Calling on the End

A prominent Internet poster has often stated that making tough folds on the river is not the way to make money in limit hold'em. Indeed, it is amusing to watch a player rapidly dump money into a pot on every round and then, with the pot being huge, suddenly go into deep thought when the final river bet is made. The pot odds will normally mandate a call with any decent chance of winning or catching a bluff. However, automatically calling on the end while hoping that your opponent is bluffing can prove to be expensive over the course of a year. Your read on your opponent, the betting action, and the texture of the board play a critical role in deciding what you should do. The following six hands, taken from live-action middle-limit games, illustrate some of the key considerations that come into play.

Hand No. 1 ($10-$20 game): An early-position player opens with a raise. Four players fold to you. You reraise with the A A. Everyone folds to the early-position player, who makes it four bets. Rather than give away the strength of your hand, you decide to just smooth-call, since you have position over your lone opponent. There is $95 in the pot and two players.

The flop is Q 6 2. Your opponent checks. You bet and he calls. There is $115 in the pot.

The turn is the J. Your opponent checks. You bet and he calls. There is $155 in the pot.

The river is the 7 . Your opponent checks. You bet and get raised. What should you do?

Answer: With $215 in the pot, you must call the $20 raise with your big overpair. Your opponent probably has pocket queens or pocket jacks, and has you beat with a set. But for a fold to be correct, you would have to be right more than 90 percent of the time. Your opponent might have pocket kings, which you can beat. He might be fooling around and putting in a last-minute raise in a desperate attempt to win the pot. Regardless, there is too much money in the pot for you to fold on the end.

If you ever decide to start folding hands like this on the end against one opponent, do not ever show anyone your hand. If you do, your more observant opponents will start taking pots away from you.

Hand No. 2 ($30-$60 game): You open with a raise under the gun with the A K . Only the small blind calls. The small blind is an eccentric lady who plays very loose preflop, but quite well once the flop comes. She is stuck about $3,000 in this game. There is $150 in the pot and two players.

The flop is the J 10 5. She bets and you call with your two big overcards, gutshot-straight draw, and backdoor nut-flush draw. There is $210 in the pot.

The turn is the 9 . She bets. You just call with your nut-flush draw, because she is not the type to fold on the turn when raised in a heads-up situation. There is $330 in the pot.

The river is the 2. She bets. What should you do?

Answer: You must fold here. Calling is bad because the 9 on the turn helped many nonpair-type hands she might have, such as K-Q, 8-7, or 9-8. The only hand you can beat is specifically A-Q.

Hand No. 3 ($20-$40 game): You are on the button with the 9 8 and limp in behind an early-position player, a middle-position player, and the cutoff. The small blind limps, the big blind raises, and everyone calls. There is $240 in the pot and six players.

The flop is the A 10 7. The small blind checks, the big blind bets, the early-position player folds, the middle-position player raises, the cutoff folds, you call, and the small blind folds. The big blind then reraises and the middle-position player makes it four bets. You call, and the big blind caps the betting. Both the middle-position player and you call. There is $540 in the pot and three players.

The turn is the J. The big blind bets, the middle-position player calls, and you raise. Both opponents call. There is $780 in the pot.

The river is the Q. The big blind bets and the middle-position player calls. What should you do?

Answer: For sure, no one has K-Q, since your raise on the turn was not reraised. Of course, anyone with a king now has you beat with a bigger straight. The big blind raised after several players limped in preflop. This could mean A-K. But would he have three-bet and capped the betting on the flop with just top pair, top kicker, or would he be more likely to have done this with two pair or a set? What about the middle-position player? He cannot have A-K, since he did not raise preflop. We have already ruled out K-Q. There is no other hand containing a king that would have caused the middle-position player to raise and then four-bet on the flop. Since there is a chance that the big blind may not have A-K and was playing two pair or a set, I think you have to call for another $40 with $860 in the pot. The big blind had A 10. The middle-position player had A J. You win.

Hand No. 4 ($10-$20 game): An early-position player limps in and a middle-position player raises. You call with the A Q. Both blinds and the limper call. There is $100 in the pot and five players.

The flop is the A 8 7. It's checked to the raiser, who bets. You raise and only the bettor calls.

The turn is the 8. Your opponent checks and you bet. He raises and you call.

The river is the K. Your opponent bets. What should you do?

Answer: Although there is $240 in the pot and it costs you $20 to call, I believe you should fold. Your queen kicker is useless, so any ace ties you. There is now a spade flush possibility out there. Your opponent's check-raise on the turn means that he most likely has big slick or trip eights.

Hand No. 5 ($30-$60 game): You are in the small blind with the K Q. The under-the-gun player opens with a raise and you are the only caller. There is $150 in the pot and two players.

The flop is the K J J . You bet and he calls. There is $210 in the pot.

The turn is the 10. You bet and your opponent calls. There is $330 in the pot.

The river is the 3 . You check, and your opponent bets. What should you do?

Answer: With an open pair, three hearts, three parts to a straight on the table, and an under-the-gun preflop raiser, it doesn't seem possible that you have the best hand. Nevertheless, with almost $400 in the pot, I think you have to pay off for another $60 and take your medicine. He might have raised with a medium pocket pair like nines that included a heart. He might have pocket queens, including the Q. He might have raised with A-10 suited and hung around. While holdings you can beat are very unlikely, the pot is big enough that you need to call. However, folding may not be too far wrong because of all of the stuff out there.

Hand No. 6 ($10-$20 game): You are in the small blind with the A A . Everyone limps in except for two early-position players, the cutoff, and the button, who fold. You raise, and everyone calls. There is $120 in the pot and six players.

The flop is the K 9 8 . You bet and two middle-position players call. There is $150 in the pot and three players.

The turn is the 7. You bet. The first middle-position player raises, the second player folds, and you call. There is $230 in the pot and two players.

The river is the 6. You check, and your opponent bets. What should you do?

Answer: Fold. Since you correctly bet fourth street with your big overpair, it is unlikely that your opponent is trying to take the pot away from you. Even if he was semibluffing on the turn, the 6u should have given him whatever he was seeking, since there are now four parts to an open-end straight on the table as well as three diamonds.