Reviewing Some Fine
Points
9 December 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
In Texas Hold'em, if two players have the exact
same hand, is the pot divided evenly? What
happens if there are left over chips? Dale D.
Because all five cards on the board (the flop,
the turn and the river) in Texas Hold'em are
communal, it is not uncommon for two or more
players to end up with identical winning hands.
When that happens, players with equal hands
split the pot evenly amongst themselves. Bear in
mind, Dale, that only the best five cards of a
player's hand in Texas Hold'em are used in a
showdown. If those best five cards produce a
tie, the two additional unused cards on the
board, or in a player's hand, do not break a
tie, nor does any specific suit.
After divvying up the pot, if an extra chip
remains, it is customary to award it to the
first winning player clockwise from the dealer.
Dear Mark,
I saw a player double down with a soft 19
against a six, lose the hand, but he still
claimed it was the correct play. I'm thinking
that can't possibly be right since the player
had a near winning hand. Who’s right? Justin A.
Any time your chances of winning the hand are
better than those of the dealer, you should
always want to double your bet. Doubling down is
an offensive strategy that allows you to earn
more of a profit than you'd rake in just by
hitting the hand, or in the case of a 19 versus
a six, just standing pat.
The player you mentioned correctly saw doubling
his 19 against a six as a favorable opportunity,
but only IF he happened to be on a multiple deck
game, and the dealer hits a soft 17. If the
house rules force the dealer to stand on a soft
17, than the player should also have stood, even
if the dealer was showing a six as his or her
up-card. Sticky thing about probability: no
warrantees on a single event; he played right
and lost. Happens.
Dear Mark,
Your column in the past has recommended
surrendering a hard 16 versus a 10 with the
exception of a pair of 8s. What are your rules
for a 15 versus a 10? Todd K.
Surrender is an option in which the casino
allows players to "surrender" half of their
original bet total after both viewing the
dealer's up-card and examining their own first
two cards.
Here is the simple late surrender rule when you
have a hard 15 on a multi-deck game: Surrender a
hard 15 versus 10 with one exception. If your 15
consists of a 7 and an 8, just hit it. The
reasoning is that when you hit a 15, you are
hoping primarily for a 5 or 6. Either hand
combination: a 9-6 or a 10-5 has one of those
needed cards, while the 7-8 uses two cards that
you don't want to receive. Therefore, with a 7-8
you are a bit more likely to receive a better
hit card, so proceed with just hitting it.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "Some players wait
until they start to shake and that gives them a
warning that they have reached their limit of
betting." -- Mike Goodman, "How To Win"
|
