$1.50 NL HE STT: $1.65 NL HE STT: Check this flop?

[tzuriel]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

STT

Buy-in

1.50

Currency

$

Pretty standard call with 44 here. This is like the 2nd hand of a micro SNG. Should I be checking this flop? I made a small bet expecting at least one person to have something. Everyone folded. Checking would be better? There is a potential straight draw which is why I wanted to bet. What do you think?

NL Holdem $1.50+$0.12 (20.00BB)
BB (99.9BBs) [VPIP: 17.9% | PFR: 10.7% | AGG: 0% | Hands: 28]
UTG (111.3BBs)
EP (94.9BBs)
MP1 (99.9BBs)
MP2 (99.9BBs) [VPIP: 21.4% | PFR: 14.3% | AGG: 33.3% | Hands: 28]
HJ (99.9BBs)
HERO (99.9BBs)
BTN (99.4BBs)
SB (94.9BBs)

Dealt to Hero: 4♦ 4♠

UTG Folds, EP Folds, MP1 Folds, MP2 Raises To 2.6BBs, HJ Folds, HERO Calls 2.5BBs, BTN Folds, SB Folds, BB Calls 1.5BBs

Hero SPR on Flop: [10.93 effective]
Flop (8.9BBs): 4♥ 8♣ 7♠
BB Checks, MP2 Checks, HERO Bets 2.7BBs (Rem. Stack: 94.7BBs), BB Folds, MP2 Folds

Spoiler

HERO wins: 8.9BBs

 

[fundiver199]

No you should not check the flop. You were last to act, and several turn cards would put a 1-liner to a straight. So this is a mandatory bet for value and equity denial, and also to get chips in, before some bad card kill the action. If someone have a hand like A8, its much easier for you to get value on the flop rather than later. This time they both had absolutely nothing, and thats just something, which will happen from time to time. Next time you might be stabbing with K high, and then you dont mind, that they both fold.

 

[Matt_Burns88]

You absolutely need to bet. This is a hole that a lot of recreational players fall into; they flop a monster on a seemingly safe board, check to trap, because they've seen the pro's do it on TV and it was a really cool move. Then the 6 comes down and they're crying "bad beat" when they lose to T9 or A5.

Nice job not falling into that mistake. Sure, you didn't win any extra chips this time, but you still made the right play. Nice job

 

[300HPGOD]

Agree with others that you need to bet here so then we should discuss sizing. You dont have a lot of hands with either villain and it makes a difference if those hands are from this tourney or another tourney. Guessing they are from this tourney since they are both 28 hands so you all were probably at the same table for a while. I bring this up because we should want to make a bet here that looks like our "normal" bet to an opponent. The last thing we would want would be for any opponent to start wondering why the bet is sized the way it is. Here, you go really small (under a 1/3rd) and being this deep I dont like it. I think that sizing is fine if we were playing shallower since it is harder to get a call when everyone is short stacked due survival thinking. When everyone is deep they are thinking more about implied odds (if they have a hand at all) and will possibly call a bigger bet since there is more to win on later streets. Therefore, unless we have been betting this small for a few hands that villains have seen, I like going a bigger amount here to somewhere near half pot (or whatever your default sizing is if you have one) just because it looks more normal or more like we are just clicking buttons. That might make backdoor draws call more often vs going really small when deep stacked and setting off some alarms and villains thinking "why they betting this small?"

All food for thought for future hands I guess since we can never pinpoint exactly how villains think but I know when I am in these types of spots I want to make a bet that blends in. One that doesnt make anyone think it is out of the ordinary. Of course, I am doing that similar sizing with hands that are not nearly as strong so it has the added bonus of balancing using bet sizing.

 

[tzuriel]

Thanks HP. Those 28 hands are from this tournament but it's showing the totals from after the tournament was over (I busted on a flip after 28 hands). This was only the 2nd hand of this single table SNG and they wouldn't have established any default bet sizes for me yet. I should have cleaned up that stat before posting. Sorry for the confusion.

This was a smaller bet than my standard c-bet which would be around 1/2 pot most of the time. I agree with you that we should be betting amounts that don't make anyone think about it as unusual. In this particular case (we had only played 1 hand before this one) they probably wouldn't have called anyways but I understand your point.

 

[makisaa]

Yes, there is a straight draw, but they have risen before the flop, so maybe there are some strong cards, but not better from yours, so they understand it and fold. You could make a trap with just checking, but then maybe there was a straight. I think that you played good, and made good choises

 

[fundiver199]

You absolutely need to bet. This is a hole that a lot of recreational players fall into; they flop a monster on a seemingly safe board, check to trap, because they've seen the pro's do it on TV and it was a really cool move. Then the 6 comes down and they're crying "bad beat" when they lose to T9 or A5.

In this case it was not even a safe board, since it was very connected. The more stereotypical situation is a flop like K83 rainbow, where Hero check back 33 as a slowplay. The opponent then check again on the turn, Hero make a delayed C-bet for value, opponent call. On the river opponent check again, and since the pot is still very small, Hero bet for value once again. Now however the opponent check-raise. Hero reluctantly call and lose to some random flush or straight, which the opponent backed into and complain about, how he always get sucked out on