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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Friday February 17,
2006 |
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How to play poker
(How to play has been running from issue 16) |
Sometimes, the simplest aspects of poker need pointing
out. This occurred to me last week when I was playing in the French Open at
Deauville, one of the events on the European Poker Tour.
A big hand came
up between two players at my table: player A, an American kid who raised with
most hands but gave up if he missed the flop, and player B, a young
Scandinavian who played a little more thoughtfully.
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Player A raised (as usual), and player B was
the only caller. The flop came Kh 5c 7s. Player A bet out, and player B raised.
Player A re-raised: at this point, it becomes obvious that his hand is AK. His
cards are good enough to keep betting after the raise (so he can't really have
less than top pair, top kicker) but not good enough to give his opponent any
cheap cards (so he can't have three of a kind). He can only have AK for a pair
of kings, or possibly AA. Player B then re-raised again, putting himself all
in. He must therefore have a hand which can beat AK or AA.
Player A
called the all-in bet, and flipped over AK. Player B showed the lowest hand he
could possibly have for his actions: two pair, sevens and fives. So that was
the end of player A's tournament.
Now here is the crucial question (in
this particular event, the €4,000 question): what did Player A think that
Player B was holding? The answer: he simply didn't think about it. He just
looked at his own two cards and the flop.
With what possible hand that
is worse than AK could player B have played the way he did? He might raise on
the flop with all sorts of hands - any king, or much less if he thinks Player A
is bluffing. But to move all in after the reraise? He must be able to beat one
pair. Unfortunately, player A was so dazzled by his own hand, he threw all his
chips into the blinding glare.
So this week's message is very simple,
but clearly worth mentioning: always look beyond your own two cards. Whatever
they are.
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