Those hands you just cant let go.

OniGamer · Mar 13, 2013

Sometimes you know you're full house is beat but you just cant let it go. Shortly after hitting the bubble I'm on the button and go for a steal with Q8 suited. I get called by the big blinds. At this point I'm sitting on a stack that's about twice the size of the average stack, and I know if I just play a tight solid game and make some well timed steals then I'll be in good shape to run it down to the final table. The big blinds has about the same size stack as me.

Flop goes down: AQ8
HELL YEAH! I'm absolutely delighted by this flop, even more so after the villain puts in a healthy half pot raise. I reraise him about 3X his bet and he called...
...the turn is an A...
He bets light, an obvious trap for his set that I'm sure he just made. My 8 was counterfeited so I'm really sitting on a two pair with a weak kicker, so even if he didn't have an A and was betting a queen I probably wasn't going to win. I could have walked away with a healthy sized stack, and after thinking on it for as long as I was aloud and letting the clock run down I mournfully put my mouse over the call button.

The river goes down and the poker gods tempt me with an 8.
That's about the best I could ask for I guessed. If I was putting him on a Q, at least that gave me a full house to beat a two pair. If he did indeed have an A I was drawing dead from the beginning. He goes all in. Feeling I was already committed (although I really should have folded here to) I call his bet and he turns over AK, winning the pot with aces full of 8s.

I walked away from the tourny a small winner when I was in good shape to run all the way to the final table. I feel totally depressed after this more because of the time investment and the fact that I knew what he had but just couldn't help myself. What about you guys? Think you would have walked away from this hand? As soon as the A hit on the turn I knew I was beat but just couldn't stop myself from throwing the tournament away

Viver11 · Mar 13, 2013

If you know you were beat, let it go. I would have folded.

snklzona · Mar 13, 2013

You did not say what the amount of your steal attempt was but I imagine it was at least 3 or 4x...that coupled with your 3x of his bet that he flatted and the fact that your 2 stacks were even putting him on anything but an A was wishful thinking IMO...get away from it...you could not win the tourney in that hand but could definately lose it...

Tgen · Mar 13, 2013

you cant get away from such hand , you have massive equity against opponent's range and such hands are what you aim for in the late stages , a board containing 2 high cards doesnt need improvement to pay off your hand which means you can either shove over his raise or call and shove the turn , reraising bad players is terrible because they dont care and they will call to suckout on you on turn or river , if you call on flop you may get more value from your hand but also you will get away easier if you think you are beat, overall you have to decide early what may happen in the future and how you will react to it , you have to take measures early in a hand to prevent an incorrect reaction later.

OniGamer · Mar 13, 2013

Tgen said:
you cant get away from such hand , you have massive equity against opponent's range and such hands are what you aim for in the late stages , a board containing 2 high cards doesnt need improvement to pay off your hand which means you can either shove over his raise or call and shove the turn , reraising bad players is terrible because they dont care and they will call to suckout on you on turn or river , if you call on flop you may get more value from your hand but also you will get away easier if you think you are beat, overall you have to decide early what may happen in the future and how you will react to it , you have to take measures early in a hand to prevent an incorrect reaction later.

yeah I still feel like calling was a bad move. At least considering the size of my stack and that having an ace would make perfect sense for his range. Wish I at least went all in on the flop so I could blame it on bad luck when he drew out on me. Oh well, I'll just have to remember that hand for next time and not make the same mistake. It was the first monster hand I had all night so I had trouble letting it go even though I should have.

vinylspiros · Mar 13, 2013

OniGamer said:
Sometimes you know you're full house is beat but you just cant let it go. Shortly after hitting the bubble I'm on the button and go for a steal with Q8 suited. I get called by the big blinds. At this point I'm sitting on a stack that's about twice the size of the average stack, and I know if I just play a tight solid game and make some well timed steals then I'll be in good shape to run it down to the final table. The big blinds has about the same size stack as me.

Flop goes down: AQ8
HELL YEAH! I'm absolutely delighted by this flop, even more so after the villain puts in a healthy half pot raise. I reraise him about 3X his bet and he called...
...the turn is an A...
He bets light, an obvious trap for his set that I'm sure he just made. My 8 was counterfeited so I'm really sitting on a two pair with a weak kicker, so even if he didn't have an A and was betting a queen I probably wasn't going to win. I could have walked away with a healthy sized stack, and after thinking on it for as long as I was aloud and letting the clock run down I mournfully put my mouse over the call button.

The river goes down and the poker gods tempt me with an 8.
That's about the best I could ask for I guessed. If I was putting him on a Q, at least that gave me a full house to beat a two pair. If he did indeed have an A I was drawing dead from the beginning. He goes all in. Feeling I was already committed (although I really should have folded here to) I call his bet and he turns over AK, winning the pot with aces full of 8s.

I walked away from the tourny a small winner when I was in good shape to run all the way to the final table. I feel totally depressed after this more because of the time investment and the fact that I knew what he had but just couldn't help myself. What about you guys? Think you would have walked away from this hand? As soon as the A hit on the turn I knew I was beat but just couldn't stop myself from throwing the tournament away

Loved the story man and the thinking process. Yea ive been in that position many times. When i was like chip leader and decided to get into a marginal situation against the second chip leader and played for stacks.
Sometimes the hands that you are holding are impossible to let go of because of how rarely you get them.

But in the unfortunate event that..............you realise that you are no longer the one with the NUTS, and you see alot of agression from the villain ( who also knows he has alot to lose, he is not dumb), then you must let it go.

