Four of a Kind - Tens

How come you can never get paid a big pot with Four of a Kind?

I hit this hand during a no-limit hold 'em SNG on PokerStars this evening.


I limped in from the small-blind, and the big-blind checked his option. The flop was a beauty and, to try and maximize payout, I checked. I was praying Flash had a rag ace, but he only checked behind me and the turn brought the Full-House. Again, I hesitated for a few seconds, then checked. No bet was forthcoming and the river completed the Quad's.

I put in the minimum bet, hoping that Flash holding something (like a small pair or a Diamond flush), but simply got a call. I suppose this was a reasonable value bet, as anything bigger probably would have induced a fold.

Earlier in the game there was mad 'all-in's' with flush and straight draws, but when I have the nuts I can never find anyone to go along with me.

I did manage to bust 'faz182' a couple of hands later when I picked up pocket 6's and, short-stacked, he had gone all-in with pocket 3's. But eventually busted out in 3rd after I picked up A-J suited and ended in a race against Flash who woke-up in the big-blind with A-Q. Neither hand improved and I was gone.

There were several times earlier in the game that I could have done some real damage with straights and flushes if I'd played a bit looser, calling with the likes of Q-4 or 7-8. Looks like the only way to win these cheap SNG's is to play loose pre-flop and aggressive post-flop on a draw. However, I've been burned more times than I care to remember playing T-J suited and hitting a flop with both straight and flush draws only to hit nothing and lose half my stack.