It was a jumpin' and jammin' $30-$60 hold'em game, the kind of game in which you could make a big score – that is, of course, if you could make a few hands. If you didn't make a hand in this game, you could lose serious money very quickly. There was no stealing pots in this game. The pots were big and full of volume, and nobody was letting one slide by uncalled.
I was second under the gun, holding the K
J. The player in front of me limped in and I slid three $10 chips forward. Two players called behind me, another raised, one player called the raise, and the small blind three-bet it, folding the big blind. Everyone else called and we took the flop off sevenhanded for three bets.
The flop came Q-10-4 with two hearts, awarding me an open-end straight draw and the second nut-flush draw. Fifteen cards would give me a straight or a flush, making me a favorite to produce one of those hands. I knew I could make my hand and still lose, but the flop was a grand one for me, and I was looking to do some gambling.
Many inexperienced poker players mentally assign strength to their hand based on its rank. But the true value of a hand is the likelihood of it being a winner and the value the situation is laying you. Having the wherewithal to assign that value with any degree of accuracy comes only from years of experience. That said, all players should have an understanding of the concept. In this hand, with that flop, I would much rather have my hand than pocket aces, as I would think it less likely for two aces to win than my K J.
The small blind, who was the preflop three-bettor, led into the field, folding the player in between us. I had two valid options: call or raise. Folding was out of the question. I often raise with draws in an attempt to fold my opponent(s), thereby giving myself another way to win. By playing a draw in that manner, I sometimes win without making a hand and sometimes win a bigger pot when I do make a hand. It also adds deception to my play, gaining me value in future hands. I also raise with draws as a value play when I have no chance of winning the pot without producing a made hand, and when the number of opponents in the pot overlays the percentage chance of winning the pot. With such a strong draw, I really needed only one opponent for that to be true – but other concepts applied in the given situation.
Oftentimes in poker we are given opportunities to manipulate the odds that the pot is going to offer us in a given situation. Getting 2-1 odds on a draw for one bet might be better than getting 1-1 odds on two bets even if we are getting the best of it in both situations. As I have stated many times before, the recurring sum of the volume bet multiplied by the edge (positive or negative) is the key to poker. You want to maximize your expectation by adding to your recurring field from each individual situation, so that over time, you make the sum as large a number as possible.
In this situation, I knew I could not win the pot without making a hand. I was looking to gamble with the draw, but I wanted as many players as possible in the pot to increase the overlay and give me action if I made a gigantic hand. I flat-called, thinking it likely that a player behind me would raise, and I would have the chance to back-raise, trapping other contenders. Two players behind me called the one bet, and the original preflop raiser raised. The pot was hit again by the small blind, making it two bets to me and the other two callers behind me. Once again, I chose to try to trap the players behind me and flat-called, thinking it would give me a greater overlay. The other two callers called, and the original raiser hit it again, making it four bets. The small blind called.
I was now in a situation in which I believed the two players behind me had already invested so much money that they were "hooked" into going to the river. And neither of the other two players was going to fold with four bets in the pot. Now was the correct time to gamble; I capped the post-flop betting at $150. All of my opponents called.
The turn card was the 5
. The chances of my winning the pot had significantly decreased, as now I had only one more card to catch one of my 15 outs. There was also a chance that one of my opponents held an ace-high flush draw or a K-J, thereby cutting into my number of outs. There was still no chance of stealing this pot. The small blind checked, as did I. I didn't want anyone in the field to get cut off, thereby giving myself the best price possible from the pot. It was checked around to the last-position player, who fired $60 onto the green felt. The small blind called, as did I, followed by the rest of the field.
The river brought the 8
. I missed. My hopes of stacking a big one vanished; the mound of chips in the middle of the table was not coming my way. The player in last position bet, was called by the small blind, and turned over a set of tens for the winner.
Losing a pot is never a good feeling, but I had made good decisions in the hand and had added positive numbers to my expectation field. My decisions added value to my draw, even though I missed it. Over the long haul, whether you win this pot or that pot really makes no difference. What matters is that you get the best of it, and that you keep adding positive numbers to your recurring field. If you keep doing that, over time the mounds of chips will be coming your way.
Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for more than 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas – please see his ad below. If you would like to ask Roy poker-related questions, you may do so online at www.UnitedPokerForum.com.