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

Each table had 10 players seated to contest for the pots, and this normally leads to tighter play as you usually need stronger hands with more players involved. No one seemed to be getting "out of line", that is, while there were aggressive players, I didn't come across calling stations or players playing each and every hand. Here is a hand I played and how I handled it...I'll add a new "hand" post for the next few days for your reading enjoyment.

Maximizing Profits

First to act, I have Ace-Queen of diamonds. Blinds are 100-200 and I have 11,000 or so in chips. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I raise 3x the big blind. Any Ace-high hand I'm happy to win the blinds, as many a flop produces no Aces (or Queens for that matter) and you're stuck with a difficult decision on how to proceed. I do get one caller, the big blind to my immediate right. The flop has two diamonds, no Ace or face cards, and it is checked to me. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

He's a new guy to our table and I haven't seen him play too many hands so I have no idea what he could have. But since he checked, I didn't see the harm in betting out 1/2 the pot to hopefully just take down the pot now and maybe get him to fold a small pair or an Ace-King that missed; in other words, semi-bluff. If he calls my bet, I have two overcards and my flush draw I could still hit to win the hand. So I bet and he calls. Next card is another diamond. He checks again. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Jackpot! I have the best hand possible. There is now a potential straight on board as well. His check indicates weakness so I ponder checking again to set up a trap after the river card. I figure though if he's already called my pre-flop raise and my post-flop bet, he might have an overpair and will carry on, or he might have hit a straight and want to play. The best scenario of course, is that he's also holding two diamonds smaller than mine in which case he's about to lose a ton of chips. If he has nothing, he'll likely throw away his hand regardless. I don't waste any time and bet another 1/2 the pot. He then raises me after my bet. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The dollar signs are lighting up in my head and the only question I have now is how to I extract the most chips possible? Because there is an obvious flush and straight out there, I figure he either has one of those hands that can't beat mine, or he made a set. He could also just be testing me to see if I'll fold. I decide to pause for a few seconds, about ten, and just flat call his bet. Sure, he could have a set and be drawing to a full house so by just flat calling, I'm giving him a "free" card, but even if the board pairs I'm not throwing my hand away. With the blinds rising as fast as they do, having a monster like this doesn't happen a lot. I want my hesitance in calling his bet to portray weakness so he'll bet out at me on the river if he's running a bluff. Because the board is (to me at least) dangerous looking, this is what I think he's doing. The next card is another diamond and he bets out about 1/3 of the pot. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Obviously, with the nuts, you're raising to try to make as many chips as possible. This fourth diamond on the board is actually a horrible card for me; without a diamond in his hand he isn't calling anything. If he's holding the King of diamonds I have a chance of getting all his chips. More likely though he's hoping I don't have any diamonds and I will throw away my hand now, so he's betting out to see where he stands, but as you know I'm not going anywhere. I look down at his stack and he has about 40% of his chips left. I decide to go all-in; I figure with any raise he'd fold anyway, but perhaps he might think I'm trying to steal with this move and call with a weaker diamond. There is also a possibility he could think he is pot committed and would call an all-in bet as well. I push all my chips in and he folds. Not sure what he had, but that fourth diamond was a bad card for me. I don't think I could have gotten any more chips off of him no matter what I did, but in any case, I can't complain about all that action I got while holding the absolute nuts.