The Best Hand I've Ever Played
For those of you haven't met me, I have recently fallen in love with the game of Texas Hold 'Em. I play a weekly no-limit $10 cash game (not tournament-style, like you've probably seen on TV) with a bunch of friends in Brookline.
Last night, I had what I think was the best hand I've ever played. It wasn't the hand that won the most money, but simply the one that I think I executed the best. (Everything after this sentence is going to be in severe pokerese. If you don't understand any of the terminology, and yet somehow still have a desire to read past this point, I suggest the PokerTips.org Poker Glossary.)
In this particular hand, I was the dealer and therefore was on the button. There may have been one call leading into me pre-flop, and I looked down and saw J-10 offsuit, so I decided to call the 10-cent blind (big stakes, I know). The small and big blinds to my left limped in and we saw a flop: K-10-9 rainbow.
The two blinds and one caller all checked to me, so I made a 50-cent bet into the pot that looked like -- and sort of was -- a position bet. But it was also more than that. If either of the other players in the pot had caught a straight they surely would raise me. So, in essence, it was not only a position bet but also a feeler bet. The small blind folded quickly but the big blind, Barr, thought about it for half a second and then just called (the other preflop caller folded as well).
At this point, my thinking was this. Knowing the moderately aggressive kind of player Barr is, I reasoned that if he flopped a straight, he surely would have raised my obvious position bet on the flop, in order to scare away anyone who might have a draw at a better straight (namely, ace-queen or ace-jack). Furthermore, if he had flopped top pair, he surely would have bet it initially; he is not one to slow-play top pair or two-pair, I thought to myself -- not with a straight draw on the board. The same logic applies to if he had pocket nines or pocket tens: there's no way he'd slow-play trips on the flop against a straight draw.
So at the very worst, I reasoned, he has a pair of tens as well, perhaps with a better kicker (and, if you follow my reasoning above, the only hand he could possibly have that beat my jack-ten at that point would be ace-jack, which, knowing Barr, I'm thinking he would have raised with pre-flop; instead, he just checked the big blind). At best, he has a straight draw with a Jack or a Queen and a rag, or perhaps a pair of nines.
That brought us to the turn: K. Barr checked to me, and I bet $1. It looked and felt like a position bet, but I knew that my tens with a straight draw was the best hand. Barr then did exactly what I expected him to do, as an aggressive player who recognizes a position bet: he check-raised, calling my dollar and raising $2. But, as I've described above, I knew in my gut he didn't have that king (nor did he have trips off the flop), so there's no way in the world the second king could have helped him.
So I re-raised him four more dollars. I was confident in making that semi-bluff because, even if he had me out-kicked with A-10 (the worst-case-scenario hand described above), I could still catch a queen to beat him on a straight draw, or a 10 to split the pot. He thought about it for about 45 seconds (he really was agonizing over it) and he folded.
I used a late bet to feel how strong his cards were, put him on a particular hand, raised him off his bluff, and won the pot.
And that was the best hand of poker I've ever played.
Last night, I had what I think was the best hand I've ever played. It wasn't the hand that won the most money, but simply the one that I think I executed the best. (Everything after this sentence is going to be in severe pokerese. If you don't understand any of the terminology, and yet somehow still have a desire to read past this point, I suggest the PokerTips.org Poker Glossary.)
In this particular hand, I was the dealer and therefore was on the button. There may have been one call leading into me pre-flop, and I looked down and saw J-10 offsuit, so I decided to call the 10-cent blind (big stakes, I know). The small and big blinds to my left limped in and we saw a flop: K-10-9 rainbow.
The two blinds and one caller all checked to me, so I made a 50-cent bet into the pot that looked like -- and sort of was -- a position bet. But it was also more than that. If either of the other players in the pot had caught a straight they surely would raise me. So, in essence, it was not only a position bet but also a feeler bet. The small blind folded quickly but the big blind, Barr, thought about it for half a second and then just called (the other preflop caller folded as well).
At this point, my thinking was this. Knowing the moderately aggressive kind of player Barr is, I reasoned that if he flopped a straight, he surely would have raised my obvious position bet on the flop, in order to scare away anyone who might have a draw at a better straight (namely, ace-queen or ace-jack). Furthermore, if he had flopped top pair, he surely would have bet it initially; he is not one to slow-play top pair or two-pair, I thought to myself -- not with a straight draw on the board. The same logic applies to if he had pocket nines or pocket tens: there's no way he'd slow-play trips on the flop against a straight draw.
So at the very worst, I reasoned, he has a pair of tens as well, perhaps with a better kicker (and, if you follow my reasoning above, the only hand he could possibly have that beat my jack-ten at that point would be ace-jack, which, knowing Barr, I'm thinking he would have raised with pre-flop; instead, he just checked the big blind). At best, he has a straight draw with a Jack or a Queen and a rag, or perhaps a pair of nines.
That brought us to the turn: K. Barr checked to me, and I bet $1. It looked and felt like a position bet, but I knew that my tens with a straight draw was the best hand. Barr then did exactly what I expected him to do, as an aggressive player who recognizes a position bet: he check-raised, calling my dollar and raising $2. But, as I've described above, I knew in my gut he didn't have that king (nor did he have trips off the flop), so there's no way in the world the second king could have helped him.
So I re-raised him four more dollars. I was confident in making that semi-bluff because, even if he had me out-kicked with A-10 (the worst-case-scenario hand described above), I could still catch a queen to beat him on a straight draw, or a 10 to split the pot. He thought about it for about 45 seconds (he really was agonizing over it) and he folded.
I used a late bet to feel how strong his cards were, put him on a particular hand, raised him off his bluff, and won the pot.
And that was the best hand of poker I've ever played.
posted by mike at 5:57 PM
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