The Kind of Problem You Want to Have

Gonna put my fretting about overblocking aside for the moment and think about nicer things. Quads, for instance.

Played a little PLO50 today. Bought in for $25 and hit a big draw early on versus two opponents to more than double up. Was sitting at $59.38 when the following hand took place. The stack made me second-best at the table, with PBunyan (on my left) being the only player who had me covered with a little over $70.

Since PBunyan had been playing a lot of hands, I had a mini-read on him as a somewhat loose gambler-type. But really I had little usable info on anyone when I found myself in the cutoff being dealt . Not a bad starting hand for PLO high, one I sometimes will raise up from late position. But for some reason -- after three others limped in -- I just called the fifty cents as well, perhaps still a little dazed after winning that big pot just prior. PBunyan called from the button, and with the blinds also in there were seven of us all told to see the flop. Pot $3.50.

The flop was a very accommodating . Top straight, top set. Gets checked to me and I bet pot. PBunyan quickly calls, as does PecosBill from UTG. Pot $14.00. The turn brings the , momentarily ruining the party for yr humble servant. PecosBill checks, and I check, too, expecting PBunyan to pounce. But he doesn’t, just checking behind. Before I can think very long about what my opponents might have, the river comes.

And you already know what it brings -- the . Sweet sassy molassey. As Doyle would say, I had “fours.”

A nice, happy little hand we got going here. And it gets even nicer, as Pecos Bill hastily bets pot, leaving himself only $1.25 behind.

Now here comes the only real “what would you do” moment in the hand. There’s $28 in the middle. If you raise, you have to put at least $28 in, meaning you’d be giving PBunyan exactly 2-to-1 to call if perhaps he’s hit anything. If you just call the $14, that would give PBunyan exactly 3-to-1 to call.

Oh, and there is a straight flush possible out there. Have been rudely bitten by that in a similar situation once before.

Yeah, I know. We ain’t gonna worry ourselves about that. So stop yr grinning and tell me. What would you do?

I decided just to call, hoping for an overcall. PBunyan folded, though, and I took the $42 pot -- $40 after the rake. (PecosBill had eights full.)

Probably nothing I could do there to get PBunyan to gamble, I imagine. If he has a boat himself, he’s probably raising it up. (From the way it went, I’m going to guess he flopped a lesser straight.) I lose picking up PecosBill’s last $1.25, of course, but I figured shooting for more the better play.

That was nice. Thanks for indulging me in my favorite type of poker puzzle (“How To Play Quads”). Let us all return now to our less exciting, quads-less reality, already in progress . . . .