The Dangers of Being Pot Committed
A lot of Texas Holdem players make the critical error of putting themselves in a situation where they are pot committed with a bad poker hand. So what does it mean to be pot committed? To put it simply, it’s a situation where you have invested so much money in the pot that if you get raised, you feel obligated to call. Why is it a bad thing? Well, it means that if you have confidence that your hand will hold up, you’ll still feel obligated put more money in a pot you probably won’t win. What’s worse is that you may end up in situations where you’re pot committed for all your chips. If you think you have the best hand then go for the big win, but if you feel you may be beat, it’s not a pleasant place to be at.
So how do you avoid this pitfall?
The early betting rounds is where it all happens. Imagine you find yourself against 9 opponents, everyone has 1000 in chips and the blinds are 10-20. You are in middle position in seat 4 and are dealt K-Q. Player one and two check, player 3 raises to 60 (3 times the big blind), you call, three more call and it is now to the big blind.
At this point, you’ve invested 60 and the pot is worth 390 and the big blind reraises to a total of 200. Player 3 calls the 140, and so do you. Everyone else folds.
The pot is now worth 760, you’ve invested 200, and there are three players involved in the hand. That’s 20% of all your chips pre flop.
The flop shows Q-5-A. The BB comes in for a half pot bet (380) and player 3 calls. The pot is now worth 1520, you’ve committed 200 already and calling means you’ll commit a total of 580, just over one third of your chips. You did catch something on the flop after all so why not go for this huge pot right? The turn is a 10. The big blind checks. Player 3 bets 300 and you decide to call because you have a pair and a straight possibility. The problem here is that you’ve invested 880 (200 + 380 + 300) so by calling this 300, you basically agree to go all in on this hand should someone raise. You only have 120 left, it’s not like you’ll back down after investing almost 90% of your chips.
Obviously, the example listed above is filled with poker errors. Bad decisions, combined with the failure to pick up on some poker tells, lead to this situation. This was an actual hand I remember seeing, it’s quite common to observe similar situations. Let’s point out the errors:
Calling the initial raise of 60 was a fine play. You have a good starting hand, someone raised it just a bit before you did, and you called. Odds are they have a similar hand to yours, or perhaps a pair. When three more people call however, you have to think someone has a better starting hand than you do. There must be someone with an ace out there.
Then the big blind comes back with a nice raise. Does he have the goods, or is he trying to steal the pot that has been building up? You may not give the BB much credit, due to their position. However, when player 3 calls, you have to be worried. It sure sounds like someone has an ace. Perhaps A-K or something like that, or maybe they have a nice pair like Q’s or better. Personally, I would consider folding here, and for a few reasons.
First, I feel like there’s a couple of people with strong hands out there. Even if I call, there’s still two more players that go after me and I’m not sure what they’ll do. What if someone goes all in? Will I risk all my chips on K-Q? With all the calls and raises that have been going on, my feelings tell me that I am already beat. If I fold now, then I’ve lost a total of 60 but I’ll live to fight another day. It’s really not a bad compromise.
If you were in a position where you had a lot more chips than your opponents, then you may consider taking greater risks and paying to see the flop, but since you all started out with 1000 in chips, this is not the case and folding really is the best option with so much uncertainty out there. Maybe you’ll loose 60 in the process, but you’ll save 940 in the end.
Now, had you decided to gamble a little and did make the call, with a flop like that, you’re in even bigger trouble! Remember, the flop was Q-5-A. You did hit, but the ace is of concern. You were convinced someone else had an ace, and you can be sure they’ll bet it. To make matters worse, the BB bets 380, and player 3 calls. Admit it! They have you beat. Fold or suffer the consequences.
In this second scenario, you lost 200 chips instead of 60, but at least you weren’t pot committed and you have plenty of ammunition left for subsequent hands. Always pay attention to the signs early on in the hand because if you have a lot of players raising and calling early in the hand, things may spin out of control very quickly.
Courtesy of MyPokerCorner.com