Posted by Dr Fro 1:42 PM
More from Junell. I have to say that he does point out something that JG and I had not thought of....the pre-flop raise was not necessarily large enough to represent massive strength.....

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From: "Mark A. Junell"
To: "'Craig Friou'"
Subject: My response
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 13:38:58 -0500

Craig here is my response to John's comments about the hand. I tried to
post them as a response, but I was limited to 1000 characters. Feel
free to forward them to John and/or post them on the site.

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John,

First let me say that I love your site. It's a great idea to have a
place like this to debate everyone's method of play, etc.

Also, thanks so much for organizing the tournament. Along with everyone
else, I had a great time, met a lot of nice people, and learned a great
deal. I'm also sorry that I knocked you out (I would've much preferred
to eliminate Glazer, Wilson or James R. :)

Now I won't even pretend to have the experience that you and Craig have.
I began playing Hold 'Em about 4 months ago, and am still feeling my way
through the intricacies of the game. That said however, maybe I can
justify why I played my hand the way I did.

As you stated, I was in the small and you were in the big. Of course I
wasn't happy with my K6, but certainly willing to put in $3 to call it
(especially considering there was only 1 caller by the time it got back
around to me). At the time I called the big blind, I had no idea what
you were holding, but was hoping to see a flop. Of course, I assumed
that if you were unhappy with your hand you would've just checked and
seen the flop.

You raised $20. At the time I believed this raise was made for one of
two reasons: (1) you held a mediocre hand and wanted to feel everyone
out (or chase them away) without betting too much, or (2) you had a huge
hand, and were trying to build a pot without scaring us off. In any
event, if you were really trying to "thin the field," I would've
expected a bigger raise. In fact, if you had raised $50 or more, I
probably would've gone away. But in any event, I had already called and
was willing to pay $20 to see a flop. It could've been wrong, but I
sensed weakness on the part of the 3rd caller (don't remember who it
was) and figured it would just be me and you after that.

Flop comes and I get 2 pair. You and I are heads up and I'm first to
act. I check partly to see what you do, but also anticipating a trap
(now or on the turn). Remember at the time I didn't know how strong
your hand was. You check, and the A comes up. I don't know if you got
a piece of this, but I'm going to find out. At the time, the only
aggressive move you had made was to raise $20 pre-flop. Also remember
that I had made no moves thus far, and only called twice from the small
blind. I had two pair with a draw to the boat, but I figured you hadn't
put me on any of those cards (given my two checks on the flop and turn).


I check. The check on the turn was a trap, and I was hoping to get a
bet. I put you on the Ace, but not the straight. I figured that if you
were on the straight draw (after the flop), you would've bet on the flop
hoping to chase me off with a hand that wasn't good yet, but could've
been a monster. In any event, I wanted to see if you got a piece of
that Ace and would bet. I could've been wrong about the straight, but
for whatever reason, I didn't put you on it.

You went All-In, and I assumed that it was because you had made top pair
(with a good sized kicker), and were trying to scare me off (which in
fact you were). I called instinctively because in my mind I didn't
believe you had made the nuts, and just as importantly, I knew you
didn't put me on two pair, since I had checked twice in a row. I
could've been wrong (as I was against Hunter on Wednesday night), and it
could've gone the other way. But at the time I thought my hand was the
best, and my outs were about the same (draw to the full house).

I hope this explains some of my moves. I'm just learning, and probably
made a number of bad decisions on Sunday. But I had fun, and look
forward to the next one. Thanks again!

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Very interesting -cf

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