Posted by Junelli 4:55 PM
I'd like your opinion on how/where I misplayed this hand. In my opinion, I should've raised on the flop to define my hand. For some reason (re-raise preflop), I put him on an overpair, and couldn't bring myself to raise him when I should have. Anyway, I deserved to lose this one...

***** Hand History for Game 2433904639 *****
0/0 Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) - Wed Jul 27 17:51:14 EDT 2005
Table Table 37013 (6 max) (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 1: burz79 ( $21.01)
Seat 3: Hoekzef ( $24.45)
Seat 4: junell ( $21.90)
Seat 6: jager333 ( $32.24)
jager333 posts small blind (0.10)
burz79 posts big blind (0.25)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to junell [ Td, Ac ]
Hoekzef folds.
junell raises (0.50) to 0.50
jager333 raises (0.65) to 0.75
burz79 folds.
junell calls (0.25)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ts, 4h, 8h ]
jager333 bets (2)
junell calls (2)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
jager333 bets (4)
junell calls (4)
** Dealing River ** : [ Jh ]
jager333 bets (8)
junell calls (8)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $28.30 | Rake: $1.45
Board: [ Ts 4h 8h 6s Jh ]
burz79 balance $20.76, lost $0.25 (folded)
Hoekzef balance $24.45, didn't bet (folded)
junell balance $7.15, lost $14.75 [ Td Ac ] [ a pair of tens -- Ac,Jh,Td,Ts,8h ]
joust888 balance $25, sits out
jager333 balance $45.79, bet $14.75, collected $28.30, net +$13.55 [ Kh Qh ] [ a flush, king high -- Kh,Qh,Jh,8h,4h ]

5 Comment(s):

Posted by  Padilla, at 10:05 PM, July 27, 2005  

Summary: In a 4-handed game, I probably would've played the hand too......and called the first 2 bets...but the Jack, the flush, and the big bet would've folded me at the river.

Let's start with an obvious question. One that is more easily answered than we'd care to admit.

Do you want to win the blinds or actually play A-10 offsuit?

Since you have 20 bucks and not 5000 in front of you, you don't care, right? I'll write the rest of this reply after multiplying your stacks by 1000.

Only my opinion, but raising the minimum is your first mistake. My guess is that you are hoping he'll come along with your minimum raise with just about any hand, so it's a trap.

His reraise could be just as weak as your raise, being 4-handed, so you call with the mindset of 'let's get on with the hand'. Ohterwise, a re-raise might be in order to figure out if you even want to approach a flop with such a vulnerable hand.

The flop is fine, and I definitely think ending the hand here is the way to go. This could mean folding if you raise his bet and he re-raises you (with the feared overpair) If you do raise the pot back at him and he just calls, you are pretty much stuck exactly where you are.....cold calling his very wise lead bet on the turn. He wants to know what you have, and by just calling his turn bet, you've told him "I have something, but I'd really like a cheap showdown please."

I don't like calling such a big bet on the river. Maybe it's hindsight cropping up, but a suited Jack is just as likely as AK here.

And if you played the hand as if he had an overpair, why do you call $8? That's a 4th bet, and it exceeds all his other bets combined. You must've busted him before on a bluff...?

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Posted by  Dr Fro, at 9:46 AM, July 28, 2005  

I think the most important consideration is how this guy has been playing previous hands. If he is a tight and solid player that understands position, you should be scared as hell of a raise from the SB: this means a pocker pair and probably a high one.

But this is $25 PP, so unless you have evidence to the contrary, it is safe to assume that he raised with something stupid. With this assumption in hand, a big raise on the flop is easy as it should make more money in the long run than not raising.

In summary, I would only fear a big pocket pair if he gave reason to on previous hands.

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Posted by  Junelli, at 12:29 PM, July 28, 2005  

It's not that I "thought" he had an overpair. It's that I was "worried" about an overpair. There's a difference between the two.

I wasn't certain of his holding but worried enough to be too scared to raise. So...I just smooth called.

Greenstein talks about this flaw in his book "Ace on the River". He says that inexperienced players will sometimes not know whether to raise or fold, so they tend to compromise by calling. In other words they take the safe middle ground.

Greenstein says this is almost always the wrong move. You need to define your hand as early as possible to find out where you stand, and equally as important, where your opponent stands. Pick one move and go with it. Don't think that calling is a safer move. It rarely is.

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Posted by  Padilla, at 6:02 PM, July 28, 2005  

Touche', Morris.

Barry's right though.

It's my opinion that no limit cash game hands should rarely go to the river unless you're in a dominant position in the hand and are just earning extra money on the final 2 streets. "We're" so greedy for winnings, or worried about the dramatic ending to the hand, that we rarely spot the opportunity to win the hand when it presents itself.

Personally, my NL tourney game is much stronger than my 'scared money' NL cash game for the simple fact that I know my loss in a tourney when I put someone to the test....as they laugh at me and turn over the nuts.

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Posted by  Junelli, at 11:20 PM, July 31, 2005  

Thanks for the grammar lesson Whisker Bisquit.

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