Keeping Them in the Pot

Many times I have seen players make ridiculously large bets when they have the nuts after the flop or turn. Each time I scratch my head wondering why anyone would make such a bet. Whether it's a cash game or tournament the last thing I want to do is push my opponent out of the pot when I have the stone cold nutz. That kind of thinking has caused many a player lots of grief and left their bankrolls smaller than they should be.

For instance, the other day I was at the casino and a guy flops a set with pocket two's. There is no flush or straight draw on the board and he has two other players betting into him before it's his turn to act. What does he do? He pushes all-in and needless to say the others fold.

On top of that he turns over his pocket two's as if he made the play of the year! The guy sitting next to me looked at me with a puzzled look on his face as did I him. The play made no sense and only served notice that we had a fish at the table. Two hours later this same player was broke after buying in twice at the $200 max table.

Unreal!

The fact of the matter is that we all make bad plays from time to time but rarely do good players make bad plays with the best hand. In theory there is no bad way to play a good hand. That is if you are taking an extremely simplistic view of the game of poker.

However, we are talking about profits and bankrolls here. Therefor the play was bad enough by itself but when he advertised his stupidity you could literally see the entire table making a mental note of how this guy played and eventually he was sent to the rail. So the next time you flop the nutz or anything close to it take your time and make a bet that is appropriate for your game. Most importantly keep your opponent in the pot so that you can get maximum value on your hand. That's what the game of poker is all about.