Surrendering is an option offered blackjack players wherein one can surrender his hand and lose only half of the original bet. There is not an equivalent option in poker. When you are heads up on the end and the action is on you and you know that your hand can not possibly win in a show down... to check is to surrender!
In blackjack, you get half your bet back... in poker you lose the entire pot. Heck, that doesn't seem fair! However, there is a solution. You might consider betting to force your opponent to fold and win the whole pot.
A common occurrence in limit hold'em is when two players are drawing for a pot and neither makes his hand. Assuming that neither lucks into a hand by pairing the river card, who do you think is going to win? The term first-in vigorish refers to the value of betting first, thereby putting your opponent to a decision. If what he has is nothing but a busted draw his decision is easy. Into the muck his hand will go!
The key in these situations is whose nothing is better? As an example, let's imagine you are on a flush draw, the highest card in your hand is a jack, and your opponent is on a queen high straight draw. You both miss your draws but the action is on you. If you check, you will lose to queen high. If you bet you will win the pot. Many players dog it at the end and cost themselves pots that could have been won by risking one bet.
Fold equity is a term used to describe the value that exists from the possibility that others will release their hand if you bet. It is another tool that needs to be included in your arsenal as you grow as a player. When you know winning is hopeless in a heads up showdown your only investment in limit poker is one more bet to try and capture the entire pot. The pot on the river is usually offering ample odds to try and buy it for one bet. There are not many players who will employ a bluff raise on the end, so if you're raised you can lay your hand down with confidence and the knowledge that at least you didn't just surrender.
The key to making this play is to have a feel for your opponent's tendencies and an acute awareness of the texture of the board. You need to assess whether your opponent was on a straight or flush draw, or was just calling with middle pair or overcards. The board often provides the necessary clues. If there is not any possible draw on the board then proceeding with caution would certainly be in order. However, if a draw was present from the flop on, but never materialized, your opponent may well have been chasing that draw and will now release his hand to your bet. The worst feeling is when you dog it on the end only to see your opponent's missed draw and his lone over card beats your hand. That is why you need to seize the initiative and fire a bet at the pot.
Our goal today is to take a moment to analyze the likely holding of our opponent based upon the betting and the clues the board offers, and to fire a bet when appropriate, instead of just surrendering the pot. Try not to be the one whose nothing winds up being worse than the other guy's nothing.
See you next "TIME"
Tom "Time" Leonard has played poker in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and California for more than 30 years and written about the game since 1994. Contact Tom at thleonard@msn.com.
