So-called “bomb” pots have been popularized recently by poker vloggers Andrew Neeme, Brad Owen and others, and streaming programs such as Live at the Bike. It’s all the rage right now.
Playing no limit Texas Hold’em, a bomb pot is a hand with all players agreeing to post a large ante and skip the pre-flop betting round. The ante is typically 2-4x the big blind. This results in a larger-than-usual pot going into the flop, with all players having live hands.
In another twist, a “double board” bomb pot (also called a “two line” bomb pot) is a split pot game. The dealer spreads two flops, turns and rivers and the winner of each line on the board wins one-half of the pot.
In bomb pots, with nine or 10 players see the flop, you must devalue over pairs and I’m generally not putting any money in after the flop without a “2-pair plus” type of hand.
Last night while playing in a $2/5 cash game at Harrah’s Cherokee during the WSOP Circuit stop, a player at my table suggested we play a single $20 bomb pot each time a new dealer arrived at our table. All agreed, and off we went.
The first bomb pot had a flop of T♦9♦8♣, an action flop if ever I saw one. I looked down at T6o. The big blind, who had a stack over $3,000, bet $200. Another player went all-in for $360. The player on my right called, with over $1,500 more behind. Easy fold for me. Then the player on my left shoved all-in for just over $1,350.
Did I mention that bomb pots can create some crazy action? Gamblers love them, although there is also a contrarian view as expressed here.
Back to the big blind, who went in to the tank for awhile. I started thinking this hand might take so long that when it’s over it will be time for another dealer push and we’ll go right into another bomb pot. Finally he calls, and the player on my right folds.
The pot total is around $3,600.
The turn is 2♣, followed by a river 4♦.
So who flopped a straight? Who rivered a flush?
The player on my left tables pocket aces. The big blind shakes his head and tables pocket queens. The short-stacked all-in guy mucks. One pair wins the pot, while the guy on my right who folded mutters about having flopped bottom two pair and being sure that was not worth calling an extra $1,000.
KA-BOOM!
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