The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-24
BETTING ON A STRONG
POKER HAND.
How Far One Should Go on What Seems
a Sure Winner.

+ It may be now supposed that D stays.
J. drops, F raises and G stays. A
/ drops and the opener raises again. This
gives G a chance to study his next play
but If he understands the game and
4 knows the men he is playing with, he
viii not hesitate long.
There are now four players IN, be-
sides himself, and il is tOlarabIy certain
rhat three of them have what they con-
I slider strong hands. D may or may not
be strong. but + has probably two
pairs at least. as he would not be likely
to raise on less. and c. would not have
STAYED after the raise unless he had as
much as that And 3, by raising again,
has made II seem probable, TO say the
least, that he has better than two
pairs.
There is nothing, however, in the play
mus FAR 10 shake C's confidence In his
ace full he. still feels sure Of winning
and wants as much as possible in the
pot. The question IS whether he viii
get more in by simply staying, or by
raising. If he raises, he IS likely to
drive d, F and G out. They might all
see the openers counter raise, and F
and G probably would. but as against
that, and a third raise by c, they would
almost certainly drop out unless they
were very strong. 3 would stay against
another raise. in all probability, but
that would leave c with only one an
tasonist, whereas he may get three or
four by not raising. Moreover. he can
not reasonably hope for much play aft
er the draw, seeing that he will have to
stand pat
It is therefore good play for c to trail
again, in the hope that D, T and G
VIII stay But a further development
may very possible arise. Supposing
that D drops. T raises again, and G.
stays, and the opener makes good. This
a fol F,fx oFTu r.,
innate the strength OF the hands
against him. 1t is almost certain that
each Of them is better than three of a
kind + would not go back at the
opener the second time after meeting a
counter raise on anything short Of a
pat hand, and the others would not be
likely 10 stay on less But Of all the
pat hands except q straight flush. G has
the leading one and is still confident
enough to bet his pile. It is true that
some of the others may have tours, or
a straight flush, but that is his hazard.
IF he chooses to push In all he has at
this juncture 1t viii be good play, but
it viii also be good play simply to trail
once more, and watch the draw. Since
there are three strong hands against
him, the chances of fours look more
dangerous, and he may be excused for
exercising caution. If it is a limit game,
however, and the others all have con-
siderable money in sight, 1t is certainly
time for him to assert himself and give
it another boost.
If They All Stay.
Supposing he does this, and they all
stay. Then If he gets no further raise
back, he may assume that four Of
kind is not out, since if any of the play
eTs had fours he would probably raise
again. In the draw all stand pat, and
A IS justified ia playing the limit. II
he wins, as he will ninety-nine times in
a hundred, he viii win something worth
while If he loses it will be one Of the
accidents that no poker player can pro-
vide against, and he will know that he
played. good poker, at least
Such instances could be multiplied in
definitely, but this one viii be sufficient
to show the difference between hasty
and skilfuI play when the occasion Of
fers for a kiIling.-David A. Curtis, in
New York Telegraph.