Poker: If Your Read is Wrong You May Pay for It

The pros say poker is about making good decisions. Put your opponent on a hand based on his tendencies, and then decide if you're getting your money in when you have the best of it.

But sometimes you make the wrong read.

And sometimes you get lucky.

At the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, pro Chip Jett couldn't figure out an opponent who had one of the biggest stacks of the day.

"He'd limp under the gun, somebody would raise, I'd call, he'd move in, and I'd fold A-K," Jett said. "Now I'm getting ticked off. It was almost like he played so simple that it was tricky."

In this hand, with blinds at $200-$400, Jett raised to $1,025 from the cutoff with pocket 8s. His vexing opponent called from the big blind.

The flop came king-queen-8, two diamonds, giving Jett a set of 8s. The big blind checked. Jett bet $3,300.

"I'm putting him on a king, and I'm praying that he has K-Q and is going to raise me," Jett said.

His opponent called. The turn came the 9 of hearts, putting a straight draw on board. The big blind checked again. Jett made it $4,400. His opponent moved all in for about $135,000, a raise of about 10 times the size of the pot.

"The first thing I think is that he definitely doesn't have the straight because he wouldn't make a bet that would run me out of the hand," Jett said. "I really thought that he probably had K-Q, which I love.

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"But I was hoping he'd raise just some of my chips and then I'd re-raise all in and he'd fold. Any time I have to put the last of my chips in and I don't have (an unbeatable hand), I get a little freaked out."

Jett put in his remaining stack of about $35,000. His opponent flipped over jack-10 offsuit for the straight.

"I think he was so green that he didn't want to take any chances (of losing to a flush on the river)," Jett said.

More than a 3-1 underdog, Jett hit a king on the river to double up with a full house.

Jett had put his opponent on a hand - in this case, king-queen - and when nothing changed his mind, he stuck to his read. It was the wrong read, but he stuck to it, fueled in part by being bet out of pots by this opponent.