It’s not uncommon to see less experienced players fold in these types of situations. With a hand as strong as a top pair, top kicker, you should be winning more than once in eight times. You need to call just $125 to win a $1,000 pot, which gives you 8 to 1 odds. At this point, you start having your doubts as it really seems like they might have an overpair.īut, it’s too late. The river pairs the board with another deuce, and your opponent announces they’re all in for $125 they have behind. You take a while, think about the hand and your opponent, and decide to call. The turn is an inconsequential deuce, but they bet big – $240. You raise to $12, they 3-bet to $50 and you call with AJ. In a 2/5 NLHE game, both you and your opponent start with $500. There are many discussions in the twoplustwo NVG poker forum about this topic, but let’s take another example to illustrate what is pot committed. If the pot odds for whatever amount you have left are greater than your odds of winning the hand, you have to call. You need to compare the size of your stack with whatever amount is in the pot. Were you really committed to the pot? Did you have to make that call? What Is Pot Committed, Really?įiguring out whether you’re pot committed or not isn’t that hard, at least in theory. But it’s not that big of a mistake, is it? Of course, they flopped the set and took you to the value town. So, you make the call and see the bad news. It’s poker, after all, everybody bluffs sometimes. In this example, you have to risk so little to win so much, and your hand, as bad is it might be, can still beat some bluffs. The above scenario is just one of many examples of what’s called being pot committed. What do you do now? Can you give up when you’re so invested and have some chances of winning the pot still?
And there are more than 100 blinds in the middle. You’re about to toss your cards into the muck but glance over at your stack and realize you only have about 15 blinds remaining. You end up with a second or third pair and hear one of the worst poker sayings in this spot – your opponent announcing they’re all in. When you keep calling with a big draw and the river brings a card that improves your hand but not in a way you were hoping for. It’s the moment when all tough decisions are gone, and the only thing you need to think about is how much you can get paid.īut, there is another side to that coin as well. Hitting your dream card on the turn or the river and catching the nuts with chips to still play for is one of the best feelings in poker.