Poker News

Russ Fox

We’ve all played against opponents who miss the fact that they’ve rivered a straight or a flush. There’s a select group of players who miss when they flop trips. Mrs. Goldman belongs to that sorority.

Take this hand, which comes from a recent $2-$5 nolimit game with a $500 maximum buy-in. The game had been playing very loose, and most raises just weren’t being respected. Peter, who is under-the-gun (UTG), raised to $20. The next player folded, and I was next to act with [7c]-[7s]. I elected to call, figuring that at least three others would see the flop. I was wrong-everyone else called. That included Mrs. Goldman in the cut-off seat. Peter looked annoyed with the action, so I put him on a big hand. There was $160 in the pot going to the flop. The flop was [Ks]-[Kc]-[10c], missing me completely.

Peter made a $60 continuation bet. I folded, of course, and only Mrs. Goldman and the button called. The turn was a blank, the [3h] Peter now bet $100 into the $340 pot. Mrs. Goldman quickly called and the button folded. I glanced at the chip stacks and saw that they both had about $500 remaining.

The river was the [3d]. Peter bet another $100, and while calling, Mrs. Goldman moaned, “I’ve been counterfeited.” She turned over her hand, [Kh]-[3h], and Peter just shook his head. I saw him disgustingly throw his aces into the muck.

Of course, what a player like Mrs. Goldman takes, she routinely gives back. Just one orbit later, Peter again raised from UTG to $20. After the next player folded, I again elected to call with another middle pair, 8a8d. Everyone except for one other player called, so the pot was only $140 before the flop.

The flop once again was [Ks][Kc][10c]. Medium pairs were certainly profitable in this game if you could flop a set. After Peter made another $60 continuation bet, I folded. Mrs. Goldman called, and Aaron, a solid player on the button, raised to $120. The blinds folded, so the decision was back to Peter. After hesitating for a few moments he called. Mrs. Goldman quickly called.

The turn was the [4h]. After Peter and Mrs. Goldman checked, Aaron moved all-in for $350. Peter reluctantly folded but Mrs. Goldman called. The hands were revealed: Aaron had AfKa while Mrs. Goldman had [10s]-[9s]. Needless to say, Mrs. Goldman was drawing dead. Peter told me he had aces again.

Peter later bemoaned his horrible luck. “I can never beat Mrs. Goldman. When she calls other players with her bad hands she loses but against me she always makes her miracle hands.” I couldn’t judge Peter’s remarks because I usually don’t play in a game with both him and Mrs. Goldman.

Yet consider how Peter played his aces. In a loose game he made raises that he knew would be called by a majority of his opponents. Do you want to play aces against seven or eight players? I don’t. When I mentioned this to Peter he told me that $20 was the usual de facto raise in the $2-$5 no-limit games he played in. That might be the case, but in poker everything is situational. In the game we were in a $20 raise was just asking to be called. Peter needed to adapt to the current scenario, and make substantial raises. When I raised in a similar spot to $35, I only got two callers.

It may be that Mrs. Goldman would have called any raise made by Peter in the first hand. However, we will never know for sure because Peter pinched his pennies.

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