Do you bet a big hand in a big way or do you slow-play in an attempt to trap an opponent?
The joke is that the answer to that question and just about every question in poker is “It depends.”
Reason is, so much of the game is based on situations–chip stacks, position, table image and tendencies, to list some of the biggest considerations in no particular order.
One of the best players at organizing those factors correctly is feared tournament pro John Juanda.
With blinds at $1,200-$2,400 at the 2005 U.S. Poker Championship in Atlantic City, Juanda drew pocket kings in middle position and made it $5,800 to go. Action folded to the player in the big blind, who held 7-7.
John Juanda
King of diamonds
King of spades
The big blind
7 of clubs
7 of diamonds
The flop
King of hearts
10 of hearts
8 of clubs
The turn
10 of diamonds
“I made a small raise to start with,” said Juanda, one of the original pros from FullTiltPoker.com. “Because I had been raising a lot of hands at that table, he probably thought I didn’t have to have a hand to raise, so he re-raised me with a pair of 7s.”
The big blind raised it an additional $11,500. Juanda made a reraise of another $23,000.
“At that point, he should’ve folded unless he thought I was bluffing,” Juanda said. “When I re-raised him, that should’ve told him I had a real hand.”
If the big blind put Juanda on overcards, he was a 55-45 percent favorite, so calling $23,500 into a pot of about $62,000 was a smart move. But Juanda had a bigger pair, so the big blind was a 4-1 underdog who was getting less than 3-1 on his money, a bad bet. But the big blind called.
The flop came K-10-8, giving Juanda top set, but putting flush and straight draws out there.
“When the flop came, I had to decide if I was going to slow-play the hand because I put him on a pocket pair, maybe jacks or queens,” Juanda said. “If he had one of those two hands, most likely jacks, he would’ve moved all in. But the pot was so big, it didn’t make sense for me to slow-play it, so I decided to bet it.”
Juanda swallowed hard, checked his cards and bet $30,000. Yeah, there was some Hollywood here, but the bet put Juanda’s opponent all in.
“There was about $100,000 in the hand, so it didn’t make sense for me to slow-play it and let him catch runner-runner straight or runner-runner flush,” Juanda said.
In the face of three overcards and a previous raise, reraise and a bet for all his chips, the big blind called. The turn came the 10 of diamonds, giving Juanda a full house and leaving the big blind drawing dead.
“When you have the other guy’s hand defined, when you know exactly or approximately what he has, then sometimes you can try to show weakness by smooth-calling with kings or aces,” Juanda said.
“It just seemed to me that he was the kind of player that if he had anything at all, he wasn’t going to fold to me. He was ready to gamble up with me.”
Table talk
Top set: A pocket pair that matches the highest card on the board.
