JJ in the BB

[edtost]

.25/.5 blind home game, myself and the main villain have $40. table is 6-handed.

I'm in the big blind with JJ, suits unimportant. 3 limpers, sb (tricky opponent I've played a lot of hands with) reluctantly completes, I raise to $2, 3 callers, including sb.

flop T 8 5 rainbow

checked to me, i bet 6, folded to sb who makes it 18.

sb is a somewhat tricky, good player with some rock-ish tendencies. he has seen me make both big laydowns and big calls based on reads in the past. he knows that i tend to play tighter in the beginning of a session, so as we have played about 3 hands so far that night, i call with the intention of getting more information from his demeanor when i call and from his bet on the turn. at this moment, it's hard to really put him on anything. he plays both big hands and draws fast, and may well be on air.

turn k

he checks to me, and i decide that if i go allin (which would be 1/2 pot) the set of hands he calls me with is almost exactly the set of hands that beat me. if i make a smaller bet, he may move in with a slightly larger set of hands, but i'm still not in good shape. therefore, i check behind.

river is a blank.

he checks to me; i sense some weakness, but it could well be an act. i wuss out and check behind.

how'd i do? for those of you who know the game, villain was forrest. does that specific bit of information change anything? results to come later.

[bunky9590]

Well, Forrest could complete with a whole lotta hands there.

Including the dreaded T8. But, you have outdraws on that hand. While the check, check showdown is alright per se. I would have fired the bullet on the turn after he checked, and if called checked behind on the river. Looks like he had a draw out of position or a nice sized T. Could very well have 67 and tried to semi bluff check raise the flop.

With the check raise that he laid out on the flop and the shortish stacks, isn't a flop push reraise by you a bit more prudent? Rather than the call and check cehck theory?

[edtost]

I think that, against Forrest, a push reraise gives him too much opportunity to get away from a JT-ish hand. I guess my flop call makes less sense in this situation than when deeper, as I really can't get away on the turn given the size of the pot. In retrospect, the K on the turn was pretty blank and I should've taken that opportunity to push, but my thinking at the time was that the turn card would narrow the range of hands Forrest would call with there.

In other words, I wussed out on every street post-flop.

[Evan]

If he knows your style well (as I think I do) then I like your play.

[DrPublo]

Feels like he hit the T pretty hard but then backed off once some paint hit. The only problem with this reasoning is that Forrest wouldn't "relucantly" complete with AT or KT, he would do it quickly and take a look at the flop.

FWIW, raise more preflop. 3 limpers and the pot is already $2.50, and you're asking people to pay only $1.50 more. Don't build a big pot out of position with JJ. Raise more or dont raise at all.

The Doc

[pdubz]

I just saw this. Forrest rock-ish? LOL.

[BlueBear]

I don't understand the preflop raise. There is little point in pot-building while keeping everybody still in. Raise more with the primary intention of thinning the field (preferably heads-up) or else just check to hope to hit a set.

[edtost]

in terms of the types of hads he plays preflop. imo, he overvalues big cards and undervalues some other hands, particularly once stacks get deep.