Poker Guy: Sexton makes a crying call
SOMETIMES YOU will bet a hand with all kinds of outs and, unfortunately, sometimes you will hit one of them.
SOMETIMES YOU will bet a hand with all kinds of outs and, unfortunately, sometimes you will hit one of them.
It takes a great read and a lot of discipline to be able to lay down a good hand on the river when you are getting great odds, and even the best players in the world succumb to making the crying call.
Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton found himself in just such a situation at the 2010 World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event, hitting a card on the end that was just good enough to get him beat.
With blinds at $50-$100, the player in Seat 2 limped. The player in Seat 3 raised to $400. Action folded to Sexton in the small blind, where he found 10-9 of spades. Despite knowing he would play the hand out of position, Sexton called with his suited connectors.
"I like playing them because you invest a little bit and you can win a lot," said Sexton, the longtime voice of the World Poker Tour. "That's the whole purpose of playing them. I can stand to pay another $350 and if I hit a flop against a guy who's got aces or kings, then I'm going to win a nice pot. The raiser looked like he was a tight player."
The player in Seat 2 folded, so heads-up, the flop came J-K-3, one spade, giving Sexton a gutshot straight draw and backdoor flush draw. Both players checked.
The turn came the 8 of spades, improving Sexton's hand to an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. He led out for $600.
"I was hoping he had A-Q and would throw his hand away, and I'd win the hand with 10-high," said Sexton, winner of a WSOP bracelet.
But the player in Seat 3 called, and they took a river of the 6 of spades, completing Sexton's 10-high flush. He bet out $1,500 to either get value for his hand or find out where his opponent was.
His opponent immediately raised to $3,000 and said, "Runner-runner."
"I made runner-runner, too," Sexton said. "Now I don't know if my flush is good."
But getting better than 4-1 odds, Sexton called. Seat 3 showed him the A-J of spades for the nut flush.
"He made the minimum raise, and because of the size of the raise compared to the pot, I decided to call him," Sexton said. "I was sure he had the nut flush, but I had to see.
"I don't mind the way I played the hand. I bet out on the turn to give him a chance to fold and give me a chance to win the pot. The lesson really is, when a guy raises the river, I should be able to throw it away. But when there's about $7,000 in the pot, it's hard to do that for a $1,500 bet."
Table talk
Runner-runner:
When the turn and the river complete a hand.
Steve Rosenbloom is a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune and the author of the book "The Best Hand I Ever Played." He can be reached at