The call that loses and still pays

Keys, with the player focused: Space or K plays and pauses, ← and → move a step, R restarts, F goes full screen, Home and End jump to the start and the end.

Pot oddsRequired equityExpected value

1. 1. There is 100 in the middle and he bets 50. What does your gut say?

   This lesson is about a call that usually loses and still makes money. It's a first look at how Solved Hand teaches poker.

   You hold king-jack. On the table: ace, jack, seven, four, two. That's a pair of jacks for you. Anyone holding an ace has a pair of aces, and beats you.

   That's every card. There's 100 in the middle and your opponent bets 50. Pay 50 to see his cards, or fold and give up.

   • Call 50

     You call. Now see what calling is worth over many hands.

     Your 50 goes in, and your seat is marked with your pick: call.

   • Fold

     You fold. Now see what folding costs over many hands.

     Your cards tilt toward the middle, and your seat is marked with your pick: fold.

2. 2. He bets 50 into 100. You win one time in three. Call or fold?

   Here are 300 hands like this, all called. You lose 200 of them and finish 5,000 chips ahead.

   Win, and you take the 100 in the middle plus his 50. Lose, and you're out 50.

   Lose three times and you're down 150. Win once and you're level. One win in four breaks even.

   You can't see his cards, but you can count the hands he'd bet this way. This site trains that count. For now, take it as given.

   12 are an ace with a queen, and beat you. 6 are two spades that needed one more spade and missed. Those are bluffs: bets that lose if you call.

   6 of 18: you win one time in three. You need one in four.

   • Call 50✓ Right

     Correct: call. Every three hands, you lose 50 twice and win 150 once: 50 ahead, about 17 a hand. This time, he shows two spades.

     Three hands in a row above the table: -50, -50, 150, adding up to 50, about 17 a hand. At the table your call goes in, his cards turn over as the ten and nine of spades, and the chips slide to you.

   • Fold✗ Not right: Folding because he usually has the better hand, without comparing one win in three with the one in four the price asks for

     Folding gives up about 17 chips a hand. In every three hands, calling loses 50 twice and wins 150 once. This time he had two spades.

     Three hands in a row above the table: -50, -50, 150, adding up to 50, about 17 a hand. At the table your cards go to the middle, his cards turn over as the ten and nine of spades, and his chips slide back to him.

3. 3. Same cards, but he bets 150 into 100. You still win one time in three. Call or fold?

   Same cards, but now he bets 150. Win and you take 250. Lose and you're out 150.

   You still win one time in three.

   • Call 150✗ Not right: Calling because the last call was right, without pricing the bigger bet

     This call loses. Two losses cost 300 and one win pays 250. That's 50 down in every three hands.

     Three hands in a row above the table: -150, -150, 250, adding up to -50. At the table your 150 goes in.

     The cards did not change. The price did. Solved Hand teaches every idea this way: a short lesson, then hands you play and get graded on.

     The two results sit one above the other: 50 in every three hands when he bets 50, and -50 when he bets 150. Under them is the name Solved Hand and three labels for what the site holds: lessons, graded hands and tables against bots. The larger bet is marked as the one you called.

   • Fold✓ Right

     Correct: fold. Two losses cost 300, one win pays 250. That's 50 down every three hands.

     Three hands in a row above the table: -150, -150, 250, adding up to -50. At the table your cards go to the middle and his chips slide back to him.

     The cards did not change. The price did. Solved Hand teaches every idea this way: a short lesson, then hands you play and get graded on.

     The two results sit one above the other: 50 in every three hands when he bets 50, and -50 when he bets 150. Under them is the name Solved Hand and three labels for what the site holds: lessons, graded hands and tables against bots. The larger bet is marked as a fold.