SPR's Bad Beat, and types of "calls" in Poker

With no straight or flush draws on the board in this No Limit Texas Hold'em hand, SPR smooth called holding top set with relatively few if any draws. I said smooth called, of course SPR would just say called, because what's the difference between a smooth call, a flat call, and regular call he would ask. I know this is one of his pet peeves. Funny I should mention that because I'll get to the splitting linguistic hairs later in the blog (and fully realize I could be completely wrong) about the differences between calls.

Anyway, he smooth called, and I think there is a reason to say smooth here, so I will say it, he smooth called. The turn was a 5. I think all the money got in here, but it might have happened on the river. Maybe SPR will tell this story better next time he blogs about his action in poker tournaments online. The River is of course a 5. Turns out it was the case five because SPR's enemy was holding two of his own.

On the flop he was like 99.10%, on the turn 97%. After the river 0%. That happens every day, but that's a stiff beat I've been lucky to avoid. One day soon. Already have gotten two Royal Flushes in my nascent poker career so some unlikely bad stuff I'm sure is already overdue.

I think a smooth call is when you know you have the guy crushed and you don't show it yet and smooth call. A flat call, I don't know if there is any difference between it and a smooth call, though in context I feel like sometimes people flat when the have the option to also raise to find out where they are. Thus a flat call is different from a smooth call because it also includes hands that may not know where they are and could bet if they chose. I would say a flat call is distinctive, again in context, because it doesn't include calling on a draw. Typically, I haven’t seen too many people write or say I flatted with a draw. It happens but less often, just as smooth call is even less often done when on a draw. I think it’s common enough to draw lines between the three. Obviously just writing calling includes all types of calling.

I'm sure my semantics can be disproved time and time again in poker writing but if I were to distinguish between the three that's the way they feel to me. I see the point that you might think with the question “Why use it if most other people don't know the difference?” but then again I'll use the term set correctly even if some readers don't realize trips is slightly different and not synonymous to a set.

For those of you that don’t know, hi mom, again, a set is when you hold a pocket pair, as SPR did with AA, and you hit one on the flop. Trips is if you hold an non-paired hand say 109, and hit two 9s on the flop. With a set nobody can hold a better kicker to your three of a kind, or for that matter hold your three of a kind at all, but with trips it is possible for your opponent to have the same three of a kind and a higher kicker.


Anyway, I could see people suggesting the term flat call is more like how I defined smooth call and vice versa, however, I think in usage I’m more right than wrong. So, now I head over to Pokerzone and see they say flat calls and smooth calls are synonymous and used like I said a smooth call was used. I still think I’ve seen flat call written in situations where the guy isn’t slow playing but also isn’t sure about his hand and controlling the pot… ie flat, as in flat call to flatten the potsize. But maybe not.