Was this played sensibly?

[TwoShedsJackson]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed)

Hero ($55)
UTG ($23.75)
UTG+1 ($6.79)
MP1 ($34.15)
MP2 ($37.15)
MP3 ($20.25)
CO <font color="purple">(Villain)</font> ($25.35)
Button ($18.25)
SB ($40.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K/images/graemlins/spade.gif, Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, MP3 folds, CO <font color="purple">(Villain)</font> calls $0.50, Button folds, SB folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to $1.5</font>, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $1, CO <font color="purple">(Villain)</font> calls $1.

Flop: ($5.25) 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif, Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets $3</font>, MP2 folds, Villain calls $3.

Turn: ($11.25) 5/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets $7</font>, Villain calls $7.

River: ($25.25) A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">Villain bets $13.85 (All-In)</font>, Hero calls $13.85.

Final Pot: $52.95

[SpiderMnkE]

Wow... what a crappy card... what a craaaappy card.

It kind of appears that this dude is going to the felt no matter what. If thats the case then he already liked his hand.

Seems like he would have raised AQ in the CO.. so I rule that out.

He could have Axs with flush draw. Or mid pair overcard kicker.

Your check makes it look like you missed the draw and/or are scared of the ace... which is true... so it could be a bluff.

Hands that he has that are losing to you. JQ, Qx, 7x, 9x, bluff.

Hands beating you. Ax, Q7, Q9, 97, 68.

My gut is telling me he has A9. But... I have no idea if you are suppossed to call here or not.

I play bad... someone help

[Huskiez]

As SpiderMnkE said, that A on the river is a very crappy card. I cringe seeing that your monster hand on the flop has been reduced to second pair good kicker.

I think first of all, don't raise in the BB unless you plan on making a real raise. You're out of position, and are reopening the betting. What if someone reraises huge? You can't call because you have a hand which could easily be dominated.

On the flop and turn, I would bet closer to the pot. You have a great hand, top pair with flush draw, and should be trying to build a big pot. If you had checked preflop, you probably could have gone for a check raise on either the flop or the turn as well, depending on who (if anyone) bet on the flop. Someone probably likes this flop and would bet out if checked to.

On the river, I would check, as a worse hand will probably not call you if you bet out. However that induced a big bet by the villain. I think you have to call here, as he easily could have a busted straight or flush draw and knows you're scared of the A and / or missed your flush draw.

[JrJordan]

TwoSheds, here's a few comments:

Preflop: I don't like this raise for two reasons. First, your out of position with a marginal hand that honestly plays better multiway. Any K or Q flop without the flush draw will be hard to play when you face resistance. It'd be much easier to get away if you see the flop for cheap. Second, if you are going to raise, make it legitimate. 3xBB is never a big enough raise, make it 5xBB with this many limpers in already. Like I said though, I'd prefer the limp instead.

Flop: Quite a nice flop for you sir. Unfortunately your position sucks to play on it. I think you'd be happy taking the pot down here, so make it a full pot sized bet. If you face aggression here, I'd be willing to put my whole stack in with TP2K and 2nd nut flush draw.

Turn: Still have top pair, but villain is hanging around. I like the size of this bet, but probably not for the same reason as you do. I think this 3/4 bet allows two things. First, it shows shows strength with another strong bet that hopefully he'll fold to. Second, if he happens to come over the top all in with a slowplayed monster here or on the river, I wouldn't feel overly pot committed and could get away if I felt right.

River: Hmm, not a fun card to see. I like checking here instead of betting as well. I can't find a villain's hand that you beat which would call the all in. When he pushes, it's time to really analyze the possibilities:
His limp PF, followed by flop and turn calls on strong bets is a difficult pattern to match. AQ is unlikely, as he would raise both preflop and the flop with it. 77 and 99 are very possible, perhaps A9, but doubtful. I don't think that A helped him either way. He either has a made hand such as a set, or is bluffing a missed draw with an Axs type of hand. This river call really depends on your read of him. Is he a tricky player who would push a missed flush draw? Would he checkraise on the turn if he had a set? The two smooth calls make me awfully suspicious of a slowplay. With only TP2K, I'm inclined to lay this hand down on the river.

Addition: Wow, looked at some of the other responses. There's quite a variety on how to play this one, let's you know how difficult a hand this is to play.

[ML4L]

Hey Jackson,

I don't like the tiny preflop raise out of position there, but I think you played the hand "sensibly" postflop.

Hope it worked out (although I don't think that you would have posted it if it had... /images/graemlins/wink.gif).

ML4L

[tubbyspencer]

I only disagree with the river check(which puts me in the minority). But if you are going to call his all-in, after he checks, why not just push yourself? That way you at least don't have to worry about getting bluffed. Alot of folks will sense your weakness when you check your river ace, and bluff at the pot with any pair.

Push on the river. You're going to(apparently) call the all-in anyway .

[umdpoker]

"I only disagree with the river check(which puts me in the minority). But if you are going to call his all-in, after he checks, why not just push yourself? That way you at least don't have to worry about getting bluffed. Alot of folks will sense your weakness when you check your river ace, and bluff at the pot with any pair.

Push on the river. You're going to(apparently) call the all-in anyway . "

its called inducing a bluff. the only way to get more money out of the opponent if he has a worse hand is to check here.
you can't fold to the bet though, because the pot is so big that in the long run he will make money by calling. i think he is beaten over 50% of the time here, but not more than 75%.

[TwoShedsJackson]

[ QUOTE ]


Hope it worked out (although I don't think that you would have posted it if it had... /images/graemlins/wink.gif).

ML4L

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed not /images/graemlins/smile.gif He turned over the Q /images/graemlins/club.gif &amp; 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif for two pair and won the pot.

I didn't really consider that he would call a raise (small as it was) with Q9, and at the time I thought they were unsuited, just realised looking at the hand history now they weren't.

Once he flopped two pair he was going to take it all the way, I guess the A on the end must have scared him as much as me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Lesson learned: don't raise out of position with a speculative hand, or if you do, make it a proper raise /images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks for the comments guys.