Poker Boot Camp 101 part five

Following on from part four and I fold junk in hands 10 and 11 but see the As-Ks in the next hand of limit Texas Holdem poker under the gun. I obviously raise to $20 and the button calls as do both blinds. The pot is $80 on the flop with three opponents. The flop gives me a nice nut flush draw with 9s-8s-5d. I check because I do not want to bet and possibly get raised by a player on my left who could drive away my market by making the other players face a double bet.

My plan works like a charm as the button bets $10 and both blinds call. I know a lot of players would not raise here but I have nine outs to a nut flush draw and six further possible outs to hit my overcards although overcard outs should always be devalued and especially on boards like these where you could easily be drawing dead to overcard draws. I raise to $20 and all three players call. The turn card is the 4c and my hand has still not improved and with three opponents in the pot then I am not going to get to take this pot with a bet so the only option is for me to check along after both blinds check to me.

The button however does bet but the small blind re-raises to $40 and the big blind folds. But with the board as co-ordinated as this then I must assume that my overcard outs are virtually dead in the water so I am now just calculating my flush outs. With only one card to come I just call the $40 and so does the button. The pot is now $280 and this is turning into a very big pot now with fourteen big bets in it so far. The river card is the Jc and the small blind leads out and I have no further place in the hand and fold.

Next hand and I am in the big blind and have the 10c-8c and it is folded around to the button who open raises to $20 and the small blind calls. The small blind should have re-raised here to not only drive me out but to also create dead money in the pot also. But his call has now presented me with pot odds of five to one and my hand is decent enough to take those kind of odds so I call the $10. The flop comes Kd-8s-6c giving me middle pair and with some backdoor draws.

The small blind checks and I bet out with a $10 bet and the button and small blind both call making the pot $90. This is not a great situation for me. There is no flush draw and it does not seem feasible that both poker players are calling with straight draws. If one of them has an eight then I could have kicker trouble and someone could also be waiting until the turn to raise.

In games at the $10-$20 level then it is not always easy to determine what your opponents are going to do but I really do not know where I am here. The turn card is the Js making my situation even worse and the small blind checks again. I struggle to find a bet but do so and bet $20 without much confidence and once again both players call and the pot is now $150.

The river card is the 3s making the final board Kd-8s-6c-Js-3s. The small blind checks again and I don’t see how I can possibly value bet this with two overcards, two opponents and third pair mediocre kicker in my hand. So I check it along too and am surprised to see the button check also so we have a showdown. As both player’s timers countdown to zero then I am slightly shocked to see the chips coming my way. I scoop a $150 pot and my stack goes back up to $725! Learn more how to play texas poker here.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Author –“Winning Cash Game Poker”

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