When you are playing short handed No Limit Texas Holdem poker, you can often win big pots with top pair. If you are unlucky, or not paying attention, you can lose even more. During season three of NBC's poker show Poker After Dark, Gabe Kaplan and the rest of the players during Cowboy Week got a lesson in this fact during the following hand.
Andy Bloch called the rest of the blind from the small blind, pushing in $600 in tourney chips while holding:
... Gabe, from the big blind, checked his option with:
... and it was time for the flop. The flop hit the table:
... and Gabe figured the pot was his. Now the question was how to extract as many chips as possible from Andy. Andy led out with $1,500 on his straight draw, hoping to pick up the pot. Gabe was thrilled, figuring Andy was on a draw, and called, hoping Andy would bet again on the turn. When the turn hit:
... Andy did indeed bet again: mainly because he had hit his straight. He put out $2,500 and Gabe called. The river hit:
... and Andy considered check-raising, but there were too many possible hands that Gabe would just check with, so he bet $7,000. Gabe made a crying call and helped Andy solidify his position as a chip leader.
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