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Whenever possible,
you will maneuver to be able to call as near to the end as possible.
When you are the high hand, or to the left of the high hand, you
must play conservatively because of the strong possibility that
you must make an early declaration. If you are on the right of the
high hand, you can play more aggressively.
When the final betting round arrives, the necessity for the last
raiser (or last bettor if there is no raise) to declare first becomes
important. It is usually not worth the extra few chips you might
get into the pot to bet or raise if it will put you at a disadvantage
in the calling. This does not apply, of course, where your declaration
will be obvious to the other players in any event. In that case,
if you have the best hand, just raise!
Here are several specific
tactical maneuvers in the form of sandbagging (holding back with
a good hand) which may be employed on the final round of betting:
1. Checking to see
the action. If you are the high board, and are contemplating a high-low
call but are uncertain of its probability of success, you should
check to see if any player with a potentially strong hand takes
action. Your objective is not so much to avoid calling first, but
to determine what your call should be. A typical hand for this maneuver
would be: ? A ? 7 ? 4 ? 7 (exposed) ? A ? 6 ? 2 (concealed).
You have a seven-low and aces-up-possibly a winning hand in both
directions. However, if a potentially strong hand bets on the last
round you may decide against calling the direction he declares.
(He must now declare ahead of you, as the last bettor.)
2. Avoiding a raise
to call last. When you have a sure winner in one direction, you
should sometimes avoid a raise at the end in order to call last,
thereby having a chance to win the entire pot. Suppose the high
board (an ace) is to your left (player A), with several low cards.
A second player, C, made a pair of sevens on a low board at the
sixth card. You started with a pair of eights concealed and your
upcards are 6-4-8-2. On the last card you draw a six, giving you
eights full.
Player A, who will
have the high board anyway, bets. Player B, also in the pot, who
was apparently drawing to a flush or a low (he probably should have
gone out earlier), drops. Player C calls. You have a cinch for high,
but your hand has been well concealed, and as there is no straight
possibility on your board, the opponents may assume you are playing
for low.
Player A obviously
has a good low and may have drawn a straight on the last card. If
you raise, you must declare first. When you declare high, A may
reconsider and call low. Even if he calls high-low anyway (on the
assumption that you have only triplets), C will almost certainly
call low. You will split the pot in either event.
But if you merely call
A's bet, A will call high-low if he has his straight (if he doesn't
have a straight, you have no chance for the whole pot anyway), and
C will probably call high, hoping against hope that A has no better
than a pair of aces. You will then call high and win the entire
pot.
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