1-2NL Hand At The Taj

[feelixthegreek]

If you're going to fold, fold the turn. If you're going to raise, raise the flop. Better yet reraise PF so you can get most of your money in as quickly as possible. There are too many scare cards to sway you from your check-call strategy, which is what happened here.

[VeraN]

What is the correct play here on the river. Assuming you call all the way to the river and he pushes all in. Is this an automatic call to push in $150 for over $400 in the pot?

[jlocdog]

PF is fine. You are both very deep and there is no reason to rush in getting the money in, especially since you won't get enough of it in to comfortably shove flop.

On the flop I would bet out against this guy and plan on 3bet jamming if played back at. This is a dangerous flop and not the standard line I would take with this hand usually, but against this specific opponent I wouldn't mind getting all the money in seeing as how he is comfortable gambling it up with TP/2ndP etc...

Since you decided to c/c, I would fold to this turn bet. The reason I imagine you c/c the flop is to give him some rope to hang himself. But this is one of the worst cards in the deck since it allows for higher pairs, fills a SD, and is a common card for someone to have given action.

Understand though, that this board is not a good board to induce a bluff from. Even against a habitual bluffer. It is way too coordinated and you will be uncertain as to whether you are extracting value or getting value stacked with way too many cards that peel off the turn. Conversely, this is a great board to value bet against this type of opponent because he will call you with all sorts of inferior hands. Lastly, you will often find yourself getting raised on the flop because he is a bad bluffer, over values hands, and under estimates his opponents. Often times, players like this will raise with any draw or a pair + gutter because they think they should regardless of previous action. Because they view it as 'standard'. Don't ruin his plan.

As played, you have to call the river if only because 65% of your stack is invested and the pot is offering close to 5-1 (4.85-1 actually). Just to clarify for you so you don't underestimate the relevance, the pot has $580 on the river BEFORE he shoves. Since you only have ~$150 left, you have to pay $150 into a now $730 pot. Realize this so the next time you are faced with a turn bet similar to this spot, you understand the consequences of your actions. Calling the turn = calling the river here always.

[RAHZero]

[ QUOTE ]
What is the correct play here on the river. Assuming you call all the way to the river and he pushes all in. Is this an automatic call to push in $150 for over $400 in the pot?

[/ QUOTE ]

If the villain is really a maniac, then yes, calling getting almost 3:1 is right, but if you're going to fold, it has to be on the turn. I would've 4-bet pre-flop, and if not, I would've led the flop for about half the pot, hoping to induce a raise which I would then shove over.