A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play!

[Jezza]

All right guys its time for another one of these threads..... This is a bit more of a tricky hand to write up here....I had tough decisions on every street so I think I will post each street up 1 by one and see how you would have all played it, then I will post up how my thinking went and what I did on that street before moving onto the next...OK this could sake some time :lol Anyway.... Last night I was playing a ten pound rebuy PL tournament in a casino, and we were down to the last two tables. There are 7 players at my table. I have about 35k in chips as does my opponent in this hand. The chip leader for the tourney with over 100k is at our table but he is of no consequence, very loose passive and just lucky on the night - he is not to be feared. Everyone else at the table is short stacked in comparison to me and the opponent. Opponent is a good friend of mine, another pro player he really has some good MTT results on the net and isdefinately one of the best in the place. Not scared to make a power play and capable of playing lots of holdings he is definately a tough and tricky player. We are having a great laugh together and clearly trying to butt heads for the crack by opening with raises against each other and playing most hands. Blinds are 500/1k - it is pot limit. On my big blind it is folded around to opponent on the cut off who I know is ITCHING to raise my BB (and I am equally itching to defend it!) - I feel anything he wants to play here he will come in for a raise with. Indeed he does raise the pot and make it 3.5k to go. Folded around to me on the BB I look down and see !){ |||||&|||| Your play? (Fold, call or reraise) Note : Plow-King was present at the table for this hand and he is not allowed to post up the results of what actually happened! Jez

[mrmuzeman]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Another episode of Jezza's 'You make the call'! :nana Are you releasing these on DVD? Lets have a read...

[mrmuzeman]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! As u say he is playing many hands I wouldnt fold. (I know you didnt either :lol ) I think I would just calll though I wouldnt want to jeopardize any more than 10% of my stack on a hand like this. At least we can easily get away from it if we dont hit the flop. If we hit the ace on the flop then I may check raise him because I believe he would bet if I checked first.

[CJB]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! This is one of those threads which is going to dominate my afternoon I can see now. Why didn't I wait till later until reading pL Anyway. as you had a difficult call on every street you obviously did not fold and as A9 is not really a calling hand I guess you raised and then got called. I guess you then got 2 pair on the flop, or at least I hope you did as I would love to know how you played it. I have lost so many hands recently with 2 pair when my opponent had three of a kind. Anyway I digress - what happened (Or at least tell me what time you will next post so I can do some work and not keep rechecking here every 5 mins)

[Jezza]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! I will post the next street now just for you CJB...and also because I am going round to said opponents house for a home game for the rest of the day! I decided that I almost certainly had the best hand here preflop and was going to play. My decision was then call or reraise. I would be out of position for the rest of the hand which is a big disadvantage, so perhaps a reraise to pick up the pot as it stands would not be too bad a play. If I had less chips I could well have gone for this. However in reraising I was only going to get played with if I was beaten and I did not want to jepordise my good position in the tournament by going into a situation as a huge underdog. True he could have a better ace and things could get ugly if an ace flops, but at least I would have a chance to make a decision as to my hand based on more information if I just flat called and played a flop. Taking all this into account I decide just to smooth call and defend my blind..... Flop : [[[[[&[[[[ ? ]]]]]&]]]] YOUR MOVE? (I had to act first) Jez

[Jezza]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! I should say here A9o is an automatic fold against a tight players raise, but I knew I probably had the best hand against my opponent here which is why I decided to play it. Jez

[mrmuzeman]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Well as I said b4 (im pyschic i said the Ace would fall!) I would go for a check raise here. Im aware theres 2 spades out but against a lone opponent (thus v.unlikely to have the flush draw) who i think will bet I dont mind the small risk of giving a free card.

[CJB]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! but the opponent knows Jezza very well and knows he is a good player so would presumably not fall into that trap MrMuzeman. I guess the opponent knows he is behind and will probably just check if Jezza checks and only bet if another spade comes on the turn. Therefore I would raise if I was sure I had the best hand as there are straight and flush draws there. Chips are chips and the hand is only marginal and vulnerable. Edit - Sorry MrMuzeman - I missed the bit about accepting the risk of giving a free card.

