Whether it’s truth or not, Party Bets is reporting that Phil Ivey winning the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event could leave them in a near million dollar hole. What is confirmed is that the public money has just kept coming for the player widely regarded as the best in the world today. Despite only holding five percent of the chips in play, Phil Ivey will enter the final table on the third line of betting at $6. According to a spokesperson for Party Bets, “Ivey will be a terrible result for us and we think that the industry as a whole will have massive liabilities. A big name on the final table of the WSOP is always bad news for bookmakers and in fairness they don’t come much bigger than Ivey. We have our fingers crossed that he doesn’t pull off a remarkable comeback. The bottom line is that for us it has to be anybody apart from Ivey.” Some lucky punters managed to jump on Ivey at $176 when betting opened early and when the cards were in the air at the World Series of Poker Main Event, Ivey was a short-price favourite at $101 despite the enormity of the field that he would have to contend with. The now seven-time bracelet winner’s price continued to shorten, as he weaved his way through the massive variance of the world’s biggest live tournament. Despite all the money for the big name pro, it has to be said that he is the sucker bet. It will take a tremendous comeback for Ivey, who will start with around 40 big blinds, to come back and win the tournament. Even with his tremendous skill factor, those that are taking Ivey at $6 are taking at least $1.50 off a fair bet. As every serious punter knows, you won’t win long term if you consistently take or place bets that are under value. Still, the public money is supposedly causing Party Bets’ angst. “I’m sure we’re not the only ones quaking in our boots – it doesn’t take long to get six figure liabilities with three figure prices. This would be the worst poker result for a bookmaker in history. Imagine the fear of those that Ivey may have backed himself with, they’ll make our concerns look trivial!” said a Party Bets representative. And if Ivey is the worst result in history for them, then surely the more likely result of Ivey bowing out short of the World Championship will stand to make the bookies a pretty quid. So where can you find some value to make a few “jolly green giants”. Put simply, back the favourite. It’s not often that the favourite could be considered over the odds, but with the amount of public dollars chasing Phil Ivey, and the perceived talent of those chasing Darvin Moon, that’s exactly what has happened. Sure, Moon might be an amateur with no big tournament scores to his name, but you have to look at it from the perspective that the guy is sitting with thirty percent of the chips in play. Consider also that Jamie Gold, a guy who had done nothing before his World Series of Poker victory, and has arguably done less since, came into the 2006 Main Event final table with only around twenty-eight percent of the chips in play, and established pro Alan Cunningham right on his tail. Gold also had to beat out Erik Friberg, Paul Wasicka, and Michael Binger. Of course history shows that Gold, a player of considerably less talent than his opposition in the opinion of many, was able to trash talk his way to glory. Moon may not pack the sledging in his arsenal, but he does hold the big stack, and since 2005 only one chip leader coming into the final table has finished outside of the top four – Philip Hilm in 2007. Will Moon win the event? Who knows, but what is certain, is that of all the November Nine, Moon is the only one remotely close to what are true odds. Right now you can get a free $50 to bet with at Party Bets simply by downloading Party Poker. The $50 is free to be used across Party Poker, Party Bets or Party Casino. So why not download Party Poker now and place a cheeky $50 on the November Nine. If you’re keen for a bet on the November Nine, but not liking the straight up winning option, a full range of prop bets are available including the “Winning Hand” and “Colour of the River Card on the Winning Hand”, are available at Party Bets. You can check out Party Bets WSOP Champion market below: Darvin Moon (58,930,000 chips) – 4.00 Eric Buchman (34,800,000 chips) – 5.00 Phil Ivey ( 9,765,000 chips) – 6.00 Steven Begleiter (29,885,000 chips) – 7.00 Jeff Shulman (19,580,000 chips) – 7.00 Kevin Schaffel (12,390,000 chips) – 13.00 Joseph Cada (13,215,000 chips) – 13.00 James Akenhead (6,800,000 chips) – 15.00 Antoine Saout (9,500,000 chips) – 17.00

PokerStars released the schedule for the third season of the Latin American Poker Tour on Thursday, Oct. 29. The tour will feature five tournament stops beginning on Nov. 19, 2009 in Costa Rica, and concluding with the LAPT Finale in Argentina, which will take place in 2010 (dates have yet to be announced). The first event in Costa Rica will feature a $2,500+$200 buy-in. Players can also win a $6,000 LAPT Costa Rica prize package in satellite tournaments on PokerStars.

