Surprises in Poker

Poker odds is the game that has lot of surprises for the gamblers. You never know that you might be going hand full of money but on the other hand you might have to go empty handedly it totally depends on your fortunes.

The last card hits the table (the fifth up card is often called the “river” card) and this particular hand is no longer a mystery. Now you know what you have. Of course what the rest of the world might have is also very relevant whether you have a good hand or bad.

Good hands

The last card appears and you think (know) that you have a winning hand. Absent bets by other players, when it is your turn to act, you bet your good hand. What could be simpler!

The only time you trap (that is, check in the hopes of making a check raise) is when you definitely know something (that is, you have targeted a specific player who is likely to bet). Most frequently, if because of previous betting you feel a driver has momentum and will continue to bet, a check might be a good gamble.

This is particularly true in a multiway pot (more than two players) if the previous bettor is sitting to your left. If he cooperates and bets, then the other players have to act (drop, call, or even raise) before it is your turn to act (raise), and you get their action also — whereas they might have dropped had you led off with a bet and the player to your left called (or raised).

There are some rare occasions when you trap (check) without a specific target, but on these occasions you are probably trapping because there are several known aggressive players in back of you (so here you have a general target). You are more inclined to do this if you have tightest image (“you are feared” than if you have a loose image (“you are loved”. Just remember that the woods are full of trappers who decided to check and wait for bigger and better things — and they are still waiting.

What happens in the fortuitous situation when you are looking at the “nuts” (or close enough to the “nuts” that you are willing to raise) and some other player bets first? If you are the only other player, or only one of the other players rates to call, obviously you raise. But what if in a multi player pot, the first person bets, and you are next to act?

If there are several other players left, (especially if the last card was not a brick), it is usually correct to simply call and hope. Much of the time you will break even when you get one additional caller, in place of the one (or less) call from the bettor had you raised. Occasionally, however, you might hit pay dirt with a raise in back of you, which rates to get several more bets in the pot than if you had raised directly.

Bad hands

The last card, once again, is terribly unjust and disappointing. Perhaps your first instinct is to throw away your cards in disgust or to show all your high percentage draws (that failed) to a neighbor, looking for sympathy. But, wait. All is not lost yet. Maybe everyone else at the table feels as just mentioned above. Should you consider a random last-card bluff’?

Note that we use the term “random last card bluff’ to differentiate from two other types of continued bluffs, which generally have a much higher percentage of success. Undoubtedly the most successful form of bluffmg at hold ‘em is the drive bluff, which is simply when a player starts betting after the flop (he may or may not have raised before the flop), bets after the fourth card, and bets again after the last card. Quite often this driver gets several folds each round, and no callers after Fifth Street (or perhaps no callers after Fourth Street), hence the pot is virtually uncontested.

Although everyone knows that most drivers occasionally are driving dubious values, the driving and winning of uncontested pots is generally accepted as good form in hold ‘em, and not really considered bluffing — unless someone happens to call and catch one. But, again, driving is probably the most successful form of bluffing in hold ‘em. It is not that rare to successfully drive three or four hands in a row.

18.2.08 11:15