Do you like this play or not??

[bw07507]

Villain is kind of your typical fairly loose passive player, but does not seem to be a calling station. His bets looked a little weak and I thought I could push him off of a weak ace.

pokerstars GAME #11441030232: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007/08/12 - 01:06:17 (ET)
Table 'Etamin' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Sacone ($14.05 in chips)
Seat 2: TowerZulu ($35.85 in chips)
Seat 3: DawsonS64 ($25.20 in chips)
Seat 4: Verit888 ($5.55 in chips)
Seat 6: bw07507 ($31.20 in chips)
Seat 7: esrevinu ($16 in chips)
Seat 8: zztoprules ($16.60 in chips)
Seat 9: wombat80 ($15.75 in chips)
Verit888: posts small blind $0.10
bw07507: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bw07507 [Js Jc]
esrevinu: calls $0.25
zztoprules: folds
wombat80: folds
Sacone: calls $0.25
TowerZulu: folds
DawsonS64: calls $0.25
Verit888: folds
bw07507: raises $1.25 to $1.50
esrevinu: calls $1.25
Sacone: folds
DawsonS64: calls $1.25
*** FLOP *** [8s 2d Ah]
bw07507: checks
esrevinu: checks
DawsonS64: bets $1
bw07507: calls $1
esrevinu: folds
*** TURN *** [8s 2d Ah] [4d]
bw07507: checks
DawsonS64: bets $1.50
bw07507: raises $3.50 to $5

 

[rob5775]

Unfortunately, I think your check/raise would have been better served on the flop. If villain does have a weak ace, he probably thinks its good at this point and is unlikely to let it go. If you had a stronger ace, you would have probably raised the flop. Most players at this level will not lay down any ace once it's paired.

The good thing with this play, though, is if the villain has a PP lower than your J's. He might think they're good and call you down. Hopefully it isn't 8's.

 

[OzExorcist]

I'm not a big fan of the play, mostly because there are very few hands that the turn card could have helped - 44 is about the only conceivable one, or maybe A4

Given your goal is to push the villain off a weak ace, the very limited number of hands you could have that the turn helped, and the fact that A4 is in the weak ace range that you put the villain on, I'd say it's probably a flawed play.

If this was a raise for value, on the other hand (ie: you didn't believe the villain held an ace, for whatever reason) then it might have held more merit - if you believed you had the best hand on the flop and the villain is still hanging around (maybe with something like K8 / Q8s?), chances are the turn helped neither of you and he might be inclined to call

What happened in the end?

 

[Bombjack]

I don't like the raise at all - you're probably only getting called when you're beat. There's a good chance you're ahead with your Jacks on the flop, but, this likelihood goes down a fair amount on the turn when he bets again. Folding the Turn is OK, but for a 1/5 pot bet, I'm probably not folding here either.

Like the poster above says, it's totally obvious you don't have the Ace so raising could be for value versus a smaller pair, but it's very thin and everything you beat probably folds anyway. I can also see him having a very strong hand like a flopped set here as well.

So basically, calling is much better. On the river you can probably check-fold against an average opponent.

BTW the whole idea of trying to push opponents off hands should be abandoned at this level. It rarely works. If you think he has a better hand, fold. Value bet more when you think you're ahead.

 

[bw07507]

Yes, I liked my idea when I made the play, but after I went back thru my session I didnt like it as much. As for the hand, I got super lucky and hit a jack on the river.

bw07507: raises $3.50 to $5
DawsonS64: calls $3.50
*** RIVER *** [8s 2d Ah 4d] [Jh]
bw07507: bets $10
DawsonS64: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bw07507: shows [Js Jc] (three of a kind, Jacks)
DawsonS64: mucks hand
bw07507 collected $35.05 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $36.85 | Rake $1.80
Board [8s 2d Ah 4d Jh]
Seat 1: Sacone folded before Flop
Seat 2: TowerZulu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: DawsonS64 (button) mucked [Kh As]
Seat 4: Verit888 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: bw07507 (big blind) showed [Js Jc] and won ($35.05) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 7: esrevinu folded on the Flop
Seat 8: zztoprules folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: wombat80 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I thought this was a very strange way for villain to play AK, I made a note and moved on.