The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

One misconception of playing poker is that when a players looks down at a pair of hole cards, decides to make a move with it thinking it's the best hand, turns out it IS the best hand, but the next 5 cards help your opponent and not you so you lose chips, that you made an incorrect decision. Truth of the matter is, poker players respect plays that you have the courage to call when you have the leading hand, while they don't really care for players who just catch lucky cards to win pots.

Do you know who Robert Varkonyi is? Probably not. He's the 2002 World Series of Poker champion. He hasn't won much of anything since. Kudos to him though, he's probably made more money than I ever will, but poker circles don't really talk about him. The reason is that during the tournament, he went heads up calling with marginal hands like Queen-Ten, and despite knowing he was likely beat pre-flop, call anyway, and catch lucky cards to win. Thing is, it didn't happen just once, it happened a lot. During the telecast you could hear the audience groan when he'd win a pot calling with junk cards. No one really looks at him as a top pro, just a guy who got extremely lucky at the right time.

At my Sunday poker game, there was one hand where the short stack went all-in. Everyone folded to a player holding pocket Queens. Now, she knew she was ahead and could take down a big pot, but because she felt the all-in was holding Ace-X, she was fearful he would catch an ace and win the flop, despite the fact she was a 67-33 favourite going in.

While it is true that could happen, you can't be scared of being outdrawn. If you know you're going in with the best of it, you have to make your move. In this situation, she still would have had enough chips left to keep playing if she lost. And if she won, she would have been chip leader with a commanding lead. And not to mention with the table 5-handed, landing pocket Queens is an absolute monster starting hand. And you cannot give credit for a desperate short-stack for having that strong a hand. She decided to fold, the all-in showed Ace-Queen, the flop was played out for fun and no Ace hit. If she only listened to her instincts, she would have been sitting pretty.

I'll tell you another story. A different short stack went all-in with a pair of sixes. I looked down at pocket Kings and did not hesitate to call. He hit is third six on the river and took down a big pot.

Did he make the right move? Absolutely. Short-stacked with a pair, you're all in.

Did I make the right move? Absolutely. Pocket kings is the 2nd best starting hand you can have, and I was a 80%-20% favourite to win.

Did I lose? Yes I did, but I would have done it again in a heartbeat because it was the correct play to make. And as the luck factor is what makes poker so appealing to begin with, you still sometimes gotta roll with the punches.

Go in with the best of it, and on the whole, you'll win more poker than lose.