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The Multiway Pots Quiz
In previous InsidePoker quizzes, we’ve looked mainly at pots involving you and one other player. But if you play in loose games, heads-up pots may be rare. If you don’t know how to adjust properly to multiway action, you might end up with some tough decisions to make, and you might find yourself making otherwise avoidable mistakes.
The Effect of Frequent Multiway Pots on Your Strategy
When you first sit down in a game, you should generally spend the first few hands playing straightforwardly until you have had a chance to assess your competition (it’s even better if you can do that beforehand and practice good table selection, but that’s a topic for another time). If you notice that the game is loose and there are many multiway pots, then you can adjust your strategy to compensate. But what should you do?
If the game is loose and aggressive, then you should be prepared to gamble more – a lot more. You need to think about your hand in terms of its equity against a large field and be prepared to commit chips even when you might be the underdog. However, don’t commit chips with a hand if you’re not prepared to go all the way if you catch part of the flop.
If the game is loose and passive, then you can see more flops (something you can’t do in an aggressive game – but be sure to avoid easily dominated hands), make more value bets, and play more draws (because you won’t often be charged a significant price to hit).
In all sorts of multiway pots you should generally bluff less often (because you’re less likely to be successful) and make fewer continuation bets.
Scenario 1 – A Passive Play?
You’re playing $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em in Las Vegas. The game is loose and passive, and everybody is having fun. You’re in the cutoff position with Jh-10s. Five players limp in, you call, and the button calls, as do the two blinds. You see the flop nine-handed, and it comes Qh-9s-4d, giving you an open-ended straight draw.
1A. It’s checked to the player before you, who bets $15. What should you do?
- Fold
- Call
- Raise to $30
- Raise to $45
Answer
You have an open-ended straight draw to the nuts, and are getting over 2 to 1 from the pot in a passive game. Folding is absolutely out of the question.
What about raising? In a heads-up pot, that would often be the correct play. You would be semibluffing – raising hoping that your opponent would fold straight away, but with a chance to win if you get called. But here, there is one opponent who is yet to act, six others who have checked but may still call your raise, plus the original bettor. It’s very unlikely that a semibluff will succeed.
There is another reason not to raise. If you call, you’re enticing other players to enter the pot with weak hands. The more players call, the better your pot odds are, and the more likely it is for one opponent to pay you off when you hit the straight you are looking for.
Calling is the right play here.
1B. The small blind bets $15. Four players call before the action reaches you, making the pot $93. What should you do?
- Call
- Raise to $35
- Raise to $90
Answer
Calling here is fine, but under certain circumstances it might be better to raise. The pot is offering you 93 to 15, or 6.2 to 1, but you’re actually a significant money favourite, at just over 2 to 1 to hit your straight (at which point you’ll have the nuts and will usually win the hand). Since you have a money edge, you should consider raising with your drawing hand.
A couple of conditions have to be met for this to be the right play – it should be unlikely that you’ll be reraised (because you don’t want to have to commit all of your chips at this point), and it should be likely that your opponents will call (because you are raising to build a pot and don’t want to eliminate opponents).
Here, in a loose-passive game, I would say those conditions are probably met. Raise an amount that won’t scare people away - $35 sounds good.
Scenario 2 – A Big Gamble
You’re been playing in a £2/£2 Pot Limit Round of Each game at your local cardroom for the past fifteen minutes, and you have around £300 in chips (a few players have more). The game is very loose, and very aggressive. It’s the Hold’em round and you have just posted the second blind. There has been a straddle to £4 and a restraddle to £8. The player first to act shouts ‘pot’, and after the usual hassle puts in £32 total. The next player calls, but the third player also grunts ‘pot’. After the table captain has worked out how much this entails (don’t you love pot limit?), the third player shoves forth £128.
There is uproar around the room as the fourth player to act triumphantly declares ‘pot’, and goes all-in. The button shrugs and calls all-in. The small blind also calls. Already the players behind you are talking – uttering such words of wisdom such as ‘pot committed’ and ‘any two cards’. A small crowd has formed – even the waitresses and the degenerate roulette players have gathered round and are waiting for you to make your decision.
2A. You have 7h-8h. What should you do?
- Fold
- Call All-In
Answer
You could fold. It wouldn’t be that bad a decision – after all, you have a relatively weak hand, and you haven’t got much invested in the pot.
But winning at poker is about making the best decision every time. In a cash game, you want to make the decision that has the highest expected value over time, every time. Folding has an EV of zero. But in this case, could calling be +EV?
It’s safe to assume that the players who have already put money in the pot will call all-in also. It’s possible that one of the straddlers may also call. At a minimum, you’ll be getting 6-1 on your stack, and getting those odds, you need just 14.3% equity in the pot to be correct to call.
In Hold’em, it’s difficult for a hand to be such a huge underdog. Against six random hands, 7-8s has a decent chance to win, with around 16.7% equity. Even if you give one opponent As-Ac and another Kh-Kd, 7h 8h still has about 15% equity (nearly as much as the Kh Kd). That’s easily enough to call. In fact, you hardly ever drop below the required 14.3% equity, unless one of your opponents has two higher flush cards of your suit.
Some people think you should play tight in loose, aggressive games like this. They are wrong. Like Doyle Brunson said, you’ve got to give action to get action. If you play tight, you might find the only action that you get comes when you are beat. It’s an enormous gamble and most of the time, you’re going to lose the pot. Nevertheless, calling is an opportunity to make profit, and if you’re properly bankrolled you should make the call.
2B. You have 2-2. What should you do?
- Fold
- Call
A very small pair is one of the few hands that has a small enough equity to fold here. Although it’s a stronger hand heads up than 8-7s, it fares less well in a multiway pot because it is so unlikely to improve. Think about it. The pot will be at least six way, and it’s likely that there is at least one overpair out there, plus numerous overcards, flush draws and straight draws. A hand like pocket deuces can only win if it makes a set or better while the overpairs, overcards and draws all fail to hit anything stronger. Such a turn of events is pretty unlikely and it’s not something you should be prepared to bet on.
Against six random hands, 2-2 has just 14.1% equity. Against a range that includes A-A and K-K, 2-2 has even less equity – 10.8%. You’re a money underdog, and you should fold.
If you chose call, you can be reassured that your mistake is not a huge one (it’s better than putting your money on the table games). The equity difference here is only small (a couple of percent at worst), and at least you’ll gain the image of a gambler which you might be able to use to your advantage later.
Summary
Multiway pots can be exciting, and you can reap huge rewards for playing them well. Learn to appreciate the importance of equity rather than thinking simply in terms of ‘good hands’ and ‘bad hands’ – you may find it helpful to use a simulator such as PokerStove to test out various hands in various situations. If you can spot profitable situations when they appear, and are prepared to gamble where necessary, you’ll do well in the long run.