The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will also be included on the LAPT season three schedule. “I can’t wait for the start of LAPT season three,” said Team PokerStars pro Andre Akkari (pictured left). “I’m really happy that the tour will take in the PCA event in the Bahamas. It’s one of my favorite tournaments of the year. It’s got everything, with more than 50 poker events and fun activities in the sun for friends and family!”

Last year, the LAPT attracted 1,053 players and awarded $4,045,350. Those numbers will surely be topped during the new season.

Team PokerStars pro Humberto Brenes will host Humberto’s ‘Shark Hunt’ Bounty Charity Tournament on Nov. 18 in Costa Rica, and the winner will receive an LAPT Chile prize package. The $100 buy-in no-limit hold’em event will feature a turbo structure and half of the prize pool will be donated to The Whitley Fund for Nature. PokerStars and Brenes will match the donation. The other half of the prize pool will be divided up and placed as bounties on the heads of the Team PokerStars pros who will participate in the charity event.

“In just two seasons, the Latin American Poker Tour has become the biggest poker tour in the region,” said Brenes. “It attracts the best players from Latin America and all over the world. Last season, the prize pool hit a million dollars in Costa Rica, and I know we’re going to beat that this time! I am very proud to play in Costa Rica, it’s my home country and a very special event for me. Tell everyone to come here, the Shark is waiting for them.”

LAPT Season Three Schedule:

Nov. 19-22, 2009: LAPT Playa Conchal, Costa Rica ($2,500 no-limit hold’em)
Jan. 4-14, 2010: PCA Bahamas ($10,000 no-limit hold’em)
Feb. 24-27, 2009: LAPT Punta del Este, Uruguay ($3,500 no-limit hold’em)
Mar. 20-23, 2010: LAPT Vina del Mar, Chile ($2,500 no-limit hold’em)
TBA: LAPT Finale Argentina ($5,000 no-limit hold’em)

Christophe Benzimra (pictured right), from France, took just under eights hours to win the 2009 PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw main event final table and he was awarded €358,644 in prize money. He came into the final table sixth in chips and outlasted the competition, including Team PokerStars pro Luca Pagano (who Benzimra busted in fourth place). The tournament win was a first for Benzimra, who took out four of his opponents at the final table, and it was just the fourth cash in his poker career.

Pagano added to a few of his records at this final table. It was his 12th EPT cash and his fifth EPT final table, which are both the most ever. The next EPT event will take place in Vilamoura, Portugal from Nov. 17-22. Continue reading below to see how the elimination hands fell at the final table. Here is a look at the final-table results:

1: Christophe Benzimra (France) — €358,644
2: Alfio Battisti (Italy) — €200,520
3: Oleksandr Vaserfirer (Ukraine) — €120,311
4: Luca Pagano (Italy) — €85,938
5: Ruslan Prydryk (Ukraine) — €71,041
6: Clayton Mozdzen (Canada) — €56,144
7: Alexander Klimashin (Russia) — €44,687
8: Anatoly Gurtovoy (Russia) — €32,082

Final-Table Elimination Hands:

Anatoly Gurtovoy Eliminated in Eighth Place (€32,082)

Anatoly Gurtovoy raised all in for 324,000 preflop and Oleksandr Vaserfirer made the call. Their cards:

Gurtoyov: A Q
Vaserfirer: J J

Board: K 8 7 7 9

Gurtoyov was eliminated on the hand in eighth place and Vaserfirer grew his chip lead to 2.2 million.

