Don't Play a Big Pot Unless You Have a Big Hand
John Juanda
May 30, 2005
I'm at Foxwoods playing the $2,000 No Limit Hold 'em event. We
all started with $3,000 and now I've got $15,000. At my table is
Richard Tatalovitch, a player whom I've competed against many
times.
I raise pre-flop from middle position with K-J offsuit and Richard
calls from the big blind. The flop comes 9-6-4 with two
diamonds on the board.
Richard hesitates for a moment before checking, and I put in a
pot-sized bet. Richard thinks for a while and calls. All of a
sudden, I don't like my hand -- so much.
Imagine my relief when a non-diamond J hits the turn. Now I
have top pair and a pretty good kicker. Then Richard comes out
betting. Uh-oh.
Now, let me back up a moment and mention that when
someone hesitates before checking, it's usually a huge tell. But
Richard is the king of delayed action, so I ignored his tell and
bet the flop anyway. And his bet on the turn just screams,
"Raise me! I dare you!"
I go into the tank and my thoughts go something like this:
1. He flopped a set. That explains the smooth call on the flop -
he's trying to trap me into staying, hoping I'll bet the turn, too.
2. No. If he had a set, he'd have checked the turn and waited for
me to hang myself right then and there, or let me catch
something on the river. He can't have a set.
3. The jack helped him. I don't have the jack of diamonds.
Maybe he does, and he called the flop with a jack-high flush
draw. If so, I like my kicker and my hand.
4. He's betting on the come with a flush or straight draw and is
hoping to buy the pot right there.
I run through these possibilities and reach no conclusion.
Normally, I would just call here. We both have a lot of chips,
and I don't want to put them all in with nothing but top pair.
Then, I have the misfortune to remember a hand from a month
earlier at Bellagio:
Richard had been running bad and was complaining about a
string of horrific beats. I saw him check and call with top boat
because he was afraid of quads! A guy that afraid of monsters
under the bed isn't going to check-call top set on the flop with
a flush draw out there.
"All in!" I declared.
Oops. This is now a Big Pot. And rest assured, top pair doesn't
even resemble a Big Hand.
In the four years I've been playing with him, I've never seen him
call so fast. I am drawing dead to his perfectly-played 9-9.
Sometimes, we all forget that big cards don't always equal a big
hand and that the smart move can be to play conservatively
instead of going for the quick kill. As for Richard - he had the
good sense to be in a Big Pot with a Big Hand, and the patience
to make it pay off.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
