Even though my profession of being in sales can take me out of town and away from home for a day or two at a time, every now and then I may find a place to to play a little poker and be able to unwind and make a little extra money as well. A few months back I found myself in that exact situation for a couple of days and I was able to find a place in town to play some poker during the evening. I lost one hand where I got all of my chips in the middle on the turn with a straight, but got drawn out on by a flush and had to re-buy. After utilizing some patience during that second buy-in I finally came across a hand that got me back ahead thanks to a crucial mistake made by one of my opponents.
The game was 2/2 No Limit. I'm in the cutoff, which is one seat before the button and I pick up A9 of hearts. UTG raises to 8 and everyone calls. With $70 in the middle going to the flop, I know that if I don’t hit a big flop I have to get away from the hand. Otherwise I may find myself chip committed to a pot with a marginal hand and get felted again. I had already decided that no matter what, I was not reloading again that evening.
Flop: 10h As 8h. It’s checked to the middle position player who bets $20. I call. SB calls. Turn card: 4c. SB checks. Middle position bets $30. Most people wouldn't give a bet like this a second thought, however for me an alarm goes off in my head. I’m trying to figure out why his bet is so small. $30 into a pot of $130 almost has the same value as a check in my opinion. With 5 to 1 pot odds, I wouldn't even expect anyone with top pair and a marginal kicker to fold. I'm really trying to ascertain what my opponent is doing here. To me, this was the critical point in the hand. I look over and see that my opponent has about $100 left so I call. SB calls as well. River card: 3h. SB checks. Middle position goes all in and I instantly call. SB folds. My opponent turns over pocket 8s for a set, as I flip over the nuts. He didn’t say anything accept, “Nice hand,” as he stood up to go to the ATM to reload.
Had he not bet so small on the turn and would have forced me to have to call by going all in for his last $100 it would have been a much harder call for me to make. He gave me such huge pot odds to chase my flush, which was only helped out more by my other opponent who called, that I had the right price to pay to see the river. I suspected on the turn that he had at worst two pair on the turn. When the hand was over, I suspected that because he had a set, he was trying to bet small enough to trap players and keep them in the hand. In the end it backfired. I ended up finishing ahead slightly for the evening, cashed out my chips, went back to my hotel, and went to bed.
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