Paying the Price for Passivity..5-10 Stud Hand

Playing in my usual 5-10 stud home game. There is a $1 ante and no bring-in. High card starts and may check or bet. We are 5 handed. I have 3 (Q,Q). There is one Queen out, and it is the high card. He bets. 3 callers to me, I decide to just call because a raise will get no one out at this point (all callers have lower upcards). 5 players, $30 pot. On 4th street, I pair my doorcard. My opponent catches an offsuit 4. I am now high, and bet $10. He raises to $20. All others fold. There are no aces or kings out. I figure his likely hand is pocket aces or kings since there are none of these out. The problem is that he knows I am the only other thinking player in the game and he IS capable of putting plays on me. Not to mention now a 3 is dead so my chances of making a boat are small. If I'm ahead, it ain't by much. I call (mistake #1?). I just didnt want it getting taken up to $40 here bc if I'm ahead it isn't by much and he will likely bet every street even if behind. I think I played scared poker here. On 5th street, he paired his 4 (ugh). He bet again, and I considered folding, but called instead (another mistake?). Anyway, the rest of the streets aren't so important as he caught undercards and bet into me the whole time. I called him down and turned over 3 deuces in the hole for a rivered full house. So I was ahead the whole time, and he said he was just hoping I'd fold. It was an irritating hand and I think if I took it to $30 on 4th, he may have dropped. What does everyone else think?


Jeff

I agree with your analysis- you botched the hand.


When it gets heads-up on 4th street, you should definitely reraise.


What's this nonsense: I figure his likely hand is pocket aces or kings since there are none of these out? I see no reason to automatically put your opponent on an overpair to your Queens.


And this: If I'm ahead, it ain't by much. Two-pair is WAY AHEAD of even pocket Aces. You're a substantial favorite here.

I appreciate your comments. I will admit that I was stuck badly at this point, and let it affect my play. But is a dead two pair that far ahead of pocket aces with totally live trip and side cards? If a bet is going in on every street anyway what does a 4th street reraise do when it is already heads up? Also, I put this opponent on a big pocket pair because he will jam them routinely against me when I pair my doorcard on 4th...he wouldn't put me on trip 3's and the way he played the hand screamed overcard to me. BTW, I am NOT arguing against ur analysis, esp. considering u play much higher than me (though I do play mid limit hold em, unfortunately this is the only game that I can get without a 3 hr bus ride). Thanks for ur thoughts...and btw this may be the softest 5-10 stud game in the entire country.


Jeff

he will jam them routinely against me when I pair my doorcard on 4th.


I wish I had regular opponents like this. Make sure you really make him pay when you actually do have trips. After showing a few of those down, you can jam him back when you've just got a pair and 3-flush. Maybe he'll fold the better hand a couple times.


I shouldn't have said WAY AHEAD. But you are ENOUGH AHEAD that you can raise him, especially since I wouldn't be so willing to put him on (A,A)Q or (K,K)Q.


The key misplay of the hand is that after your 4th street bet, you never bet or raised him. You never game him an opportunity to fold.

why would you put him on pocket K's or A's. There is no reason to do this. I assume that your opponent was the high card, and there is simply no reason to put him on this type of hand. Since you did not raise and paired you door card, your most likely hand is a pair and a draw, and if I was against you with a pair of threes and thought you had a draw i might try the same play he did. Since you actually had a high pair in the pocket you should probably reraise but itis not a certainty. Although it is a more frequent holdem play, it is to your advantage if he bets into you on the later street when he is behind, and if he will always do this you gain a lot. The only problem here is that teh ante is double what a casino 5-10 game is, so that the pot is probably big enough that you want to knock him out rather than trap his bets.


If you were thinking in this manner then i dont think you really botched it. it just turns out that you got rivered. But you need to understand why the play you made might be the correct play, and it is not because you are behind and are hoping to draw out, which is what youprobably thought while you were playing.


Pat

Pat,

Thank you for your comments. I actually had a similar line of reason as to what you posted. I probably should have 3-bet 4th street, but once I didn't and he paired the 4's, I figure I am either ahead slightly if he doesn't have the big pair, or I am way behind to aces up. I just felt that since a bet is going in on every street anyway, I might as well just call down and not risk a reraise. The reason I put him on AA or KK in the hole is bc of past experience with him; he is a very good player, but doesn't play the typical ultratight game (this game goes EVERY DAY and he basically crushes it). He varies his play pretty substantially to keep the regulars guessing, but one play seems constant between us. When I pair my door and bet, he will frequently raise me with a big pocket pair to get it heads up...I don't see him making this play with anything else and a Q,4 up bc he knows I can reraise. This is seemingly a hand he wants to see the river with.

I think you´ve got a clear reraise on 4th: 1) you want to represent trips, 2) queens and treys are semi-dead or dead. Added to that you said he was a thinking player, meaning he might even fold AA or KK in the hole (of course it is helpful if you´d normally call with a pair of treys + good kicker or straight flush card on 3rd).

Is there any merit to the idea of going for a 5th street checkraise (as was my original plan until he paired his board)? I figured that would get him to fold and be profitable/mixing up my play etc. Since he paired his board, I decided to just call down.