allaboutpoker

OK.  This is a hand that I played at the Venetian in a $4-$8 game a couple years ago.  I’m calling this blog “HAND” mostly as a joke, poking fun at the twoplustwo.com forums, and their general disliking of when someone else posts a hand with a very non-specific title.  It should be noted that not every hand is a winner, nor is every one a loser, but given my alcohol intake for this one, indulge me a winner for once.

And yes, I’ve been drinking!  So sue me!  I can blog when I wanna!!

OK.  So I’m having a nice Gin Martini at the time…

So I’m in the SB with AJo.  It goes limp, limp, limp, RAISE.  The button, a very solid and knowledgeable player, raises it.  Being that I’m in the SB and out of position, it’s not the greatest call ever, but I can pretty much count on six players for two bets each to the flop, so I call.  BB calls and a middle position player goes kamikaze all-in for his last $4.  I didn’t notice he was so close to all-in, or it would have put me more to the cusp of folding vs. calling, but whatever, I’m in now…  six take the flop for three bets each, 18 small bets in the pot.

Well the flop comes T K x rainbow.  Note the rainbow, as it will make every bit of difference in the world shortly as to whether I’m in or out.  I check and it’s check,  check, bet, RAISE by the button… an excellent raise, BTW.  I have been cussin’ and discussin’ with the button for about an hour, having a drink and shootin’ the breeze, and he’s not only a cool dude, but he absolutely knows his stuff when it comes to poker.  A true man to be respected.  And a  good raise to boot.  I check my pot odds and lo and behold… I’m getting 10.5:1.  And whaddaya know… 10.5:1 is precisely the odds I need to draw at a gutshot for the next card only!  I call, figuring that it’ll be called around and I’ll actually get slightly better than that.  Forget the implied odds, when you’re getting straight up odds to go, it’s time to go.

So I went.  I call and it’s called around.  Given one was all-in, I had three active opponents and myself left in the pot, plus one all-in.  26 small bets in the pot total.

The turn is an offsuit blank, flush no longer possible.  I check and it’s checked to the button.

This is very important.

The button turns to me, bets, and asks “If you knew I had a set, would you still call?“

I look at him and say “Yes.”

I call and two others call.

The river is my perfect card, a queen, making me broadway and giving me the nuts.  I bet.  Everyone folds to my worthy opponent on the button, who makes the crying call.

I show my straight.  He shows TT for the flopped set, precisely like he said he had on the turn.

I scoop a monster pot, he tosses and says “nice hand.”

Usually when someone says that, they don’t mean it, but this time I knew that he did mean it.  He was an advanced player who could calculate pot odds on the spot, and he knew I played it the only way that made any sense.  I tip my hat to an opponent like this, who loses with grace and respects good play when it happens.  Kudos.

I won a very large pot because I followed the proper strategy, given the situation and what I held in my hand.

Note that if there was any two-flush on the flop, I would NOT have called the button’s raise. If you can figure out why, you’re miles ahead of most limit hold’em players you’ll encounter in a casino.

PokerGuru

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