Stategy Tip - The Counterfeited Hand

[Dave Mardell]

I post this as today I have seen MANY players calling down to the river long after their hand has been counterfieted. So what do I mean by a counterfeited hand. Basically its when you have a big hand, that is almost certainly a winner rendered a certain looser by a card on the board that nulifies, or counterfiets your hand. As a begining player it is important to recognise when this has happened to your hand so you dont loose all your chips. As an intermediate player it is important to recognise when this has happened to your opponents hand so you may extract some ownage on them :) Example 1 - The Counterfieted Pair Imagine say that your in the big blind with a pair of fives. The Button raises 3xBB with what you KNOW is AK. You might call this raise looking for a raggy sort of flop and hope to catch the AK bluffing at it. Flop comes down 667. This is exactly the sort of flop you were looking for. Effectively one pair, You check to induce the bluff, but alas the AK doesnt go for it. The turn comes off and its 6677. Disaster! Your 2 pair has been counterfieted. If you opponent holds any card higher than a 5 your beaten. you no longer has sixes and fives. You now have sevens and sixes....with a 5 kicker. You simply cannont win the hand unless an ace hits the river, and your opponent does not have an Ace, A six, a seven, 88-AA etc etc. Time to fold. And yet I see many people just keep calling with there "sevens and sixes 5 kicker - completely oblivious to the fact they have no hand! They are playing the board! Dont let this happen to you. Also of note - because your pair is BELOW the two on the board you shouldnt call hoping to hit one of the 2 remaining fives. This would give you fives full of sevens, and a rag seven, or rag six is still beating you anyway. Example 2 - The Counterfeited 2 Pair You are in from the big blind for free with A2. Another player in the pot has limped in with what you KNOW is AT. The flop comes A26. Excellent. Top and bottom pair, aces up. Your gonna get some action from the AT! The turn comes off and its A266 Disaster! Your 2-pair has been counterfieted by the six as you now have Aces and sixes. Any other ace at the table has this same hand but crucially is likely to have you kickered. In out example AA662 vs AA66T. Once again i see players religiously holding onto their broken hand. Perhaps because if, as in our example a J, Q K hits the river you would both split the pot on AA66Q. However how do you not know that the Q on the end gave your man AAQQ6....its a bit mutch you be drawing to a split, and if there is any serious betting you pretty much have to give it up. This example of counterfieting also serves to illustrate why you shouldnt play hands with low kickers in the hopes of making two pair. Even if you make your two pair if the board pairs above your smaller pair your hand is dead... Example 3 - The Counterfeited Straight Imagine you hold the 76. The flop comes down 345, giving you the nut straight. Excellent! However if a seven or a six were to come off your straight would be counterfeited. Any time you have a straight and a card in your hand hits the board your counterfieted. That said, while you should be aware that your hand has been counterfieted the fold is not as clear cut as it is with the first two examples given. Imagine the turn gave us 3457. This would give the rag six a split with you, and certainly a 6 would call the up and down draw if you slow played. Go ahead If the turn had brought 3456 then a rag seven is tying with you and a 78 has you beat, so you have to ask yourself if you bet enough to drive out a gutshot draw, or has your slow play let someone in? You probably shouldnt fold but be mindful that you no longer have the absoloute nuts. Certainly the problem becomes more clear cut when you have the bottom end of a straight. Imagine you have 89 on a board of TJQ. This is a very good flop for you however in this case, a counterfiet comming in the form of a nine on the turn would give you no choice but to fold your hand. The board of 9TJQ would give the lone king a better straight, and certainly KT, KJ and KQ would all call a bet on the flop with a pair and an up and down draw. Get away. Fast. Example 4 - The Counterfieted Set Imagine your in with A6, and the board comes down 66J. Three of a kind top kicker. Excellent. The turn comes off and its 66JJ. Disaster! Sure you now have a full house but if he was calling with the jack its beating an you have exactly one card in the deck to save you, assuming he isnt sitting pretty with quads already... Now this is perhaps one of the hardest folds a beginner has to make, but make it you must. Unless your more experienced can reliably put your opponent on a hand like KK,AA or indeed AK (in whcih case your house is still good) then I feel you have to pretty much fold here. He may have KK he could just as easily have AJ, and with so little chance of your hand improving then unless your already heavily commited to the pot because you raised 10xBB (Paul Ross!) then its easier just to fold and wait for a better opportunity

[laidbackbloke]

Re: Stategy Tip - The Counterfeited Hand Great post dave :ok It's always a kick in the teeth when you go from being sure you are winning to knowing there is no way you can be ahead :( One of the hardest things in poker is to fold a big hand ............................. but at the end of the day, no matter how big your hand is, a losing hand is a losing hand