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BAD BEAT: when Lady Luck wasn't there for me.
GOOD BEAT: when Lady Luck was on my side.
DEFINITION: examples that define a poker term.
BAD PLAY: an error made during a hand.
LAYDOWN: folding a possibly beaten hand.
QUIZ: test yourself
My opponent likely called for several reasons. He had top pair and could hit two pair. He had a backdoor flush draw and a backdoor straight draw. Finally, my all-in bet didn't put him in jeopardy of losing all his chips. If you have some gamble in you, try calling in these situations.
Pocket jacks in the small blind is a little tricky to me. If you raise, everyone knows you have a strong hand and will fold when the board doesn't hit them. Alternatively, if overcards flop, you have a difficult decision to make. Do you bet out or should you check?
In this example, the cut-off (player 8) raised since three players limped in front of him. I called and so did two others. The flop was good for me, but I decided to slowplay and check it. I was a little worried that that player 8 might have a higher pair or that the other players in the pot might have flopped a monster, so I just called his continuation bet. The other players folded and it was then heads-up.
I checked again to see what player 8 would do. I felt that if he made another bet, it could mean he had a strong pair or he had some balls and was bluffing with overcards. My analysis wasn't just from experience - I also knew he was playing in multiple tables. If you've ever played on multiple tables, you'll know that it is fairly difficult to bluff because you're dealing with 32 players as opposed to just eight. So when player 8 checked, I knew I probably had the best hand.
The river brought a scare card which may have helped me. It put a possible straight out there but I wasn't too worried he had one. I decided to make a value bet since I felt like I had the best hand. Player 8 may have thought I was bluffing a straight and that may be why he called with just king high.
I flopped a big hand and checked it to encourage action. When I did this, I knew I was taking a chance because two pocket clubs could make a flush or someone could make some kind of straight. A scare card hit the turn that provided two possible kinds of flushes and a possible straight. I decided to raise to determine the strength of my opponent's hand and get some information. After getting called, seeing what the river brought and facing a lead-out bet by my opponent, I figured I was beat. What do you think?
You need to get lucky to get deep in tournaments. S0metimes you get lucky when you flop needed cards, but sometimes you get lucky and put a bad beat on someone. Bad beats are part of the game so prepare yourself to get and give them.
Sometimes you get such a great hand, you are bound to lose money when someone hits a hand that is nearly impossible to see or predict. One could argue that the raise by Player 7 on the turn probably meant that the Hero was in trouble, but who calls a pre-flop raise and flop continuation bet with such a hand?
However, it's interesting to note that Player 7's call on the flop was not bad because he was just a 60/40 underdog at that point. On the flop, Hero gave Player 7 30% on his pot odds, while the actual odds had Player 7 at a 20% chance to win. Player 7 decided to gamble, hoping to hit his miracle card while also having the chance for a backdoor flush.
Unfortunately for Hero, Player 7 caught the card he needed and put the hurt on our Hero.
When a player raises you and moves over the top on a dangerous flop, you'd better think twice. I thought my opponent might be on a draw, but on second thought, why would someone risk so many chips on a draw? One of the most common mistakes beginner players make is over-valuing top pair. This goes to show you that even players with a lot of hours under them can still make mistakes.
Gut-shots are painful, except of course, when you deal them. Here's an example of a hidden straight. My opponent may have thought I was on a flush draw, but when he was re-raised, he should have thought a little more. On the other hand, he had two pair and may have thought I was betting aggressively with a good kicker. The question in my mind is whether he would have called a pot bet if I had made one on the river.
Sometimes people over-bet a pot in a bluff attempt to place pressure on his opponent and entice him to fold. However, there are occasions in which someone will over-bet a pot to confuse his opponent into thinking he's bluffing. I obviously made a mistake by calling here since the pot was only $450. It's also an example of not being able to let go a great hand.
This example is from a sit and go. I was short-stacked and was happy to make top pair on the flop. I wasn't exactly sure why my opponent called, but when you're a big stack, you can make calls like this and it won't hurt you too much if you lose.
When one player was all-in, I wanted to build a side-pot to add value to my pocket aces. Although I could have made a pot bet on the flop, I decided to take a chance and just bet half the pot. I decided I could get away from the hand if a club came. However, when it didn't, I realized I was basically giving my opponent the correct odds to call what he had left. On the other hand, even if I bet the pot on the flop, my opponent would still have pushed me all-in on the turn because of the remarkable draw he had. He had a straight and a flush draw and was actually tied with me and the other pocket aces to win the hand.
The devastating thing about poker is that you can be an overwhelming favorite going to the river, but if Lady Luck isn't with you, there's still a chance you can lose. Only the case 4 would help my opponent, while a non-heart five would have resulted in a split pot.
A raise from early position generally means a strong hand for a couple of reasons. First, the raiser is indicating that he is not worried about a re-raise with several players still remaining. Second, he will be acting first throughout the rest of the hand and is at a positional disadvantage.
In this example, I had a feeling that the raiser had a strong hand since he raised 3x the big blind in such an early position. I don't mind folding what would normally be a pretty good starting hand when someone raises up front. I felt I was weaker and I was right. Additionally, if I had just called, I could have faced a re-raise which occurred in this instance. I would then have to make another difficult decision.
When you overvalue a hand, you believe it is much stronger (and therefore much more profitable) than it really is. Just because you have a big hand doesn't mean it is the best hand. You have to remember that other players could have hands that are even bigger. In this case, Player 1's raise of Player 7's re-raise should have alerted 7 that his queens weren't worth squat.
This lesson can also be called, "Why KQ is Weak in Early Position." Normally, I don't bet KQ under the gun like this. However, I was trying to change things up because you don't want to fall into patterns that attentive players will figure out. So I raised up front and then the button re-raised me with a minimum bet.
I always suspect a huge hand when there are other players in the pot and a player raises the minimum amount. It's obvious that he's trying to build the pot without scaring people off. Sure, sometimes you'll get some guy who will raise the minimum amount just because he doesn't know what he's really doing, but if you're keeping tabs on people, you'll know if they're pretty good. I had been watching Player 7 for awhile and noticed that he was a very tight, solid player so a minimum bet just meant one thing for me - a big hand.
I was very close to folding since I was out of position, had another player in the pot and was re-raised the minimum amount by a tight player. But I was stubborn and hoped I could get lucky if I flopped big. Unfortunately, I hit the worst possible card. Player 9 and I called the flop bet to see the turn.
I had a feeling I was in trouble, and when Player 7 raised the minimum amount again on the turn, I called hoping to get lucky and hit another pair. I knew I was beat, but stubbornly called for the bad beat. The river bet was a pretty easy fold since I was fairly sure I was beat and had the opportunity to see my opponents' cards since Player 9 was already all-in.
