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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria Coren |
| Wed 30 March 2011 |
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The riddle of the crazy bet is solved – and you'd never guess the answer
Last week, I set you a riddle from a recent tournament. A player raised to 900, called by the button and small blind. On the flop (K 7 3), the small blind bet out 4500: a third of his stack, 150% of the pot. The original raiser shoved for 15k, the button folded and the small blind thought for over three minutes.
With what hand could a player bet a third of his stack, into two opponents, then worry what to do when somebody raised? He shouldn't have a medium hand like 88; too crazy to bet that amount, on that flop, from that position. He couldn't have a big hand like AK; that would be an immediate call after betting so many chips, especially when his opponent could have a flush draw. And if he had the flush draw himself, he must still snap-call because the pot's laying him 2.5-1 and he's only 6-4 to beat a hand as good as AK for his opponent. |
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The only option, I realised, was that he'd made a rash bluff on the flop – no pair, no serious draw – and was trying to work out if he could bear to leave the chips behind, or dared gamble for his tournament life with nothing.
As the clock ticked down, he made the call and turned over . . . AA! A pair of aces! He had seriously considered folding a pair of aces, heads up, on that flop, for those odds! His opponent, who had assumed during the long think that his KQ must be miles in front, was extremely unimpressed.
Based on this story, here are two pieces of simple poker advice. Never make a bet without knowing what you'll do if somebody raises. And never put a third of your chips into the pot unless you're ready to put the rest in with them.
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