Or so says the sign adorning the walls of my poker room. But that is not the case; a pair of balls does not beat the nuts. How many times does someone bluff all in only to find their opponent with the nuts while holding nothing more than ace high or a pair of fives.
We make so much of aggression, but it works every time but the last time. Recently, I had a new player join my private game. He sat immediately to my left, and on the first hand I had to bet him out on the turn. So, the second hand I felt I needed to take a more aggressive stance, as firing 3 barrels worked once but may not work again. So, flopping the nut flush draw, I check raised half my stack. Only he called and spiked trip jacks on the turn. I, of course, went all in like a bozo and got stacked.
I suppose that my bluff would have worked again had he not turned trips. My big balls just couldn’t bet him off the nuts. I suppose I could have checked the jack, knowing he had trips, but I had a pair of balls and I wasn’t going to lay them down or check call weakly.
Shortly thereafter, my friend (and nemesis) raised preflop in position and bet the flop, only to get raised. He pushed all in expecting his weak opponent to fold. Only this time, he insta-called and turned over top set. I saw it, but I wasn’t in the hand. So, I just sat there and laughed. (If you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh at your friends) A pair of balls (and it is his sign) just couldn’t beat the nuts.
When looking over an opponent’s stats on Full Tilt with the same friend, he said that it is profitable to three bet him every time if he folds every time. But the lesson here is not to 5 bet that opponent. Be aggressive and take down the small pots in position, but when he check raises, maybe let him have it rather than bluff all in. Don’t put your whole stack in, he will let you steal the next one. If he has let you steal pot after pot, maybe this time he has the nuts and it is better to just wait for the next one.
I will continue to look for aggressive opponents who will try repeatedly to bluff me out of the pot. It will work; I can make some big lay downs. But eventually I will call, and I will walk away with the whole stack. And with any luck, I won’t bet my balls into anyone’s nuts this week. I am off to the Venetian; if you are out there, come on by and ask for Figmond.
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