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23/03/2011 No. 103
he Guardian Poker Column
 
   
 
 
Victoria Coren
Wed 23 March 2011
 
 
 
When time runs out

He spent an age making his decision – what on earth could this fellow have?

Last week, I wrote about a young fellow at the UKIPT Manchester who took two or three minutes to make each betting decision. I wanted to advise readers new to live poker that it's bad etiquette to spend too long "dwelling up" on every hand.

This Manchester player was quite new to the game, as is common in these £500 events peopled mainly by satellite qualifiers. His inexperience became obvious during the following hand, which I'm going to set for you as a riddle.
 

With blinds at 150-300, a player in middle position raised to 900. The button called and our hero called from the small blind. The flop came K 7 3.

First to speak, our hero bet out 4500. This was a huge bet: 150% of the pot. The original raiser moved all in for 15k and the button folded. Our man, with only 9000 chips left, started to think. And think.

This is not a situation in which any experienced poker player would think for any time at all. You do not bet a third of your chips without knowing what you'll do if somebody raises.

What on earth could this fellow have? The pot was laying him 2.5-1. With what kind of hand would he need a long time to make a decision? With what kind of hand would he bet 150% of the pot and then need a long time to make a decision?

Eventually, the clock was called. A floor manager came over to give our hero one minute to make his decision. As the clock ticked down, he finally made the call and turned over . . . what do you think?

I'll give you a week to work it out, and reveal all next Wednesday – along with some vital poker advice based on this story.

 
 
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