Two hands from 565 WPF limit hold-em.

Hand 1. This is why hold-em is not my best game.


Tournament pro calls after the gun, fold, I raise, everybody folds, big blind calls. Flop 7c8d9d. Check, check, I bet. Big blind folds, pro check raises, I raise, he calls. Turn 7c8d9d6s. He checks, I bet, he raises, I reraise, he caps. River 7c8d9d6sQd. He checks, I check. He's got 8hTh. I've got JhJd.


Recap: Totally lost it on this hand. Should have checked the turn and made a crying call on the river. Some positives followed but not enough to offset 3 BIG bets.


Hand 2. Pot odds must not be his strength (neither is mine).


New table. I'm running a little low and looking to raise the blinds. My image is very tight. I pick up AKs two of the button (hell any ace at this point would have done). I raise. Everybody folds to Chris Bigler who is in the big blind. He calls. Flop comes out A J 5 two suited. He checks. I bet. He calls. I think he puts me on ace. Turn is a rag. Same action. River is a king which also happens to give me two pair. He comes out betting for my last half a bet. I smell a straight. Straight it is. (no backdoor flush possible and I definetely thought he put me on an ace)


Recap: He definetely had a better than average stack but it seems like he was just trying to piss some chips off on this hand. While I can come up with a few strategy reasons for his play the most obvious one is he was just putting in chips on a gut shot against what looked like a small stack, just like most would do.


Comments on hand 2? or hand 1 if you like.

Hand 1) I agree with your recap. I don't know what you were

doing on the turn. On the flop I probably wouldn't have reraised

either. The flop is highly coordinated and your hand is not that

strong. On the turn with four to a straight your opponent would

have led and it would have been much easier to fold and you would

have saved a whole bunch of chips.


Hand 2) You were very unlucky. Your opponent hit a three outer.

I certainly would not have called on the turn if I were him esp.

because you were shortstacked and if I get there I don't

even get fully paid. I don't think he has enough chips to start

squandering them. Trying to knock out a player should not be

a strong objective until you get to the very end of a tournament.

But what the hell do I know? Chris certainly has a better record

than I do so maybe I am missing something.


Bruce

1) With a 1 card straight it is probably best to check the turn. Once you do bet and you are raised not sure why you would re-raise.


2)In the BB calling with QT versus a small stack is correct. If does have you on A-rag then he probably folds but he also could have you on a small pair which means he has a gutshot and 2 overcards. His turn call may be questionable but at this point you only have 1.5 bets left.


Ken Poklitar

Hand 1, everybody else (and you) is right. You lost way too much, unless you smelled a stone-cold bluff and were wrong.


Hand 2, as Ken says, Chris might be giving himself 10 outs, in which case his call on the turn isn't bad. I've played with Chris a few times, and tight is not the word for his game most of the time. He's very tricky, aggressive, and sometimes pretty loose. So, I'm not shocked at the hand at all.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

I have an important question.... on hand 1, what was your read on this guys hand? Obviously, for you to 3 bet, you must not have him on the str8. Or did you? You ended up checking the river, so maybe you did. What if he had bet the river? My question is this, when, if ever, would you have entertained mucking this hand? JJ is a strong hand, but don't fall in love with any hand. It's no better than 2,2 if you're behind. With a 4-liner on board and a guy 4 betting me, I gotta believe I might be beat. You even say that you over played the turn but then you said that you should have bet less on the turn and call the river. I guess I just didn't like the comment about "crying call". If you're beat, don't give someone more than you have already.


Keep playing hard!