Texas PL

5 players homegame 0.5-1$ PL

Stacks

Fish:30$

Me: 23$

I'm in button position with Qs5s, all fold to me when i raise it to $2 tot. Sb calls, BB folds.

heads up situatin v.s sb who is a weak fish, flop comes 5d 7s 9h

fish checks i bet 2$ he ponders the call and makes it. Turn is 8s he reaches for hos chips but checks, i think ha made a str8 here, so i check it. river is Ts

yeehaa!

made the backdoor flush. He bets 8$ i figure him for the str8 and i move allin with my remaining 11$. he calls and turns over AsKs...crap...did i make any mistakes?

except maybe playing the Q5s but i was in button pos. and up against weak players.

So i thin it was OK.

/Zelda

he calls and turns over AsKs...crap...did i make any mistakes?

except maybe playing the Q5s but i was in button pos. and up against weak players.


Weak or no, they do get a hand, then grabs for chips and check is a classic threat to get you to check and get a free card. He out played you.


Once you get called and you give up on the turn you are dead, unless you are playing with total idiot. No nut hand and put all your money in, you get what you ask for. Even a big bet on the flop probably won't slow him down if he is a weak player. He picks up nut flush draw on turn and plays a fiddle to get there on river, figures you can't call if he bets. He put the big check raise on you.

"Fish:30$

Me: 23$


I'm in button position with Qs5s, all fold to me when i raise it to $2 tot"


LOL. Something tells me you're not as good as you think you are.

Disclaimer: I don't know much...


Given: The only point where you were truly favored was the turn -- and that was the only street that you didn't force money into the pot. I'm thinking that the answer to your question, "Did I make any mistakes?" is "yes".


The only clear mistake in my opinion is the raise on the end -- but it's not that bad because it's small and you can't be re-raised. The most common "big hand" that gets people in trouble in PL/NL is flush over flush it seems. You should tend to call on the end unless you confidently put him on a hand that can't make a bigger flush.


But if this person is so poor, then there has to be a better way then simply trying to bully him with cheese... Your stacks are probably too small to slosh around w/ Q5s.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with raising with Q5s in position against weak competition as long as you do it sparingly, and raise the exact same amount that you would with premium cards.

IMO, your mistake was not making a bigger bet on the flop. He can (in his fish head) justify calling 2 dollars into a 6.5 dollar pot with two overcards and backdoor flush possibilities, but only the very worst players would call a pot-sized raise here.

I like your check on the turn. He has called your flop bet, and that could mean anything. Do yourself a favor, though, and don´t check every time here. You must bet big every now and then just to mix it up. If you don´t do this, your poker pals will have your number, and your profits will evaporate. I also like your check here because of the flush draw. You just can´t be scared of a better flush here. It happens sometimes... and those are the breaks. But his action gave you no reason to fear the bigger flush.


On the river, he bets out $8. Gotta pause to think about this. Could have the srt8, could have a weaker flush also. A call is mandatory, the raise comes down to what you know about him as a player.


Your big mistake was not raising more on the flop. Because you didn´t force him into a difficult decision, you either failed to win a pot outright, or failed to gain information about his hand that would have been valuable on later streets.


Hope this helps,

-Marlow