I got lucky!

#1 3rd April 2009, 3:01 AM

.05/.10 NL HE, 3-handed.

Table had been pretty loose and making extremely weird calls and pushes at times. We had only been 3-handed for a few rounds.

Me (Button, ~$10)
Player 2 (SB, ~$12)
Player 3 (BB, ~$5)

Action

Me, Ts9s, raise to $.40
Player 2, ??, call $.35
Player 3, ??, call $.30

Pot - $1.20

Flop - Ah-7c-8s

Player 2, check
Player 3, check
Me, bet $0.60
Player 2, raise to $1.70 (pot is now $3.50)
Player 3, fold
Me, call $1.10

Pot - $4.60

Turn - Jd

Player 2, bet $2.00
Me, raise to $4.00
Player 2, call $2.00

Pot - $12.60

River - Blank (can't remember and the hand histories where i play don't work right now, but I'm pretty sure it was a 5-2)

Player 2, check
Me, bet $4
Player 2, call $4

I show my straight and he mucks, saying "nice fishing".

I usually let the previous 2-5 hands decide whether to raise or limp with a hand like T-9 suited, and I'd been playing pretty tight the past few hands and felt this was a pretty clear raise. If I hit a pair there's a decent chance that I'll have the best hand with only 2 opponents, and if i hit big my hand will be really disguised. An additional reason for rasing here is that I started to feel like I was getting slightly predictable.

Once the flop hit and it got checked to me I had the perfect setup for a semi-bluff, an ace to represent and 8 cards to hit if someone decided to play with me. The size of the bet, half the pot, felt pretty natural, since that's my default bet unless there's a likely draw to defend my hand against.

Calling his check-raise was a pretty easy decision, since I had effective odds a bit better than 3-1 and the combination of our stack sizes and the camouflage my hand had made for some very juicy implied odds.

My play on the turn is what I really question about this hand. I was min-raising to get a bit more money in the pot, so I could make a bigger bet on the river and still give him near irresistable odds. Should I have just flat called here? I don't think that I had to consider him possibly sucking out on the river, since a draw to a straight better than mine seemed very unlikely and I never could have folded if the board paired, due to his actions in previous hands. So the main question is really what play on the turn wins me the biggest pot on the river when my hand holds up. One thing that made me feel a bit stupid about the turn raise is that it might look to him as if I'm holding A-J, making it harder to get maximum value the times he has a hand worse than that.

The 1/3 pot bet on the river is a choice I'm pretty comfortable with, given previous action and our stack sizes. I had a feeling he could get away from an all-in, and a bet leaving me with less than $5 seemed a bit too suspicious. An extra benefit was that there was a slight chance he'd see the small bet as a sign of weakness and move in on me as a desperate attempt to take down what had become a really big pot.

I have only been playing NL cash games for about a week (a bit more than 1k hands), so I'm really looking forward to some insight from all you people more familiar with this type of situation.

Please be constructive in your criticism.

#2 3rd April 2009, 9:13 PM

First of all, I am not sure if I would have called his raise on the flop, just because of the Ace, maybe though depending on my feel for the guy.

On the turn, I would have raised about pot-sized, around $6.50. That way he would be getting a little less than 2:1 on his money and with the top pair(if he likely has the ace), he would probably still call, and it might look like you are trying to steal the pot by betting a little higher.

After that, if he called the pot going into the river would be $17.60 in the pot. Once the river hit, I would push the last 2.40 into the pot as a last attempt to steal. At that point he is getting 8+:1 odds, so he has to call. That way you get all of your money into the pot and double up.

Note:300th Post!

#3 4th April 2009, 6:06 AM

You played fine, your opponents the idiot. You had stack odds with your hand as well as control of the hand. If everyone always played every hand by the book and only when they had a made hand, poker would be a pretty boring game.

#4 4th April 2009, 2:53 PM

I really believe that you didnt get lucky on that one. You played it very
well. The reason for this is that you played a nice draw in a way
that no one would expect you to have it. You were actually using, if you
didnt know, implied odds to manipulate your game play. You know that
if you bet here and you catch, there is no way your gonna lose
with that monster straight, and you know that there is no way he or
she, your opponent, would know u have it since you were betting on
it before you even had it! This gives you the edge of the surprise. The only
thing that can backfire here is if they reraise you before you catch it!
Hope i helped!

