Poker: Confused by an opponent’s bet

Billy Baxter is a legendary poker player and sports gambler to whom all poker pros owe a debt, and here’s why:

The amiable Georgia native beat the Internal Revenue Service in a landmark case that reclassified professional poker players’ winnings as “earned income,” meaning it came from an occupation, instead of “unearned income,” meaning it was a matter of luck.

But even someone as experienced and sharp as Baxter can become confused by an opponent’s bet — which was bad luck for him but a good example of how unpredictability and unconventional play can earn you a pot.

In this hand from the 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, with blinds at $100-$200, the players in Seats 4 and 6 limped in. Baxter tossed in another $100 from the small blind with 8-7 offsuit. The big blind checked his option.

So, four players took a flop of Q-7-3, two clubs, giving Baxter middle pair. He bet out $400 in an attempt to define his hand compared with his opponents’.

“I led out because there was one overcard to the 7,” said Baxter, who has won seven WSOP bracelets, “and if nobody had a queen, they all might fold. I didn’t want to check and have somebody bet out and then I wouldn’t know where I was.”

Only the player in Seat 6 behind him called. The turn came the queen of spades, creating full-house possibilities to go with a possible flush draw. Baxter checked. His opponent bet $1,000.

“I called because I figured if he had queen there, he would’ve bet more money,” Baxter said. “I thought he was trying to represent something he didn’t have.”

The river came the jack of diamonds. Baxter still had only a pair of 7s and what he thought was a read on an opponent. He checked. His opponent made it just $1,075.

“I figured I’d gone that far and I knew he didn’t have a queen, so I called,” Baxter said. “It didn’t look like a steal with that kind of bet. I just wanted to see what he had.”

Turns out, his opponent had pocket 3s. He had flopped a set and turned 3s full of queens to take the pot.

“I got confused,” Baxter said. “I didn’t know what to put him on. I didn’t think he had a pair.”

His opponent’s smallish bet on the end, just $75 more than his turn bet, was enough to make the confused Baxter curious enough to pay it off.

“I called him thinking he was bluffing because I know he’ll bluff,” Baxter said. “He had shown a couple.

“I shouldn’t have called him on the end. If a man’s going to make a funky bet on the river, I should’ve saved myself some money. But I didn’t think he had anything.”

TABLE TALK

Set: Three of a kind when one card on the board matches a pocket pair.