I was playing in an online no-limit hold 'em tournament with re-buys when I was dealt Js-Jc in the big blind. It was fairly early in the tournament, and the blinds were $30-$60. I had about $3,300 in my stack. A middle position player raised to $150. Everyone folded to me and I re-raised to $450. He moved all-in and had me covered.
No matter what kind of poker you're playing you need to put your opponent on a range of hands. He could have me dominated. I saw him make this identical play with aces. I could have him dominated because I also saw him make this move with eights. It could also be a coin flip situation because I'm sure he'd do this with A-K. It was an easy call, since I could always double re-buy if I lost and be back to $3,000.
It turned out my opponent held A-3c, and I was a significant favorite-I'll win this showdown about two-thirds of the time. However, my opponent flopped an ace and I didn't hit one of my two outs.
I've seen opponents lose a situation like this and then bemoan their fate. They'll curse their opponent, curse the site, and curse their neighbors too. If you're going to play poker you need to develop both a thick skin and the ability to shrug off hands that you figure to win but don't. Tilt is the enemy of all poker players, and you have to be able to avoid it to succeed.
A little over an orbit later I was dealt Kc-Jc in late position. The blinds were now $40-$80. The three players to my right had all limped in and I chose to limp too, although a case can definitely be made for raising in this spot. My left hand opponent also limped and the big blind checked his option.
The flop came 9c-7h-2c, giving me the second nut flush draw and two over-cards. After the big blind checked the first limper made a pot-sized bet of $500. The next two players folded and once again I had to decide my opponent's range. He could have flopped a set, in which case my only outs were non-pairing clubs. In any case, I elected to call as I thought I was getting the right price. I wasn't happy, though, when my left-hand opponent moved all-in. The big blind folded; the original bettor called, and because both opponents had me covered, I had to decide whether to risk all my chips on a draw.
The approximate odds of hitting my flush were one in three, and the pot was offering me better than that. I didn't think my pair outs were any good but it was possible. It was also possible that my left-hand opponent held the ace-high flush draw, in which case I was drawing dead. Finally, it was still the re-buy period so even if I lost I could buy more chips and would actually have slightly more chips than I started the hand with if I did.
So I called, and my opponents' hands were revealed: 10h-9h and Qh-9d. I was actually the favorite against my opponents, and when the Ac fell on the turn I tripled up.
The best hand doesn't always win in poker. In tournaments, you have to be willing to play the odds. If I know I can get my money in as a 2-to-1 favorite I'll do it almost every time.
Tournaments have a high variance and if you can't shrug off the inevitable bad beats you should probably consider playing something else.
Russell Fox is the co-author of "Mastering No-Limit Hold'em," "Why You Lose at Poker," and "Winning Strategies for No-Limit Hold'em." He's a federally licensed tax preparer specializing in gambling, with a blog at taxabletalk.com.
E-mail Russ at
rcfox@claytontax.com
