Translating the game’s lingo

In the 2015 Aussie Millions $10,000 main event, American pro Richard “nutsinho” Lyndaker eliminated Jack Salter of England. It happened in Level 9 (500-1,000 blinds with a 100 ante), when Salter raised to 2,300 from the hijack seat and Lyndaker called from the cutoff. The player in the big blind also called, and three players saw a flop of 4 ♥ 10 ♥ 9 ♦ .

The big blind checked, Salter bet 5,200, and Lyndaker raised to 12,500. The big blind folded, Salter moved all in for 49,000, and Lyndaker called with the 9 ♥ 9 ♣ for a flopped set. Salter held two pair with 9 ♠ 4 ♠ , and he was beaten after the Q ♦ arrived on the turn followed by the J ♣ on the river.

After the hand, I spoke with Lyndaker.

Lyndaker: “It’s hard for him to be making a four-bet bluff less wide. He definitely wouldn’t stack off with a range that nines was doing well against, but he could potentially four-bet fold wider. I thought that was very likely, and my hand always has a pair on the flop, so I decided to take a flop with it, whereas in the other hand I had an unpaired hand.”

What Lyndaker is saying is that he decided to just call Salter’s initial raise as opposed to reraising him. Lyndaker did so because he believed Salter would only “stack off,” which basically means get his chips in, with a better hand than pocket nines. Instead, Lyndaker opted to call and see a flop.

Lyndaker: “On the flop I have an interesting decision — calling the c-bet or raising there. I just thought he wasn’t going to c-bet the flop versus my flatting range very wide, and he was going with his hand a ton in that spot.”

A “c-bet” is shorthand for a continuation bet, which refers to the preflop aggressor continuing with a bet on the flop. Lyndaker didn’t believe Salter would continuation bet with a weak hand. That’s because Lyndaker had just “flatted” preflop, meaning he just called. The “range,” or possible starting hands, Salter would make a continuation bet with likely connected with the flop, so c-betting indicated strength.

Lyndaker: “There were a lot of turns that would kill my action, so although it’s become standard to flat in position with hands as strong as sets, I thought based on the stack sizes in play and the strength of the range I perceived him c-betting, I thought just raising there would be good because I would definitely consider going with various combo draws in that spot.”

Players tend to call with big hands like a flopped set, but Lyndaker realized a lot of turn cards would be bad for his hand. That, combined with the fact that he believed Salter held a big hand, inspired him to raise. He believed Salter could easily put him on a draw and bet the rest of his stack. Holloway is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner.