Poker Strategy With Jonathan Little: Two Pair In A Four-Bet Pot

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Hollywood, Florida for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open World Poker Tour series. Over the course of two weeks, I played three WPT events with buy-ins of $3,500, $10,000, and $15,000. In the middle of day 1 of the $10,000 event, I found myself in a difficult spot where I think I paid my opponent off incorrectly.

With a 41,000 effective stack at 200-400 ante 50, everyone folded to me on the button and I raised to 1,050 with A K. I had been reasonably active throughout the day, although I had folded my button a few times because both players in the blinds played well. The player in the small blind, a kid who I frequently see on the circuit, three-bet to 3,500. He seemed to generally be in line and had not messed around versus me at all. I got the vibe that he was playing straightforwardly against the good players, electing to play most of his pots versus the amateurs.

I think both calling the three-bet and four-betting are fine plays. Since I like to four-bet bluff from time to time, I also need to four-bet with my value hands, so I four-bet to 7,600. The small blind thought for a few moments then called. At this point, I thought his range was reasonably strong, and it could certainly include all his premium hands. I didn’t expect to see many drawing hands like 8 7 and 3-3, although perhaps he would three-bet those hands from the small blind then call a four-bet because the player in the big blind was a great player. In general, when raising from the small blind when the player in the big blind plays well, you should three-bet most of your playable hands in order to make the big blind fold. When the big blind is a weak player, you should be more inclined to call because you don’t mind if the big blind sees a flop.

The flop came 5 3 2. My opponent checked and I checked behind. I don’t think there is any point in betting this flop because most of my opponent’s range will call. If he has an over pair or any reasonable diamond, he will call any bet. If he doesn’t have either of those, I will likely be able to win at a cheap showdown.

The turn was the A, improving me to top pair, top kicker. Much to my surprise, my opponent bet 8,000 into the 16,050-chip pot. I did not expect him to bet in this spot because the Ace should be much better for my range than his, given I four-bet preflop then checked behind on the flop. Despite this, I don’t think I can fold. My opponent may bet A-Q or A-J for value and he may decide to bluff with a hand like K Q. I wasn’t too concerned about straights, sets, and two pairs because I didn’t think he would call a preflop four-bet with those hands. Raising is a bad option because my opponent will play perfectly, calling when he has me crushed and folding most worse hands. All of this led me to call.

The river was the K, improving me to top two pair. My opponent pushed all-in for 25,350 into the 32,050-chip pot. At this point, my normally strong hand is effectively a bluff catcher. I don’t think my opponent would push A-Q or even a worse two pair for value. This means that if he is betting for value, it is with a flush, set, or straight. I discounted most of the straights and sets due to the preflop four-bet. This means that if he is value betting, it is with a flush. It is worth noting that there should be very few flushes in my opponent’s range, primarily A K, A Q, A J, and K Q. Of course, he could have weaker flushes but I didn’t think he would three-bet and call a four-bet with those. The main problem I ran into is I couldn’t come up with many hands this specific opponent would turn into a bluff. If he had the Ace or King of diamonds, but not a flush, he would probably check the river, hoping to win at showdown. I didn’t think he would turn a hand like J J into a bluff. Given the way he played throughout the day, he just didn’t strike me as the type of player who would bluff off his stack. Then again, this hand is from a $10,000 event, which implies that most opponents are capable of bluffing some portion of the time. If his value range is only premium flushes, then I think I have to make the crying call because if he is ever bluffing, folding is a disaster. Notice I need to win 30 percent of the time based on the pot odds. If my opponent is value betting the four combination of premium flushes and only two combinations of bluffs, I have a marginal call. Essentially, if he bluffs with any portion of his range, calling is mandatory. If his value range expands to hands like 7 6 or 4-4, then calling would be terrible unless he is turning a huge number of junky hands into bluffs. Notice in this spot, he would have many combinations of value hands, meaning even if he was bluffing most of his busted flush draws, he would still have mostly hands that are better than mine.

After what felt like an eternity, I decided to call, going against my read because my hand seemed strong. My opponent showed me K Q for the second nuts. Next time I am going to trust my instincts! ♠

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $6 million in tournament winnings. Each week, he posts an educational blog and podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com, where you can get a FREE poker training video that details five things you must master if you want to win at tournament poker.

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