Some rules are worth breaking

Players who are new to no-limit Texas Hold ’em are told to raise with strong hands such as pocket kings and pocket aces. I’m here to tell you that the best players in the world don’t always adhere to that advice. On the contrary, they are apt to think outside the box to try to maximize their value.

Minnesota’s Joe Barnard is one such player, and I recently watched him get tricky with a big pocket pair.

There were 14 of 358 entrants remaining in the $1,100-buy-in Mid-States Poker Tour Running Aces Main Event. Blinds were 10,000-20,000 with an ante of 2,000. Action folded to Barnard in the hijack seat (two spots to the right of the dealer button). Instead of raising with his Ks Kc, he opted to just limp. That inspired Mark Jaroslawski to come along from the button and Katie Gebhart to put in an additional 10,000 from the small blind. Dennis Stevermer checked his option from the big blind, and four players took a flop of 10h 4h 9c.

Gebhart and Stevermer both checked, and Barnard bet 50,000. Jaroslawski then raised all in for 204,000. The other two players folded, and Barnard, who happened to have exactly 204,000 in his stack, made the call.

Jaroslawski showed 10c 8c for top pair, which of course was behind Barnard’s big pocket pair. According to a poker odds calculator, Barnard was a 74.95 percent favorite.

The Ac turn didn’t hit Jaroslawski directly, but it did improve his chances of survival from 25.05 percent to 29.55 percent by giving him a club flush draw. Unfortunately for him, a Qd on the river was no help, and he had to settle for 14th place and $4,841 in prize money.

By just limping with a quality hand — known in poker as “slow-playing” — Barnard was able to more than double his stack. Had he followed common logic and raised before the flop, chances are that Jaroslawski would have folded his mediocre hand. If Gebhart and Stevermer had done the same, Barnard would have won 44,000, which was the amount of the blinds and antes. That’s not a bad result, but winning a pot of 502,000 was obviously better.

Of course, things don’t always work out that way. Indeed, there are inherent risks associated with slowplaying big hands. In the example above, Jaroslawski could have just as easily held 10-9 for two pair, in which case Barnard would have gone bust. Getting outdrawn is a possibility that many players try to take out of the equation by always raising preflop with good hands.

Barnard’s winning hand is a prime example that there’s more than one way to play big pocket pairs — though admittedly, how you play them is a double-edged sword. Figure out what you think will work best against your opponents and act accordingly.

For those wondering, Barnard went on to finish fourth in the tournament, good for $23,512.