Carl Sampson looks at the importance of big hands in pot-committed cash situations.
GOLDEN RULE NUMBER #2: “NEVER LOOK TO PLAY A BIG POT UNLESS YOU HAVE A BIG HAND”
Nearly every novice player in the book breaks this rule of deep-stacked cash game play. In fact I could go as far as to say that I see intermediate and even professional players break this rule every now and again. Once again we come down to getting pot-committed and this is something that you should avoid to do at all times unless you are either holding a monster or you are up against a player with a short stack. I watched a hand at NL400 a few days ago that highlights the confusion among many players as to what actually constitutes a big hand.
EXAMPLE No.1
GAME: CASH NL400
BLINDS: $2/$4
HAND: Kh-10d
HERO’S STACK: $600
It was folded around to our hero in the cut-off seat who open-raised with Kh-10d. The player on the button called the $12 raise and both blinds folded. The pot stood at $30 and the flop came Ks-10h-6c. Our hero bet $15 and was called by the button so the pot was now $60. Both of these players had been doing well and were sitting on stacks of around $600 each.
The turn card was the 2d and our hero continued to value-bet his hand, sticking in $30. This time the button raised him to $75 and he called. The pot was now $210 and both of them had in the region of about $500 left. The river card was the 3c and our hero checked, the button bet out $60 and our hero raised to $120 with the button now moving all-in.
Our hero thought for a while before calling and the button showed pocket tens for a flopped set. Now he was unlucky to flop the top two pair and be behind in a heads-up situation but as the betting advanced he must have at least suspected that he may have been behind. If I had been playing this hand, although I would not have expected pocket tens or kings, I would have expected a set like trip sixes for instance.
When you consider calling with a hand like two pair in Example 1 you have to ask yourself if your opponent would consider committing 150BB into a pot with a weaker hand? The answer to that in nearly all situations is a resounding ‘No’. I could not understand why he raised the river. If he suspected that his opponent was maybe on a straight draw then he must have known that a raise was unlikely to get paid off.
But this hand is instructive in many different ways. Firstly it underlines how even a hand like top two pair on the flop is a hand that is still not considered big in Hold’em and especially when there are five community cards out later in the hand. If you are losing your entire stack in situations like these then this highlights a very serious flaw in your game.
DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP
Poker is not just a game involving cards; if it were then it would be all too easy to become good at it. All you would have to do is to learn the strategy and then apply it like in blackjack and away you go – you’re an instant expert! But poker, unlike blackjack, allows a player’s own individual psychological weaknesses and flaws to seriously impede the execution of existing knowledge.
Once again I am going to quote an example that shows just how a pot can escalate more than it should in the blink of an eye but also how a player’s character weaknesses also greatly impact the decision making process.
EXAMPLE No.2
GAME: CASH NL400
BLINDS: $2/$4
HAND: Jh-10h
HERO’S STACK: $400
I will show an imaginary hand and the thought processes behind one of the players who gets a substantial percentage of his stack in the middle needlessly. In this example the game is NL400 again and each player has a $400 stack. It is folded around to our hero on the button who has the Jh-10h and he raises to $12. His thoughts are as follows: “I have very good position and a decent hand so I am going to raise here.”
The small blind folds and the big blind calls, making the pot $26. The flop comes 9d-5s-2c and the big blind leads out with a bet of $12. Our hero on the button starts to contemplate the situation:
“The last time I raised from the button this guy put a play on me. I am sure as hell not going to let him push me around. I don’t believe that he has connected with that flop and they are probably just using a stop-and-go play and forcing me to hit the flop. Even if they have a pair then it surely cannot take any heat and I can represent top pair.
“Wait a minute though, I am obviously going to show this guy who is boss but should I raise now or float him and take it away on the turn? I shall raise the pot now and take it on the flop.”
Our hero raises to $62 and the big blind calls, making the pot $150. The turn card is the Kd and the big blind checks. Back to our hero again:
“Getting called wasn’t good but I have picked up a gutshot draw and they have checked to me. They are not going to like that king if they have top pair and I don’t want to show weakness now otherwise they will try to take the pot away from me. I raised pre-flop so they will think that the king has helped me. I will make a good sized bet of $120 which should do the trick.”
Our hero bets $120 and gets called, making the pot $390. A jack comes on the river, the big blind bets $80 and our hero pays him off because of the pot odds and the fact that he now has a pair of jacks. He then gets shown pocket fives for a flopped set by his opponent. Our hero lost a total of $274 which comes to around two thirds of his stack on some silly ego war. To make matters worse, the situation that he was imagining in his own mind didn’t even exist as his opponent held a legitimate hand.
So he committed two cardinal sins in this hand: firstly, he allowed the pot to escalate out of all proportion compared to the strength of his hand, and secondly, he allowed his own character flaws to make the situation worse and compound the error.
There is an old saying in poker: “Don’t become the leader of the gang that is out to get you!” Be warned! |
