Yes sometimes I want to scream at the top of my lungs
"CHECK IT DOWN YOU MORON!”, as a guy bets into an empty side pot. But alas
I can't say anything because it would be considered collusion. It amazes me the
blatant stupidity that I see in poker tournaments, I guess it shouldn't, cause
there are a lot of stupid people in the world. Man it's hard being perfect.
This Sunday as I played in a slew of online tournaments and cash games and
amazingly I saw some really stupid things and this has motivated me to write
this article to help you avoid being considered a moron at the poker table.
Since I only have a limited amount of time and energy I am going to just cover
the main motivation for this piece which is the classic situation of being in a
tournament and the small stack is all in and it is not much more or is even
less than the big blind. Often the big blind is calling anything that is not a
significant raise; actually it is his duty to call if it is less than one full
bet in my opinion. Thus all you morons out there stop offering protection
by re-raising. Also don’t be one of those idiots in the big blind that folds
when the blinds are 200-400 and the guy is all in for 500 freaking suck it up
and call even if you got 2-7 off. The main goal in this situation is to
eliminate the small stack and for everyone else to relax knowing that they made
the money. and the best way of doing that is having as many people as possible
drawing against the small stacks all in. So DONT FUCKING RERAISE before the big
blind. If you got a solid hand call don’t raise. The Big blind knows what is
going down if he is an intelligent player and will check it down with you. If
he happens to win so be it but the main point is to not let the small stack
win.
So you have just called the all in. And the flop comes out, and low and behold
you hit trip aces!!! What do you do? Check. Yep plain and simple check, don’t
be a retard. Don’t be the guy that bets into a dry side pot. Don't be the guy
that triples up the small stack by forcing the other player out by betting. Ya
its hard sometimes, you flop top set and you want to get aggressive and make
more money but what you don’t realize is that the small stack that went all in
pre-flop has he nut straight, and you betting will chase out the guy that would
have caught runner runner for a flush and have eliminated the small stack. So
don't be the moron that keeps the small stack alive. It’s for your own good. If
the small stack loses then you just made the money. If he wins you still have a
chance of losing and not making the money.
A prime example of this came up on Sunday i was in a $100 SNG on party poker. I
was the huge stack with about $6500 in chips and in the big blind with K-8
of diamonds (blinds are 150-300). The Small stack was on the button and goes
all-in for around 350. The small blind thinks about it then just calls. I was
personally thinking wow the small blind may not be as dumb as he has been
playing the entire game. Maybe he is going to check it down with me. Well the
flop comes out 2d-Qd-Qc, so I have a decent flush draw. I was fully expecting a
check from the small blind, but nooo what does moron boy do he bets the minimum
of 300. I was thinking well if this was an intelligent player he would have
just checked it down or maybe he is signaling that he has a Q and wants to make
more money on the hand. I think about it then decide that I have more than
enough chips and outs to call and that even if he also went all in I would
still be the big stack at the table. So I call and the turn comes out it’s a K
so now I have a flush draw and top pair. I was still expecting a check from the
moron. But no he decides to bet again this time 600. This to say the least
annoyed me even further, and I decided that I was going to be a jerk. I re-raised
the moron all in. He sat there thinking about it then folded after telling me
that he had a pocket pair, a pair of threes, like he had a monster. What a pair
of threes? Are you freaking brain damaged? I thought to myself. Then the river
comes out, it was a 7 or something that made no difference. I missed my flush
but the small stack all in only had a pair of 9's. If I had folded to the bet
on the flop or folded to the turn bet the small stack would have won and still
been in the game armed with enough chips to bluff a few times and potentially
make a comeback. Good thing I was paying attention enough to know that the
small blind was a moron and to not fold.
So I have covered what makes you a moron. But when is it ok to bet? well
in my opinion it is ok to bet when you truly have a great hand like a full
house or the nut flush or a straight , or even top set when there are no flush
or straight possibilities after the turn and you are holding a pocket pair to
make that set. Don’t bet with a single pair. It is also ok to bet it you
have top pair and a good kicker and the river has come out, the only reason
that the other person you were checking it down with will call is if he has a
hand. He was just in this hand to make sure that the other guy was knocked out
to begin with. The other time it is ok to bet is when the all in opponent has
so few chips it does not matter and by virtue of calling the side pot is larger
than the main pot. Then I would say it is acceptable to play that hand like the
all in player never existed.
Basically you main motivation in this situation is not to win the hand but to
insure that you make the money by knocking the small stack out. I hope that
what I have described here is helpful. And if you have any questions or
comments or how I can make this "how to" better please let me
know.
