How would you have played it?

30/60 Holdem, Everyone folds to MP who limps, i raise on his left with AK offsuit and all fold except MP. Now i have no idea how MP plays he just sat down and has only been on the table for several hands. MP calls. Flop a nice looking AAQ two toned. MP bets, I raise, MP calls. Turn MP checks i check behind him representing two big cards wanting a free card since i was pretty sure that MP would probably dump his queen or any other pocket pair if i bet the turn. River a blank 3. MP comes to life and bets, I raise, he hesitates then calls. My hand is good.


Would anyone play that hand any differently? And do you guys use that tactic sometimes against overly aggressive players??


-MJ

I think I might have called the flop and raised the turn.

"I think I might have called the flop and raised the turn."


since that's the obvious way to play it i think that it has the least going for it in terms of expectation vis-avis deception. right? even the most naive players would fold the turn as soon as theyre raised.


just calling on the turn also has it's drawbacks because chances are youll make your opponent suspicious enough to check to you on the river.


so i think the way it was played is excellent. what looks like an "irrational check" (or maybe this doesnt qualify for that status?) gets the most money here, zigging when zagging, etc, etc.

Calling the flop and raising the turn get's the pot outright... I don't think the person will even call you on the turn with a Q, esp. after a pre-flop raise!


The check on the turn is interesting b/c the opponent has to be thinking what kind of cards would you raise with pre-flop and on the flop.. but check the turn...


It seems like you had a good read on this player..Is this the type of player that would call a check raise?? If so then I would've called the flop and check raised the turn... knowing that a bet on the river will cause them to fold.


Your biggest threat I think here is that MP may have a lower pocket pair.. TT.


While it's nice to suck out an extra bet.. I would hate myself for giving a card out that would have me beat. Personally I wouldn't have checked the turn.

Raise preflop, bet/raise the flop. and bet through from there..


(Just me personally here.. but I find that "fancy plays can often get you into more trouble.. and you can freqently lose a bet) How good is your play here if your opponent belives he is beat and check/fold's the river?? Do you not loose one bet now? Or do you seriously belive that this opponent who has bet the flop and called a raise would not call the turn bet?

"check raised the turn."


how can hero checkraise the turn? he is last to act.


checkraising the turn when youre last to act! now that would be very tricky.. it's the one curse of having position: you cant checkraise so your heads up opponent can limit your gain to one bet per street. however you gain something by not being able to checkraise: you cant have your checkraise foiled!


somebody shut me up please.

Not a scientific number, but in the 30-60 where I play, I would estimate that when you raise the flop and check the turn, 80% of the time your lone opponent will bet the river no matter what they have.

Warning: I haven't read the other posts...


Andy, let's say you're right. And this play is powerfully effective at inducing a bet. The question is: is it better than betting twice?


The big concern here: a raise on the river is likely to be respected more than a bet on the turn. Given that MJ wants to be called (and he does, it seems) then betting twice gives him a better chance of being paid off twice. He acknowledges that his opponent hesitated about calling the raise on the river.


Frankly, this feels like fancy play syndrome to me. It's ok to keep betting the best hand.


Given that he doesn't know his opponent, he should do the obvious thing: bet the best hand.


Regards, Lee

"Frankly, this feels like fancy play syndrome to me. It's ok to keep betting the best hand"


this isnt particularly fancy lee. it's counter-intuitive, so a typical bad losing player (and we're talking about, what, 90-95% of all players?) would just bet their hand every time, but it's not overly fancy.


you bet the turn and you risk losing your opponent. you check the turn and you may earn an extra 1 or even 2 big bets against someone drawing very thin against you with one card left. the turn check here is clearly the best choice as it stands to gain the most with very little risk. im comforted by the fact that plays like this are so foreign to almost all our opponents.