Poker Tropical

With (Ks,Kh) our player makes a raise from the small blind and is called by the big blind. The flop comes down (5c,8c,9c) Our small blind immediately shoves all in and is called by (Ac,6s). The turn is a (5) and the (7) completes the Straight for the big blind player. I saw this hand being discussed by other players and so thought I would share some thoughts on the play in this article.

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The small raise from the small blind is fine in my opinion, limping would also be fine seeing as th action has been folded around.
the big problem for our player holding Kings comes by way of the flop. The flop is about as ugly as it could be without containing an Ace. Sometimes, the play of shoving all in will work for the player with pocket Kings, if his opponent does not have a set, a Straight, or some combination containing the nut Flush draw… It will probably work, but only through sheer luck of the opponent not having a hand. If you do happen to walk into a big hand, it’s already too late to take your chips back.

He is a little unlucky that the Straight or Flush card does arrive, but in my opinion, he could have put out a medium sized bet to try and judge if his opponent had connected or had a club draw on the flop, and then made a good lay down later in the hand once he had bought this information. He would then have given himself the chance to make a good fold and save the majority of his stack, rather than shoving, then praying, then ultimately finding he has walked into a hand.

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In the early stages of the tournament, I picked up (Qd,8d) and decided to call from late position to take a flop. The flop came down (Q,6,9) and I led out with a small bet to try and find out where my hand was. Two players folded, and the third, after some thought, flat called.

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The turn brought a (7) to give me an open ended straight draw, and I bet out strongly for 800. I knew my opponent was a solid player, and so when he reraised to 2,000 I really had to feel I was beaten. After considering things for a while I decided to trust my instincts that he had hit a straight. I had made a small bet on the flop, and whilst I thought it would have been loose by his standards to call hoping to hit a 7, there was already enough in the pot for him to perhaps feel it was worth it. I couldn’t see any other hand that he would then put out a big reraise with when the 7 came down, and so I folded.

My opponent had indeed hit a straight in this hand, and part of me felt that I should have bet out bigger on the flop. The problem is of course that with three other players in the pot, I could easily be behind. I could have called the reraise on the turn too I suppose, but with my read of the situation being that my opponent had already made the straight, I would have been trying to draw to hand that would probably only tie. This was a good fold in the end I feel, despite the fact that I seemed in a relatively strong position on the turn.

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This hand took place this evening in my live game, and played out perfectly for me from start to finish. Having been dealt (As,Qc) in the big blind, the action folded around to the small blind. He flat called, and I put out a small raise. He called, and the flop came down (A,A,J). My opponent put out a 1,200 raise, and after some theatrical consideration, I called. I knew the best he could really have was a weaker Ace, although I felt a Jack was more likely. The turn card was a (2) and my opponent announced he was all in. I quickly called of course, and he mucked his hand. This lead me to believe that he didn’t have as much as a Jack after all, and probably just didn’t feel I could have an Ace.

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Perhaps spending theatrical time thinking on the flop when I already knew I was going to call, helped to induce such an aggressive move, but for whatever reason, he simply didn’t feel I was as strong as three Aces.
If you were to write down the key things never to do in a poker game, representing the hand your opponent has hit would certainly be up there. But of course there was no way he could really know for sure that I had an Ace, the raise preflop was a clue, but then I am known for raising with a wide range of hands sometimes, especially in that preflop situation. His all in bet was brave, I have to say, and if I had been holding a Jack, even (K,J) I would probably have folded.

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In a Holdem game, let us imagine you are dealt (8,8). You make a raise, and one opponent makes a minimum reraise. With only two of you remaining in the pot, I feel you should call and take a flop in this situation, even though the minimum reraise should have set alarm bells ringing.

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Let us say the flop comes down (6s,7c,10d). In this position, you could certainly decide to make a raise I feel, but you would have to be worried if your opponent decides to reraise. This could easily tie in with the small preflop reraise, as them holding a big pair. In most situations, I like to advocate raising to find out where you are, but then checking in this position would put you in the following position. Firstly, your opponent might check behind you giving you the chance to hit your inside straight draw or a set. If this does happen, it is clear that you would rather make the straight than the set, but even if your set does hit, I wouldn’t be overly fearful of the straight. Unless you are up against pocket nines, I cannot see your opponent reraising you preflop with any hand containing a nine.

Another point to consider if you decide to check on the flop, is that your opponent could easily put out a tester bet if they were holding a hand such as (A,K). If you are faced with a raise, then putting in a reraise, will often force your opponent off the pot I feel. You might ask, well what happens if the opponent comes over the top with another reraise? In this position I think you can safely say you are behind in the hand, probably to a bigger pocket pair, and you can then say almost certainly, you have Six outs. Work out the pot odds from there and make the best decision, but usually, folding will be the right choice.

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