Richard Brodie
September 6, 2005
When I started playing poker, I would get so
excited when I flopped a big hand that I forgot my
main goal: Win as many chips as possible. When I
had marginal hands, I would think hard about what
my opponent had and whether I could beat it. But
when I had a big hand, I just wanted to get all my
chips in the middle.
Big mistake.
Big hands can mean big pots. But, with a big
hand, it's even more important to strategize and
figure out how strong your opponent is. If you
think he's weak, you can slow play the hand,
perhaps getting him to call a bet thinking you're
bluffing or, better yet, inducing him to bluff
himself. If you think he's strong, you can let him
bet your hand for you, raising on the turn or
river to extract maximum value.
In the 2003 Borgata Poker Open, I mixed it up
with a small under-the-gun raise with Ten-Nine of
Diamonds. I got two callers, including Bobby
Thompson in the small blind. The flop came
Eight-Seven-Six, giving me the nut straight. Bobby
led out with a pot-sized bet and we both called.
The turn was an Ace and he bet again. I still had
the nuts and, with my inexperience, didn't think
enough about what my opponents could have.
Instead, I got greedy and just called again,
hoping to get a call from the third player.
If I had thought about it, I would have put
Bobby on at least two pair and the third player on
a straight draw with something like Jack-Ten. I
should have moved in at that point, pricing out
the straight draw and figuring Bobby would have to
call. Instead, I just called and the third player
folded. When a second Ace came on the river and
Bobby pushed in, I had a very tough decision and
ended up putting my chips in dead as he turned
over pocket Sixes for the full house.
If I had put my money in on the turn, the
results may have been different. By putting Bobby
to the tough decision to call an all-in, I might
have priced him out of the hand.
The next year in the same event, I had the very
aggressive Jimmy-Jimmy Cha on my right. He made a
late-position raise and I re-raised with pocket
Tens. He called and we were heads-up. The flop
came Ten high with two Spades, once again giving
me the nuts. This time, though, I thought about
what he might have. Nines, Jacks, and Queens were
definite possibilities. If not, he could easily
have over cards. Jimmy checked - not an unusual
play given that I had taken the lead before the
flop. I decided because he was so aggressive, I'd
go ahead and bet the hand rather than slow play
it. Sure enough, he check-raised me all in and I
called. This time I went broke the right way, with
all my chips in as a three-to-one favorite against
his flush draw.
Then there's always the chance you're beat with
an even bigger hand. In a televised tournament at
the Plaza, I raised with pocket Tens and got
called by the big blind. The flop came
Queen-Queen-Ten, giving me a full house. But my
opponent check-called my flop bet with such a
Hollywood act that I put him on at least a Queen.
A King came on the turn and he check-raised me. I
could beat Ace-Queen or Queen-Jack but not
King-Queen or Queen-Ten, so I slowed down and just
called. When he made a small bet on the river I
just called, suspecting I was beat and, sure
enough, he turned over Queen-Ten for a bigger full
house. I had flopped a monster and was drawing
dead! By analyzing his play and getting a read, I
saved valuable chips and went on to the final
table.
So don't let the excitement of flopping a
monster make you forget about putting your
opponent on a hand. A lot of chips move around
during these hands and you want them moving into
your stack.
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