Decision??

I would like to get your opinion on a tournament hand that I played last night.


Pokerstars: 165 entries - T1500 in chips.


We are down to 24 players. Average stack = 9800, I have 12,600.

Blinds are 600-1200

I am in the cutoff position and get dealt 44. 3 players call up to me 2 big stacks and a below average stack. I decide to call. (I'm hoping to hit a four and double through a big stack.)


The flop is 667 with 2 diamonds. It is checked to big stack on my right who bets. I am convinced that he is bluffing so I raise to isolate. It works, now me and him and he calls. Turn is an ace, he bets out again. I called hoping to slow him down and get a free showdown. I started thinking that he had a suited ace in diamonds. The river is a 5 and he bets again. I then choose to save the 1200 and fold. He showed his hand. Without telling you what it was, please analyze my play/thought processes during this hand.


Thanks


Larry

Larry,


there are some things I cannot understand:


"I am in the cutoff position and get dealt 44. 3 players call up to me 2 big stacks and a below average stack. I decide to call. (I'm hoping to hit a four and double through a big stack.)"


Your reasoning is OK, but 1200 is a pretty high prize for your stack of 12600. I would prefere to fold, unless you are pretty sure that you can double throug if you hit a set on the flop.


"The flop is 667 with 2 diamonds. It is checked to big stack on my right who bets. I am convinced that he is bluffing so I raise to isolate"


Didn´t you mention, you wanted do hit or fold? MUCK! If you cannot muck on this flop, you should not even consider to play small pairs in multiway pots. OK, the chipleader might bluff, but so what? What, if he has a JTd. He has a 50/50 chance to win and: If the T helps him, you won´t even know! And what makes your play even worse: What if one of the other players slow played their trips? Do you think, they will muck? How can you be sure, they don´t have a 6 in their hand?


If you want to play for all your money (and this is exactly what you are likely to do against a flushdraw with 2 overcards), then you gotta move in!


"Turn is an ace, he bets out again. I called hoping to slow him down and get a free showdown. I started thinking that he had a suited ace in diamonds"


You give him an Ace, which leaves you with 2 outs, and you raise to get a free showdown?!?


The good thing is: You try to put him an a hand (many players play only their own hand and don´t take the hands of their opponents into their consideration) The bad thing is: You give him a hand and don´t follow your read? What is reading hands good for if not to follow the read?


BTW, I put him on 98d (straightflush draw and he made the straight on the river). If so, you were unlucky on the river, but it wouldn´t have been a bad beat.


Regards


Martin Aigner

I just reviewd my message and thought, that it might sound a bit unpolite. If so, I wanted to apologize.


Regards


Martin Aigner

You didn't sound impolite at all and if you did, I think I needed the kick in the ass anyway. I figured that I made so many errors in that hand that I wondered if it was time for a beginners hold'em book again.

As it turned out, my initial read was correct, he showed his hand at the end, it was 10-JH. He didn't have a flush draw at all, it was a straight steal. I knew he didn't have an overpair because he raised all pairs preflop. I knew he didn't have a 6 because he slow played trips on two occasions. He also raised almost all aces except once when he had A9s. This is what I based my original read on. However, you are right, I forgot to take into account the other contestants in the hand when I raised the flop. I did end up rebuilding and making it into the money, but I wonder what that extra T6000 would have done for me.

Thanks for your response

Larry

Just wanted to point out that with 44 in the hole and a flop of 667, a player with any two cards over 7 has 9 outs to beat you: he can hit his hand, or hit a 7.

If someone has a flush draw with two cards over 7, that's a massive 18 outs, which makes you a 2-1 underdog.

Raising here is fine if you think he's on a steal, but you're not "raising to isolate", you're raising to win it right there.

Cheers,

Guy.