An Amateur Faces The Poker Pros

Ken Adams Plays His Best Game When It Counts

(CBS) 
After throwing away a dozen or so unplayable hands, I picked up the jack and ten of clubs on the button. Everyone folded until it got to me, and I opened the pot for $75 (three times the amount of the big blind, a standard pre-flop raise). Not surprisingly, both Alan and Carlos called, since they had already posted $25 for the blinds and it only cost them another $50. They figure position does not matter so much against an amateur player, as they expect to be able to outplay me from any position.

The flop came eight-six-three with two clubs. All three of us checked. The turn card was the lovely 7 of clubs, giving me a flush. Alan bet $200 into the $225 pot. I was confident I had the best hand, but did not want to take the risk of another club coming on the river. While Alan might be bluffing, he probably was not betting without some "outs" in case he got called – either a straight draw or the ace of clubs. So I moved all in, making it clear to him that I had a flush and that he would be a big underdog if he called in the hopes of catching another club on the river.

A less conservative player would have just called, in order to try to trap Alan for another bet on the river if a safe card appeared. But the way I had been running all week, I preferred to lock up a small win in the first pot I played. He got the message and folded. It felt great to stack the chips.

By the end of the first hour when the blinds went up, I had increased my stack from $2,000 to $3,150. Alan had lost a sizeable pot to Carlos, and had pulled in his horns waiting for a strong hand. Carlos had doubled up to about $4,000 and was constantly chopping away and picking up small pots from players who were afraid to call his raises.

I was the tightest player at the table, throwing away hand after hand after hand. I had only played two pots, and had not shown my hand either time. When I picked up the ten-nine of diamonds in middle position I decided it was time to exploit my tight table image. I raised, and everyone folded. Sweeeet!

Now we're playing the game! Not long after that I picked up my first premium pair, queen-queen, in late position. One player had called the $50 blind, so I raised it to $200. Carlos tossed in another $150 to call. The guy who had just limped in for $50 initially now re-raised to $800. He had been playing a lot of hands, and had shown down a number of hands with lesser cards than his betting indicated. In short, he overplayed a lot of hands.

I could not assume he had me beat, so I called with the expectation that if an ace or king came on the flop, I would not put any more money into the pot. Carlos folded. There was $1,850 in the pot at this point. The flop came ten-six-four with two spades. The limper moved all in for $1,100. Now I was sure I had him beat. No way he pushes all in if he has aces or kings. It was the kind of overly aggressive bet that is hoping not to be called.