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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Wed 23 March 2011 |
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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.
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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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