Recapped Hand At Poker

Free Cards Cost Money

When you have the best of it, make them pay to draw at you. Don't give them free cards! Ancient Norwegian Proverb:
The poker game was $5-$10 Hold 'em. Sven, the fellow on my right, showed me his hand before he mucked it. As he did so, he said, "I can never win with these." He mucked a pair of queens. A pair of queens. I was shocked. My eyes darted to the four community cards in the middle. The cards were a jack of diamonds, seven of clubs, six of hearts, and two of spades.

Number Of Players In A Table

In my head, I recapped the hand. Sven was the second player to act (number four player, because we had two blinds). He had not risen before the flop. Jeff, the man on the button, had risen. The flop came j-7 -6. Sven checked and called the bet made by Jeff. When the two came on Fourth Street, Sven again checked and Jeff bet. This is when Sven showed me his hand and mucked it. Sure enough, Jeff won the pot with j-ace of hearts. Sven had thrown away the winner. Given that flop, I couldn't believe Sven hadn't taken the lead and bet the hell out of those queens.
We have all seen examples of timid play like this. Timid play at the Hold 'em table is deadly to the bankroll. Sven gave the rest of the player’s lots of free chances to beat him.
What Sven should have done was to rise before the flop to weed out the players with rags who could get lucky and catch a great flop. A raise might even fold out the big blind. Lots of people will call one bet with an ace-x suited (or even off-suited), or some other rag hand. These are the hands you want to fold.

That Pair Of Ladies

A pair of queens is not an easy hand to play a Australia poker, especially if an ace or king comes on the flop. The aggressive player knows that he must clarify the hand quickly. Hence the raise before the flop. (I much prefer to get queens in early positions than on the button or in one of the blinds. If you can rise early, the rag hands should fold, and if they don't, they are paying a big price to hit a flop.)
Sure, there is danger. Somebody could have a pair of sevens or sixes in the hole and trip up. Or Jeff could have had a pair of jacks, kings or aces. In that case, you lose your chips. My theory is that if I think I have the best hand, I am going to bet until I get raised. I don't ever want to check to the other players skills and let them have a free card that will beat me. Free cards are bad news.

Betting And Rising

When you have an over pair, you need to act forcefully and quickly. You want to get clarification as to what is out against you. You do that by betting and rising. This is especially true in the betting round after the flop, before the rates go up (in a structured game). Bet that sucker as quickly as you can. There are many, many cards that can beat you on fourth and Fifth Street. Any ace or king that hits the board will be a threat. If the board pairs, you could be looking at trips. Act fast and firm with an over pair. Giving cheap or free card(s) before or after the flop is terrible play. Any time you think you have the best hand, make those guys pay to draw at you. Timid play is costly.