dug myself a hole

Pot limit h/e.


Blinds 200-400.


I have approx 5000 in chips.


The blinds are both very tight players and Ive been abusing their blinds for the last hour.


I am in second last position, everyone folds to me... I make it 1400 to with J9. Button passes. Small blind doesnt realise Ive raised. (strange since Ive raised 4 of the last 5 rounds on his blind) and attempts to raise 800 (thinking he is raising the BB only). He is forced to raise the minimum, 1000. But doesnt like it.


I call.


Flop clomes 872. He checks. I check. Turn J. His piggy eyes light up. He now bets enough to set me in. I pass.


Aside from the original raise which I know most of you will hate... but i dont think was wrong if you knew the play of the 2 blinds you might understand. What do you think of my play of the hand??


I think Im pretty much forced to call the reraise getting over 4-1 pot odds. But when he checks the flop.. I feel I should have taken a stab at the pot... he would certainly fold 2 overcards in this spot and even if hes trapping with a set or overpair ive got outs.


Im prepared to take flames /images/smile.gif


cheers,


Keith

I think your preflop call of the threebet T1000 is incorrect. if you wanted to truly make a move, you should have moved in on him preflop on top of his T1000 raise. If not, then confidently fold your semi-bluff/steal. When you called the three bet preflop, you NEED to hit the board well to stay in the hand. If he were planning on raising without knowing you raised, it's pretty safe to assume that he has your J9 beaten. With the odds against you, raising all in preflop is probably your best bet in taking the pot down right there.


What's curious to me is that you checked the flop and gave him a free card, even after you called his three bet. That telegraphs to him that you either have a monster or nothing. What's more, you folded when you hit your J? You had more than half your stack committed to the pot, and you hit your marginal hand, only to fold? Your hand was condemned from the word go. Trying to steal with J9 isn't what's bad, it's your preflop call. Getting picked off like that isn't fun, but playing a semi-bluff steal is asking for trouble.


Misctwo

He had twice my stack... Im pretty sure whatever he had he would have called me preflop once hed comitted 2400 to the pot. I would bet what is left of my dwindling bankroll he had my Jack beaten on the turn... the only question is did he have AJ or KJ and hit at the same time as me... or he was slow playing on the flop.

well, what if the 9 had come on the turn and he went all in? you would then put him on A9 suited, in which case you're dead? When the J came on the turn, you got what you were looking for, and folded. Like I said before,(and i mean no disrespect) your preflop call of T1000 was the error. If i called the preflop raise, and checked the flop, I would be more inclined to call on the turn because he may either just be trying to buy the pot right there with overcards(in which case you would be in pretty good shape), or he has you horribly beaten with KJ or AJ or better.


In any case, before you try to steal with a marginal hand like J9, be prepared to either fold it or go all in if you get reraised. A call of a reraise is asking for trouble. Even if you hit your hand, as in this case you did hit your J, you're still in bad shape because the kicker is doing nothing for you.


Misc.

Keith (and misctwo),


If he's an unimaginative player (and God knows we know plenty of those, bless 'em) I think there is nothing wrong with either your pre-flop final call or your fold on the turn. I would however have been tempted to bet the flop when he checks to you. Is he much of a check-raiser ? Having just looked again I didn't even see the gut-shot draw when I typed that, so I would go for it I think.


Misctwo, assuming you're in the US (correct me if I'm wrong) it's understandable that you might not realise just what the games are like over here ! There are a lot of weak players, if Keith's read is good (and I would wager it is), the only thing he's done wrong is maybe checked the flop (and I think he knows this :-)).


Any 2 will most definitely do to raise pre-flop if you have the right opponents in the blinds. If called you hope to out-play your opponent, and sure everyone will make the odd error of judgement, but you'll be making chips no doubt.


Andy.


PS Of course I wouldn't raise Keith's blind with any two.


PPS Or would I ?

If you raised 4 of the last 5 rounds on their blinds with no calls then you've picked up (conservatively) 1600-2000 in dead money. I LOVE the raise with J,9. Even if you lose this 1400, you're still ahead for those rounds.


The only thing I'd have done different is to bet the flop. You can put him easily on a big ace, since he tried to raise and then didn't want to. It's likely he was looking for a reason to get rid of this hand cuz he was forced to play it by a mistake.


I like your fold on the turn.


Keep playing hard!