A SAMPLE HAND
This hand was played by an acquaintance of mine in a small pot-limit game.
I think it illustrates a couple of things about pot-limit and no-limit poker that are important.
First, it shows the importance of iplied odds, and second, it shows the importance of just folding when it looks like you’re beaten.
Pre-flop
Our hero is on the blind with 7 
7 
.
An early position player limped in (only called the $5 blind ), and a late position player called.
Our hero thought about raising, but didn’t.
I think he was right not to raise.
In pot-limit, it’s often a good idea to put in a pre-flop raise with a pocket pair because if you do flop a set, you want the pot to be large so that you can make a large bet.
In this situation, however, a raise was too dangerous. The early position player was likely to have been limping with a large pair, intending to reraise any late raise.
The Flop
The flop was J J 7 
, giving our hero a full house. Pretty good flop for 7 7 .
Our hero checked, hoping that one of the other players would bet.
Checking was probably the right thing to do here. At this point the pot has only $ 15 in it.
That’s the most our hero could bet.
If someone else bets first, he can then raise a larger amount. Let’s see what happens.
The original opener bets $ 15. The late position player calls. Now the pot has $45 in it.
Out hero can raise $60 now ($45 plus the $ 15 from the hero’s call.) Our hero raises.
So far, so good. Even though we’ve got the smallest possible full house, it appears unlikely that either of the other two players have a full house.
They probably have poker hands like Q Q or A J .
The original bettor folds. The late position caller raises $180. Our hero calls the raise.
Now we’ve screwed up. Our hero’s thinking was that the guy probably hand something like A J .
Until that last raise, this was probably a good guess, but in pot-limit and no-limit especially, you need to constantly use new information to reevaluate the situation.
Here we have a player who’s been quietly calling every bet until now, when the pot has gotten very large. Only now does he take the initiative and raise.
This is the behavior of a big hand. This player has a full house, and any full house will beat the full house that our pair of sevens makes.
This is when you need to ask the question, “Am I beaten?” The only answer to that question is yes.
It’s time to fold. In a pot-limit or no-limit game, play loose, play aggressive, don’t call.
If you never called a raise, you’d only be making a small mistake.
Pick the Right Table / Picking a Seat / Theories of Poker / Betting Theory: The Odds
A Theory of Starting Hand Value
A Theory of Flop Play: Counting Outs and Evaluating Draws
The Dynamics of Game Conditions / Table Image / Player Stereotypes
Women and Poker / Spread-Limit Games / Double Bet on the End Games / Kill Games