Alexander Klimashin Eliminated in Seventh Place (€44,687)

Alexander Klimashin open-raised all in from middle position for 300,000 and Christophe Benzimra made the call. Their cards:

Klimashin: 9 9
Benzimra: A K

Board: A 4 2 3 3

Klimashin was eliminated in seventh place and Benzimra grabbed his first elimination at the final table.

Clayton Mozdzen Eliminated in Sixth Place (€56,144)

Clayton Mozdzen raised to 70,000 preflop from early position and Alfio Battisti reraised to 176,000. Mozdzen reraised all in and Battisti made the call. Their cards:

Mozdzen: A K
Battisti: A A

Board: Q 9 2 7 3

Mozdzen was eliminated in sixth place.

Ruslan Prydryk Eliminated in Fifth Place (€71,041)

Oleksandr Vaserfirer raised to 70,000 to open a pot from the cutoff and Ruslan Prydryk reraised to 250,000 from the button. Christophe Benzimra then reraised all in for 622,000. Vaserfirer made the call and covered Benzimra, while Prydryk made an all-in call for 620,000. The biggest pot in the tournament sat in the middle of the table when the three payers turned over their hands:

Prydryk: Q Q
Benzimra: J J
Vaserfirer: A A

Board: J 10 4 7 K

Benzimra came from behind to win the hand and he tripled up to 1.95 million. Prydyrk was eliminated in fifth place. Vaserfirer took a hit, but he still held the chip lead with 2.15 million after the hand.

Luca Pagano Eliminated in Fourth Place (€85,938)

Christophe Benzimra raised preflop and Luca Pagano made the all-in call. Their cards:

Pagano: A 5
Benzimra: Q 10

Board: Q 6 5 4 4

Pagano was eliminated in fourth place and Benzimra notched his third elimination at the final table.

Oleksandr Vaserfirer Eliminated in Third Place (€120,311)

Alfio Battisti raised to 110,000 preflop and Oleksandr Vaserfirer reraised all in for 570,000 total. Battisti made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Battisti: A K
Vaserfirer: A 8

Board: Q Q J 3 5

Vaserfirer was eliminated in third place on the hand and then the two final players went on dinner break.

Christophe Benzimra Wins EPT Warsaw (€358,644) — Alfio Battisti Eliminated in Second Place (€200,520)

After close to an hour of heads-up play Christophe Benzimra raised to 120,000 preflop and Alfio Battisti reraised to 250,000. Benzimra made the call and the flop was dealt A 7 5. Battisti bet 300,000 and Benzimra raised to 900,000. Battisti then reraised all in and Benzimra made the call. Their cards:

Benzimra: A 7
Battisti: K 10

Turn and River: 8 5

Benzimra eliminated his fourth opponent of the day to win the EPT Warsaw title. Battisti was eliminated as the runner-up in the event.

There’s a reason he gets respect.Patrik Antonius was back at the 7-Game tables last night on Full Tilt Poker, adding to the already impressive profit he’s showing this year.

Booking a $352k win and bringing his profits for the year to over $5.4 million, Antonius is looking unstoppable in the mixed games

Richard Ashby took the main share of the beating, down $275k over an impressive 2,493 hands, while high stakes regular Slick Puppy was able to limit his losses to $116k.

David Benyamine sat for almost 1,000 hands, leaving $88k lighter, and everyone’s favorite fish Gus Hansen, who only sat for 40 hands, lost just over $50k.

With much of Full Tilt’s high-stakes action outside of 7-Game drying up, Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese turned to heads-up $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em on PokerStars.

The majority of Marchese’s confrontations involved fellow high-stakes regulars FiSHeYe1984 and RaiseOnce.

In just 14 hands on one table, Marchese managed to take $40k off of RaiseOnce, while in 38 hands on another he lost $51k to FiSHeYe1984.

In total the king lost over $11k, most of which he made back by the end of the night slumming at $25/$50 NLHE.

