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The Worst Hand I Ever Played
Poker Strategy
by Lou Krieger
During a no-limit Texas hold’em tournament on a recent poker cruise to Alaska, I made two egregious errors in the same hand—cases of rampant stupidity that I’ll share with you in hopes that you can profit from them.
We had moved to the final table and I had the third most chips of the nine remaining players. On the hand in question I was on the button with five players already in the pot. Since it had not been raised, I decided to call with KcTc.
That was my first mistake, compounded by even poorer play after the flop. By only calling, I allowed the two blinds into the pot, and I shouldn’t have! My thinking was that if anyone had a king with a better kicker they would have raised before the action got to me. Had they raised while holding a decent sized stack of chips, I would likely have thrown my hand away. With plenty of chips myself; this was a pot I didn’t really need to play. Of course, if a bettor had only a few chips left and no one else had called, I would have put him all in, but that was not the case here. With players limping in before the flop, I figured to have the best hand and should have raised to sweeten the pot and eliminate opponents; by calling I paid dearly!
The flop was K-6-6. Everyone checked to me, and I made the second mistake. I put myself all-in, as a big bet would probably force all my opponents to fold. It almost worked. All folded but one, the guy in the small blind. He assuredly would have folded to a raise before the flop, but because he was only forced to call half a bet, took the flop with 7-6 making a big hand. He called and I was eliminated in 9th place from a tournament I had a shot at winning had I played that hand correctly. I could have stayed alive in the tournament by making a small raise on the flop rather than going all-in. Then when the blind raised me all-in, I could have released my hand saving my remaining chips.
I still have no idea why I played a hand that poorly. Certainly everyone makes errors and poker is a game of incomplete information. But this parlay of idiocy goes beyond that. What’s worse is that as we were moved to the final table, I was thinking how well I had played thus far: reading my opponents correctly, moving chips when appropriate, and keeping myself from situations where all of my chips were at risk on hands that amounted to coin-flips.
Oh I can dredge up excuses. I was tired. Cruises are far too much fun to focus exclusively on poker, but that’s adding insult to injury. I made those decisions and I’ve got to live with them. I’ll just have to put this whole ugly scenario out of my mind. Maybe writing about it will exorcize this particular demon. If so, it will serve two purposes. You can learn from my mistakes, and I can conveniently forget this incredibly pathetic little comedy of errors. By only calling, I allowed the two blinds into the pot, and I shouldn’t have!
 Lou Kreiger is a writer for Card Player and Gambling Times magazines. He is also the author of “Poker for Dummies” and co-author of “Gambling for Dummies,” both available at all major bookstores and online outlets. Contact Lou at www.loukrieger.com.
This story was first published in the May 23rd 2003 Issue of Poker Player.
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