10-20 Hand

I'm playing 10-20 Hold 'Em online. I have AKo in early position. Folded to me, I raise. Two players coldcall and the blinds come (players are loose preflop and make postflop errors). 5 players, $100 pot. Flop comes A-4-J, two hearts. Check to me, I bet. Next player makes it $20 and the following player reraises to $30. All fold to me and I call (cap here?). My thoughts are that I need a king to win...Raising to 20 with a flush draw is certainly plausible but the 3 bet makes me almost certain I am up against AJ or a set. Middle player calls. I bet the turn (an offsuit brick); middle player calls, next player raises to $40. I call, other player drops. I check and call the river (another heart). Would anyone fold to the turn raise? Any other comments? Results to follow.


Jeff

He turned over AJo for top two and I am still pissed for not saving $40 here.


Jeff

Jeff,


After being 3-bet on the flop I wouldn't bet the turn without improvement.


On the river I think a fold is in order against a sane opponent.


Manzanita

You would check call the turn? That tells you nothing though. I think betting and folding to a raise is better (though I couldn't do it).


Jeff

I would be tempted to bail on this one after the reraise on the flop, depending on the usual aggressiveness of the raiser and 3 bettor behind me, and on whether or not the A on the board was a heart. If the 3 bettor is aggressive and the A on board is not a heart, he could easily be on a suited Ah. If the 3 bettor would cold call your preflop raise with QhJh or JhTh, he has a fairly legitmate reraise with these hands as well, since he is about even odds to beat you by the river and might be looking to take a free turn card with his reraise.


But in general, I think you should give consideration to folding here after you get raised twice on the flop, as long as the 2 players behind you are reasonable and not overly tricky. I would also bail after you get raised on the turn, and after the dread heart falls on the river (which should make it almost certain you are now beat, if you weren't already). I think your only hope on the end is that the other player is craftily overbetting an AK to knock out what he thinks is a tying hand, but I don't know that this is enough to make a call with (and only for half the pot at that) after the hearts get there.


If these guys are generally overaggressive, I would grit my teeth and check call it down after the flop (as long as I don't wind up paying multiple bets anywhere, which would probably get me to fold), still expecting to lose more often than win.

Jeff,


I think that your opponent told you on the flop that he has more than top pair when he 3-bet on the flop. Since you seem to want to play the hand to the end (i.e., you think that there's a chance that your opponent may be overplaying his hand) you should do so cheaply and just call him down.


Given your position, the best that you can hope to accomplish is to get to the showdown at the cost of only 2 big bets after the flop. Betting out on the turn risks making it more expensive and gives you little additional information. I'm sure that you didn't expect your opponents to fold to your turn bet, did you?


Manzanita

I haven't read your results, but I'd probably drop on the flop. Capping is surely wrong.


Since you decided to play on, I'd go to check call mode on the turn and the river. Both of your opponents are not on draws. Someone will bet the hand for you (if you are ahead).


I can't see how you could possibly have won after the third heart fell, but I'll read the results to find out what happened.