[Fiksdal]

Interesting hand Cornell. Here are some of my thoughts on it.

Preflop: Easy fold. A nit raised UTG, and the implied odds aren't good enough for you. Position helps a bit, but not nearly enough.

Flop: Interesting spot. The check of the nit confuses me.

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he played good cards and played them very quickly


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This is crucial. This would imply that the nit is betting this flop with AK/KK/AA every time. So I acually think we can take these hands out of his range.

IMO the nits most likely holdings after he checks the flop are TT/JJ/QQ or AQ. (out of his preflop range UTG which is probably TT+, AQ+.

So actually, I think we are ahead of the nits range on the flop given the read about how he plays strong hands. Hard to tell what BB has, but we are probably ahead of him too. Given theese assumptions we could certainly bet the flop.

However, I see your point that no weaker hands will give us action on this board, which I agree with. I don't really have a problem with letting another card come off on this board, because our position makes it easier for us to keep control. The advantage of checking here is that BB is fairly likely to take a stab with various holdings on the turn. We will easily be ahead of his range in this situation, so that would be nice. Also we will get to see what UTG does then. If he gets involved, we should probably abanadon the ship though. But depending on the turn card, I don't think he will very often, considering his flop check. Given all these advantages, I think checking behind on the flop is a very nice play.

Turn: A relatively blank card, probably hasn't helped any of the hands in UTG's range. Actually 99 could be in his range, maybe I was giving him too much credit for raising UTG. It doesn't change things all that though.

So let's try to figure out what UTG's bet could mean. Assuming he is not a retard or something, and knows some hand reading, he probably thinks nobody has a king since the flop checked around. I think he could very well be betting his QQ/JJ/TT by now. Most players would, and I can't imagine him not doing so.

I think we need to call this turn. We are getting almost 3 to 1, and we have position which will be extremely useful on the river.

Our plan on the river is very dependent on what BB does (he'll probably fold though), and also the river card and how UTG responds to it. I figure there is a great chance he will check though, and then we can probably check behind with plenty of showdown value.

If you did call, I'll be looking forward to the river decision.