Here are the three largest pots of Marchese’s night. You can see more hand replays by clicking to the MarketPulse page.

One club shy of a pot.

Clubs again.

Both players thought they had 10 outs.

A week after winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $2,100, 6-Max Pot-Limit Omaha poker event, Finnish poker pro Jani “Kiiski” Vilmunen won himself a world series of poker (WSOP) bracelet.

The 36 year-old poker player outwitted legendary poker player Howard Lederer in the heads-up showdown inside the Casino at the Empire in London on September 25th, 2009 to take home the WSOPE’s (World Series of Poker Europe) 5,000 pounds PLO poker event and its 204,048 pounds 1st place cash prize.

Vilmunen said that he is very happy about his win since he defeated Lederer, who is considered one of the best poker players in the planet. Vilmunen, who also won the 1,000 euros PLO poker event at the Finnish Poker Open Championships,said that his recent string of successes in PLO poker events is because of his patience.

Vilmunen said that he always play aggressively in every tournament that he participated in, which has a negative effect since he did not always win the event and he just tried to run all over the table most of the time. He said that by playing less aggressively, his opponents make mistakes before he did.

Fellow Finnish poker players “Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Patrik Antonius and and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro have dominated the biggest online PLO poker games in recent years and Vilmunen’s recent poker success would appear to place Finland at the top of the poker world rankings when it comes to this variation of poker. Vilmunen, who is known by his online name “KObyTAPOUT” on Full Tilt Poker, said that he is not really sure what is the secret of the Finnish poker players about their success in PLO events.

He said that it maybe because of Internet, which helped a lot of Texas Hold’em poker players to polish their skills. He added that there are a lot of excellent rally drivers and F1 race car drivers so he thinks that the fact that it has a fast pace excites and inspires Finnish poker players to do well in international events.

The second tour stop for season three of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour began today in New Zealand. The Sky City Casino in Auckland will play host to the $3,250 NZD no-limit hold’em championship event that runs from now until Oct. 18. This is the second time that the APPT has come to New Zealand. Team PokerStars pro Lee Nelson (pictured left) is one of the many big names who will be playing at the event.

The tournament will feature two day-one flights, and participation will be capped at 350 entrants. Check back to CardPlayer.com at the conclusion of the event for a recap of the final table. Here is a look at the schedule for the event:

Wednesday, Oct. 14: Day 1A
Thursday, Oct. 15: Day 1B
Friday, Oct. 16: Day 2
Saturday, Oct. 17: Day 3
Sunday, Oct. 18: Final table

2008 PokerStars APPT Auckland

Buy-in: $2,400
Number of Entries: 306
Total Prize Pool: $529,704
First-Place Prize: $153,399
Places Paid: 10

Final-Table Results

1: Daniel Craker — $153,399
2: Matthew Konnecke — $97,260
3: Wang Che Jung — $51,133
4: Dan Sing — $35,793
5: Luke Stanford — $27,612
6: Nathanael Seet — $20,453
7: Jani Karke — $15,340
8: Michael Mariakis — $11,760
9: Wai Kwan Yuen — $8,692

Recently, the poker TV audience has become a lot more discerning. It turns out that, after the 452nd time, finding out who wins the Ace-King versus pocket-eights ‘race’ isn’t actually that entertaining.
And by ‘isn’t that entertaining’, I mean ‘makes you want to scratch out your corneas for want of something more exciting to do’. Thankfully, the bigwigs in charge of TV poker have kept up with their audience and deep-stacked poker, including a lot of real cash games, is becoming increasingly available and popular.

This has given us an amazing insight into how the game’s leading lights play down the streets – for some it has enhanced their reputation, for others it’s been something of a trousers-down experience. In this article, we’ll look in-depth at a hand played in a recent TV cash game and gain some strategy insights from some of the best in the business.

