Poker

Premier League Poker (Tuesday, Channel 4) is one of the most entertaining poker series on TV. It's very character-driven, plenty of knockabout banter; not one for poker purists, but good fun. Nevertheless, I haven't tuned in much this year. We played the tournament when I was having a rough time for family reasons, and I don't want to see myself playing an imperfect game. But I watched last week - a heat in which I remembered finishing fourth, and to my disappointment I fared no better in the broadcast version - and noted an interesting hand between two other players. Tony G raised to 6,000 under the gun with a pair of 10s. Devilfish called from the button with 56 offsuit. The flop came 345, no flush draw, and they both checked. The turn came an ace, Tony G bet 7,000 and Devilfish called. The river came a 2. Tony G checked and Devilfish bet 15,000. His 6 made a bigger straight than the one on board, and Tony G made a great pass. In hindsight, Devilfish was unlucky not to get it all in on the flop.

It's always interesting when the river card makes a straight on the board. If you're in position and the action is checked round, I would advocate betting every time, whether you have the bigger straight or not. Most of the time you'll just be playing the board. But most of the time, so will your opponents; at worst you're splitting the pot, at best you make them fold. Once in a while, an opponent will be check-raising with a secretly higher straight of his own - but players rarely dare to ceck the river when this is the case, so it is a long-term winning strategy.