Poker is a Battlefield

Much like the Jordin Sparks song, Poker is also a battlefield. By that I mean several things. First, it is a war, each hand acting as a unique battle within that war. It is very possible for you to lose the majority of the battles and still win the war. Secondly, and more importantly, you have to have the ability to dodge bullets as well as fire them. Which brings me to probably the greatest laydown I have ever seen, by none other than my man Phil Hellmuth. Seeing this great fold reminds me of 2 of my own that happened in the same tournament last week.

Scenario 1: I am first to act and look down to see one of my favorite hands, AK offsuit. I raise my normal raise of 3x the big blind. It folds around to the seat before the button who calls. The button also calls and the 2 blinds fold leaving a 3 man pot with me out of position acting first. The flop is a dream though, K98 rainbow, leaving me with top pair and top kicker. I make a pot sized bet which gets raised all-in by the next player and immediately called by the player on the button. Meanwhile, I am stunned by these events. On the flop I was certain I had the best hand and that the other two players would likely fold. These two all-ins would suggest otherwise. To figure out exactly where I was at in the hand I had to look back and examine what hands my opponents could possibly have.

The first caller would not likely have AA or KK or he probably would have reraised me. He could have a lesser hand like KQ or KJ but would be be willing to risk his tournament with a mediocre kicker? I put him on a middle pair, JJ-88. My other opponent on the button could have the same range of hands as well. One thing I could be certain of was that at least one of them had a king or made a set. I thought for a long time before begrudgingly laying down my hand. It turns out my read had been spot on, the raised had 99 for a set of 9's and the caller had AK as well and was busted out of the tournament. Most players would see this flop and think, "I have AK and I hit my king, I have a very good hand and should call as well". While you do have a very good hand, your opponents are making it clear that you probably don't have the BEST hand.

Scenario 2: I have made it down to 3 players in the same tournament and have about 5,000 in chips. Another player has 7,000 and the short stack has 1,500. The player 1st to act has 7,000 and calls. I look down and see the Hardy Boys, KK. I am in the small blind and raise it up 4x the big blind and the player calls. The flop is again perfect for me, 962 with 2 clubs. While I am sure I have the best hand now, I don't want to check and give my opponent a card to hit a club or an Ace, so I make a bet of 1,000, a pretty large bet that leaves me with 3,000 chips. My opponent, the same one who had hit a set and gone all-in earlier, moves all in. Could this guy really have the best hand? As the timer ticked away I thought about the range of hands he could have. He only called before the flop, usually if you have two big cards you tend to raise before the flop to protect your hand. If he had AA he might have been slow playing them, in which case I'd be crushed. He also could have a small pair, 77-22, that he was trying to see if he could see the flop cheaply for. Based on his play throughout the tournament, I felt as if he would have raised if he had an overpair like QQ-1010 as well. He wasn't the type of player to push all in with just a flush draw either. I ended up putting him on the small pair and watched as my time expired and my hand was folded. He was kind enough to show me his 66 for a set of 6's. I stayed alive and ended up getting 2nd in the tournament.

The moral of the story is to really think through the way the hand played out and why your opponent chose to act as he did. Don't just look at your hand, think that it's pretty good, and push all your chips in. Inevitably you will make some wrong reads and end up laying down the best hand, but I would rather live to fight another day than be busted on a close decision.