Sneaky Cards

Let's pretend you are in late position at a game of no limit hold-em. Your opponents are playing tight and the pots have been small. You are dealt a 4 5 off-suit. Uncharacteristically, the player under the gun raises two times the big blind and remarkably there are three callers before the action gets to you. Obviously your 4 5 is not the best hand and is unlikely to become the best hand after the flop, so you should fold right? Maybe, maybe not. When four tight players all enter a raised pot it tells you something - that there are as many as eight high cards being shared among those four players. It is a safe bet that more than one of them has an ace and there are probably some kings and queens being held as well. Maybe a pocket pair in some body's hand too, but let's just think about those high cards for now.

With high cards being shared among several opponents, low cards like your 4 5 are not so bad. You are less likely to see an ace or king hit the flop when most of them are already in your opponents hands, so that increases the odds of seeing cards you will like. Any combination of 2 3 6 or 7 will give you a straight draw of some kind, but more importantly it will be difficult for your opponents to put you on this draw. Don't play a hand like 4 5 unless you are confident that you will be paid off.

In most cases the flop will not help you, but with a 4 5 in your hand it is easy to throw your hand away and not lose any more than your two bets.

If you do see a flop like 3 6 Q and someone makes a bet before you, you can throw your hand away or you can figure if it is worth it to call and hope to fill your straight. Your decision will be based on implied pot odds. You must ask yourself; "If I hit my straight, how much will this guy pay me off?" If you are sure that potential pay-off is enough to justify a call, then go ahead.

So much goes into trying to calculate implied pot odds that I can only mention a few of the things you have to consider. Obviously your opponent needs to have a lot of chips - best case scenario is that he has much more chips than you because you could potentially double up your stack. Almost as important is how "sneaky" you hand is. You entered a raised pot pre-flop, so he unlikely to be thinking you have something like 4 5, and if you call his bet here then he will certainly not be putting you on the straight draw.

The flop of 3 6 Q hides your draw a bit too. A flop like 2 3 Q would be worse for you, even though both flops give you exactly the same odds of hitting your straight, because the 2 3 makes the straight draw more noticeable. A flop like 3 6 Q hides your draw, and that increases the likelihood of a big pay-off if you get there.

If you do go on to win with a hand like this one, you will probably be seen as a lucky maniac by your opponents. That's great! The most profitable table image you can have is the lucky maniac. I'll discuss table image next time.