25NL: Stealing Dead Money oop - how not to do it

Frosteater · #1 08-16-2007, 10:36 AM

I guess one of my numerous leaks is my amazing ability to pull of "clever moves" preflop while ignoring the fact I have no postflop skills to execute them, thus getting into lovely "Ten high, no draws for stacks - well, that didn't work out" situations. Like this gem here.

Now you're probably saying "wtf are you doing?!? fold preflop!". Probably the best option, but let me elaborate on my train of thought.

MP and CO just joined the table, as you can see, so no reads here, but they posted out of line and bought in rather short, so I didn't consider them solid players. They have ATC here, so I figured I had the better hand and they probably wouldn't risk one third of their stacks with a random hand, so I thought I could take the pot down with a raise preflop or a continuation bet. To tell you the truth, I loosen up my hand requirements a lot with dead money like that on the table.
Button and SB were relatively tight about 20/10 and 10/3 over about 100 and 50 hands. Small sample sizes, but I was sure they could lay down a hand and I counted on their ability to interpret my raise from UTG as a sign of a strong hand. It's fit or fold if they call, of course, but I couldn't see them calling without AQ+ and 22+ at worst, so I should get them out of the way most of the time here.
BB was 77/7/0.6 over 25 hands and this sample size should actually be big enough in this case, since she was pretty bad. Basically limping in preflop with ATC and calling down with any draw. On top of that she was really weak, in an earlier hand she folded on the river to a $0.25 bet into a $5.75 pot. Not too much to be afraid of, especially in position.

So the plan worked out pretty well, I didn't expect BB to do anything other than calling, but the call from MP was a bit concerning. Still, the flop was pretty good, probably missed MP and since I had a pair I totally crushed BB's range, so I think the c-bet was mandatory here.

The turn was where I got really lost. Our hand got much better, now the catch is the action (or lack thereof) from MP so far. MP is essentially unknown but after his post-call-call line I really don't see much FE here and another bet would basically be a push on a safe looking turn. So I didn't intend to checkraise, I just wanted a cheap river to hit my outs and then get it all-in. His turn bet was pretty ugly though and I really don't see any other choice than to push the remainder of his stack in the middle. Worked out, but really wasn't planned that way. So, assuming we get that far, how do we play the turn without spitting poker in the face?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($28.70)
MP ($14.25)
CO ($15)
Button ($31.10)
SB ($31.30)
BB ($19.95)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. MP posts a blind of $0.35. CO posts a blind of $0.25.
Hero raises to $1.5, MP (poster) calls $1.25, 3 folds, BB calls $1.25.

Flop: ($4.95) 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3.5, MP calls $3.50, BB folds.

Turn: ($11.95) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $3, Hero raises to $9.25, MP folds.

Final Pot: $17.95