20 stud hand

[Michael Davis]

20-40 stud live.

A deuce brings it in, a decent player who nonetheless gets out of line frequently (though there is precisely 0 chance he is bluffing in this hand) limps with a K. I have a 3 showing and pocket Ts and raise to 20. An ace calls behind me (this means not that much) and a woman with the four of clubs also calls. The K reraises and all of us call.

On fourth street, the hands look like this:

Opponent 1: (x x )KcJs
Hero : (TdTs)3h5d
Opponent 2: (x x )Ah2d
Opponent 3: (x x )4c8c

Please not that opponent 3's hand range includes things like offsuited AK in the hole, even with these boards on third. Opponent 2 is somewhat tighter but will still have hands like AJT and such here. She is brutally awful and, though we are concerned she has two clubs, this means only that she has two clubs.

On fourth, the K bets out, I call, the ace pops it, all call.

Fifth:

Opponent 1: (x x )KcJs Qh
Hero : (TdTs)3h5d Jc
Opponent 2: (x x )Ah2d Jh
Opponent 3: (x x )4c8c Jd

Everyone is showing a jack. Surprisingly, the ace checks. This doesn't mean he doesn't have aces, it just means he is a complete retard. It gets checked to the K, who bets. This guy is an aggressive player who would bet Ks here.

I raised fifth. Have at it.

-Michael

[iamastud]

This does not look very well played. Consider folding on 5th, not raising. If you are ahead, you are easily overtaken with 3 other opponents and more likely it looks like you are already behind. You have a very weak holding.

It looks like you raised just for the fun of raising. There are better hands and situations you could be in where aggressive play would be more appropriate and work better.

[Andy B]

I think it's close, but I would lean towards folding on fifth street. Calling is your worst option. I would like the raise if I thought it would get the hand heads-up and if I were reasonably convinced that the aggressor only had one pair. The other two players sound very loose. Are they really going to fold just because you make it $80? It would be quite odd for player 2 to raise fourth and then fold fifth. I also think there is at least some chance that the aggressor has trips and certainly a chance that he already has two pair. I'd like your raise a lot more if you had live Ace you could hit or something. You have no secondary possibilities, but the aggressor has a vague straight possibility. Good thing you have those two Tens. The pot's a little big to just give up like this, but you're committing $120-200 to see this one through, and it's not like you have really strong possibilities.

[Andy B]

I assure you that Michael did not raise just for fun here. The purpose of raising fifth is to get it heads-up, and this is very worthwhile if it works. I just don't think it's going to work often enough to justify the commitment in this particular case. There are situations where raising with the second-best hand is absolutely correct. I just don't happen to think that this is one of them.

[SA125]

I think it's a marginal hand that's getting worse and being played as such.

[SweetLuckyMe]

In most games I'd fold to the Kings early raise. ATT would be different, but what's 3TT going to improve to that puts you in good shape against their likely hands? No need to go that far with such a marginal hand like that with so little money in the pot.

[Michael Davis]

My raise dropped the two other players. I think it's entirely possible neither of them had a pair, I think there's some chance the guy with the ace folded aces, but not much of a chance the woman folded a pair of 8s or anything better.

I paired the 5 showing on 6th and bet 6th and 7th and got paid off.

-Michael

[bigredlemon]

Even though the pot is big and it worked out for you, I think this is a fold as well. You have to get very lucky to win, and there's no guarentee your two pair draw is any good. Your board is very non-threatening. Against a smart observant player, I'd like it more. The players you described sounds like the kind of players who could call two to chase a gut shot or runner flushes.