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An exception to this would be if the cards that are out indicate that he has paired his sixth card and also may make it fairly easy for you to make a seven.
Another exception would be if for some reason there was quite a bit of money in the pot in which case you might have to see the last card even though there is that possibility that you are drawing dead.
We should contrast the situation to the situation where you should a 7-5 on fifth poker street and he shows a three-card six and you both catch bad on sixth street. In this situation it is approximately even money that he has a pair going in because he would bet anything he had.
In fact, if the other of your cards was 5, jack, 7 and the order of his cards was 6,4,3, it is possible that he has two pair going in. This is because he would have kept on betting facing your board even if he did have as bad as two pair.
This ability to recreate the hand is quite important. It is even more important in the forced raise razz games that have started to become popular in Nevada where the low card must raise on third street poker.
Reading hands can seldom determine the other person’s hand. All the ability to read hands can usually do is change your estimate of the probability that a man has a hand.
To summarize, when you do not have the best hand, or appear to not have the best hand on sixth street and your decision is whether or not to fold in such poker game, the general rule is to fold if you may be drawing dead or where you are not getting good enough odds to catch the one card that can beat him.
Conversely, as was just discussed, you may have to call in situations where the possibility exists that you are drawing dead if the way the hand is played has made it reasonable that he has a pair going in, or if there is quite a bit of money in the pot, or if you are drawing to a very strong seven or better and your cards are live.
Let’s now discuss the play on sixth street where you are the one who appears to have a better hand. As a rule of poker games, if yours is a stronger board and you know you have the best poker hand you should bet. Take the case where if you have
and he has
You should consider betting if you have a seven-five made. However, if you think that he has a pair in this spot and will fold if you bet, it may be correct to check.
In fact, against many players it may be correct to check your seven-five no matter what you think they have. The analysis being if you bet and he has a pair he will throw his hand away and you would have preferred that he call since he is drawing dead.
And, if he has a seven-six made, he will bet it himself if you check. Thus the situation on further analysis, where you have the 7-5-3-J and he the 7-6-3-J could very well call for a check when you have the seven-five made, especially against a tough player.
Thus, sixth street in razz has many opportunities to use the “Analysis at the Table” at theory of poker, especially in heads-up situations where you have the stronger board.
For those of you who haven’t read that chapter, the basic premise is to determine the right way to play a particular hand against the various hands that an opponent may have and then to make an analysis based on how much you gain by playing poker hand one way versus another and on the chances he could have various hands.
We said against a tough player who will throw a seven-six draw away and bet a seven-six made, that no matter what he has you would do better checking your seven-five. But if this player will raise you with a seven-six if you bet your seven-five, it would once again be the right play to bet.
One play that should always be made on sixth street is to bet when you know that your opponent will fold and you prefer that he do so. For instance, if you show
but you have two pair you should certainly bet against
because you know he will fold fearing that he is drawing dead. If you show
and in fact have only an eight-seven low you should certainly bet against something like
because once again you want an eight-six draw to fold. You want him to fold because he would be making the correct play by calling based on his hand, your hand, and the size of the pot.