One dummy or two?

[Sam T.]

Low buy-in PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (7 handed)

UTG (t5065)
MP1 (t1840)
Hero (t2645)
CO (t4105)
Button (t2428)
SB (t2630)
BB (t10637)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q/images/graemlins/club.gif, J/images/graemlins/club.gif.
discspinner folds, UTG calls t100, MP1 folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to t400, thinking it would take down the blinds and the limper</font>, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls t300.

*** FLOP *** [Js Jh 7c]

UTG checks, Hero looks at this board, thinks, "What's the worst that can happen?" and checks.

*** TURN *** [9s] [Js Jh 7c]

<font color="CC3333">UTG bets t500</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero thinks, "Any chance he called a PF raise with 8-10? Nah." and raises to t2245</font>, UTG calls t1745.

Final Pot: t5440

Obviously he turned over 8-10 (it was sooted!), and I couldn't find the keys to my boat. It's not a bad beat since I was behind when I put my money in, so nobody needs to call the cops.

My thoughts and questions:
-I've been trying to get more aggressive after limpers, usually raising 3xBB, plus 1xBB per limper. The amount seems right. Was it a lousy idea to do this against the big stack?

-On the flop, I slow-played because I honestly did not think there was a card in the deck that could beat me. He might have had KJ or AJ, but that was a chance I was willing to take. Does anyone NOT check through this flop?

-His turn bet looked like a stab at the pot. I suppose I could have raised, but I honestly don't think I lay down top set, even if he comes over the top.

-Any major mistakes here, or is it just that cards happen?

[VinnyTheFish]

I am not sure if it's a mistake, but I bet into that nut hand all the time! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[betgo]

This was basically bad luck. No dummies. Neither player played this hand particularly badly.

It was not that bad a play to call the raise with T8s. You want to see a flop with a suited gapper for reasons that are clear from this hand. Your opponent was getting 2-1 pot odds even with the fairly big raise. QJs is not that much better than T8s.

The raise with QJs was fine, but you could also have limped. I wouldn't assume an UTG limper doesn't have anything. It is a common play to limp with AA or maybe AA, QQ, or AK with the plan to reraise if someone raises. Also, if the UTG player didn't have a big hand, QJs is about the level of hand you would expect him to have: a suited connector or gapper, a pair, a medium ace, or face cards are typical limping hands.

You probably could have taken the pot with a decent bet on the turn, but you had no way of knowing your opponent would hit a gutshot. It is reasonable to check here. Your main goal is getting money in the pot one way or the other, not getting your opponent to fold.

There was no way of getting away from this hand. You could be beaten by a straight, higher jack, or boat, but what can you do.

Once your opponent made the straight, you still had 10 outs to make a boat or quads.