5-5 PL home game - Trouble with QQ

[MrGo]

Game happened last night. I know most of the players but haven't played with them for awhile. The opponent here is John. He's been running over the table so far (1 hour or so into the game). He's been showing a lot of his hands - some bluffs some decent showings. Very hard to read.

Here's the hand:

I'm in E/MP with QQ. Two callers in front of me. I raise the pot to $30 all day. John who is 2 to my left calls. Everyone else folds.

Stacks: I had about $300, John about $1000

Flop: 4 7 T suits irrelevant

I bet $40. John calls. Pot ~~ $165

Turn: T

I bet $80 and John immediately says "pot". I haven't even put my chips into the pot yet and he says pot. What would you take this as? Weakness or strength? It's hard to put this guy on a hand since he has shown both strength hands and bluff hands. His raise was approx $350 or so, which had me covered.

I fold. He doesn't show his hand.

How should have I played this hand, if any differently?

Thanks.

[ML4L]

Hey Go,

Check the turn, and then either fold or check-raise all-in (I would tend toward the latter, but it REALLY depends).

ML4L

[knifeandfork]

hello go,
doesnt quite add up to me, when you bet 80 in to a 165 pot this leaves you with about 150 behind and 400 in the pot before you call his raise. given that he he has shown so much aggression and so quickly puts you all in on the turn i would call. i agree with ml that you should checkraise the turn all in or fold depending on your read but you have to lean towards getting the money in with your small stack at this point. you just cant afford to let him blow you off your hand here. if you decide to fold i think its reload or cash out time.if you dont want to check raise the turn pushing in to him is a fine idea he probably will have to fold and if he calls i think you were close enough to pot commited it shouldnt change much. after he calls your 40 on the flop you really wish you had bet more, i think do that next time. i dont like the way you played this hand at all. when playing a short stack in this game an over pair needs to get the money in on an uncoordinated board like this. just my rambling amatuer thoughts though sowaddaiknow,
jason

[TomCollins]

Bet more than $40 here or check on the flop and trap him.

Call the turn. Check call the river. He doesn't have a ten.

[MrGo]

I'm learning how to play big bet poker. Obviously I showed my flaws in ths hand. Need to learn to go with my instinct.

[gergery]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Go,

Check the turn, and then either fold or check-raise all-in (I would tend toward the latter, but it REALLY depends).

ML4L

[/ QUOTE ]


Why is checkraising the turn the right play instead of betting out?

[ML4L]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is checkraising the turn the right play instead of betting out?

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's the basic idea. You have two choices here if you bet. You can lead out on the turn small enough to not pot-commit yourself, but that makes it obvious that you don't like your hand, which means you're going to get bluffed pretty often by this kind of opponent. Or, you can lead out for a pottish-size bet, which commits you even if he raises all-in.

Now, here's what happens if you check. He knows that's a scare card, and you APPEAR to not like it or have AK or something like that. So, he's going to fire here with pretty much anything he called the flop with. So, you check-raise. If he had 98 and a straight draw, he's pot-stuck himself. Do this once or twice with a whiffed AK, and he'll have to call with a hand like 99 or 87 too. But, frankly, I can't remember the last time I got called after making this place in a situation such as this one...

So, to summarize, when you bet here, bad things happen. When you check, good things happen. Hope this helped...

ML4L