Cold Calling Makes Me Gag. Seriously.

[epdaws]

PP NL 100

Gack. Villain 1, the CO, is 22/2 in 100 hands. He is TAG, but hasn't played any big pots of note. Villain 2, the Button, is a complete unknown; he has played one of his first ten hands.

Hero has $99, CO and Button cover.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Folds to CO, CO calls $1, Button calls $1, Hero raises to $6, BB folds, CO and Button call.

Flop: ($19) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
Hero bets $15, CO calls, Button calls.
Hero is furious that these TAG-a-Donks both cold-called! Hero feels like lighting himself on fire. Hero notes that he respects CO enough to think CO would not call with a flush draw alone.

Turn: ($64) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Any significant bet traps us into a call for our whole stack. And checking sucks. Line...?

[SideCash]

If they have trips they will call your push on the turn and surely laydown there draw. I like check turn - call reasonable bet on river. Think this is best line to have him make a mistake. This is one of those rare times where I think the free card is ok even with the incredible draw heavy board.

[destroBU]

He's not getting a free card here from the SB.

[epdaws]

Bumping it up for the morning crew.

[djoyce003]

I freaking hate these spots....that being said. We know CO is relatively tight....so you have to put a set in his range...would have have limped SC's here even though nobody was in the pot...i'm leery of him. Button I discount somewhat because he's unknown...a draw is quite likely for him. Almost forgot....decent chance that CO has 88-99...maybe TT.

I probably say screw it and push the turn....that's probably not the best play though, but I like it more than checking and giving a free card on a majorly draw heavy board.

[Pokey]

Here's my lame advice:

Check-call the turn, donkbet the river. Freaky line, eh?

If you check the turn, it will look like your flop bet was a continuation and you just gave up on it. When this happens, your situation actually improves considerably: a significant turn bet from you only gets called when you're behind, but a check will induce bluffs from a much wider range of hands, and your odds of having money in the middle with the best of it increase dramatically.

If the action goes Hero checks, CO makes a significant bet, Button calls/folds, I could see a push making sense. At that point, any call commits you, so you might as well get your money in the pot before the draws miss. While I'm not *thrilled* with the situation, I think check/call or check/push the turn beats leading out for Hero. Your pot odds warrant the play, but you still might be rebuying more often than you'd prefer.

[all_in_lam]

This is definately a tough situation with such a small stack left. I would check and see what happens when they action gets back around. Fold to a bet and a raise obviously. Fold/push to a bet/call depending on read (i.e. bet and timing)

[epdaws]

[ QUOTE ]
If you check the turn, it will look like your flop bet was a continuation and you just gave up on it. When this happens, your situation actually improves considerably: a significant turn bet from you only gets called when you're behind, but a check will induce bluffs from a much wider range of hands, and your odds of having money in the middle with the best of it increase dramatically.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the best argument for checking. If Hero fires out $50, a drawing or worse hand won't call and a better hand won't fold. If Hero fires out 1/2 pot, a better hand won't fold, and a drawing hand might be content with the odds, especially with another player potentially coming along.

If Hero checks, a better hand will certainly bet, but a drawing hand or a hand like 66, 88, or 99 might see an opportunity to stab the pot and take it down.

Based on this argument, does checking the turn make the play +EV, assuming we call any bet made behind us? Or is giving a draw a free card so sickeningly bad that checking is still -EV?

[Fallen Hero]

this is probably the situation I hate the most, I probably prefer giving a free card to a possible flush draw, I think this is an easy fold if CO makes a decent sized bet.

[epdaws]

Wow. From three posters whom I respect very much, I've been advised to

1) Push turn
2) Check/fold turn
3) Check/raise all-in on the turn

This makes me feel much better about my confusion during the hand about the proper play... and I say this as no disrespect to any of the posters. All three arguments have merit! [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Results: Hero checked turn with intention of evaluating CO's action; CO bet $50 into a pot of $65, Button folded, Hero decided to fold, given that CO appeared to be betting to cut down any draws. CO showed off his slot machine, but Hero is still wondering if check/pushing was the higher EV play, or if leading was the best option of all. Hmph.