32K pot against Bld with 8 high? toughest decision I've ever had!

[samoleus]

I contemplated not sending this hand for fear that it will give away too much. But what the heck. This hand was from a couple of months ago. The stage is set for some high drama. Bld and I both have enormous stacks in the 2K 6-max game. Bld has just under 16K and I have 23K. We are across the table from each other and while we are sort of running over the table, we are fighting each other hard for the table captaincy.

Some background for those of you that are not familiar with Bld's game. He is in my opinion my toughest opponent on Party and by a pretty wide margin at that. Exceptional hand reader, courageous bluffer, can make huge calls with thin holdings and can also lay down huge hands (important fact when considering this hand). He plays almost (but not quite) as LAG as I do. So we've gone to battle quite a few times with quirky hands flopping pairs and gutshots vs goofy two pairs and stuff. While we have played huge pots against each other a number of times in the past(often with marginal holdings, draws, and bluffs), we have not tangled in a huge pot in this session yet.

UTG (about 2K to start the hand) limps. BLd limps in second position. It folds to me in the cutoff, and I raise to 65 with 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]6 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. Blinds fold and limpers call.

Flop is 7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. UTG bets only 60 into a pot of about 225. Bld calls the 60. I raise to 190. UTG folds. Bld raises to 600. I lick my chops. I am hoping he has the set he is representing (certainly the cold call, followed by a reraise of the preflop raiser is a really powerful move). Bld is capable of making that move with a pair plus draw type hand; however, the fact that the flop was a rainbow is a HUGE consideration. That rules out a lot of pair+flush draw hands. Now I imagine he might have a hand like 7-6 or something, but a set is definitely more likely here. I actually hope he has a set, because if I hit my hand, it will be totally disguised. I am dreaming of my soon-to-be 39K stack when my straight hits. I call.

Turn is J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Bld fires 1350 into the pot of about 1500. Man, he sure is not letting me draw for cheap. Of course, this would normally be a routine fold. But the implied odds are huge. He must have a set here. Pair+gutshot is looking less and less likely. Again I reiterate that there was no flush draw on the flop. It must be a set. I call.

I can FEEL the 9 or the 4 coming on the river. There it is .... NO - it the A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Damn. All I have is 8 high. There is 4200 in the pot. BLD bets 3800.

I check my poker hands rankings card to make sure that a set beats 8 high. It does. Sadly, I move my hand to fold. ... But then it just hits me! What did I play my hand like I am holding? ... Before I answer, consider of course, that Bld still has about 9.5K behind after his river bet. Well, I raised two limpers preflop. There was a bet and a call on the flop - and I raised that! Then I called a third reraise. I followed that with a $1350 call on the turn. ... Why, I must have AA or JJ!! I check my poker hand rankings card again, and it says that AAA and JJJ both beat 777, 555, and 222.

The stack size is PERFECT. The opponent is perfect. As strong as he is, I believe Bld can absolutely fold a set if he thinks he is beaten here (one of a very very few players that I'd try that against - especially with such an aggressive player as myself).

My clock ticks down. I time out on my other tables. I think about whether or not I should pull the trigger on this one. Cojones is not the issue: if I feel it is plus EV, I will make the move. I think about showing this hand after he folds and try to envision the folk songs that will be written about me and this hand. I think about how I will come across on ESPN's "The Best Hand I Ever Played"

Tick, tick, tick, 5, 4, 3, ... you guys pull the trigger or not?

P.S.: Bld, do you remember this hand? Don't say anything until we get some responses if you do. But I am curious if you remember it. It must be about 6 weeks old.

[snagglepuss]

[Jason Strasser (strassa2)]

if im bld, JJJ is incredibly unlikely for u... and so is the fact that you'd time that low with aaa

[whitelime]

Aren't you more likely to have 34 here than AA?

[NLSoldier]

sam,

I love your posts. I hope you pulled the trigger!

[samoleus]

strassa, that (the amount of time that I took to decide) was a HUGE factor tilting my decision towards a fold. I haven't said that I folded, but I can say that if I had made my decision within 10-15 seconds, I move all-in for sure. The time I took evened out the decision for me.

Can you expand on why JJJ is so unlikely? He would not expect me to be so loose on the flop?

[Requin]

[ QUOTE ]
Aren't you more likely to have 34 here than AA?

[/ QUOTE ]
I was wondering the same thing.

[Jeff W]

Once you take all that time to act, I'd fold it. If you had a strong hand you probably would have acted sooner, right? Also, I think 43s or AA makes more sense for you than JJ here.

[samoleus]

Hehe you guys are hitting on another point that I kind of intentionally neglected to mention. What about HIM having 3-4?

[citanul]

This hand is very interesting I think but I am confused as to how one can have a pair and a gutshot on a 752 board.

citanul