You always might be beat

Have you ever played a hand of poker that had you licking your chops? I recently played one in a nightly tournament at my local casino, and while it ended the way I expected, the hand played out in a way that took me by surprise. Allow me to explain.

With blinds at 100-200, I raised to 600 with the A♣ J♥. Action folded to the player in the big blind, who just called. That particular player had already busted from our table and reentered, so I assumed he was a bit emotional and looking to mix it up with any two cards.

The J♠ 8♣ 6♥ flop gave me top pair with top kicker, and my opponent checked it to me. Knowing he would continue if he hit any part of the flop, I decided to bet 800, or nearly two-thirds of the pot. He seemed hesitant but made the call nonetheless.

The J♦ turn was great for my hand. If my opponent held the case jack, I was primed to win his chips thanks to my ace kicker. If he had either an eight or six, he probably thought it less likely I had one in my hand.

He checked again, and I decided to bet an amount I knew he couldn’t resist calling with an inferior hand. I actually downsized — meaning I bet less than on the previous bet — by tossing out 700. He was getting 4-1 on his money, which is hard to resist when you have either a draw or a pair.

I was again thrilled to see him call, and the 8♠ paired the board on the river to give me a full house. This card had both its positives and negatives. It was good in that if he had an eight, chances are I was going to get more chips out of him. However, it was bad in that if he had the other jack, my kicker was made obsolete and we would now be chopping the pot.

My plan was to go all in when he checked to me, but instead he took me by surprise by moving all in himself for around 5,000. I snapcalled, expecting him to table either a jack or eight, but he rolled over 6♦ 6♠ for a flopped set!

The whole time I thought I was trapping my opponent, but in reality he was doing it to me. I got extremely lucky for the eight to pair to give me the winner. If it hadn’t paired the board, it would have been my opponent winning all my chips instead of the other way around.

The lesson I learned in this hand is not to discount the potential strength of an opponent’s hand. The possibility always exists that you might be beat ... unless you hold the stone-cold nuts, of course.