David ‘Raptor’ Benefield vs Doyle Brunson

Some of the most fascinating encounters have been between old-school live grinders and internet phenoms. This hand took place on Poker After Dark between internet star David ‘Raptor’ Benefield and the ‘Big Papa’, Doyle Brunson.

THE ACTION

Pre-flop in this six-handed game, Raptor is acting from the cut-off and, with a straddle of $800 on the $400 blind, raises to $2,600 with 6h-5d. Doyle flat calls from the button with Kc-Jh. These two take the flop head-up, which comes 6s-6d-Kh. Bingo! Raptor has hit gin. Not only does he hold trips but Doyle also made top pair. David bets $4,200 into the $7,200 pot and Doyle again flat calls, making a pot of $15,600.

The turn brings a blank 8d. David bets $10,600, and again Doyle just flat calls. There is $36,800 in the pot. The river brings Js. Without him knowing it, things just got much better for Benefield – now Doyle has improved and will feel he beats Raptor’s King hands. Raptor makes a value bet of $25,600. Doyle raises to $65,600 – turning this big pot into a monster. There’s $128k in the middle and it’ll cost Raptor $40k to call. He’s getting over 3/1 on his money – but how good can his trips be in the face of this river raise? Raptor lays down the best hand – folding his trip-sixes and showing the table his 6. Doyle rakes the big pot, having accidentally bluffed David off the best hand.

DAVID’S PERSPECTIVE

This is a standard hand until the river, when there are real fireworks. You could argue that 6-5 offsuit isn’t the best hand against good opponents, but with the straddle on and so much dead money in the pot, most players are going to open with this in the cut-off. When David hits his hand on the flop he’s always going to be looking to get paid rather than doing anything trappy – he has an active image at the table and has basically flopped the nuts, so it’s a perfect spot.
His value bets on all three streets are super standard given the strength of his hand and his image, and are well-sized to get paid by Doyle with exactly the type of hand he has. It’s the type of board where he is unlikely to get paid by a weak hand, so it makes sense to get all the value he can.

When he gets raised on the river it’s a really ugly spot. It’s one of those bizarre ‘relative strength’ situations in hold’em where your holding looked like a monster but with your opponent raising instantly shrivels to a pygmy. What can he now beat that has raised him? After all, his hand is supposed to look really strong – he’s bet all three streets.
Doyle’s play is consistent with a monster here – either bigger trips than Benefield’s hand or a flopped, turned or, very occasionally, rivered full house. After all, if Doyle held a medium-strength hand like K-Q, A-K, there doesn’t seem to be any value in raising as the opponent would call with all better hands and fold all bluffs and worse hands.

In his blog, David analysed his situation on the river as follows: ‘The only hand I can conceivably beat on the river here is K-J. That is it. One hand. There isn’t anything else that will call the flop, call the turn, tanking for like 90 seconds on the river then make a super itty-bitty raise, and with my range, I decided it would be absolutely terrible to value-raise K-J on the river in Doyle’s spot.’
It’s also a difficult spot for Doyle to be completely bluffing as he’d have to have called two streets on a draw-free board to make a play on the river. David says this is basically impossible, although it cannot be entirely ruled out because Doyle can occasionally make big moves.

The final thing to consider is David’s price on making the call. Around 3/1 in such a big pot is difficult to turn down and would probably sway a lot of players – after all, this is a big laydown to make. However, if David thinks Doyle is never bluffing here then he is crushed by Doyle’s river-raising range and his laydown is straightforward – after all, 3/1 is a terrible price when you hardly beat a hand.

DOYLE’S PERSPECTIVE

This is a pretty standard hand for Doyle – until the river. Pre-flop, he flat calls with K-J. It could be argued here that, with an active player having opened and a lot of dead money in the pot and position, three-betting is better. However, flat calling keeps in hands he dominates like J-10, J-9, so it has some benefits.

On the flop with top pair, calling the continuation bet seems standard. It allows Raptor to keep bluffing if he’s missed and control the pot if he’s behind.
The turn doesn’t change much and Doyle knows David’s aggression will mean he’ll often fire again. This is especially true if he thinks he can get Doyle to fold hands like 7-7. Folding this turn with top pair seems too weak – and again, raising doesn’t seem to accomplish much as we’d probably get called or re-raised by better hands but fold out all worse holdings with the possible exception of worse Kings.

On the river, Doyle makes two pair, so he’s outdrawn two hands in Raptor’s range – K-Q and A-K. Aces would still beat him as would all of David’s huge hands.
David bets the river, which conveys strength. Doyle can only be certain of him value-betting trips, full houses, and Aces. He may value-bet A-K and K-Q but he can’t be sure – after all, it’s slim that he’d be getting paid by worse with these hands. Of course, Benefield could be bluffing here, and probably is much of the time. He’s more than capable of representing a huge hand by firing three barrels, and Doyle has played his hand passively to encourage him to do this.

Given all of this, Doyle’s raise looks like a mistake. David’s range is very polarised between bluffs and monsters and this looks like a spot where Doyle gets called if he’s losing and gets a fold if he’s winning.

Of course, this assumes it’s a raise for value. There has been some speculation that Doyle raised not for value but to turn his two pair into a bluff. While not ruling this out, Doyle said that he thought it highly unlikely David had a 6, suggesting he was raising to eke out value from A-K or K-Q. It seems unlikely David would call a raise with these hands – and given that he folded a better hand (though trips with a five-kicker is close to A-K in effective strength) a value raise doesn’t look like it has merit in this spot.

In fact, the most accurate description of this bet would be an attempted value raise that is accidentally a phenomenally effective bluff.

SUMMARY

At first glance, this hand can look like Benefield has made a grave error – folding the best hand in a big pot after getting a good price on his river call. But on closer inspection his laydown on the river seems safe enough – though it’s fair to assume most players wouldn’t be able to make it. Doyle’s play may not be immediately bad but his river raise is a mistake that ends up working out beautifully for him.

Intriguingly, if you watch the video, when David announces he has a 6 and looks at Doyle, Doyle looks less than comfortable. Perhaps not enough to influence the hand but it’s fun to watch in replay and pick up on the information that even the top players give up.

The online poker room that bears his name will see more of Doyle Brunson. According to a recent announcement the Godfather of Poker and his kin will be putting in more time at the online tables. Five days a week some member of the Doyle Brunson family – be it Doyle or his daughter Pam or son Todd, will be found playing with the members of the online poker room at 7PM. One of them will sit at the Texas Hold’em ring game tables playing the $5/$10 and $10/$20 games.

In anticipation of Phil Ivey’s appearance at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table on November 7th, Full Tilt Poker is offering the chance to win a Piece of Ivey­. Players will compete for 6% of Phil Ivey’s Main Event winnings and an additional $150,000 in cash prizes.

From October 8th through November 5th, players who participate in Piece of Ivey will earn tickets by playing in their favorite real-money games online at Full Tilt Poker. Tickets will be entered into three different draws:

• 5% of Ivey: Nine players will earn a spot in this special Sit & Go, where a prize pool equal to 5% of Phil Ivey’s Main Event winnings is up for grabs. Seats for the 5% of Ivey Sit & Go will be drawn at 10:00 ET on Friday, November 6th, and the tournament will take place at 14:00 ET on Saturday, November 7th.

• 1% of Ivey: Players can win a seat in this massive $50K Freeroll, where the winner will receive prize money equal to 1% of Phil Ivey’s Main Event winnings in addition to the first-place prize money. Seats for the 1% of Ivey Freeroll will be drawn at 10:00 ET on Friday, November 6th, and the tournament will take place at 14:00 ET on Saturday, November 7th.

• Daily Cash Draw: More than 600 cash prizes will be awarded each day during the Piece of Ivey promotion. Daily Cash Draws will take place at 6:00 ET every morning, and over $150K in total prize money will be given away.

