playing crap on the button

[chh]

I had a lot of fun playing this hand, and would like to go through it in multiple steps to see what you think of my actions. Without further addo:

First hand of the 15k 10+1 on stars (10 min lvls)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Hero (t1500)
SB (t1500)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t1500)
CO (t1500)

Preflop: Hero is Button with :9s, :6c.
UTG calls t20, MP1 calls t20, [color=#666666]2 folds</font>, Hero calls t20, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t100) :6h, :4s, :jd [color=#0000FF](5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, [color=#CC3333]UTG bets t40</font>, MP1 folds, Hero calls t40, SB folds, BB folds.

It's the first hand, all the fish are still swimming, we have position against multiple limpers and are a good player (hopefully), enough to see a flop with this feeble holding.

On the flop we saw a full round of betting, and though our relative position kinda sucks, it looks like noone has much (and we can just fold to a checkraise)

Turn: (t180) :9h [color=#0000FF](2 players)</font>
[color=#CC3333]UTG bets t40</font>, [color=#CC3333]Hero ??



We dont have any reads since it's the first hand and we've never played against villain before. Also, OPR is down so we're maneuvering absolutely in the dark.
.
His bets tell us a little something though.
There are 3 ways of interpreting his turn bet: he has a monster and wants us to raise so he can come over the top (very unlikely)
He thinks the bet has an actual chance of getting us to fold (somewhat likely)
He cought a piece of the board, maybe a weak pair, maybe an ace that just turned a backdoor flush, and is making some kind of blocking bet (somewhat likely)

if he has nothing, he prolly wont put in any more than maybe another 40 on the river.
However lets assume he has a little something, maybe A6o, A4o, 2 hearts or even Ah4h.
He most likely has something around 5-9 outs here, with a very small chance of having a little more or very few to none.

What do we do?

[Camdaman19]

Raise to around 200.

[hamnegger]

converter trouble this is tough to read

[hamnegger]

raise it up 200 to go

[chh]

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero (t1500)
SB (t1500)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t1500)
CO (t1500)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 6.
UTG calls t20, MP1 calls t20, [color=#666666]2 folds</font>, Hero calls t20, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t100) 6, 4, J [color=#0000FF](5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, [color=#CC3333]UTG bets t40</font>, MP1 folds, Hero calls t40, SB folds, BB folds.

Turn: (t180) 9 [color=#0000FF](2 players)</font>
[color=#CC3333]UTG bets t40</font>, [color=#CC3333]Hero raises to t160</font>, UTG calls t120.

After his bet, the pot was 220 and I wanted to raise somewhat less than normal to induce his weaker hands to call (and maybe call another bet on the river), but still enough that calling with a flush draw is unprofitable. Also I didnt want him to go away because I was pretty sure he was quite weak, but might bluff some more on the river if he thinks my hand is worse than it is. 200 seems fine, but 2xx looks a lot bigger than 1xx [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

River: (t500) 6 [color=#0000FF](2 players)</font>
UTG checks, [color=#CC3333]Hero ?? </font>

We hit the jackpot, but unfortunately our opponent doesnt donk into us.

do you pick a small bet (around 150) or big bet (400-600) or all-in, and why?

[BlueEcho]

I raise turn to 200. The river might be a place where I need some work at getting the most value. My default would be to 1/2 pot it.

[stetda]

I'd small value bet for alot of reasons. Barring the very slim chance he has JJ or J6, you obviously have the hand well under control.

1. The chance he may see this as a steal and try to raise you off the pot.

2. It's small enough that you might actually get paid off.

3. Just to make people know you are willing to play rags pre-flop for future big pay offs with real hands.

But yeah... early in tourneys are when there are plenty of fish who could pay off a huge bet here. But this early in a tournament, that's what I would do.

[deankeaton7]

def. put in a big turn raise. 9h does not make very many hands, and absent reads, do the most straightforward thing.

[chh]

Actually, I decided to make a big bet here for the following reasons:

in general, a small bet looks a lot like i'm milking, a big bet looks more like I might have been bluffing or semi-bluffing on the turn and am trying to follow up now on the river.

So I was pretty sure a bet of 400 will be called at least 0.5 times as much as a bet of 150-200, probably significantly more.

I dont think he will check-raise as a bluff here virtually ever, but if he did, I actually think that perversely he would be more likely to do it against a big bet (thinking it is a follow-up bluff) than against a small bet (=value bet)

I like your point about "showing rags", however I'm just convinced that I would give up significant value against this player with a smaller bet.