[philossify]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Heres my thoughts.... At this stage, you to open betting after the flop, my action would depend on what your opponents chip position is - if he has 10K or less then I'd bet 10K (worse that happens is that you lose and are left with about 20K chips). But it sounds as though he's got somewhere around the same size stack as you so you have to ask yourself the question as to whether you want both of you on the final table or just one of you (obviously you'd prefer it to be you!). So at this stage, IMHO you have to make a decision NOW on whether you are going to risk all your chips on this hand - if the answers YES (which I suspect it is, me being a wimp would have probably given up the blind at day 1) then you got 2 options to my mind - check and raise all-in if your opponent bets or go all-in now. My choice (if I'd decided YES above) would be all-in NOW, the Clint Eastwood move ("Do you feel lucky punk!). If you check and opponent has half a hand and bets (say) 10K to your check then they probably going to stay and trust to luck to a follow-up all-in by you. If they stay to your all-in then its probably you who is trusting to luck (AT of spades with opponent?)...... If they check to your check then, maybe its gonna turn into a check to finish hand..... although from the sound of it its not going to go that way. So my choice at this stage All-in!

[philossify]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Heres my thoughts.... At this stage, you to open betting after the flop, my action would depend on what your opponents chip position is - if he has 10K or less then I'd bet 10K (worse that happens is that you lose and are left with about 20K chips). But it sounds as though he's got somewhere around the same size stack as you so you have to ask yourself the question as to whether you want both of you on the final table or just one of you (obviously you'd prefer it to be you!). So at this stage, IMHO you have to make a decision NOW on whether you are going to risk all your chips on this hand - if the answers YES (which I suspect it is, me being a wimp would have probably given up the blind at day 1) then you got 2 options to my mind - check and raise all-in if your opponent bets or go all-in now. My choice (if I'd decided YES above) would be all-in NOW, the Clint Eastwood move ("Do you feel lucky punk!). If you check and opponent has half a hand and bets (say) 10K to your check then they probably going to stay and trust to luck to a follow-up all-in by you. If they stay to your all-in then its probably you who is trusting to luck (AT of spades with opponent?)...... If they check to your check then, maybe its gonna turn into a check to finish hand..... although from the sound of it its not going to go that way. So my choice at this stage All-in!

[philossify]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Whoops pressed Post twice ... sorry. One way of increasing my posting stats.

[laidbackbloke]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play!

So my choice at this stage All-in!

Its pot limit Phil, so the most he can bet is the value of the pot.

[Jezza]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Yeah it was pot limit......he had about the same chip stack as me (30 odd k or so) This is a pretty good flop for me. There are plenty of draws on that board but against a lone opponent I am not quite so worried about protecting my hand on that board at the moment, the only thing that is a real danger in my mind is the bigger ace. I am definately going to play here, the only question is in what way. To bet out would not be a terribly bad play - it protects my pair of aces if he does have spades or a straight draw, however it will cause him to fold most losing hands here. If he had a pocket pair or anything other than a bigger ace he will fold if I bet out, the only things that I will get action from are the draws (not that likely) or if I am beat. However I could go for a check-raise. By checking in first position I could induce him to bet an awful lot more hands than he would call me with. For a start I know he is a very aggressive player and liable to bet the pot on a semibluff if he has a draw of some sort. By letting him do this and checkraising him back over the top it really tightens my grip around the hand and would probably make him fold something he could have easily outdrawn me with (after putting a lot of chips in the pot with it). He might also bet if he holds a pocket pair, or indeed if the flop missed him entirely and he just wants to test my cards and see if he can pick it up right here without a showdown. Of course he will bet if he has a better ace as well and I will hang myself with the checkraise, but his range of possible holdings here is very wide, far more so than most players, and I have already made up my mind to go through with my hand now.......so I check and he checks right behind me :o (motherfcker :lol) Turn....... $$$&$$ Your move? Jez

[CJB]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Ok here I guess you would check and see what he does. If he bets then you can be fairly sure he is bluffing (or has a K) and call him. If he only checks then I would be more wary. This is what would happen at the level I play at anyway.

[DC]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! I think you're definitely behind. Don't put any more money into this pot. He's got 55 or 66 right? and the river will make him a full house, let me guess....i'ts another Ace?