To win a Piece of Ivey, players can sign up for the promotion by going to the My Promotions section in the game Cashier, then following the Piece of Ivey link to a web page where they can register. With a top prize of more than $8.5 million at this year’s WSOP Main Event, there’s major cash on the line for players looking to claim their Piece of Ivey.

Phil Ivey will return to the final table of the Main Event when play resumes on November 7th with just under 10 million in chips. Though he trails the chip leader by a good margin, seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Ivey is still the favorite to win the most prestigious title in poker and become the next World Champion.

Ivey will be joined at the Main Event final table by fellow Full Tilt Poker pros James Akenhead and Steven Begleiter. Akenhead is the table’s shortest stack, while Begleiter holds the third most chips in play.

To learn more about the Piece of Ivey promotion, Phil Ivey and the rest of the Full Tilt Poker pros, please visit www.fulltiltpoker.com.

You’ve been sitting patiently waiting for a decent hand for what seems like an eternity. Finally you look down and see pocket Kings. At this point you are already starting to work out how much money you can cream from the suckers at your table. A double-up would be great here. There’s no way I’m folding these beauties!

However, this mindset is a way to ensure you’ll often win small pots and sometimes lose huge pots. Big pairs are very powerful hands and should make you good money over the long term. By all means raise them up pre-flop and re-raise if you get the opportunity – but be careful, as many people get caught out holding premium pairs.

So, when should we look to extract maximum value for what we think is the best hand, and when should we slow down and avoid committing too many chips to a one-pair hand? The board texture is obviously very important, as is your read on your opponent. What many fail to consider, however, is what your opponent’s read is on you. This is vital when playing any hand but it becomes even more so when playing overpairs.

WHEN TO BET FOR VALUE

Let’s say you’re playing in a six-handed $2/$4 no-limit hold’em cash game. Everyone has full stacks. You’ve been very active, raising a lot of hands with a wide range and continuation-betting often. You pick up K♣-K♠ under the gun and raise to your standard $14 and get a call from Joe on the button. He’s playing okay although fairly tight. He doesn’t usually re-raise unless he has Q-Q+ or A-K.

The flop comes down 2♦-J♣-Q♦. You bet $28 into the pot of $34 and Joe calls. There’s no point in slow-playing overpairs, especially when both players are deep-stacked. His call indicates he has connected with the flop somehow.

The turn is the 9♣. You bet $68 into $90 and Joe calls. To slow down now would be suicide on such a draw-heavy board. It’s very unlikely Joe holds K-10 given his tight style. The fact that Joe hasn’t raised on this draw-heavy board should give you some confidence that K-K is still good. You would think that Joe would be raising J-J/J-Q at this point.

The river is the 8♣, making the board 2♦-J♣-Q♦-9♣-8♣. You bet $115 into $226 and Joe calls. Joe tables A-Q and you win the $456 pot. Although the river is a very scary card, which gives any 10 the straight and also fills a backdoor flush, you have to bet the river here.

The backdoor flush isn’t very likely here and the chances of Joe holding a 10 are slim other than Q-10/J-10. A lot of players will happily check here hoping to make a cheap showdown but I think value-betting here is the right play. Q-10 is unlikely, as is J-Q. J-10 is possible but so are A-Q, K-Q and diamond flush draws with the Jack.

To sum up, you shouldn’t assume that somebody has hit a draw unless you meet more than light resistance in a hand. You could bet for value on every street of this hand with the knowledge that you are regarded as a loose/ aggressive player. In that case Joe could have probably thought that top pair was in front, at least until the river. And for $115 more he is almost obliged to call.

KEY POINT

On a relatively safe board against a tight opponent who hasn’t re-raised pre-flop you should be looking to bet an overpair for value on every street – but you must take into account your image in their eyes

WHEN TO SLOW DOWN

This time, you are playing in a $3/$6 six-handed game. On your right is a very aggressive player called Phil. He’s by far the worst player at the table and he likes to gamble. He’s been raising any two cards and will call re-raises lightly. You have been playing a patient TAG style waiting to bust him and eventually you pick up K♣-K♠ on the button.

