I've got a pretty raggedy hand and, with a big raise and a call before me, I didn't think twice about laying it down. I sniggered that I would have made a set on the flop, but that turned to astonishment when, once again, I would have hit quads - and quad 9's again.
That wasn't the worst thing that happened to me this evening, though. I was sitting in a WSOP steps qualifier on Ultimatebet and am completely card dead. During the first 3 levels (10 minute blinds) I won only a single pot.
I pick up pocket KK's one before the cut-off and make a pot sized raise. The blinds are only 15/30 at this stage, so my 135 bet should have been significant; I get two callers.
Flop comes down 5s-5h-8c. I know it's a paired board, but it doesn't seem too dangerous; unless someone called me pre-flop with pocket 8's, I feel I'm still ahead.
It's checked to me and, with 555 in the pot already, I bet 355 (about 2/3 of the pot). It is immediately called behind me. Next thing I know the original checker has pushed all-in.
I've suddenly got a very bad feeling. Up against one player I'm thinking he might have an over-pair, possibly even the rockets, but with two opponents my KK doesn't feel in great shape.
I think for a second and, as I'm running pretty low on chips, it's time to put it on the line - so I call. Amazingly, the player behind me calls as well. I can't believe what I see whe the cards are turned up. 7d-5d and 4h-7h. I mean, come on, what the hell were these guys thinking calling a 4xBB raise pre-flop?
Now, as bad as my call might have been, the guy behind me has put his whole tournament on the line with an up & down straight draw, and amazingly, spikes his 6 on the turn to take the lot.
What I found incredibly funny was that he got a torrent of abuse from the guy who'd made his set. It's ironic he though the other player was a donk, when he'd called a massive pre-flop raise with only 5-7 suited.
OK, looking back now, I probably should have folded, as with two players up against me once the flop has come down, It's entirely likely that someone had pocket 8's, and maybe a better player can get away from this hand.
There's a lot of online debate as to whether poker rooms are fixed, and it's these types of hands that fuel this speculation. Generally, especially early in tournaments, when the blinds are still relatively low, you almost always get cought-up when playing big pocket pairs. Other players feel justified calling with just about any two suited cards in a vain hope of hitting a miracle flop.
From my perspective, I always feel that there is something seriously awry when incredibly speculative players get incredibly lucky.
If it had been me with the 5-7 and I got cought by the 4-6 perhaps I wouldn't feel so bad, because really neither of us should have been in the pot. But it always seems to be the big starting hands that get turned over. I'm almost starting to dread catching AA or KK, and now frequently lay down AK, because it seems that there is always another hand at the table that WILL beat you if they decide to play.
I am sure that if we could see all the hole cards after every hand, AA would get busted a huge percentage of the time by one of the other hands. However, by raising sufficiently pre-flop you should be in a position where when a ragged 5-5-8 flop comes down that you haven't been called by someone holding a 5 (unless it was pocket 5's). When playing KK, against two callers, the only card I dont want to see is an Ace. So how come, it's always the biggest hands that bust you out of a tournament?
Personally, if there'd been a 4xBB pre-flop raise, I would never dream of playing 5-7 or 4-6, even if they are suited. But, I did see some 'instuctional' videos on the web a couple of weeks ago where some guy had recorded a SNG game on Pokerstars, where the only hands he played were low suited connectors. To him, 5-7 or 4-6 suited were absolute gold, and he busted some massive hands and eventually finished 2nd. He layed down pocket Jacks, AK and AQ during the course of the game and was proved right, as he would have missed the flop on each occasion and been cought by a lesser hand. But when he played 7-8 suited aggresively he hit straights and flushes all over the place.
I suppose it's reasonable to assume that probably both these guys are from that stable of thinking and the 5-7 and 4-6 suited were exactly the type of hands they wanted to call big raises with, because if you do hit something you are likely to get paid handsomely.
Oh well, it's another bad-beat story (too many of them on this blog!) to add to my list, and another learning experience. Be prepared to lay down the pocket Kings on the flop when someone pushes you all-in. He may have QQ, but he may just have 5-7, or 4-6.
No comments:
Post a Comment