$109 - JJ midgame

[Elektrik]

UTG is loose, and if he were to hit TPGK on a flop he's not letting go. He isn't passive preflop - if he had a hand, he'd raise it up. Both streets open for discussion.

Blinds 25/50
UTG (t940)
UTG+1 (t1315)
MP1 (t2060)
Hero (t805)
CO (t1955)
Button (t1495)
SB (t670)
BB (t760)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J/images/graemlins/club.gif, J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, UTG+1 calls t50, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t200</font>, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, UTG+1 calls t150.

Flop: (t475) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif, K/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
UTG+1 checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero...?</font>, <font color="#CC3333">

[david050173]

You have ~600 chips left and the pot is 475. With an early position limp I would expect to see AQ,AJ,KQ, AT, and QJs more than AK, AA, KK,QQ which I would have expected a raise or reraise preflop. If you bet (150-250), I would imagine the hand that would call would be the flush draw. If he had trips or AK I would expect a reraise. Same thing if he has AA or KK. I am not sure how he would play something like KQ/Js. I think I would expect a bet from him on the flop with those.

I think the odds your hand is good are over 50% but other than putting all your chips in the middle I don't know how you can figure that out. You are a bit too short stacked to be making continuation (150-250) bets.



You pretty much either have to push (representing the king or aces) and hope he folds. Or try the check and hope he doesn't push at you on either the turn or the river.

[Elektrik]

The thing that bothers me about this hand is that my opponent is not a very good player, and my goal is to outplay him and extract the most money possible when I'm ahead; I feel like I'm not giving myself the best opportunity to do that here.

Before the flop, I can say with near certainty that I'm ahead. He's raising AA, KK, QQ, AK and probably AQ; he could limp those, but it's unlikely. Because of this along with position on him, I raise, hoping that he folds. However, I'm not sure I like my raise; he's a loose player - what if he has a Ax, Kx, or even Qx hand and the flop comes down A/K/Qxx? I know he's loose, and could definitely call a raise with those hands. And at that point, if a flop like that does come down, any bet is going to pot commit me, so now I'm stuck. I've got some tough decisions to make.

I could push. Granted, 800 chips into a 125 pot is a bit, especially if someone wakes up behind me with a hand. But I'll probably take it down there, and he might even call with a dominated PP or something I'm well ahead of, like A10 or so.

I could limp, and keep the pot small. Granted, I'm giving the BB and the SB over there a free chance to catch his two pair on a 853 flop and stack me, but at least that way I can fire a bet on any flop if checked to, and be prepared to lay it down to a raise from the original villain.

I could also minraise. Now that's a new one - don't hear that one much argued for on these boards. Certainly the villain's gonna call, but I might get trash out of the BB and SB, and any thinking player would probably tighten up significantly, because what the hell would a player like me ever min raise with? Now the pot's still small (250), and I can still fire a half pot bet on the flop if checked to without committing myself.

Granted, all this becomes irrelevant against a good player. I simply make my raise and most likely take it down right there. But the issue here is not about playing against a good player, it's about extracting the most from a weak one.

Of my options, min raising and limping look to be the better of the two. Anyone have any thoughts?