When Phil raises to $18 you smile to yourself and stick in a re-raise, but only to $45 as you don’t want to scare him off. He calls, and the flop is Q♣-J♦-8♠. After Phil checks you lead out for $80 into a $99 pot and are instantly re-raised to $160. You call, making the pot $419.

At this point you’re in trouble, and let’s look at why. For a start, your re-raise pre-flop was way too small. All you are doing there is giving Phil the odds to call with any of his raising range, thereby not defining his range at all. Then on the flop you make quite a large bet. You’re right to be worried about draws, because even though the flop isn’t massively connected you don’t want to give away free cards. But when you are check- raised it’s a tough decision.

Would he really be check-raising a tight player here without a hand that beats top pair? You are way behind to Q-J, Q-8, J-8, J-J, Q-Q, A-A, 8-8 and 9-10, all of which are possibilities given Phil’s previous hands. As such I would reluctantly fold here as the only range I could assign to Phil where he would possibly check-raise with a worse hand would be A-Q, K-Q and if he was playing really loosely, 10-K, A-K and A-J. Anything else just seems unlikely.

The turn is the 8♣ and Phil bets $200, leaving only $200 behind. You call. The turn isn’t actually a bad card for you as it counterfeits J-Q and also might make Phil think twice. The fact that you called the flop re-raise almost commits you to calling Phil’s turn bet. If I had the choice I would actually prefer a shove to the call on the turn as the call is committing you to the hand anyway.

The river is the 10♠ making the board Q♣-J♦-8♠-8♣-10♠. Phil is all-in for $200 and you reluctantly call, as you are pot-committed by this point. You can be pretty certain you are behind but the odds are simply too good. Phil shows J♥-8♥ and wins a $1,200+ pot.

This hand shows how it’s very easy to get caught up in a hand with an overpair and end up screaming at the screen when your K-K is beaten by J-8. Many players will go diving in headfirst with overpairs and not even bother to stop and look at what’s going on.

KEY POINT

You should recognise when the texture of the board is telling you that you are beaten. Laying down big pairs when beaten is just as important as gaining big pots with them when ahead

LOWER OVERPAIRS

What if your overpair is not as strong as K-K? What if you have 10-10 on a lowish, textured board in a multi-way pot? Let’s say you make a pre-flop raise in the small blind and get two callers. The flop comes 7♣-5♣-4♦ and you bet the full pot only to see both players calling. Again you are left in no man’s land, not knowing what you’re up against. There are very few good turn cards for you, as A, K, Q and J all give overcards and 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 all give straight or set possibilities – not to mention the fact that any club could fill a flush. I’m not saying you’re not miles ahead of hands like 9-9 or A-7, but you must be very wary as this is a spot where it’s easy to lose a very big pot by being blind to the reality of the situation.

In general, you should be making good money from overpairs. Don’t slow-play them unless you have a good read because you will invariably get caught out and end up trapping yourself. Bet them with confidence until you face a call or a raise by an opponent, or until a really draw-heavy board forces you to stand back and re-evaluate your hand.

Finally, never fall into the trap of assuming your hand is the winner. After all, how many big cash-game pots do you see being won by a single pair other than all-in pre-flop hands? Not many I’ll bet.

More CASH GAME STRATEGY:

• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Floating
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Continuation betting
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Table image
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Playing out of position
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Greenstein’s weird lines
• Poker, Variants: Cash game strategy – Card bargains
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Twiggy thin value
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Creative differences
• Poker, Variants: Cash game strategy – Omaha cash games
• Poker, Strategy: Cash game strategy – Exploit the weak
• Poker Tips, Skills & Strategy: Cash game strategy – Poker donkey or shark?
• Poker Tips, Skills & Strategy: Cash game strategy – A guide to three-betting
• Poker Tips, Skills & Strategy: Cash game strategy – Pocket money