Small Tournament Roundup

This is a story about a senior citizen poker player in Las Vegas. I mentioned him in a previous column. His name is "Action Al" Burns, and he plays poker practically every day at Bellagio. At first sight, you may underestimate this elderly gentleman. However, he has the sharp mind of a 30-year-old and a vast knowledge of the game of hold'em. Burns is aware of what is happening in the game at all times; nothing gets past him. This is an example of a hand that he played recently. It is unusual because it is not the type of hand that he would typically play. However, pot odds entered the picture, and this is something of which he is very aware at all times.

Burns was in the big blind with 4-3 offsuit. After a player limped in, "Gentleman Ron" from Monte Carlo raised from early position with pocket aces. Several players called, so Burns called from the big blind. The initial limper then reraised, and eventually the pot was capped at $40 in this $8-$16 hold'em game. There were eight players involved, so there was $320 in the pot before the flop. Burns was getting 7-1 odds on his investment, not counting what the pot would eventually become. However, the actual odds the pot was giving him were much bigger than that each time he made a call. The first call of an additional $8 was giving him pot odds of 15-1, assuming that the initial limper called the raise (seven opponents each putting $16 in the pot, plus his big blind of $8). By the time the action had returned to Burns again, he was once more faced with a 15-1 proposition. Now, everyone had four bets in the pot, as the initial limper had reraised and "Gentleman Ron" had hit it again with his two aces. When the betting was capped by the first-position limper, Burns now had to call $8 more while getting pot odds of 39-1. Seven players with $40 each in the pot plus his investment at that point of $32 had built a pot totaling $312. With Burns' final $8 call, $320 was in the pot before the flop. The pot would eventually grow to more than $600.

The flop was 9-4-3 rainbow. Burns checked, and "Gentleman Ron" bet his pocket aces. Five other players called and then Burns check-raised with his two pair. They all called. The turn was a 7, and the river was a jack. Burns bet it all the way, and was called by all six opponents. His two pair held up, and he won a very big pot.

This is not the type of hand that you would normally want to play in a hold'em game. However, if the correct pot odds are there, it is worth the gamble to go for it. This may also be the correct play in a tournament, depending on the situation.

I recently participated in the first Seniors World Championship at the World Series of Poker. It was a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event. Congratulations to Oklahoma Johnny Hale and the Binion's Horseshoe staff for a very well-run poker tournament for the seniors. The number of entrants (340) far exceeded their expectations.

I would like to discuss a hand that developed in the first round of this tournament. We were playing ninehanded and I was in seat No. 8. We started with $1,000 in chips, and the blinds were $10-$15. I raised to $75 from early position with A-Q. Seat No. 1 called with pocket kings, seat No. 2 called with pocket sevens, and all the others folded. The flop came Q-7-2 with two diamonds. There was $250 in the pot, so I bet a little more than the size of the pot ($300). I liked the flop, but I did not want a diamond draw to get there. Well, all hell broke loose after I made that bet. Seat No. 1 shoved all of his stack in (about $1,000), and seat No. 2 shoved in all of her stack (about $1,000). I was pretty sure that a set was there somewhere, so I folded. An ace came on the turn, which would have given me two pair. However, I still would not have beaten the set of sevens that seat No. 2 had flopped.

Seat No. 1 busted out of the tournament with his pocket kings. In hindsight, he made a bad error when he just called my raise with pocket kings. He should not have slow-played that hand. If he had reraised me before the flop to $300, seat No. 2 would have folded her pocket sevens, and I would have folded, as well. He would have won the pot right there. Seat No. 2 made a good move by calling my $75 bet with her pocket sevens. In no-limit hold'em, it is a good strategy to call a raise with a small pair if you do not have to jeopardize more than 5 percent to 10 percent of your chips. If you flop a set, you can possibly win a huge pot. That is exactly what the player in seat No. 2 did. This would not have been a good call in limit hold'em, because the possible return on investment would not have been worth it. Good luck at your next tournament.