Poker is all about difficult decisions. What to bet, deciding whether the other guy is bluffing, making a call on an opponent’s range…hell, even pulling out a chair and sitting down in the first place. However, one of the largest decisions, the one that pulls at you long after you’ve made your call, is whether to fold a potential huge hand early on in the game.
If you’ve played long enough, you’ve been there. You get dealt 7, 10 of hearts. You limp in to see the flop. When the 8 and 9 of hearts show themselves, you do a silent backflip in your head and instinctively reach for your chips. However, the third flop card is of no help to you, but let’s say it’s a King…something that certainly could be of help to someone else.
And this, my fellow poker players, is where studying the probabilities comes in handy. Of course, not many of us are so familiar that we can figure it out accurately right off the top of our head. You better have some idea of your chances of pulling out that flush (or straight, or, of course, straight flush) before facing off against a potential top pair or two-pair hand.
In fact, it makes the decision even tougher when someone else at Doyles Room puts you to it. Let’s say the flop comes up, and the first guy in the betting rotation goes all-in. Now let’s say the second player calls with more chips. Now what do you do? Gonna lay down a MONSTER open-ended straight flush, flush or straight draw because someone’s betting strong with a top pair?
It’s a hell of a gamble, and I know that’s the name of the game, but if you’re playing smart, you’re not going to take the chance most of the time. Hold ‘Em is a game (for better or worse) that you can exit yet still see what the outcome would’ve been if other players face off, and nothing’s worse than laying down those hands only to realize you would’ve won. But then again, sometime’s being in that position is great for potential, but crappy for betting.