A Crazy Hand

By Nick Eisel

Poker can be a tedious game at times, especially when you're putting in a lot of hours at it.

This month I want to take a break from the usual strategic advice to share a hand I played with you that reminded me why I love the game so much. The hand has a good deal of history behind it which is part of the reason why it is so special. I was on a week long cruise and they happened to have a nightly $1/$2 No Limit game which has been my game of choice lately online. When I found out before the cruise that they had poker tables I was ecstatic because I couldn't imagine many competent players going on a relaxing cruise and actually spending their time at the tables. Boy was I wrong!

The first night I was taken aback to sit down in the game and realize that there were three other very strong players involved. The player that I want to focus on for this article was also in his early 20s and one of the strong players that I mentioned. We'll call him Dan just in case he's reading this and wouldn't want me to use his real name for whatever reason.

Dan and I played a bunch of pots together throughout the week and we both had good reads on each other. I felt like I was able to mix it up better though and get him to put me on the wrong hand if given a chance to do so, and that in general I had a slight edge on him. Without getting too much into detail, I had called down two bluffraises on the river against him and been right both times, so I think that gave me a tougher image in his mind since both of the times I called a big raise on the end with a medium strength hand like top pair.

The hand I want to write about didn't come until late in the cruise, it was the 5th day we'd been sailing and not only were Dan and I playing lots of poker together, but we were also playing some Gin on the side. The game as a whole played normal as far as the bets were concerned, and the standard preflop raise was usually to $10 or $12. The game had been going on for a good while on this particular night and I'd bought in for the $300 maximum and run it up to about $520 at the time of this hand. Dan also had around $500.

Before the flop Dan raised in middle position to $8 and was called in one spot. I looked down to 9 7 in the cutoff and made what I consider to be a routine call with deep stacks and position despite the fact that a tough player had raised. Dan was also fond of raising with middle suited connectors in this game, so his raise didn't necessarily mean strength. The big blind also called the raise so we went to the flop four handed.

The flop came down A 8 6 and there was $33 in the pot (minus the rake, whatever that was).

The big blind checked and Dan made his usual continuation bet of $15 with the guy in between us folding. Now I had to decide what to do with my open ended straight draw in this spot. In the past Dan and I would exercise pot control a lot with our medium hands against one another, and if I just called here, I could very well get a free card on the turn if it was reduced to heads up. Dan could also bet big and just blow me off of the hand, so I decided to do something that I had only done once in the past and that was to make the minimum raise. The last time this happened I was trying to build a big pot because I'd flopped a monster, and I was sure that Dan would remember it.

So I raised to $30 and the big blind folded. Dan called me instantly which meant to me that he either had something like AK, AQ, or a flush draw. He definitely wouldn't get involved with a big pot brewing with something like JJ or a worse ace, though he may peel to the turn with a worse ace.

The turn came off the 3 and there was about $90 in the pot.

This was a complete brick and I knew Dan was looking to find out where he stood in the hand. He checked to me and was staring at me the entire time. I knew fully well that he was capable of folding AK or AQ here if he put me on a bigger hand, and based on my minimum raise on the flop, I thought he could likely do just that. Now I just had to decide how much to bet in case my read was wrong and he now checkraised me off of the hand. I ended up betting $55 to make it look like I wanted a call.

Again, Dan called me almost instantly which didn't help in terms of narrowing down his hand any further. He either had AK and wasn't laying it down or he was still drawing, and I considered both of these possibilities equally likely. I had no plan for the river until I saw the card and how he reacted to it.

The river brought the 4 and there was about $200 in the pot.

Dan went into the tank for a brief moment before leading out $70 into me. Now I knew one of two things to be true. Dan had either just made a flush or he was making a blocking bet to get a cheap showdown if he had AK and wasn't sure whether I had just made a flush or not. If he checked I could make a pot sized bet which would be difficult to call with just top pair, and I may also just check behind which wouldn't be good for him if he had in fact made the flush.

In most situations I'd just have to fold as I wouldn't know which hand he held and it'd be too risky to try a bluffraise with my busted straight draw. In this case however, I was about 99% sure that Dan had just made a flush on the river and that it also wasn't the nut flush or he would've bet it stronger at an earlier point in the hand with top pair and the nut draw. If I was this sure that he only had top pair and was making a blocking bet, I'd certainly raise here knowing that he couldn't possibly call. Since I was so sure about him having a flush though, I just folded and we moved on to the next hand.

Wait, what!? You think I just typed out all of that to tell you that I read him for a flush on the river and then folded? I'd be crazy to do something like that.

In actuality, after reviewing the betting quickly in my head, I announced that I was all in for my remaining $400 or so dollars. Dan thought forever (which was actually about 3-4 full minutes) before telling me that he knew I held the nut flush. He then pitched J T for the 3rd nut flush face up into the muck.

The reason that I made this seemingly ballsy play was because I was aware that Dan could make a big laydown, even in a big pot. If you look back over the betting, everything I did would be in line with Ax of clubs. On the river Dan bet into me after the flush completed and practically told me that he had a flush. In response to this bet, I moved all in! What could I possibly have? He knew I was capable of making a play, but I doubt he would ever put me on a move for such a big bet. In his mind I know there was no doubt that I had the nut flush after going back over the hand.

It's certainly rare to make this type of a move, but it feels really good when you are able to put someone on a big hand and also know that they will fold it if you make a big raise. To me, this is the type of hand that makes me happy I've studied poker for so long and that it isn't always just a complete grind. For me, the hand represents a culmination of years of thinking and practice.