THE QUINTESSENTIAL SEMI-BLUFF AND THE DANGER OF SLOW PLAY

$100 Pot Limit. I'm two off the button with: Jd Td

Pe-flop raise of $8. I call the pot with 3 other people.

The flop comes 9d Ah 7c.

The pot is about $40 and the pre-flop raiser bets $15. I'm the implied odds guy that calls. The other guys fold.

The turn is the Ad.

The pot is $70. The pre-flop raiser checks. I figure he doesn't have aces, because there are now two on the board, and he only bet $15 after the flop. That's a standard bet when you raise with a big pocket pair and an ace falls.

I bet $50. I'll represent the aces and I have a ton of outs (9 diamonds and 4 8s). Hold the phone. He raised me back. He must have the aces. It was the perfect trap. The pot is nearly two hundred so I have no choice but to call with my last $22. Had he led the betting, I would have folded my outs. He gave me a chance to shoot my own foot and I did.

But wala, the river is the magic 8 and I get my straight and he turns over his ace and decries the bad beat.

As it turns out, he shot his own foot. His checking on the turn allowed me to check behind him and get a free card. The old rule that any time an ace flops someone has a potential straight draw was proven here. Of course, I fell into the trap he dug for me, but a big bet on the turn would have assured him the pot.