I was involved in a pretty gross hand really early on in a poker tournament. It was only the first or second level. The blinds were 15/30 and I was in the big blind. The Under-the-gun player min raised and there was a limper, the small blind and myself that called. I had Jd-10d, a good multi-way hand.
The flop came out:
2d 3s Ad
It was early in the online poker tournament and I didn’t want to play a big pot for a flush draw if I didn’t have to. I also wanted to conceal the flush if it came. With the ace of diamonds already out there, I’m drawing to the third nut straight. I’m also holding 2 broadway cards of the suit, so the only real logical hand that could be in there beating me is Kd-Qd. It’s possible that Kx or Qx suited might have called this small bet early on, but even then, the Queen high flush draw wouldn’t be the nuts, so they might fold their hand to some pressure.
Anyway, my check followed around and we saw a free turn card.
It was the 8d.
I could easily have bet this, but for whatever reason I decided to value trap here. If someone slow played that Ace from the flop, they might try to bet it now, or if they made a set with the 8, or even slow played 2’s or 3’s I would be sure to get some action. Without the nuts, it’s not a great spot to raise, especially early in the game where being in a raised pot doesn’t exactly translate to decent card-holdings by you opponents. The late position limper bets 140, a little over half the pot, the small blind folds, I flat call, and the original raiser folds.
Being out of position, my lead out checking helps keep the pot small and gives me a little more control over things.
The river is terrible; the 7d.
The board now has 4 diamonds on it, and I have the 3rd nut flush, but it becomes much less valuable. Any hand that involves the King or Queen of diamonds has me beat. That opens all AK, AQ, KQ, KJ, OJ, Q-10 holdings. I’m resigned to checking here, praying for a fearful check behind. If the bet is small I might call, and if the bet is big I will probably drop it. If the bet is massive, I will have to assess what I think of the player, but being so near the beginning of the tournament at the casinoand with very little information on the player, I will probably muck.
He bets 220; less than half the pot. While this looks like a value bet, I have more than enough reasons to call. I do and he shows Qd-9d. This is definitely at the bottom end of hand ranges I would give later in the tournament, but very likely early on. We both turned great flushes, and the river got pretty gross. I think I lost about the minimum.
