Rate my wimpiness

[Kevin J]

...on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "WATCH OUT FOR FALLING ROCKS" (I live in the midwest).

One middlish limper and I raise from the cutoff with 6 /images/graemlins/spade.gif6 /images/graemlins/club.gif. Only limper calls.

Flop comes 5 /images/graemlins/club.gif4 /images/graemlins/club.gif2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif He checks, I bet, he calls.

Turn is 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif He checks, I bet, he calls.

River is 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif He checks, I bet, he raises. I just called.

In my defense, it took a lot to fight off the urge to 3-bet. Since I had two of the sixes I liked my straight. But I thought he might have raised pre-flop with an ace, so I couldn't be sure he wasn't bluffing which meant I'm risking 4 bets to win nothing more. I wasn't worried about anything he could have in particular, but when I added it all up (paired board, backdoor flush, chance for better straight, etc.) added to the chance I'd have to pay off a 4th bet, re-raising didn't appeal to me. So I decided to forego the chance to maybe make one more bet and just called.

Would anyone here have just called like I did? Or is failing to re-raise the sign of a TRUE weak/tight wimp? Thanks.

[skp]

On this board, about the only hand that he could have with which he will call your raise and lose is an Ace (and you appear to discount that based on his preflop raising tendencies). So, you just calling his raise would appear to be an entirely prudent course of action.

I gather that you did have the best hand (or else you wouldn't post it the way you did). Nevertheless, I wouldn't worry too much about appearing wimpy by having just called in this spot.

[roy_miami]

Lets see...

If he's bluffing he won't call another bet (you gain nothing), if its a tie you gain nothing, if he has 67 you lose 2 bets, if he has 33 you lose 2 bets, if he has 2 diamonds you lose 2 bets, if he has an ace you gain a bet.

Adds up to a call for me.

[Kevin J]

Yeah, when you put it that way (kinda the way I saw it at the time), it's looks easy. But I see so much aggression online (some of it in the way of expertly thin river raises), and lately, so much talk about it here, that I sometimes wonder if I pass up value too often.

By the way, skp was right. He had AJo. But I'd have posted it either way.

[EnderW27]

I'd actually say the backdoor flush concerns me a lot more than the paired board. If he's willing to check trip fours or a full house on the turn and not reraise you and then checks to you on the river hoping you'd bet (a reasonably safe assumption, but still) this guy's leaving a lot of money on the table. If that board hit him at all, he'd have check raised the turn.

[skp]

Ya, I agree, I think you can heavily discount being beat by a full. Backdoor flush, an Ace, a 6, 76, boat would be the order from most likely to least likely (I am not ranking the relative likelihood of a bluff).

[na4bart]

Christ, my first inclination was a call and I felt wimpy thinking about it. Feel better after having read the thread. Just posted a (correct? wimpy fold) hand under 20/40 Hand.

[elysium]

hi kevin

it's worth a 3-bet. he doesn't put you on a 6 due to your betting action. you need to factor in what your holding appears to be in light of your betting action. this looks like an over-pair. well, it is an over-pair, but you know what i mean.

you aren't holding a 6 kevin. well, you are, but you know what i mean.

furthermore, your 3 bet has tremendous value. he will call you down with his A5 with certainty. no, i haven't read the results, but that's what this opponent has. he has nothing other than A5.

hmmmm, it's not A5? well, you know what i mean. by the way, you have good habits kevin. the call is a little weak but it does show good reflex in the heat of battle. now start to tie it together by considering how your action may be influencing your opponents action. when that influence is very, very strong, as it is here, your odds of winning on the showdown will often be substantially altered. so when your betting action strongly affects your opponent's reasoning, while your read of what he is holding might diminish somewhat, and therefore cause you to feel less sure about things on that particular level, on another level, a more important level; the very strong level of certainty, in this case, that your opponent has in his belief that you aren't holding a 6, but an over-pair instead; well i've done it again. a sentence knot. but without having to complete this sentence, you know what i mean.

you don't have a 6. well, you do but you don't. as far as your opponent is concerned. he might have a 67, but the odds are that he is raising not because of the strength of his hand, but because of the strength of his read. the pre-flop raise improved your implied odds odds on the river. you now must take advantage of the increase of implied odds. you must 3-bet.

you're coming along kevin. over-all, the hand shows you are developing some good habits. you need to learn when exceptional circumstances dictate a different course of action. learn to follow your opponent's read.

[Senor Choppy]

[ QUOTE ]
Lets see...

If he's bluffing he won't call another bet (you gain nothing), if its a tie you gain nothing, if he has 67 you lose 2 bets, if he has 33 you lose 2 bets, if he has 2 diamonds you lose 2 bets, if he has an ace you gain a bet.

Adds up to a call for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's fine to give the opponent a range of hands as long as they're weighted.

67, 33, and 2 diamonds combined will occur less frequently than a single ace in this situation, which is what I expect to see from a typical opponent.

[JasonP530]

I think its a tough decision and by no means easy. I would hardly think he is bluffing since you could very easily have raised preflop or checked behind on the river without an ace. Seems to me like he has better than just a lone ace(I would certainly have led with an ace into a reasonable opponenet), or an ace at minimum. If you reraise and he 4 bets, then what?