Make Them Pay to Play

Playing poker for money... can be very difficult at times-at times it just seems like you have trouble winning a hand, and you just cannot believe the way the cards fall. You start with two aces in limit hold'em-and if you raise, you win the blinds-or, if you get cute and do not raise, you may lose a stack.

You start with 2 & 7 off-suit in the big blind, and the guy with the two aces is trying to trap and does not raise and the flop comes 7,7,2, giving you the temporary nuts. A few bets will come into the pot. Then the turn card is another ace, giving the guy with the aces the temporary nuts. A few more bets will come into the pot. Then the river card is the case 7, giving the big blind the real nuts.

Yes it was good luck to get the two aces-now you try to soft play them! You get cute and try a trap strategy play and do not raise the big blind, so you could have raised and won those blinds-but you wanted more-so you let the flop come off.

7,7,2-you now have two pair AA & 77-you like it and a few bets come in. Now you get really skillful and you hit the A and you have AAA & 77! Good luck is now your friend and you love it!

A few more bets come in... Then the river is the case 7-you still have your AAA & 77, but the big blind now has 7,7,7,7,A. You are going to lose some money. So folks I said all of that to tell you one of my rules for playing aces-ALWAYS RAISE THE MAX POSSIBLE!

Do not try to trap, or the trapper can become the trapped. Try to kill them in the spring, or they will kill you in the fall. Remember that all the trappers do not wear fur hats.

Now you may say, "that is way out and I will take my chances and try to trap once in a while." Well if you do, think on this-The guy with the big blind is not going to call you anyway-unless he helps his hand on the flop. You will just bet then and pick the pot up, but if he helps his hand, he will call and/or raise you, and you will eat like an ant-but you will dump like an elephant.

Playing poker for money is not always easy, but if you are a trapper, you may win an extra bet-on the flop or the turn-but if they hit something, you will lose a big piece of your bankroll for very little return.

What are the odds of this happening to you when you try to trap? First, the reward will be small-unless the other player picks up two pair or a straight or flush draw-and you are walking uphill. The odds of your opponent catching that fourth seven? Well, here is the math.

You have seen your two aces-and you have seen the 7,7 & 2 &(A). This is 6 cards that you know about. If you assume that the other fellow has a 7, X, there are now (52 - 8) in the stub of the deck, = 44, but only one of these is the other 7. Therefore it is 43 to 1 that he will catch the case 7. But the point is that it happens-and when it does happen, you will have a chip wreck-and if it does not happen, you will gain very little. So... raise the pot-make them pay to play.

Until next time, remember to Stay Lucky!