Bad Beats and Big Slick

There are bad-beat stories, and then there are Big Slick stories – and sometimes they are one and the same. A player recently e-mailed me this Big Slick story:

"I was playing in a fairly tight $15-$30 hold'em game, and before the flop, a strong player raised from under the gun. The player on his left reraised, and the next player capped it at $60. I had the A K and folded my hand. A friend sitting at the table couldn't believe that I had mucked an A-K suited before the flop – and reminded me that I would have made the nut flush if I had called the raises. I contended that since I probably was up against A-A, K-K, or possibly both, I made the correct play. What do you think?"

In a tight game in which a player who's under the gun raises and two more raises follow before it gets to you, it seems obvious that the first three players in the pot were holding big cards. The operative word is "tight" game. When all hell suddenly breaks loose in a tight game, naturally, I have to give my opponents credit for having big starting hands. There's a good chance that I would be drawing strictly to my suit. Although that suit did come, it wasn't a big favorite to get there. You can't always judge your play by the results of a hand; you have to go by what the best play is in the long run. Under these circumstances, I clearly agree that folding even A-K suited before the flop is the correct play. If I was always reduced to needing to hit my suit in a capped pot, I would be in bad shape. I think players frequently overvalue and misplay A-K. After all, Big Slick is a drawing hand, not a made hand. I also would have folded in your situation.

Here's another question that revolves around Big Slick, this time from a player by the name of John who was afraid that he was up against the dangerous duo in a ring game.

"I am slightly more than a rank beginner at hold'em," he began, "and right now I'm trying hard to learn some of the finer points of the game." He was playing in a $3-$6 hold'em game when a situation arose in which he thinks he may have made two errors, one of which he believes may have been misplaying his hand at the river. "The game was ninehanded and I was in seventh position," he continued. "A conservative player sitting two to the left of the big blind raised it to $6 before the flop. I called with a K-10 offsuit, and the button and big blind both called behind me. The flop came 8-8-7 in three suits, and the betting was checked around. A deuce came on the turn, and again it was checked around. On the river, a king fell. The big blind checked and the original raiser bet. At that point, what was my correct play? The winning hand is not one that I can know for sure, because I decided that the bettor probably had an A-K and had my king outkicked. I folded, and so did the other two players. I thought that my play was correct, but a friend of mine who is a very good player almost fell off his seat when he saw me fold."

I promise not to fall off my chair like your buddy did, but I do agree that you made two errors in the play of the hand. Your first mistake was calling a raise with K-10. If the raiser is as conservative as you described him, he probably raised with a much better starting hand than yours. Why call with a K-10 if you think the raiser has a very strong hand? Having called the raise, you then elected to take the free cards on the flop and turn, finally pairing on the river. In fact, you made top pair. I believe that since you already were in the pot, you should have called the final bet. Although you may not have liked doing it, the pot probably was laying you a big enough price (because of the preflop action) to make the call. To be brutally honest, John, your logic baffles me: Why call a preflop raise with a marginal hand, get there with it, and then fold for a single bet?!

But, I'll give you credit for one very good thing you're doing. You're trying to improve your game, which is a bigger step than lots of players are willing to take. Keep analyzing your play and asking experienced players for their advice, and continue to read and study, and these types of mistakes soon will disappear from your game.

And just as soon as they do, I'm sure we'll meet each other at the final table, perhaps at the Four Queens Classic in Las Vegas.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Tournament Poker. He and Brad Daugherty currently are putting the finishing touches on their new book, Championship Satellite Strategy. You can play online with Tom and Brad almost anytime at PokerStars.com.