Limit HE hand

Online limit HE tourney. 101 entrants, down to 5 players, all in the money. Payout structure is unusually flat (top 10 pay, only 20% for 1st place).


Limit is 1500/3000 and about to increase during the next few hands, T101000 in play, I'm the shortest stack and have T6200 left after posting the BB. Another short stack (not in the hand) has about T9000, the others have all over T20000.

Play is pretty conservative and I've been able to steal my share of pots.


Chip leader UTG limps, SB completes and I check with K8o in the BB. Flop comes A42 rainbow. All check. Turn brings another deuce, SB checks to me. I bet my king high, hoping to take it down. UTG calls, SB folds. River is a queen, no flush possible. What is my play (and how do you rate my turn bet)?


results follow


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Ignatius

A flop bet is a better play than your turn bet. If UTG has an Ace he raises preflop. When he calls the turn he appears to have a pair and doesn't believe you have an Ace. I think if you feel there is even the slighteste chance that he will fold the river you must bet to avoid being bluffed yourself. If you check and he bets what do you do? Fold of course. By betting the turn you somewhat commit to going for it on the river given your stack size and the size of the pot. If you don't plan on betting the river if called the turn bet is terrible. If raised on the turn you toss, that's o.k. the Queen on the river helps your river bluff. The limper is now be facing 2 over cards to his probable pair and may now fold.


Vince

As soon as UTG called, I knew that I was in trouble. OTOH, I couldn't really put him on a hand as I assumed he would have bet any pair after it's been checked to him on the flop. Since I didn't see much point in trying to comeback form T3200 (probably one of my biggest leaks in tournament play), I made a desparation bet, hoping that it might make him fold a better king. I was still pretty surprised when he called(!) and turned over A6. I busted out when I went all-in with my last T200 on the SB.


OK, so I screwed this one up, essentially bluffing my stack away with no hand, whatsoever. But as someone who rarly ever plays limit HE, I wonder if UTG played the hand even worse or in fact made an expert play to get the max out of his hand and position. The more I think about it, the more I actually like his play (except for failing to put me all-in on the river, that is).


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Ignatius

His failure to raise preflop is a huge mistake. His postflop play is perfectly acceptable.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)