“There’s Nothing I Can Fold”

Being good at math can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes basic math dictates putting a large amount of chips into the pot with a marginal hand. Regardless of the pot odds or implied odds you’re getting, the fact is the worst hand will usually lose, so in the short term it can be easy to bleed off a lot of chips in situations like this if the flop keeps missing you. Though I consider myself primarily a feel player, I also know the math very well, and this means (depending on position) I will almost always call a bet if the price is right. After all, the whole concept of playing the odds is that, over time, you will make money if you truly are getting the right price to call a bet.

A situation like this came up last night in our $5/10 NLO8 game. Though I forget the exact pre-flop betting sequence, I believe we have our usual $20 straddle, a raise to $60 and a couple callers. I’m in middle position with 3-5-6-7 with a couple spades, and toss in the call. The action gets to Charles, who raises something like another $240 on top. If it folds to me it’s a pretty easy fold. Instead, Dave and Tom both call, and Elvie (almost sure to call) is yet to act behind me. I say “There’s nothing I can fold” (nothing I could call the first $60 with, that is) and toss in the call as well, and we have a nice little pot a-brewing.

Now, this is a very specific situation which I actually like to find myself in. Everyone at the table knows that Charles has A-A, and he most likely has at least one good low card to go along with them. The bad thing about the situation is that for me to get a decent low hand, I’ll need an ace to come (and probably a deuce as well), and at least two of them aren’t available. The good thing about it is that if an ace does come, most players (though Charles is not necessarily one of them) will never be able to get away from the hand, and you can sometimes win a huge pot. In this situation I would be much happier with a deuce in my hand - something along the lines of 2-3-5-6, but hey, you play the hand you’re dealt.

Anyway, there’s around $1,500 out there, and the flop is flat-out magic, A-2-4 rainbow. I flop the double-nut wheel with a redraw to a higher straight. Before I can even best determine how to get all the chips in, Dave announces he’s all-in for $600, and Tom calls for less behind him! I have everyone covered, mumble something about there being too much money out there to fold, and call as well. Charles suspects he’s beat by at least one of us, but at this point doesn’t have much choice but to call also. The turn and river actually bring a couple bricks like J-8, nobody else has the wheel, and I scoop a sweet little $3,500+ pot!

I had a couple other “could-a-been” monster hands, but they didn’t quite work out as well as this one. Still, I was able to slowly build the stack the rest of the night, and cashed out for over $5K. A very good night - especially considering two of the big action players (Bill and Eli) were absent. Dave’s face is having some kind of allergic reaction, but it’s not near as red as it’s gonna be next time, when I clean out what’s left of his bank account. Dave, make sure your mommy is on speed dial, because you’ll be crying to her before midnight!

See ya at the tables…
Rick