Folding the best hand? Are you nuts?
Many card players start out their careers in small buy in
no-limit Hold 'em tournaments. From there they move to real
money tables and try to find a structure they are comfortable
with. Be that no-limit Hold'em, higher stakes fixed-limit, or
pot-limit. Occasionally a pure Hold'em player decides to try one
of the other popular
poker games
such as 7-card, or Omaha or often the somewhat exotic
Omaha-Hi-Low.
These three games present a situation that is much more unusual
in Hold'em, a situation where two or more players hold the nuts.
Examples are as follows; in 7-card you and another player both
have 2 cards down and 4 up and the four up either form a
straight or with the two hole cards could form a straight
equally high. In Omaha there are plenty of times where more than
one player has the nut straight. Omaha Hi-Low presents the most
examples and the most complications. It is also our best
evidence that sometimes the nuts just don't cut it.
With hi-low as a separate issue let's first consider 7-Card and
Omaha. Here, given the right information about your opponent you
will choose to act differently. If your opponent is a maniac and
you have the best possible hand - for example a straight with a
flush draw on the board, or trips with a straight draw on the
board - you are going to raise as much as possible. Or in 7-Card
a straight in your hand and what could be an equally high
straight and also a flush draw in his hand
If your opponent is a rock then you will have to reconsider. The
last thing you want to do is let him
free roll on
your money. Free rolling meaning that in the worst case
situation he is going to split the pot with you and in the best
case he is going to win. It is also important to realize that in
Omaha, the highest trips can be the favorite to LOSE against a
serious draw. In the worst case scenario you have the top trips
and the flop has a straight flush draw on it. Your opponent
could be holding a hand No Pair 9 High that has a 68.47% chance
of winning! This would be the case if he had #4s #5s #8c #9c
while you had #7d #7h #Ah #Kh and the flop was #3s #6c #7s. Here
if you have the set and your opponent, the rock, raises in such
a way that you have to put in more than 1/3 of the pot you
should fold. If he is a maniac you should raise or call
depending on what you think he might be holding.
In Omaha-hi-low the nut low is often split by a number of
people. Do not call pot bets with just the nut low and no high
card or draw to a new nut low in a multi-way pot. You run the
risk of only winning back ¼ or less of the pot and that is a
losing proposition.
The most common free roll situation which is very difficult to
recognize is be it in
Texas
Holdem or Omaha is if you should fold the nut straight while
there is a flush draw out there. Here you have to ask yourself
is my opponent the type that will only raise with nuts and a
draw? Or is he the type that will raise to protect the nuts or
is he the type to semi bluff hard. If he only enters raising
wars with the nuts and a draw you are putting money into a pot
in the hopes of splitting it at best and losing it at worse.
This is not a good idea. The important thing to remember is that
there are hands out there superior to the nuts due to their
ability to improve. With this in mind just make sure that you
occasionally consider the option of folding your nuts.
About the author:
Kevin Stevenson is a freelance writer focusing on poker. Has
done a lot of work for the worlds biggest
online poker guide,
PokerListings.com.
