I'm pretty sure I had a small amount of info on my opponent at the time, but it wasn't anything super-donkish, laggy, or nitty. Something in the middle.
Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 PL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BTN: $25.55
Hero (SB): $50
BB: $46.60
UTG: $56.95
CO: $50.50
Pre-Flop: A
K
dealt to Hero (SB)3 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BB calls $1
Standard PF raise in blind battle
Flop: ($3) A
T
3
(2 Players)Hero bets $2, BB raises to $4.50, Hero calls $2.50
Flop is an automatic bet, since my hand is at the top of my range and I'm getting value from a ton of weaker hands that will call. Villain's raise means either monster (AT/A3/33), air, or one of really only 2 hands that I'm ahead of - AQ or AJ. I called, thinking it could elicit at least one more barrel from a worse hand. Should I have reraised?
Turn: ($12) 8
(2 Players)Hero checks, BB bets $12, Hero calls $12
Okay, so I got my wish, another barrel. I have to say that I'm not entirely comfortable with the full pot sizing, but the 8 doesn't change anything. By calling here, I make it pretty clear that I am not going anywhere and have at least a decently strong A.
River: ($36) 4
(2 Players)Hero checks, BB bets $28.60 and is All-In, Hero calls $28.60
Here comes the major breakdown. I've constructed for my opponent a pretty clear picture of the strength of my holding. His continued barreling therefore means that he either has 2-pair or better, or that he is trying to pull of a big multi-barrel bluff. My AK may as well be A2. For that fact, it may as well be T2, since I doubt he would turn a 2nd pair hand into a bluff. In other words, my hand is strictly a bluffcatcher. The strength of my kicker is irrelevant.
But that's the problem. Without much thought, I made the call, and I made it based on the strength of my kicker. Without realizing it, I was purely hoping that my opponent was bluffing. I was not so lucky.
Results: $93.20 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A
K (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$46.60 NET)BB showed A
T (two pair, Aces and Tens) and WON $90.20 (+$43.60 NET)I chalk this loss up to 2 mistakes. One is a common theme here...overvaluing hands in blind battle situations. Been over this many times - one pair is still one pair, and I should not be stacking off in this manner just because it is a blind battle. The second mistake was not thinking through the hand. I saved that for the hours and days after this hand had ended. And here, I finally got my thoughts out. Next time, I'd like to be able to manage all of this before the hand ends and (bad) decisions are made.
4 comments:
I think we are all guilty of this at times.
pot sized bets always confuse me as well. It seems more often than not, they have the strong hand and we will normally find better situations to get our chips in.
I'll play a hand like this this way as well sometimes to keep control of the pot size. His pot sized bet really screwed things up there.
Typically, though, I'll fire out 1/2-2/3 pot on the turn again to see what he'll do. By checking, you are showing weakness purposely, which is fine, but means he could fire out with anything thinking he might take the whole thing down right there - it doesn't narrow his hands the way a raise on the turn would. If he reraises again, you know you are probably only beating AQ or AJ, if that, and can bail. If he calls, you can make a blocking bet on river. (K10, Q10 or J10, which he might reraise a perceived c-bet with on flop, aren't reraising you again, I don't think).
Reraising on flop isn't bad idea either and would have essentially the same effect as raising the turn.
But again -- if you think you have a read, and to control pot size a bit, your line through turn isn't unreasonable.
Scott
I actually like my line, up until the river. I don't like re-raising the flop, b/c I fold out pretty much all bluffs, and a lot of weaker hands that might either call bets on later streets or value-pwn themselves. I generally try to avoid overrepping my hand like that.
And I almost never lead the turn after calling a flop raise. I think this broadcasts the strength of your hand - decent, but not a monster (are you ever taking that line with a monster?).
I don't mind missing a street of value if it goes check-check on the turn. Then I'll lead the river for value against a probable AQ/AJ.
I think you just have to weigh whether you think you are probably ahead and want to get value from the hand by checking or you need to get more info and narrow his range. While not always mutually exclusive, here it kinda was because his reaction to a bet on the turn is gonna tell you a lot, whereas he could be raising the turn off your check with a lot of hands if he thinks you might lay it down right there.
I'll take this line with a monster occasionally -- sometimes **especially** if I was reraised as opposed to called -- because a reraise tells me he likes his hand too.
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