Wednesday, March 19, 2008

2 Fours, 2 Ways

Picked up pocket 4s twice in a brief period yesterday. The first one played itself, but for the second one, I need some feedback...

The easy one:

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $44.25
MP: $50
Hero (CO): $50
BTN: $57.35
SB: $64.70
BB: $87.25

Pre-Flop: 4 4 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls $0.50, MP folds, Hero raises to $2.25, 3 folds, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 2 4 5 (2 Players)
UTG checks,
Hero bets $3.50,
UTG raises to $7,
Hero raises to $17,
UTG raises to $42 and is All-In,
Hero calls $25

Turn: ($89.25) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($89.25) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: $89.25 Pot ($3 Rake)
UTG showed T T (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$44.25 NET)
Hero showed 4 4 (three of a kind, Fours) and WON $86.25 (+$42 NET)


The second time:

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: $50.20
BTN: $56
Hero (SB): $90.75
BB: $50.75
UTG: $74.10
MP: $80.50

Pre-Flop: 4 4 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds,
MP raises to $1.75,
CO folds,
BTN calls $1.75,
Hero calls $1.50,
BB folds

Flop: ($5.75) 6 7 5 (3 Players)
Hero checks,
MP bets $4,
BTN folds,
Hero calls $4

I could probably put some fear in the PFR by raising the flop here, but I choose to call instead.

Turn: ($13.75) 8 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $6, Hero?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would raise here to see if he has a 9.......and because I'm betting out on the river....maybe to $24.......don't want river to pair board or 9 or 4, so I think you have to raise for value....at least 4 times the bet to keep him from calling with proper odds.

Anonymous said...

call/call the river. i'm not interested in putting much money in with the low end, but i think its good. he most likely has A8/2 pr (and put out a feeler bet) so you can still lose to a 9 on the river. but 99 or 89 are possible too.

noldmax said...

My thinking was that I have a hand with good showdown value, but I'm not sure I want to play a big pot. If the river blanks out, then I plan on value betting, thinking I could possibly get a call from a set or overpair. If the board pairs, I'm more likely to check-call.

As for the raise idea, it seems like only losing hands are going to fold... but, if we do get a call, then I guess we can more confidently deduce that our villain either has a 9 or a set. So we could get away easily (i.e., check-fold) in this case if the river pairs the board. But if it doesn't, are we firing out on the river after betting the turn?