#5 4th April 2009, 3:48 PM

Very nice hand buddy. It is the best to catch somone bluffing.for a big pot coming your way.Play hard never fold to the donk.

#6 4th April 2009, 3:55 PM

i believe you played it relatively well.
Although you should take into account you had 8 outs and a turn cards to hit it, giving you a 15 percent chance. The reason for this is because he obviously has some kinda ace, and if you check to him on the turn, missing your draw, he bets you out. so really the odds should have been about 6-1 to make the correct call, although 4-1 odds wouldnt be bad, considering impliieed odds.

#7 4th April 2009, 3:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumpy620_84

.05/.10 NL HE, 3-handed.

Table had been pretty loose and making extremely weird calls and pushes at times. We had only been 3-handed for a few rounds.

Me (Button, ~$10)
Player 2 (SB, ~$12)
Player 3 (BB, ~$5)

Action

Me, Ts9s, raise to $.40
Player 2, ??, call $.35
Player 3, ??, call $.30

Pot - $1.20

Flop - Ah-7c-8s

Player 2, check
Player 3, check
Me, bet $0.60
Player 2, raise to $1.70 (pot is now $3.50)
Player 3, fold
Me, call $1.10

Pot - $4.60

Turn - Jd

Player 2, bet $2.00
Me, raise to $4.00
Player 2, call $2.00

Pot - $12.60

River - Blank (can't remember and the hand histories where i play don't work right now, but I'm pretty sure it was a 5-2)

Player 2, check
Me, bet $4
Player 2, call $4

I show my straight and he mucks, saying "nice fishing".

I usually let the previous 2-5 hands decide whether to raise or limp with a hand like T-9 suited, and I'd been playing pretty tight the past few hands and felt this was a pretty clear raise. If I hit a pair there's a decent chance that I'll have the best hand with only 2 opponents, and if i hit big my hand will be really disguised. An additional reason for rasing here is that I started to feel like I was getting slightly predictable.

Once the flop hit and it got checked to me I had the perfect setup for a semi-bluff, an ace to represent and 8 cards to hit if someone decided to play with me. The size of the bet, half the pot, felt pretty natural, since that's my default bet unless there's a likely draw to defend my hand against.

Calling his check-raise was a pretty easy decision, since I had effective odds a bit better than 3-1 and the combination of our stack sizes and the camouflage my hand had made for some very juicy implied odds.

My play on the turn is what I really question about this hand. I was min-raising to get a bit more money in the pot, so I could make a bigger bet on the river and still give him near irresistable odds. Should I have just flat called here? I don't think that I had to consider him possibly sucking out on the river, since a draw to a straight better than mine seemed very unlikely and I never could have folded if the board paired, due to his actions in previous hands. So the main question is really what play on the turn wins me the biggest pot on the river when my hand holds up. One thing that made me feel a bit stupid about the turn raise is that it might look to him as if I'm holding A-J, making it harder to get maximum value the times he has a hand worse than that.

The 1/3 pot bet on the river is a choice I'm pretty comfortable with, given previous action and our stack sizes. I had a feeling he could get away from an all-in, and a bet leaving me with less than $5 seemed a bit too suspicious. An extra benefit was that there was a slight chance he'd see the small bet as a sign of weakness and move in on me as a desperate attempt to take down what had become a really big pot.

I have only been playing NL cash games for about a week (a bit more than 1k hands), so I'm really looking forward to some insight from all you people more familiar with this type of situation.

Please be constructive in your criticism.

raise more on the turn and get ur whole stack in on the river

#8 5th April 2009, 10:36 PM

You were the button and put out a semi-bluff. Nice strategy there and I don't blame you. To make a call like that is a bit iffy, but it wasn't too big of a raise. The call off the flop was ok, cause the other guy is acting first off the turn. You can determine if he's bluffing or not from what he bets out. Positioning is super valuable in heads up or 3 person.

#9 5th April 2009, 10:44 PM

I was expecting a suckout on the river when I read the heading.

I don't think you got lucky really.

Flopped an up and down straight, so you had 8 outs.

You played it really well and extracted decent money out of your opponent.

I still think you could have got all your money into the pot but you got most of it in there anyway.

NH

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