How bad a play is this?

[TheBob]

Late stages of a 900 person tournament where I've slowly been accumulating chips and am sitting in 40th or so out of about 90 people. How bad a play was this and what would you guys have done differently?

PokerStars Game #1103617900: Tournament #4653022, Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2005/01/20 - 17:08:38 (ET)
Table '4653022 112' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: MaxAttacks (32363 in chips)
Seat 2: Jake D Snake (28420 in chips)
Seat 3: twiga (41694 in chips)
Seat 4: calsbigdad (19250 in chips)
Seat 5: right (9193 in chips)
Seat 6: ZACKDASTACK (26997 in chips)
Seat 7: xxoffparolex (17717 in chips)
Seat 8: 3 buggy tops (8469 in chips)
Seat 9: Bobwerehere (14964 in chips)
MaxAttacks: posts the ante 50
Jake D Snake: posts the ante 50
twiga: posts the ante 50
calsbigdad: posts the ante 50
right: posts the ante 50
ZACKDASTACK: posts the ante 50
xxoffparolex: posts the ante 50
3 buggy tops: posts the ante 50
Bobwerehere: posts the ante 50
3 buggy tops: posts small blind 400
Bobwerehere: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Bobwerehere [Qh Kh]
MaxAttacks: folds
Jake D Snake: folds
twiga: folds
calsbigdad: calls 800
right: folds
ZACKDASTACK: folds
xxoffparolex: folds
3 buggy tops: folds
Bobwerehere: raises 2400 to 3200
calsbigdad: calls 2400
*** FLOP *** [2c 9d 8h]
Bobwerehere: bets 3500
calsbigdad: calls 3500
*** TURN *** [2c 9d 8h] [5d]
Bobwerehere: checks
calsbigdad: bets 1600
Bobwerehere: calls 1600
*** RIVER *** [2c 9d 8h 5d] [9c]
Bobwerehere: checks
calsbigdad: bets 1600
Bobwerehere: raises 5014 to 6614 and is all-in
calsbigdad: calls 5014
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Bobwerehere: shows [Qh Kh] (a pair of Nines)
calsbigdad: shows [7s 7h] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
MaxAttacks said, "gg"
calsbigdad collected 30678 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 30678 | Rake 0
Board [2c 9d 8h 5d 9c]
Seat 1: MaxAttacks folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Jake D Snake folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: twiga folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: calsbigdad showed [7s 7h] and won (30678) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 5: right folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ZACKDASTACK folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: xxoffparolex (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 3 buggy tops (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Bobwerehere (big blind) showed [Qh Kh] and lost with a pair of Nines

[pkrPlayerBr]

I think if you bet the turn, instead of checking and calling then you can be perceived as having either an over pair or having a top pair and maybe when that 9 comes out you can bet at it again. I don't know if the other player would call you or fold. Maybe he would fold.

Since you decided to check the turn, you should have probably folded the hand because you really didn't have anything other than overcards. Remember this player has you covered in chips, so if you push all in you won't make the money. Wait for another hand to get your money all in.

So my thought is that either you bet the turn and get called or in the path that you took I would check and fold.

[stillnotking]

#1 -- too small a bet on the flop
#2 -- checking the turn is obvious sign of weakness
#3 -- calling the turn is a big mistake
#4 -- raising the river is representing what? An overpair? Most people don't play an overpair like this and it looks very suspicious. Certainly no one would put you on a 9.

[skoal2k4]

I think the turn is where you made your mistake. Either Bet out or check/fold. Villian pretty much has to call flop bet as your bet looks pretty much like a standard continuation bet. Hand started out great, but didn't develop. King high generally isn't good enough to win against someone who has already committed 1/3 of their chips into the pot. Just my take on it. Any feedback on my thinking greatly appreciated!

Robbie

[Sam T.]

Was this against Gavin?

FWIW, I've done the same thing, on countless occasions.

I, for one, don't mind the size of your raise pre-flop. I am, however, worried by the call. Harrington points out that when this happens, the most likely candidate for your opponent's hand is a mid-pocket pair. (If he's got two unmatched high cards or a high pair, he's raising PF. If he's got something like suited connectors, the odds are against him calling your raise.)

I like the flop bet, but when he calls that as well, warning bells should be going off. What hand is going to call that bet? At that point your choices are to fire the second barrel on the turn or shut it down.

Call me weak-tight, but I'm shutting it down. I'm behind, and I don't get the sense that I can convince him I'm on KK.

[DVC Calif]

[ QUOTE ]
Was this against Gavin?

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, I thought it was Jen! /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[HoldingFolding]

When you played this what were you thinking and what were you trying to represent? Pre flop you are representing an overpair or AK/AQ. If your intent was to take it down with your 'overpair' then the post flop bet was too small - though I might make a bet of that size with an overpair just to find out if he hit his set (limp/call at this stage of a tournament screams low pp). Ignoring the possibility of the set, turn is the incredibly non-scarey 5. Your tiny bet screams A-K - I do not want to be in this hand. The river, probably the most innocuous card left in the pack, the 9. Another "let me out of here" bet and he has you by the short & curlies. But why did you call, the worst hand he could have had is Ax?

Limp/Call with low pocket pairs. You assume he misses and lead out with a pot sized bet. If he plays back at you, you have to consider he may have hit his set. Firing another shot on the turn would be read dependent, but I might have let him have it.

[You might have done better to lay out the HH in parts and not show the results]