ā7-2? How could you play 7-2?ā
Sometimes you get pot odds so monstrous that you canāt fold even 7-deuce.
Just ask classy British pro Joe Beevers of pokerās well-known āHendon Mob.ā At the 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event at Las Vegasā Rio Casino, with blinds at $250-$500 plus a $50 ante, Beevers found 7-2 of hearts in the big blind, a hand usually mucked quickly.
But after the player to his left open-raised to $1,100 and got three callers, Beevers suddenly had to put only an additional $600 into a pot worth $5,350. He was getting almost 9-1 odds. Even if the initial raiser held pocket aces, Beevers was only about an 8.5-1 underdog.
āI kind of say under my breath, āEven Iām not good enough to pass this hand,ā and I throw in the $600,ā Beevers said. āIāve got about $55,000, which has three of the stacks well covered. The only stack Iām worried about is the Italian guy to my left because he could hurt me with his stack.ā
The flop came Q-10-7, two hearts, giving Beevers bottom pair and a flush draw. The small blind checked.
āI donāt want to call a big bet, so Iām going to try to control the size of the pot,ā Beevers said. āI bet $2,450. I want to see what happens behind me.ā
The initial raiser only called. Everyone else folded.
āNow I fancy I know where I am,ā Beevers said. āI fancy maybe heās got A-10 or K-Q or K-J. He has that type of hand.ā
The turn came the ace of hearts, completing Beeversā small flush.
āIf I bet here and heās got two pair, heāll just call,ā said Beevers, a pro from the Full Tilt Poker online site. āI want to get some chips here.
āI donāt really give him hearts. Itās hard for him to have hearts. If he had a big pocket pair, heād have raised much more pre-flop. So Iām pretty sure heās got two pair.ā
Beevers checked. The initial raiser bet $5,000. Beevers check-raised to $12,500.
āHe looked like he called reluctantly,ā Beevers said.
The river came the 3 of diamonds.
āHe has about $30,000 left,ā Beevers said. āI didnāt want to make too big a bet because the guy wants to stay in the tournament and he wants to stay in the pot, and I donāt want to give him a clue that he should lay down two pair.ā
Beevers bet $12,500 again, the initial raiser called, then mucked his hand when he saw the 7-2 of hearts.
āHe started saying, ā7-2? 7-2? How could you play 7-2?ā ā Beevers said. āSometimes youāre getting odds that are so big in your favor. Gus Hansen wouldnāt pass this hand if it was $1,500ā to call pre-flop.
Table talk
Muck: The act of tossing a hand into the discard pile.
