets on the turn, but I think that is a reasonable tradeoff. Besides, anyone who happens to pick up a flush draw on the turn will have only seven clean outs. The other two flush cards pair the board, and then that player will get a rude awakening.

OK, let's get back to the hand. Four players called behind Harry. The turn card was the 5. Everyone again checked to the player on Harry's right, and again he bet. Now, Harry went ahead as planned and raised.

Harry's question No. 2: It was correct to raise on the turn, right?

Without a doubt! It's always possible that someone has a higher set or hit a straight on the turn, but Harry certainly can't play in fear of those hands. That is scared poker, which is losing poker. If someone has him beat, he'll find out soon enough anyway. He has to raise and charge the maximum to anyone who is chasing him.

In the actual hand, the small blind folded, the big blind called, and everyone else folded to the original bettor, who called. The three of them saw the river, which was the J, for a final board of A 7 3 5 J. The big blind checked, and the original bettor came out betting again. Harry sat there for a while thinking. Finally, he decided to raise.

Harry's question No. 3: This was my biggest dilemma. I thought I had the best hand, but at the same time I wasn't sure if raising was the correct play. I thought that maybe I was setting myself up to get three-bet if he had me beat. Would you have raised?

First of all, Harry, your instincts tell you that you have the best hand. Follow your instincts! Absolutely, you're correct to raise here. As an astute up-and-coming player, Harry was putting his opponents on possible hands before the river card hit. He thought the big blind had 4-X, with the 4 giving him a two-way straight draw. He thought the original bettor had A-X and was probably drawing dead. For what it's worth, I completely agreed with both assessments. So, the J hitting on the river didn't change anything.

If the man to his right had him beat, he would have made it three bets on the turn, especially with another player in there with them. Instead, he comes out betting when the J hits. This practically screams, "Beat A-J and take the money!" By this same logic, there is very little reason for Harry to fear getting three-bet. Since the other player just called two bets on the turn rather than reraise, it's clear that he doesn't have the nut straight, and it's really the only hand with which he can logically three-bet on the river.

In case there is any doubt, let me finish up the hand. The big blind folded, and the bettor called and mucked when he saw Harry's set of threes. No one asked to see his hand, but Harry and I would both feel pretty safe saying he had A-J.

In conclusion, Harry, I'd say you played the hand exactly right from start to finish. You called from late position in a multiway pot with pocket threes. You flopped bottom set, and even though you would usually raise with it on the flop, you realized that it was better in this particular case to wait until the turn to raise. On the river, you did not have the nut hand, but by the same token, you did not play in fear of the nut hand, as so many scared poker players do. You extracted an extra bet while it was there for the taking.

Simply put, I'm not going to want to play against you much longer. You're making the right plays for the right reasons. You're getting a little too good.