40-80 Hand #3

[Clarkmeister]

4 handed. Young guy who's been running bad but playing well is the BB.

I raise in the CO with ThTd. BB calls.

Flop: 9h 7d 3s. BB checks, I bet, BB checkraises, I 3-bet, he 4-bets, I 5-bet, he calls.

Turn: Jc. BB checks, I bet, BB calls.

River: Ks. BB checks, I check.

[Danenania]

Perfect I think. Very astute river check.

[arkady]

Would he 4-bet overs on the flop? I guess if I were in your position I would put him on A9 or K9. I would then bet and fold to a raise....unless there is a chance he has you beat with something like 97?

[Michael Davis]

I don't get the lack of the river bet on this one. I think either you way overplayed your hand on the flop or you underplayed it on the river.

-Michael

[Schneids]

I bet the river.

[King Yao]

I would bet. The pot is big, he'll keep that in mind when thinking about calling. If he raises you, suck it up and call.

[gonores]

[ QUOTE ]
Young guy who's been running bad

[/ QUOTE ]

Even if he is playing well, I think this swings the river toward a bet.

[captZEEbo1]

anyone care to go into detail as to why they like the river check?

[DrGutshot]

Clark says that although BB has been running bad, he is still playing reasonably well. I think the BB will not call a river bet on this board after all the strength clark has shown unless he has a pair of jacks or kings.

-DrG

[ALL1N]

What really interests me are the factors involved in the decision to 3-bet instead of call and pop the turn, and the same for the 5-bet.

And how about if the board were two-tone?

Thanks

Richie

[ToneLoc]

Well Clark has shown huge strength on the flop. If BB was holding A9, the J and K really have ruined his hand, and he might not call on that river.

Basically, if he held a hand that TT beat on the flop, the board has probably deteriorated too much for him to call.

As a result, if you bet and he calls, you are probably not a 50% favourite to win, hence the check...

[spydog]

Is 5-betting this flop normal?

[ALL1N]

Perhaps the 5-bet was to reduce the damage against AA-JJ. Although in that case I would have checked the turn. I'm really interested in this flop aggression.

[Luv2DriveTT]

Clark:

You played this hand exactly how I would have played it, and that is why I don't like it. I think I have been playing situations like this wrong with too much flop aggression and I am trying to correct it in my own play.

Let me explain...

What hands would BB 4 bet on the flop?
(a) overpair to the 9 - unlikely for most hands since he did not re-raise pre-flop. But that does mean a possible TT. Higher pairs are possible if BB decided to slowplay his hand pre-flop, which is not unreasonable considering his position if he wants to exploit the likely aggressor post flop.
(b) trips
(c) possibly 2 pair, but if BB is a good player can we expect him to call with 97s? I'd place this is the low range of possibilities based on your report on the player's abilities.
(d) 9 with a high card kicker such as A9s

You are an obvious underdog to (b) and (c), and all possibilities in (a) except you tie with TT. We can generally rule out overcards such as AK, AJ, AQ, KQs, etc as I doubt he would 4 bet in this situation.

Therefore I stop and go into call down mode when the opponent 4 bets this ragged flop. If he checks the river, I bet.

With that said, since you 5 bet the flop I like your river check. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

TT /images/graemlins/club.gif

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
4 handed. Young guy who's been running bad but playing well is the BB.

I raise in the CO with ThTd. BB calls.

Flop: 9h 7d 3s. BB checks, I bet, BB checkraises, I 3-bet, he 4-bets, I 5-bet, he calls.

Turn: Jc. BB checks, I bet, BB calls.

River: Ks. BB checks, I check.

[/ QUOTE ]

BB flips over As9s.

Results aside, I am inclined to think that checking the river was bad as many of you suggested. As for the flop, there are certain people who are good enough to know that many players will 3-bet their checkraise with overs and smoothcall with the goods. Against those players, especially ones who don't know that I rarely play it that way, I have an easy 5-bet on the flop because the 4-bet only means "no, really, I have a pair and you aren't taking any freebies on me".

[ALL1N]

Thanks for the explanation of the 3-bet.

What led to the 5-bet as opposed to smooth/raise turn then?

[Luv2DriveTT]

[ QUOTE ]
Against those players, especially ones who don't know that I rarely play it that way, I have an easy 5-bet on the flop because the 4-bet only means "no, really, I have a pair and you aren't taking any freebies on me".

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks... I learned something today. And here I was thinking that my flop play has been too agressive shorthanded in situations such as this, I need to evaluate some more.

TT /images/graemlins/club.gif