Calculating the Odds

Type of Game: No-Limit Texas Hold'em, Tournament, $500-$1000 blinds.
Your Cards: 8h-7h
Your Position: Late

Scenario: You have reached the final table and are the chip leader with $100,000. This is half of all chips in play. Everyone folds before it’s your turn to act. You raise to $3,000 to go, and only the small blind, who has $10,000 in chips, calls. There is $7,000 in the pot and two players still in the hand. The flop shows 9c-6s-2s. You now have an open-ended straight draw. The small blind decides to move all-in with his last $7,000. What do you do in this situation? Fold or call?

Our answer: You should call in this situation. You have correct pot odds to do so. The pot is giving you 3:1 on your call, which are your odds for making the straight. It’s difficult to assess the strength of your opponents hand in a situation like this. He might have two over cards, and no flush draw, and it that case it’s virtually a coin flip situation. You might be a big underdog as well, but since you have a chance to eliminate a player without jeopardizing your chip lead it’s correct to make the call.

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