Here’s a recent hand from a deep-stack tournament I was in:

It was late in the tournament, I was in middle position with about 450,000, blinds were 3,000/6,000 and the action folded to me. I raised it to 18,000 with 10-9 of clubs. Everyone folds around to the big blind, who calls. He’s got about 275,000.

Flop: As 9d 2h
BB checks. I check.

Turn: 6s
BB bets 22,000. I call.

River: Ks
BB bets 30,000. I raise to 105,000.

Now, a lot of people might think their only options on the river here are to call or fold, especially with a hand like third pair.

I raised because I was pretty sure that the big blind had either marginal cards like Ax, or a monster flush. Since the ace of spades is out, I think the likelihood of a flush is very low. His bet size backs up my guess.

I raised here, and took the pot down. I was confident my opponent would fold to a big river bet with the range of cards I put him on. I didn’t go all-in, because of the possibility of the monster hand. Also, if he had a big hand, it would be an easy fold for me after he re-raised.

During a poker hand, you need to review all of your options and the way your opponent is going to react to those different plays — if you don’t, you’re missing out on some chips.