Pot-limit hand

I played this hand some months ago and think that I made a few knucklehead moves so I decided to post it and get some feedback.

I will give the basic without going into all the ramifications to keep it simple.


Pot-limit Hold'em, 5/10 blinds. It is folded to me in middle position I raise 40 (the max) to go with JJ.


Folded to late position player who is tight and smart. He calls the 40 and rerasies another 80. Everyone else folds and I call his raise.


Pot is approx. $250. I have a little over 2,000 left. My opponent has me well covered.


Flop is Jack 8 9 rainbow. I check. (thinking check raise). Opponent also checks (this surprized me considering his reraise before the flop).


Turn is a Queen. No flush draw possible.


I bet 200. He quickly calls and reraises 200. I initially hang him on Ace/Queen suited and while calling the 200 announce that I would reraise. As I studied the board cards again I make a snap decision. I reraise another 1,000 (about the size of the pot).


My opponent's eyebrows twitched a bit - he ponders maybe 10 seconds and then mucks his cards.


A few random thoughts-


If my initially assessment was correct I probably should have just called and tried to bleed more money from him since his outs are few and I can still improve? Was the reraise a bit much? (oh yeah) Straight possiblities? He would not reraise me preflop without very powerful cards. Anyway, have at me and keep the idiot comments to a minimum.

Due to the stack sizes you should bet the flop so that if he raises you can set him in. I doubt that he raised you on the turn with AQ. You are representing a straight with your bet on the turn. When he raises you on the turn he either has the straight or is running a bluff. He probably had AK.

great play.

Folded to late position player who is tight and smart. He calls the 40 and rerasies another 80. Everyone else folds and I call his raise.


I assume that you assume that this raise precludes him from having a ten in his hand.


When the J hits the flop you've got the nuts. If he can't put you on a Q10, and he has an overpair, he has to bet. I can't see anything wrong with your plan to check raise.


When he checks, it may be that he has AK or AQ, or it may be that he does have the pair, but wants to take a card off to a scary board. This second scenerio is unlikely because the Q is the worst turn possible for someone scared of the flop.


If you just call his bet on the turn, it would have been a lot more scary than a raise. There was nothing you could have called with that didn't beat him. I don't see how he could have fired a second barrel at a call on the turn. On the other hand, unless he's pretty sure you're bluffing, what can he call your raise with that doesn't beat you?


You had a monster all right, but to get paid for it, you needed an opponent with a good second best hand. There was too much on the board for him to pay off with AQ.


I think you played it fine. You got 400 more than most players would have in that situation.

Thanks to all for the comments. I always try to Max the amount I can win on every hand. Thus, I thought about this hand a lot and then started to second guess my approach. And you are right Phat, I didn't think he had a ten - AK etc fits.