05-14-07, LearnTexasHoldem:

Three Pocket Pairs and Three Sets

Question:

In a small tournament recently, I was out first hand. We all start with $4,000 in chips. There was moderate betting pre-flop, leaving three of us in the hand. I sat on snowmen -pocket 8s.

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

Flop comes up K-8-A. I made trips. I started the betting. The lady next to me raises pretty big. The guy next to her reraises all in. They both liked their hands preflop, so now I'm figuring at least one of them has Big Slick (A-K) and hit two pair, or maybe they have an ace with a strong kicker. They'll never see my trip 8s coming. It's a cheap tournament, so I called. So did the lady. Over 12,000 in the pot on the first hand--chance to start off with a bang. Dude turns over pocket kings. I flip my 8s. Lady had pocket rockets. We ALL flopped trips! I've never seen that before, have you? Anyway, the turn and river were J-3, so the lady cleaned us out on the first hand, and wound up winning the tournament.

Answer:

You have encountered a rare occasion in holdem: three players with pocket pairs flop a set each! The chance of flopping a set is about 1 in 8.5, and the chance of three players flopping sets is therefore 1 in 614 (8.5 x 8.5 x 8.5). However, that's when the three players already have pairs in their hands. A player only receives a pocket pair every 17th hand, so you can imagine the slim chance of what you've just witnessed.

Now over to how you played your hand. It's hard, almost impossible, to get rid of a set on the flop. Maybe you could have done it if this was the first hand in WSOP Main Event, but not in a cheap tourney. Dan Harrington writes somewhere about how poker players often brag about how they managed to fold sets on the flop. Harrington says he always mumbles "idiot" when he hears such comments.

Your rating:

Click on the clover of your choice

User Rating: (0 Votes)

  • Share on Facebook
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us