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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Wed 7 Apr 2010 |
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A trap that went horribly wrong - or did
it?
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As any
fule kno, tournament results come from a mixture of skill and luck. James
Mitchell, a great new English player with consistent final table results,
played brilliantly to win the Irish Open over the weekend, but also hit some
fantastic form – not least in beating QQ with A6 when he was heads-up and
all-in.
You can't fight fortune. Keith "The Camel" Hawkins, an online
genius who calls himself "the nearly man" in live events, went into Day Two as
big chip leader, played at the top of his game and finished 20th after running
KK into AA. No escaping that. |
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But there are situations where players get
unlucky because they have invited it. There was a hand on Day One where The
Camel (already chip leader, holding A 2 ) bet out on a flop of K J 3 and his opponent made a minimum raise. Easy call for Hawkins. The
turn was A and The Camel check-raised his opponent all in for
11,000 (keeping 50,000 of his own behind). The opponent tabled AJ for two pair,
and probably felt terribly unlucky when the river brought a fourth spade to
knock him out.
But why had the guy min-raised, into the chip leader,
with second pair on a flushing flop? This raise is too small to chase out a
winning hand or a drawing hand. His cards are too weak to want a bigger pot or
a shove from his opponent. This chap was lucky to see an A on the turn, unlucky
to lose on the river, but he opened the door with that messy and indecisive
flop bet.
Before every bet you make, ask yourself what you want it to
achieve. If you don't know, don't bet. Remember: if calling feels weak and
raising is dangerous, there's no shame in passing. |
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