Flophouse Blues

by Jim Woods

Get out your guitar and harmonica, because this is a sad story... the story of the flophouse blues. I was minding my own business in my home poker game, not significantly up or down in cash, when it happened. It goes a little something like this...

I was in late position in limit holdem with 3-3. Far from my favorite hand, but since two players had limped into the pot ahead of me, I did likewise. Nobody raised, and then the six of us who hadn't folded saw it... the 3-7-7 flop. "Hot damn!" my brain screamed. Well, at least the creative, emotional right half did. The logical left half looked across the table and saw two faint smiles, the big blind and another opponent. "Terribly sorry, sir," Leftie whispered, "but we appear to be facing two opponents with trips." As I soon discovered, he was right. The big blind, a conservative player who wouldn't wager a dollar on J-7, had played that hand for free and been rewarded by the poker gods. The player to his left, a looser cannon we'll call "Sundance", had limped with 7-6. Both players checked to me.

I know, I know...at least five of you readers are shaking your heads. "Whaddya want, Woodsie? Flopped quads? You're ahead, so bang it!" Here's the problem; it's a limit game and they're going nowhere with flopped trips. Yes, I am ahead now, but I'm only a 2-to-1 favorite against both of them. I can't protect my fragile full house with a big turn bet or an all-in.

Of course I bet the flop, not knowing both opponents had trips, but when both called quickly I believed at least one of them had a 7. Remember, there was no preflop raise, so the odds were small that anyone had a big pocket pair. Also, the flop was a rainbow, so I couldn't attribute their calls to flush draws. Finally, I knew Biggie Blind wasn't chasing a gutshot with 54 or 65.

The turn was the ominous 5. Biggie, who probably would have check-raised the turn if it hadn't been a heart, decided to make a flush draw expensive by betting. Sundance raised on his top trips and gutshot straight flush draw. I put Sundance on a straight and reraised, but when Biggie called after a long pause, I knew he had at least trips and possibly a better full house. Sundance looked at both of us like we were crazy, and thankfully, he didn't cap. I was a 76-24 favorite against them collectively, but I wasn't comfortable.

I wasn't comfortable for good reason, because the river card was the J. Biggie bet and Sundance foolishly raised with his worthless flush. I'd like to tell you that I made a colossal laydown and saved two bets, but that would be a lie. There was too much in the pot for me to give up my flopped boat. After my cold call, Biggie looked thoroughly confused. He and I knew Sundance wouldn't have been able to restrain himself from raising preflop with pocket jacks, but he told me later that he didn't reraise because he had seen me limp with that hand in the past (although I wouldn't have been likely to three-bet the turn with just jacks up into Sundance's possible straight). Biggie finally called and scooped in the enormous pot, while another player pretended to hang a bronze medal around Sundance's neck.

The point of this article is not to bore you with another bad beat story. Whenever you see a flop in holdem, you should know what you want to see and what you don't. Small pairs are particularly troublesome. You'd love to flop quads, but how often does that happen? (The answer is about once every 408 times you have a pocket pair.) With my threes I would have preferred something like A-3-8 or K-T-3 rainbow on the flop, so I'd get action from anyone with a high pair without being in much danger of getting run over on the turn or river. But a paired flop is dangerous, and when you have a small pocket pair the odds are that the pair in the flop will be higher. The whole history of the hand is relevant, too. I wouldn't have been as nervous about the 3-7-7 flop if someone had raised preflop, because the raise would have weeded out many hands containing a 7. On the other hand, I would have been less likely to call a preflop with threes.

What about other common hands? We all know people who seem to play any ace, so let's take A-5 offsuit as an example. Do you really want to see an ace in the flop with no 5? Isn't that the most expensive flop for an ace-rag hand? Many people can't fold a pair of aces, especially in a limit game, but when you bet you're a-5 and get raised, you're probably on the long dusty road to Loserville. What you really want is two fives, or a 2-3-4 flop. If you're thinking, "How often do those occur?" you're on your way to folding ace-rag hands and saving lots of money in the long run.

I've heard many players claim that J-T is even better than A-A. I don't agree, except that J T is much easier to get away from, but what kind of flop do you want with J-T? Flops of J-J-T, T-T-J, 9-8-7, and K-Q-9 spring to mind, but do you really want to see T-9-8 or K-Q-J? Even Q-J-T can turn into a disaster, especially if there was a preflop raise, because so many players raise or call raises preflop with Big Slick.

Finally, a word about suited connectors. I put little stock in the fact that my 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, or 7-8 is suited, and don't get me started on people who play 3-2 or 4-3! When you've made your flush with an 8 or lower card, it can be very difficult to fold and you can lose serious money in a no-limit game to a higher flush. The old saying is still a good one: "There's another hand coming in just a couple of minutes." Fold your 6-5 suited and save your money.

This article was published at an earlier date on PokerPages.com and is being rerun due to popular demand.

About the Author:
Jim Woods is a middle-aged attorney (but please don't hold that against him) that loves fishing and poker. He has an undergraduate degree... that comes in handy in poker, less so in poker. His one favorite poker fantasy? Using Cling Eastwood's famous line on Phil Hellmuth while having him dominated in a hand: "I know what you're thinking... But what you gotta as yourself is: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well... do ya, punk?