By Steve Rosenbloom
A lot of poker literature offers suggestions on starting hands from various positions, but so much of the game is situational based on stack sizes, opponents, betting amounts and position, among other things.
While the guidelines on starting hands are solid, sometimes the worst hole cards make the best hand in no-limit hold 'em. At the World Poker Tour's $15,000-buy-in Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, the blinds were $500-$1,000 with a $100 ante when action folded to a player in late position, who just limped in.
Cliff Josephy, the online terror known as "Johnny Bax" who has taken to live play, looked down to find 5-3 suited, not the starting hand you want when your stack is below average at $35,000.
But because he was on the button and no one had shown strength by raising, Josephy also limped in, figuring both of his cards were live and hoping he could catch a flop. The blinds also played, so four players saw a flop of 10-6-2, two clubs.
Both blinds checked. The late-position limper bet $4,000 into a pot of $5,000. The action was on Josephy, who held a flush draw and a gutshot straight to the 4.
"I wasn't just going to flat-call," said Josephy, who won a bracelet at the 2005 World Series of Poker in the $1,500-buy-in seven-card stud event. "I wanted to take the pot right there and sort of advertise what I had."
So, Josephy moved all in for his remaining $34,000.
"It's most likely that I had a draw if I was going to shove in for more than the pot there," Josephy said. "At least that's what people are going to deduce, but they're not going to want to call me with Q-10, K-10, which is what I sort of had him on."
The blinds folded, and the player in late position whom Josephy figured to be his remaining opponent had a bigger hand than K-10, which gave him a bigger decision, especially having Josephy covered.
"He said, 'I'm not good enough to fold it,' " Josephy said. "So, he called me and showed two aces."
The turn came the 3 of hearts, and the river came the jack of clubs, completing Josephy's flush and allowing him to more than double up.
All because he could limp in with small suited cards when an opponent who should have raised him out of the pot pre-flop tried to slow-play a hand that plays best heads-up.
"Don't be afraid to push in, and don't be afraid to play 5-3 from the button," Josephy said. "If I'm in position on the button, and it's only going to cost me as much as the big blind, sure, I'm going to limp in and play it."
