full of indecision

[Alex424]

UB 2/4 10 players

Hero UTG2 A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Villain unknown in SB

I'm new to table, never played villain before which made this harder. I stumbled through this hand and not sure if i played it brilliantly or dreadfully.

Pre-flop:

Hero raises to $4, 4 folds, villain calls, everybody else folds

Flop (board: 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]):

villain bets $2. hero calls.

Turn (board: 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]):

villain bets $4. hero raises to $8. villain
calls.

River (board: 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]):

villain checks. hero bets $4. villain calls.

[TripleH68]

Hero is getting 6:1 minus rake on the flop call. I peel here too and often wonder if it is correct in this small pot.

I don't like the raise on the turn. If villain 3-bets the turn you have to call...and what hand is he folding? So raising does not improve your chances of winning this pot.

[tewall]

Raising the turn seems fine to me. Even if villain never folded a worse hand, raising would still be good if villain is less likely to 3 bet or bet the river when raised than hero is to hit one of his outs, which seems likely to me. That is, I don't think most players would be more likely than 1 in 3 to 3 bet or bet the river in this situation. Assuming no more bets come from villain, hero makes more when he hits an out, and loses the same when he doesn't. Plus villain might fold a small pair.

[PunchOut]

nh

[NedForrest]

I dont think there s that much fold equity there. I would just call the turn and fold on the river UI. You re better off making things cheap for yourself than trying to outplay people who dont fold. Bluff less, value bet more [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[revlwb]

I fold on the flop bet. You are fighting too much for this small pot. Don't like the raise on the turn, but you have to call there.

[Harv72b]

I usually raise the flop here, but I'll sometimes flat call. Generally I'd rather pop the flop & take a free card when I'm called, depending of course on the opponent.

This seems like the ideal spot to try a turn semibluff raise. Heads up pot, not a very drawy flop, so I think it's very believable that you'd slowplay an overpair to the turn...this gains you some fold equity. Tack on the drawing equity you have with two overs + a flush draw, and I like it a lot. Tack on the free showdown unimproved when your hand actually is going to be ahead every so often and I love it.

Good value bet on the end, too. Nice hand.

[threads13]

[ QUOTE ]
I usually raise the flop here, but I'll sometimes flat call. Generally I'd rather pop the flop & take a free card when I'm called, depending of course on the opponent.

This seems like the ideal spot to try a turn semibluff raise. Heads up pot, not a very drawy flop, so I think it's very believable that you'd slowplay an overpair to the turn...this gains you some fold equity. Tack on the drawing equity you have with two overs + a flush draw, and I like it a lot. Tack on the free showdown unimproved when your hand actually is going to be ahead every so often and I love it.

Good value bet on the end, too. Nice hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you take the free card are you always calling a river bet?

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I usually raise the flop here, but I'll sometimes flat call. Generally I'd rather pop the flop & take a free card when I'm called, depending of course on the opponent.

This seems like the ideal spot to try a turn semibluff raise. Heads up pot, not a very drawy flop, so I think it's very believable that you'd slowplay an overpair to the turn...this gains you some fold equity. Tack on the drawing equity you have with two overs + a flush draw, and I like it a lot. Tack on the free showdown unimproved when your hand actually is going to be ahead every so often and I love it.

Good value bet on the end, too. Nice hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you take the free card are you always calling a river bet?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope.

Depends on the opponent, the board, the way the table is playing, my (perceived) image, and when all else fails, if ace high just feels good. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[EGO]

Grunch

Obviously, you aren't in a steal position, so the villian in the blinds probably has something, or might be on a bluff. With overcards and a backdoor flush nut flush draw, you could have up to 7.5 outs against a pair. I think the flop is an easy peel.

Flush draw! Villian bets again, and I think raising here is a mistake, with no reads. You don't know if he's the type that will bluff indiscriminately heads-up, or if he's someone that would never involve himself out of position. You also don't know if this is the type of player you can semi-bluff raise successfully with. Let's look at outs and odds:

There's about $12 in the pot at the beginning of the turn, rounding the blind who folded down. When you are behind, you are getting 4-1 on to hit what I figure about a 3-1 draw (I count about 12 outs, 9 flush and 3 overcards). That's an easy call. However, when you raise, you are putting in $8 to win either $16 when he folds immediately, or $20 when you still don't know if your A high is good. When he does call, which I believe most opponents will do more than two times out of three after leading the flop and turn into the pre-flop raiser, you are getting 2.5-1 pot odds, which is just under your roughly 3-1 draw. You will probably make up at least half a big bet in implied odds on average when you hit a flush card, and maybe an Ace or a Queen. I figure that your raise, when called, is probably breakeven, or slightly +EV. The pot is still fairly small.

However, there's the unfortunate circumstance of getting re-raised. You certainly can't fold, with seven outs to the nuts (a set is much more likely here from an average opponent). In this scenario, you are putting in $12 to win $24, or 2-1 pot odds. When your adjust your outs to an optimistic nine, you find that you are about a 4-1 dog.

Obviously, since the pot fairly small on the turn, I'd just call here. You won't make much extra money when you are ahead, will get reraised when way behind. Against the most likely hands (single pairs) you are a little better than breakeven by raising. The pot is small, and you have a decent hand.

After checking, if my opponent checks, I would like to bluff about 6.7% of the time, when I miss. This is close to optimal bluffing strategy, I think.

On the river, after the check, I bet my top pair. Most hands that could beat a pair of queens on the turn would have bet again on the river. I'd put him on a pair and an ace after the river check.