Poker Test 2 - Test yourself with Stuart Rutter
Test Yourself - Test Two
The Test Yourself features returns with another taxing example for you to fine tune your poker skills. Remember that there is never an absolute correct answer in poker, but I will always try to justify what I think is the best action in each case.
Also, take a look at Stuart's first poker test, in case you missed it.
Once again, we will assume the following in this example:-
• We hold 10,000 in chips, and are covered
• We are last to act
• Our opponents are good, reasonably aggressive players.
An action board
We hold 
, and call an early position raiser to see a flop of 
. This obviously is a good flop for us, giving us middle pair and an open-ended straight draw; our opponent bets 600, the size of the pot, and we make the call. The 
turn is a blank, and we call our opponent’s 1,200 bet.
The 
river is anything but a blank, and makes the board . The pot stands at 4,200, and our opponent bets 1,200 again. We have missed our draw, but we hold two pair. Our kicker does not play. Do we…
a) Fold, b) Call, or c) Raise
It is fair to say at first that all of the options look reasonable possibilities. Let’s review our opponent’s betting, and see if we can put him on a hand.
Big bets on the flop and turn seemed confident, and mean that our opponent almost definitely holds some kind of hand. He probably holds either a good draw or a good made hand, e.g 
for top pair, or an overpair. After this pattern of betting, the bet on the river is strangely small. This must mean that something has changed.
If our opponent does hold a good made hand, the really is an awful card for him. It pairs the board, and completes the flush draw from the flop. The 1,200 bet on the river would fit well with this scenario, as being a defensive value bet.
There is of course the entirely different possibility. Our opponent could have been semi-bluffing on the flop and turn with a good drawing hand like 
or 
, and have made the nut flush on the river.
However, I would say that this does not fit so well; if our opponent did make the nut flush on the end, he would probably look for more value from it than a small 1,200 bet.
The situation looks very much like our opponent did not like the last card, but has a good hand. I would put him here on a better two pair hand than us, such as 
, 
, or 
.
Our action
To recap, we are holding on a board of
It looks very much like we are beat. If our read that our opponent has a better made hand is wrong, the news is likely to be worse, and our opponent may turn over a flush. I feel a flat-call is the worst option, as there is not a genuine hand that twe are beating.
So, pass, right? It would be a good pass, as we are very likely beaten here. However, there could be an even better option. Why not use the dangerous looking river card to try to raise your opponent off the hand. The move has a very definite requirement; your opponent must be capable of passing a decent hand, and not calling simply out of frustration.
If your opponent does fit the bill, raise the size of the pot. You have shown strength by calling bets on the flop and turn, and now your opponent has shown discomfort at a dangerous river card. The conditions are perfect to represent a very strong hand, and to make your opponent pass a good hand.
Let’s say our opponent does hold a hand like . If he is capable of giving the situation some thought, he will be scared by your actions. You have played the hand precisely like a made flush, or indeed an even stronger hand like a full house.
You are hoping he will pick up on a piece of false logic. You have called two bets, and therefore must have something; you had the option to flat-call on the scary river card, but in stead have raised. Therefore, it looks just like you have something very big. What your opponent will not suspect is that you have turned your reasonably strong hand into a bluff.
The stark warning
The conditions are right, and this really is a great bluff, as the story you are telling fits perfectly. However, choosing the wrong type of opponent can be disastrous.
There are in fact two obstacles to overcome. You must first persuade your opponent that he is likely to be beat. You need a reasonable opponent capable of enough thought to come to this conclusion.
Strangely, this is not enough. Many poker players will think that they are beat, but are still not quite able to make themselves pass. An element of uncertainty combines with the frustration of being outdrawn, and they make a correct call for the wrong reasons!
The conclusion
Do not let the stark warning put you off too much. This is a massively valuable area of poker strategy, and one that not many players use well.
What we are doing is turning a good hand into a bluff. On the end, rather than thinking “do I call or not?” we are adding a new dimension. The unlikely looking option of a raise can often pinch a pot which should not be ours.
