Winning small pots leads to the big bets

Much of the poker seen on television involves big stacks and big bets. Those hands, of course, are only a small percentage of the thousands of pots played in a tournament.

What isn't seen as often are the hands where players joust over smaller pots to help build their stacks into the big ones viewed at the final table. The top players aren't waiting for aces or kings. They are using lesser hands to get chips by sizing up opponents and reading the texture of the board, as displayed in this hand by pro Erik Seidel.

With blinds at $50-$100 in the World Poker Tour's $15,000-buy-in Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, Seidel drew ace-9 offsuit and limped in from early position. Six other players limped as well, which is often the case in the first couple of levels in a tournament where players start with twice as many chips as their buy-in.

The flop came 2-9-7, two clubs, putting a flush draw on the board.

"With two clubs in the flop, I wasn't too excited about it," Seidel said.

After the big blind checked, Seidel bet $300 to find out how good his top pair/top kicker was. Two players called, one behind Seidel, one in front of him.

"I thought I had the best hand," Seidel said. "I just thought it was a very dangerous flop for somebody to be slow-playing.

"The first guy was the one I was concerned about slow-playing. The other guy had position on me, and I thought he would  be crazy not to raise with a better hand than mine."

The turn came the 2 of diamonds, making trips, a flush and a full house possible - all hands better than Seidel's pair of 9s.

When the first player checked, Seidel bet $1,250, about three-quarters of the pot, a strong play that could allow him to take down the pot right there or force an opponent to define the strength of his hand by calling or raising.

"I wasn't so worried about the second guy because I thought if he had a better hand than mine, he would've re-raised on the flop," Seidel said, holding to his read. "The first guy was the only concern, but I thought it was likely I had the best hand."

Apparently, he did, as both players folded.