[cains]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Im giving this a shot, even though i havent played poker 8 days.. And havent been thinking poker in the some time.. So might be a bit rusty.. :eyes My short idea for this is: wait and think.. Only short time. And then check.. If he checks you get another free card.. If he bets. You fold.. He might be bluffing, but you only lost 3500 out of your 35000.. Couse at this moment you could be up against set, flush, higher Ace pair with kicker.. You could also be up against two pairs. both with A or K, but also the two low pairs, as he is able to play almost everything.. And of course, you know he is willing to do anything to take your blinds.. IF you check this, because you are afraid of opponents card, wich is okay to be with the board. You should now throw your hand away, if there comes any action. Couse you show weakness twice.. What i would do. :ok

[Jezza]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Ok now I had to think for a second. His check indicates either he did not hit the flop at all or he hit a monster. A monster in this case would be AAA 555 or 666. If he had a better ace than me he surely would have bet the pot on my check. I do think because he is such an aggressive player he would have bet trips 5s or 6s as he knows I could well checkraise him here with a variety of draws or if I have an ace - if he has a set of aces that has to be the case ace on the board and I figure myself very unlucky - if this is what happened then he is going to get paid. Very good play by him by not biting and making a continuation bet with nothing on the flop when I planned to check-raise however now I have to reevaluate the hand. I have already decided the probability is I have the best hand, I would allocate him maybe a 20% chance of a slowplay and 80% for my pair of aces being the best hand but now I cannot slowplay myself as my hand is a lot more vulnerable than it was on the flop. There are three spades now and although I can discount him having a flush (if he had a flush draw on the flop I am sure he would have bet it as a semibluff) there is a large chance he has a lone spade in his hand and I cannot let him hit it for free. Any J Q or 10 rolling off on the river would make a broadway straight possible and of course there is a fair chance the K has made him a pair of kings. I come to the conclusion I have the best hand but no way can I slowplay now, so I bet the pot (7500) and am called very quickly by my opponent (hmmmmm)..... River...

[DC]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! You have to assume that he had his hand all along judging by the fast call. I'd put him on 55, 66 or even KK. Worse still Qx spades. I don't think you can possibly put any more money in the pot. I guess it all boils down to knowing your opponent. You know him better than we do, so your final decision has to be based around that.

[cains]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Following what i said earlier. If you check now, and he bets. You has to assume he got something bigger than you. so you has to fold.. Of course all this is special since you 2 know each other.. But you have 2 choices: 1. Check and hope for check.. If he raise small, you could maybe call 2. Bet.. And i would say go all in... (not sure you can, but it would be close.) Personnally i would just check, and hope he does the same.. GL

[DC]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! Jez I hope you didn't take this long to decide mate..... yawn.....;)

[cains]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play!

Jez I hope you didn't take this long to decide mate..... yawn.....;)

He is actually playing the hand as we speak.. He just hope someone soon post the correct answer, so he can do it, and take down the pot.. :lol

[Jezza]

Re: A hand I played last night in a live game - YOU make the play! :lol - sorry guys I have been busy. Well all the cards are out now and I have to make my decision... I can discount him for slowplaying now. With three spades on the turn he is not going to slowplay even with AAA there as he knows the river could kill his hand dead - I would have been raised for sure. I think if he had a flush draw on the flop he would have bet it and the same applies for if he held a bigger ace - therefore I dont think he has either of these hands and I can only assume my ace was good on the turn. So why the quick call of a large bet by him? I figure he must have hand like KQ with the Q of spades or KJ/K10 with the J or 10 of spades - that would give him a pair + a flush draw and makes his call understandable. As the dealer burns and turns I cross my fingers and hope for no KJQ10 or spade, any of those cards and I planned to check the river. However the card off is a total blank! I am sure this leaves me with the best hand (my pair of aces to his pair of kings) and now I can try and get paid off.... Many players would check here in my position but if you want to really punish your opponents you have to "value bet" with the best hand (even if it is a weak one like top pair no kicker) when you are sure you are winning from your read. Ok..I know if I check here he will check right behind me and I will win the showdown so the question is not to bet or not, its how much to bet. Now this is maybe where I made a mistake :(. I always advocate betting the pot size - whether you are betting to protect your hand, betting as a bluff or betting for value. That way good players who pick up on bet size tells will never be able to read your hand from it. However I did not follow my own advice here and went down a different road. I thought to myself that betting the pot size (over 20k) would leave him with hardly any chips if he called and his pair of kings is not good enough to call that size of bet. So I bet only 10k into the pot of around 23k hoping for a call. My opponent hummed and hawed for ages and looked at me shaking his head - obviously not knowing if his pair of kings was good or not. Eventually he said he thought I had flopped a monster and folded. I can understand the logic behind his read the way the hand played out and perhaps my small bet at the end was screaming to be called and added to his read? I dont know.......perhaps I shoul dhave bet a lot smaller or a lot larger! When we left for the break I was talking to my mate (and opponent in this hand) and he asked me what I had straight out. I told him the truth and he said he did indeed have the.... ££&££ .> Jez (comments on the bet at the end appreciated)