Picking Up Pots With Absolutely Nothing

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There are plenty of “moves” you can make in tournaments that are effectively bluffs or semi-bluffs that can help add to your chip stack. Poker Player Newspaper features an article about a technique the author dubs “The Fourth Street Thief:”

“A player made his standard raise of three times the big blind. I was the lone caller from the big blind with an absolute trash hand-8-4 suited. The flop came down 10-2-6 rainbow. Unless he held an over pair, the likelihood that this flop helped my opponent was pretty slim.

Against a decent player, a check raise will pick up this pot right on the flop. However, in small stakes tournaments, you will find that many players will call your raise with overcards like AK or even KQ, leaving you with a much tougher decision on the turn. You do not want to get them pot-committed on the flop.

I checked and he made what I sensed to be a continuation bet. I called and the turn actually gave me a gutshot draw with a 3. I led out the betting with slightly more than he bet on the flop (which was actually a small amount in relationship to the pot size). The other player thought about it for a moment then exclaimed, “I hate this hand,” showing A-K as he folded.”

The cards need to come just right for this to work, and it’s certainly a risky play, as you might come close to feeling pot committed with nearly nothing. But another arrow for your quiver couldn’t hurt, right?

The Fourth Street Thief [PokerPlayerNewspaper]