I’ve never met Grubby, never talked to him, and never chatted with him, but I think he’d be proud of the way I played the hammer in the following hand…

That is how you play 7s2c. I suppose I should go through what I was thinking throughout the hand.

Preflop

There were three limpers when the action got to me. Normally this means I should be careful of what I play, but I haven’t played a hand in at least 2 rounds and I’m in great position at the cutoff. When I see the hammer, it’s a clear time to put in a raise. Everyone knows that you must raise when you are holding the hammer and you have position (bonus!). So I bump it up to $5 and only the limpers call.

Flop

QhAd5c

The flop didn’t match up very well with my hand, but I have position and more importantly I’m holding the hammer. This is a clear situation for a bet. After the rake there is $20 out there, so I bet $15. Only the UTG player calls me.

Turn

Qd

I actually liked this card. I’m still in position and still holding the hammer. This calls for a value bet so I put out $30 into the $50 pot. I’m called.

River

4h

Another card I like. When it’s checked to me I have a real decision to make. I have to bet, but how much. The other player had about $64 left, so I decided to stick with the bet amount I used on the turn, which was $30. He thinks for a second or two and then folds, giving me the $108.50 pot. I had to show the hand, but barely clicked the Show Hand button because my heart was beating so fast. I also forgot to type HAMMER into the chat. I admit…I’m still a rookie at playing the hammer.

A few players at the table made comments about my move. They clearly didn’t understand the strength of holding the hammer.