Play a Hand With the Masters #1 Flop

[juris]

I was the preflop raiser. I agree with those saying to make a continuation bet of 1000-1200.

You've got position. They are solid players, but really with position and two checks I think I want to take control of this hand. A call is scary but I still have position on the turn and may very well get a free river card.

[DireWolf]

I check behind this flop. We have a ton of backdoor draws plus pair outs, and i don't want to get checkraised off my hand,

Unless the turn sequence goes bet,call or bet,raise, i am probably going to raise most turns.

[Exitonly]

A call of your continuation bet is probably the best outcome because you get to see two cards for that price.... but it's also probably the least likely.
what's scare is when you're cheeckraised which is most likely. And then you have to let it go or go over the top like CSC said.

so, thats wwhy i like the cheeck, if you blank again, you can feel alright folding to a bet, if you improve then you have options.. if they bet youc an call, or semibluff raise..

[Crispy]

This is how i see the hand playing out.

Option 1 - You bet 1200. (Standard Continuation)
I expect MJ to call with all top pairs and midpairs and depending on the hand of CO, wether he has hit his set or got an open ended draw or not, he is going to push or fold. Then on the turn, hopefully having a club, jack, or ace hit, when MJ checks to you you check behind him. Reason for this is that even if MJ has hit a monster such as a set you have that extra club to possibly come on the turn, or maybe even a chance to fill in a possible straight draw. ALso this hides your preflop raise and continuation bet and makes it seem like you raised with nothing and are scared of the flop. On the river I expect to check/call with any TP, and bet out my flushes/straights, twopairs etc.

Option 2 - Check behind him. Doing this you have to know that you are going to get action on the turn. MP will probably now bet out his TP or MP and CO will push or fold depending again on his sets, twopairs. If he hasnt hit his draw here i probably expect him to fold. If the turn is a pretty card such as a J, or a club i would call any bet for half/pot because implied odds and range of MP might be a bit loose.

Final Point - We are going to fold to any push from CO.

[adanthar]

Let's start with MJ: he is an experienced pro that can apparently play a deep stack game. Given the PF action so far I can basically reliably put him on about...two cards. Between the chance of him trapping, the chance that he hit this flop (which has some draws, missed half the stuff I'd raise with, and hit all of the QT, middle Broadway type coldcalling hands) somehow, and the chance that he's planning to CR me with air, I think I get popped by MJ alone close to half the time.

Moving onto the CO the other half of the time, he limp/called, which narrows *his* hands down to maybe the top 80%. If he has anything more than 54s, he's ahead of me, and in addition, with a CR after MJ folds, he can represent a monster whether or not he has one.

Raising PF is a worse minefield than calling is. That's OK (Hero's in a 10K buyin; he ought to be able to handle that better than me, for instance), given you can navigate it. If you can't, though, the right play is almost always going to be the one that keeps the pot smaller until you have more info about how strong your hand is.

[renodoc]

[ QUOTE ]
So my plan is to bet 1200, and then come over-the-top AI if raised to 3600 or less.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've done this. I've gone broke.

I'm taking the free card here.

[bruce]

I admire your aggressiveness, but this is only the 3rd level. I think it's great and it shows me you are a thinking player because you already have a plan in place for a c/r.
I think it's way too early to push with air trying to muscle
a seasoned pro like MJ and/or a tight player like the CO. I happily take a free card in this spot. I don't want to potentially risk my tournament on Ace high. On the turn if I
improve my hand I am in a much better position to outplay the opposition.

Bruce

[fnurt]

I definitely check here. I don't see this board as especially non-threatening; lots of chances for someone to have a pair or straight draw here. The only reason to bet is to pick up the pot, which is unlikely to happen. On the other hand, you don't love this flop, but there are tons of turn cards that will help you.

You also have to be worried about the SB's potential holdings. I'm no pro, but where I come from, pros don't love to play raised 3-way pots out of position just out of boredom. He could very easily have something here.

I almost always make a continuation bet against a single opponent, but against 2 opponents, it's a judgment call. (I think Harrington says the same thing.) In this case, all the factors are very clearly in favor of taking the free card.

[curtains]

I check. The board is coordinated and thus it's likely that one of the two players has a piece of it, I could easily get check raised and the free card has a decent bit of value.

[fnurt]

Checking also sets you up nicely for the next street. If you get help, you can easily raise as a semibluff, and you will appear to be representing either a made hand or a strong hand like TTT or 999 that slowplayed the flop. Also, more importantly, if you raise the turn it's hard for anyone to raise you back unless they have a hand, because an obvious reason for you to take a free card on the flop is because you had a nice draw.

For example, say a J comes on the turn giving you top pair, but putting JT9 on the board. If someone bets and you raise, it's difficult for them to reraise you without a real hand, because KQ is a hand you easily could have played like this.

Note that if you check, it's important to have a plan for what happens when someone bets into you on the turn, because it's very likely to happen.