But ive been there many times man . some cards just play themselves out and we no longer have power of the outcome. its one of those 2 way knives.

vinylspiros · Mar 13, 2013

Once i was in a 5000 player tourney. there were 45 left and i was 4th with around maybe 600,000 chips and the blinds were somewhere around 5k-10k (smthng like that).

well i got dealt pocket kings and i raise from under the gun 3times BB. i get one caller with pocket 33's at BB. flop comes 3-7-J. i raise hard on flop ; villain reraises me i call. on turn another low card, i raise hard again he shoves i call.

I LOST to trips when i knew from the first second that he had them when he reraised the flop and shoved the turn but i just wanted to magically put him on QQ( yea dream on DONK). anyways so yea been there done that. i finished 45th. BUMMER.

Beanfacekilla · Mar 13, 2013

Trust your instincts and stick with your read. Villain obviously had the A here, and you knew it. Next time you find yourself in a similar situation, trust your instincts and let it go.

It's tough sometimes. But being a good player is not only about the pots you win, but also the ability and control to know when you are beat and fold accordingly.

Just my $0.02

Tgen · Mar 13, 2013

If your opponent had a medium stack of 60 or less bb then you should have 4-bet on flop , overall i dont think you played it wrong , you can certainly get paid on 3-7-j board either by AJ/QQ or a second pair like TT or 99 who thinks you are bluffing , in general if i want to be safe in such spot i will check on flop and call any reasonable bet and i will fire a min- blocking bet around 1/4-1/5 of the pot on turn , your opponent rarely will reraise you with a hand you beat and you can get away from the pot w/o commiting too much also you will get a decent amount of value.

ScottieDuncan · Mar 13, 2013

Tuff one to let go, but, after the A should have folded especially after the river 8.

needaGF · Mar 13, 2013

Hey dude actually I can understand the way u think. These things just happen. Even if you read him and get a lot of chances to do so, it 's just not that easy to fold a hand like yours. In your situation, I think I would think hard and fold the turn. With your stack you can still do a lot of things.

Of course I am biased reading this here.

aa88wildbill · Mar 16, 2013

With hard for me to understand is the flat call preflop, with an ace king from the big blind!

samuraihuang · Mar 18, 2013

i would have reshoved the flop all-in. it woulda ended out the same way but just have to chalk it up to variance.

masondub · Mar 18, 2013

When that second ace came out you should have tread the waters carefully.. Definitely folding to any bet, being that close to making it into the money you gotta let it go and just wait for a better hand.

steveiam · Mar 25, 2013

You have to know when to fold, this will seperate you from the average player.It may hurt at the time but you will benifit in the long run.

Sneaky_B · Mar 25, 2013

You should have fold mate, as simmple as that

lpmduarte · Mar 25, 2013

if you know you were beat, let it go! ok you had 2 pairs, but when the second A comes, you know, if the opponent had A, he will beat you no matter what, the question is, how far you want to go on the tournament? why take risks like that? and for me more important, i am not a fan of stealing blinds when am i have a good stack and if i understand right, you had a good stack, so ...

steveiam · Mar 26, 2013

lpmduarte said:
if you know you were beat, let it go! ok you had 2 pairs, but when the second A comes, you know, if the opponent had A, he will beat you no matter what, the question is, how far you want to go on the tournament? why take risks like that? and for me more important, i am not a fan of stealing blinds when am i have a good stack and if i understand right, you had a good stack, so ...

Dont get over commited to your hand unless you have the absolute nuts,which you didn't have.

DeadlyAim · Mar 28, 2013

I think u have a fundamental flaw in ur game. Q8 suited is not a hand you want to raise in this late in the game unless u had a read on a J something or lower.

Think about it ur at the final steps towards the final table do you seriously think there any scrubs left? Nope... and if u haven't id him/her yet... what's dat quote... if you can't spot the donk at the table means its you lol... love dat quote.

So you got very good players left... most are basically patiently looking for Aces... and if two called your pre-flop bet you can guarentee one got an A right there maybe a small pair or at worst KQ... unless you got a read on someone.

So when the flop hit AQ8 you should have been a f=uck someone got an A and likely not gonna fold no matter what I bet. He can't beat me as long as A don't hit on the turn I'm alright so. I would bet a medium sized that would scare any other river rats away... and then bet big on the turn if A missed.

But the A hit man... these are the best of the best... come one some one played dat damn A. And your basically drawing dead... game over!

Unless your in a 5 handed table this is the case... and the pre-flop bet... told u they had an A basically. So in the future... you should seriously tighten your play towards the end unless you spot someone calling too much.

twiztidwolff · Mar 29, 2013

I find it hard to fold JJ myself actually and I have NEVER won with this hand, so I'm thinking if I can't limp it in I may have to start.

hopedieslast · Mar 29, 2013

you can get away from it....u can fold, its hard but....its possible.

texasoldtimer · Mar 29, 2013

You can lay it down. Just tell yourself only a really good player can lay this down. Then hit that fold button. You will feel a little better then.

stubbie32 · Mar 29, 2013

Please please please don,t tell me anyone is still opening with 3 x raises you should be opening 2x to maybe 2.2 x .please please no more 3or 4x.

jerudcopus · Mar 30, 2013

Its poker sometimes you just need to listen to Kenny Rogers the gambler

twiztidwolff · Mar 31, 2013

Ha, I folded JJ this morning in a freeroll super satellite when someone went all in preflop... They revieled AA other person had QQ...

Flop... JAQ..what are those odds... Turn was 6... River J...

Win some lose some, never see some

Those hands you just cant let go.

OniGamer

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Tgen

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