The Bartham Twins are a poker running a nearly perfect service
Bad beats are going to happen. Every once in awhile you’ll get a hand that just stinks and every once in awhile you’ll get a hand that just feels off. However, you can beat the Bartham Twins. Just don’t expect to.
We were about three quarters of the way through the 62nd rebuild after this series started in earnest. We got caught in a sit and go sitting pretty with a loose player named Jerry Chambers. After we won the first big pot about an hour later, he got aggressive with a weak hand. At this point we were about three quarters of the way through the tournament and up against Jerry again. Weak hand again. We called Bolagila.
The turn was weak. So was the river. We checked believelessly expecting an Ace or something. He bet, bottom line, and I called figuring I could at least get the first better of his two tens. Sure enough he did house, but it wasn’t an Ace, much less a queen, and we had ourselves a pot of about $1,650.
First the good news. When you’re holding two tens and something less than that, you’re about 50:50 to make a low. And when you have the first lower of your two tens plus the three on the board, you’re about 70:30 to make a low. See what I mean?
And now for the bad news. When you have a weak hand, like a low or a high, you have about a 35:1 shot to double up on the flop. About 36:1, almost 3 1/2 to one. (you’re about 11:1 to make the low) So if you have a low hand, like say a 7 8 off suit, and you flop two pair or better, you will take home a nice lunchtime pat.
But you have to remember these odds are against you. Even in Omaha high low, you have to be aware of your outs and once you miss a card, you’re runner-runner away from the nut. This is why I like to play low pairs in my tournaments. Not because they are holier than others, but because they are cheaper to play and you can get into trouble when you push too hard with them.
This also brings up another reason for playing suited cards: their value increases with higher buy-ins. At $3, $10 and $20 you will find your flush and full house prices higher than they are in limit games.
So to round things off, if you find yourself chasing a hand, like a flush or a straight, and you have a table max on your stack, then the best play is to fold while you can still can, or at least take some of the blinds and antes home if you push right now. If I was in the same situation I would either wait for a big hand or an opportunity to double up against another big stack.
In summation, remember playing suited cards is always risky when you are novice, carefree and in a tournament. You can get yourself in a pickle with queens, jacks and kings.