Going to war with TT

I'm in a moderately tough 20-40 game where many flops are seen heads up for 3 bets (I had scoped out some other games, but alas found nothing much more promising), and find myself with TT in the SB. A late position player open raises and is reraised by a very aggressive player on the button. I make it 4 bets, the BB folds, and the 3 of us see the flop.


The flop is 7 6 5, all spades (I don't have the Ts). I bet, the preflop raiser calls, the button raises, I reraise, preflop raiser folds, button makes it 4 bets (5 bets is the cap here), and I call.


The turn is a brick. I bet and the button calls.


The river is another brick. I check.


All comments appreciated.

Hard to imagine what could actually be considered bricks on the turn and river given this flop.


I think a river bet is called for given that it is extremely unlikely that he will bluff or bet a hand worse than yours or check a hand better than yours once you check with perhaps the exception of JJ (see note below). On the other hand, you could easily be called by a worse hand like AsKd, 99, 88, any 7 etc.


Note: The unlikelihood of his bluffing and the likelihood of his betting a better hand indicates that you should fold if you check and he bets. But I would nevertheless call given the pot odds and given that I want to make sure that he does not attempt pot stealing bluffs on a later hand even if he does have me beat now i.e. I would pay off here knowing that I am probably beat because of the future ramifications of a fold.

It sure looks like the button has 99. Did you consider going for a check-raise on the turn instead of jamming on the flop?


I probably would not have played your hand so fast on the flop because I would be faced with a difficult decision if a 4th spade came on the turn.

im afraid youre up against a bigger overpair here coilean. i think you should have waited for better position and timing and just folded TT here preflop.


the river is a sticky situation because now you need to call if he bets. although you may induce an unlikely bet from AK you will be calling with a worse hand a lot of the time. i think betting the river may have been a better play.


hope you pulled this one off and would like to read your thoughts on the postflop play.

The button checked behind me, and threw her AsKx face up after I showed my TT.


Preflop, I made it 4 to go because I felt there was a decent chance I had the best hand (the button could have made a steal reraise with quite a few hands) and I might be able to get the intial raiser out.


On the flop, I bet out feeling that there was a strong chance the aggressive button would raise. My reraise finally succeeded in knocking the other player out, and I felt little reason to cap the betting on the flop after that, since the button would be favored to beat me with a high spade and 2 overcards to my T's, even if I wasn't already beat by JJ (I considered AA-QQ unlikely since she didn't cap the preflop betting). In retrospect, I think betting out was a mistake, as I could knock out the other player just as easily with a check raise while also putting less money on the table in a situation where I might easily not be favored to win even when I hold the best hand.


After the turn blanked, I didn't want to give a free card to an AsKx or similar hand, which I felt was the button's most likely holding (due to the lack of a preflop cap). I must admit to feeling some relief that I wasn't raised. /images/wink.gif


On the river, I think I was too focused on my opponent having overcards with a spade draw, which was why I checked. I didn't think I would get a call from an unimproved ace after all the flop and preflop action, so checked hoping to induce a bet (or maybe save a bet if she had JJ and didn't bet). Afterwards, I thought this might have been a mistake (which was why I posted the hand), which seems to be the consensus here as well. The possibility of 88-99, as well as a desperation call with AK, seem to dictate a bet, although it seems close enough that I maybe shouldn't lose any sleep over it. /images/wink.gif