Poker: Reluctant ‘Dragon’ folds ‘em

It has been said of many poker players that they might go to bed broke, but they won’t go to bed curious. They just have to call that last bet. They just have to see an opponent’s hand. They just lack discipline in situations where they should have a good idea that they have the second-best hand.

It’s true that you can’t win a tournament by making a bunch of laydowns, but you do have to fold certain hands if you believe you’re beaten, as even maniac pro David Pham showed he’s capable of in this hand from the World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event in 2009.

With blinds at $50-$100, the player in Seat 8 open-raised to $250. The player in Seat 10 called, as did the small blind. Pham called from the big blind with 3-5 of hearts, having to put in only another $150 into a pot of $850, better than 5-1 odds on the kind of hand that can break opponents playing big cards.

The flop came 3-K-5, rainbow, giving Pham bottom two pair. All four players checked.

“I didn’t want to lead out and have people call me,” said Pham, who has won more than $8 million in tournament prize money. “I wouldn’t know what they have or where I was. When everybody checked, I knew I had the best hand.”

The turn came the 8 of diamonds. The small blind checked. Pham made it $700. Only the player in Seat 8 called.

“By leading out, I could’ve taken the pot,” said Pham, nicknamed “The Dragon.” “When he flat-called, I put him on pocket queens or jacks or A-8 suited, because he raised preflop but the king might’ve made him afraid.”

The river came the 8 of hearts. Pham checked.

“The river counterfeited me,” Pham said. “If he had a pocket pair (higher than 5s), I was beaten. If he had a king, I was beaten. I was sure he didn’t have a king — maybe K-10 or K-J — because I figure he would’ve bet on the flop right away and not let people catch up.”

The player in Seat 8 bet $1,125. Pham folded.

“I believed I was beaten,” Pham said. “I didn’t want to come out betting and have him call me and I’d have lost some more chips.”

The player in Seat 8 said he had A-K of spades, but he didn’t show his cards.

Even so, Pham said, “There were too many hands that could’ve beaten my two pair. When he bet $1,125, I knew he had it. If he had bet $1,500 or $2,000, it might be more complicated for me. I might think he was bluffing.

“Usually when people bet more, they’re trying to steal it. They don’t want to make a small bet that you can call if they’re bluffing.”

TABLE TALK

Rainbow: A flop of three different suits.