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Control on the mound

A pitcher who can throw 103 mph is something to marvel. Big windups, big pitches, fastball screaming past batters. The type’s going to get a lot of strike outs and hype. Some poker players try to be a Nolan Ryan – blowing big bets past you, firing massive bets and raises whenever they sense weakness or a slight indication that you may fold. Aside from Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens, rarely do these pitchers do well in the long run. Professional hitters simply adjust their timing and gear up for the fastball. When the batters catch up and make contact “Sayonara Mr. Rawlings.” But how do you hit a homerun against a “fire-baller” at the poker table . . .

Well in poker, you’re not just looking for homeruns because if you did you’d simply bleed off chips and possibly not get paid off on your big hands. In poker it’s not batter versus pitcher. Poker is pitcher versus pitcher. You’re not stuck calling or folding whatever he throws your way, you CAN throw back. But I’m not talking about massive reraises or becoming a fireballer yourself. You need to be a master of control, a bulldog.

Orel Hershiser was one hell of pitcher among professional hitters. “The Bulldog,” as he was nicknamed, was a master of control on the mound thanks to a killer sinker. I’m a bulldog too, a master of control on the turn in Hold’em thanks to a certain ‘unnamed’ move I pull off in aggressive games when I have a good but not great hand.

Here’s a hand from a 2-5 NL game I played to demonstrate this ‘control’ move.

This game has been VERY aggressive. To keep things simple, consider we all have $1000 in front of us. I am dealt 9T of hearts in late position, the cut off. There are two callers in front of me and the button and blinds still to act. One of the callers is a bit of a loose cannon and will pounce if he smells weakness by betting very large amounts of money. I raise to $25 hopefully to steal the button, maybe pick up the pot now but not likely, but most likely I raise to build a pot in position with a hand that can develop nicely. The big blind calls and so does the fireballer. The flop is AhTc9c. I flopped bottom two on a very coordinated board. Remember, I was the aggressor preflop. Both check to me (pot is about $85) so I bet $75. The fireballer calls. Right now bells go off. Why would he call? I represented strength preflop and on the flop. He may be on a draw OR he flopped a big hand like a set, a better two pair than mine, and is waiting to pull the trigger on the turn. I really don’t know but a call feels REAL strange to me.

The turn peels off a 3 spades. Looks harmless. Pot is about $230. He checks. What do you do? Well, here’s the control move I like to pull off. If I check behind he may sense weakness and I may face a $200+ bet on the river no matter what hits. I could be beat by a better two pair, he could be bluffing or drawing to who knows what, I don’t know. I just know I don’t want two things to happen.

1. I don’t want to put much more in to this pot.
2. I don’t want him to draw for free.

I don’t care so much about folding here on the turn to a check raise IF I don’t put TOO much in to the pot but I’ll fold knowing I’m beat. I want to show this hand off cheaply, how do I do that? My move is to bet to feign strength, maximize any fold equity I have, but first I have to think about how much I’d call on the river to look him up if I checked the turn and he bet the river. Pot is $230 right now. I just bet $75 on the flop. Thanks to the escalating view of bets, I know I have to bet more on this round to maintain my image of strength but how much more? I think $90 to $115 is the right bet range for this move (somewhere between 1/3rd and ½ pot). If he check raises, I can fold thinking I’m beat. But when he calls the turn bet and checks the river, I just check behind unless I boat up. If he calls the turn and then bets the river, I have to think I’m beat, especially if one of the draws make. I don’t want to put much more money in with this hand but I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.

So what’s the difference between betting here or just check-calling the river? Well, if he’s on a draw, I’m at least charging him something. If I have any fold equity I’m utilizig it. I’m also giving him the opportunity to fold (giving me the pot without showing my hand), make a mistake by calling with only top pair, or gamble by check raising (I could have a monster!). Without betting the turn, I’d probably call the river bet to look him up, make sure he wasn’t betting a missed draw or a silly top pair.

However by betting the turn semi-strong and checking behind on the river or folding to a river bet, I save some money. It may not be much, but I save some and I get info. And I’m controlling how much money I put in to the pot.

On a side note:

Early one morning in March the Bulldog, Orel F’n Hershiser!, sat down at my 2-5 NL game at the Bellagio. MY GAME. I wasn’t up much, maybe $150 at the time. I think I was the only person to immediately recognize him and it was clear he just wanted to be an ordinary guy playing poker. Sizing him up, I know two things for sure. First, losing his $400 buy-in or even a thousand of them won’t put a dent in his financial portfolio – the guy made more than $1.5 million dollars a year every year in the 1990s. Second, he’s a competitor and despite playing for chump change I know he’s going to give us his best game.

Over powering pitchers are usually closers, appearing for one or two innings late in the game, so the batters don’t have time to make their adjustments. Well the Bulldog came in that morning, won about $300 and bounced when people started recognizing him. Smart.

He and I tangled once and I ended up folding on the turn. He bet $30 on the flop in to about $120 and I called with two overs and a gut shot (KQoff). I brick the turn and he bets $60. I could call (getting 4 to 1), fold or even raise here because my raise would not need to be too big to be scary. I gots a lot of options.

So while I’m considering my move I say to him “Think the Cubs will win the World Series this year?” He shoots back “I don’t follow baseball.”

Bullshit, he’s an ESPN analyst. “I fold” and I show him my risky drawing hand. “If you would have said yes, the Cubs are a lock, I would have called.”

He smiled and raked the pot.

It would have been worth $60 to hear him say it. Go Cubs!

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