Question of the Week Test Your Poker Skills
No-Limit Hold'em
Pot: $123
Blinds: $1/$2
Question
In this hand of a six-max game online you raise from early position to $7 and a solid player calls on the button. A loose player calls in the big blind. The flop comes K
K
7
and the big blind checks. You bet $16; the button calls; the big blind folds. The turn comes the Q
and you fire a second barrel to $35. The button calls and the river comes J
.
What should you do?
Correct Answer: Check-fold
This sounds counterintuitive, since you were betting with nothing the whole way and back yourself into the nut straight, but you have to think objectively. What did your opponent call you down with? He called both the flop and the turn. There are no draws on the flop, so he must have a piece. That leaves triple kings, sevens-full and random pairs like 99 etc. On the turn when he calls again you can discount those random weak pairs. So he has three of a kind or a full house. Which three kings can he have? Well, a decent player is seldom going to call an early-position raise with K-T, so you can discount that, and he is going to almost always be three-betting A-K. That leaves K-Q and K-J. So now the only thing really in his range is kings-full and sevens-full. Betting the river accomplishes nothing. Thus, check and hope he checks through for some reason. But if he bets, you are clearly behind and should fold.
Pot: $123
Button
$180
Fold
Small Blind
$200
Fold
Big Blind
$155
Your cards
Fold
2nd
$250
Fold
Cut-off
$500
Swipe left and for for others hands
