Knowing how to play your draws in No Limit Hold’em is one of the most important aspects of the game. You need to know when it’s a good time to draw and when it’s just not worth it. You should be able to calculate the odds you are getting on your draws and you should also have a good idea if you make your draw that it will even be the best hand. Over the past few sessions I’ve witnessed some of the worst played hands ever, so I figured I’d write about them.
I was playing a weak 2-5 NL game at MGM the other day when I picked up 6c 7c in late position. The player UTG first to act raised to $25 preflop, got action from a deep stack in middle position, myself and the small blind. The flop comes 5c 7d 8h giving me middle pair, with an open ended straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The player who opened the pot bets out with a pot sized bet ($100). Player in front of me folds and the actions on me. I put him on a wired pair, bigger then board something like Jacks or Aces. He had a decent stack (~$1000 before the hand started) and looked to be a pretty solid player who could get away from a big pair. I had enough chips to make a play at the pot but I wanted to play it in a way that made him think I flopped a big hand and not just try to bully him out on flop. So I min-raised to $200 with the intentions of either making one of my draws or taking the pot away from him on turn or the river. The action is now on the small blind, who without hesitations moves all in for ~$400. The player who opened the pot and led out with the $100 folds in disgust, later telling us he had Qd Qh so my read was right and I was priced in to call the additional $200 to see the turn and river. Turn comes 8d and river comes Qc leaving me with a pair of 7s. The player who shoved all in mocks a 9h 10h and I take down a nice pot with not such a great hand putting the player who would have ended up with Queens Full on tilt.
There are a few things in that hand I’d like to explain. I don’t blame the 9h 10h for playing the pot since he had a nice draw. 2 over cards, open end straight draw and a backdoor flush draw in hearts. Where he went wrong was shoving in all in on the flop. For 1 if your drawing to the nut hand like he was he could have just called the $200 which would have priced in the over pair to call the additional $100 increasing his implied odds when/if he makes a hand. The problem with his all in is that he didn’t have enough money to get me to fold and he had no hand to protect, since he was on a draw only.
Another poorly played draw was a 1-2 NL game I was playing in at the M resort the other day. I am dealt Pocket Aces in late position and raise the pot to $15 getting 1 called that was on the big blind. Flop comes 10h Js 6h and the player checks, I bet $25 and player insta calls the $25 leaving him self with just under $100. The turn comes 7c and player checks again. I bet half of his remaining chips ($50) and the player immediately shoves all in which is another $50 for me to call his all in. I of course call since it wasn’t nearly enough to fold and I was reasonably sure my Aces were still good. The river is dealt, 3h and my opponent shows Ah 8h winning him the pot with an Ace high flush. Now yeah he did get lucky and win the pot, but the way he went about playing his draw was all wrong. He basically sucked me in to call his all in with nothing but a draw. He had 9 outs to make his flush and 4 outs to make his straight with 1 card to come on river. I was probably around %65-%35 favorite on flop and only improved slightly on turn. The guy had to of known he couldn’t get me to lay down for $50 on turn so had he had a big hand like a set of 10s he would have got maximum value and played it great. Problem is he got all his money in with the worst of it and got lucky. What he should have done, was check raised flopped or went all in, if not right on flop then definitely on turn, giving him a chance to win the pot with no showdown using a technique known as a “semi bluff” this way if he’s called he still has outs to win the pot since he had no hand at the time his money went in and I was priced in to call him.
There are plenty of pots I witness at my tables and I analyze the way the hands are played, this is important and it really helps your game. You should always pay attention to the way a player plays his draws and big hands. It may help you make a difficult decision later on.
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