Moving All-In on a Draw with Jennifer Harman
Team Full Tilt’s Jennifer Harman analyzes a hand where she’s short-stacked with a big draw in no-limit hold'em.
I want to take a look at a hand that I played on Poker After Dark. The blinds are 600/1,200, and I have around 15,000. I’m playing with Scotty Nguyen, Ken (an online qualifier), Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth.
Daniel limped on his button. Phil put on his glasses and also decided to limp. I had K♣10♣ and didn’t believe that Daniel or Phil had a hand because they both limped, and I didn’t think Phil would trap with any kind of good hand in this spot. I thought about raising, and then Scotty said “punish them,” and I kind of lost concentration and just checked. It might not have been a good raise anyway since I was short on chips.
The flop was A♣J♣6♥ and Phil led out for 2,000, so I had to decide what I was going to do. I feel that since I’m short on chips I do have to move in. I don’t think I can just call here with such a big draw and I’m not that big of a dog here to most hands in this spot. If he has three aces, I still have 30 percent equity in the pot; if he has ace-queen, it’s almost a coin flip, and if he has a jack or a six, I’m probably a favorite against most jacks and sixes.
You could call it a semi-bluff, but if I moved in here and got called, I’m still in a good spot and am either a favorite or a small dog. So I felt it was a good spot to move in. I was short-stacked, so I needed to find a good spot to double up. Plus, he could still lay his hand down — so I’ve got a good chance to pick up some valuable chips.
Phil ended up having a pair here, but since it was just the six, he decided to lay it down, and I was able to pick up the chips right there without having to make my draw.
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