PokerWorks

Having spent the last several months discussing poker theory, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to spend a month discussing actual hands as they played out. For the next couple months, I'm going to pick five hands from a stage of a tournament – not just the ones I win, but ones I lose as well – and discuss my thought processes behind the hands.

Today's hands come from the early to middle stages of the Pokerstars Guinness Book of World Records tournament. 35,000 players started and with an entry fee of only $10+1 there was plenty of entertaining and interesting play. I'm not going to include the actual hand histories as they take up a lot of space and it's not fair to the people I was playing against.

Hand #1

It's relatively early in the tournament and the blinds are at 15/30. Every one started with 3,000 in chips and I am down to 2,715 after speculating a few times. I am dealt pocket 2's and limp in middle position after a limper. The button, cutoff, and small blind join in on the fun and six of us see the flop. The flop is K-8-2 rainbow and it is checked to me. I have two options here, check or bet. If there were fewer people in the hand, than I might check, but because six people see the flop there is a very high probability that someone has a king and will give me action, either by calling my bet or raising. With 180 in the pot, I make a semi-standard ½ pot bet of 90 and receive only one caller. There's my king, I think to myself at the time.

The turn is the 3 of hearts putting two hearts on the board. I'm not worried about a flush draw but am confident he has a king. I contemplate checking here to try and induce a check raise but the problem with that line of thinking is that it would certainly give away the strength of my hand and might cause my opponent to fold. By leading out, I give him the opportunity to call me or even better to re-raise me thus committing himself with a losing hand. I up the size of the bet though, mainly for value, to 2/3 the size of the pot and bet 240 into the 360 pot. My opponent calls.

The river is the case deuce giving me quads. Many players would make a mistake here and check. The problem with doing that is it doesn't fall in line with how you have been playing the hand and you might lose chips that your opponent would call. And if your opponent has a hand like K-Q or K-J, he might actually think the deuce is a good card for him and put you to the test. There is now 960 in the pot – I want to make a bet that is small enough to get called and potentially convince my opponent to push over the top of me. I bet 600 and he calls with K-Q and I win the nice sized pot. Moral of this hand: not slow playing your big hands can often be the best way to get value.

Hand #2

We're a little bit later in the action and the blinds are now 30/60 and my stack size has fallen a little to 3,285. A relatively tight player under the gun raises to 150 and is flat called by a middle position player. A loose fish who I have targeted as a source of chips makes a minimum re-raise to 240 total. It's an interesting raise, one that I haven't seen him make before, so he either has a monster or is doing something silly. I have pocket 9's and make the call. The big blind calls as do the first two players and five of us see the flop.

The flop is 10-4-4 rainbow and it is checked to our fishy friend who bets 240 into a 1,230 pot. To me that screams weakness and I'm thinking a hand like A-K or A-Q that is trying to take down the pot with as small a continuation bet as possible. I make the call and everyone else folds.

The turn is the 6 of diamonds and now my opponent makes an even smaller bet, this time betting 120 into a 1,710 pot. It appears to me that he obviously doesn't like his hand, so I decide to try and take it down right there with a small raise that looks large in terms of the amount he bet. I make it 600 to go, an additional 480. My opponent calls without a moments hesitation. Immediately, I start to re-think my initial thoughts. Maybe this guy was one of those players who made ridiculously small bets to induce a raise. There aren't many of those types around, but they do exist.

The river is the queen of hearts. If he did have A-Q, I've lost the hand. He checks. I'm pretty sure after the turn that a bet will not take down the pot here, so the easy decision is to take the free show down. If he has a hand worse than mine I win the pot without any further risk to my stack. I check and he shows pocket kings and I muck my hand, glad to have not lost more in the hand.

Hand #3

It is now one level later and I find myself starting to get a little short with 1,455 in chips and the blinds at 40/80. Not panic time, but if I'm going to make a run at this tournament I'm going to need to do something soon. A very loose, passive player limps in early position. I limp as well on the button with 10-9 off with plans of taking the pot in some shape or form post-flop. The small blind completes and four of us see the flop.

The flop is A-5-3 all spades. A complete whiff, although I do hold the 10 of spades. Everyone checks to me and I follow along to see what they do on the turn. The turn is the king of diamonds and once again everyone checks to me. This is the advantage of having position. Twice now everyone has told me that they don't care for their hand or are hoping to see a cheap river card. I decide to try and take it down right there with a bet of 240 into the 320 pot. The small blind calls me as does the under the gun player. I'm fairly sure that they are both hoping another spade comes along, or they have something like K-Q and are hoping to improve on the river.

The river is the 4 of hearts. It's unlikely either player has a deuce so I'm not worried about the straight. If either opponent bets, I'll have no choice but to fold as I don't have enough chips to induce a fold. Both players check. I know the only way I can win the pot is with a bet. The question I ask myself is how much can I bet to convince them to fold. All in is problematic because it leaves me no outs and even though I'm short, I'm a firm believer in never bluffing away all my chips. There is 1,040 in the pot and I have 1,135 remaining. An amount that is about half the pot would look to my opponents as if I was committed and at the same time would appear to be a value bet. It's what I would bet if I had a strong hand, so it's the bet I choose to make here. I bet 480. Both players fold and I pick up a nice sized pot with ten high while short stacked.

In the next part, I'll go over three more hands from the same tournament, this time from the middle stages to right before the money bubble burst.