Pot-limit Hold'em 10/10 blinds: What's your play

[Zeno]

All fold to MP who makes it $40 to go, LP calls (very short stacked), you have Ace spades and king of diamonds in the cutoff and raise to $80, all fold to MP who calls; the LP calls all in (lose, bad player). ~$240 in pot. The MP is a tight player, first hand he has played in about 2 hours. He has $2,500 left. You have a bit less ~ $2,200.

Flop is J 8 2, all Spades. MP checks. How would you approach this hand.

[Lurker]

How big is the side pot?

[Greg (FossilMan)]

There's a lot of money left to play here, but also a pretty good amount already in the pot. Since I don't want to inspire MP by showing weakness now, I would bet about 150 right now. Even though the pot is protected by the all-in, there is still a reasonable chance I'm ahead of his hand, and of course I have a great chance of winning even when I'm behind. If MP folds right now, that's fine.

The thing is, how much, if any, am I going to be paid off by MP if another spade hits the board? If he might pay off pretty big with a hand like KsKh, then yes, check now and hope you catch.

Otherwise, betting is probably best.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Ray Zee]

i dont want to make it 80 with this hand ever. i would have raised to 180 without a thought. since you did i would again bet the pot on the flop. the only way you will get played with is when he has a big hand. so you get to win it right then most of the time and play with the allin person, which is what you want. and you get a chance to charge him when he smooth calls. if he raises you play poker and make a good decision.

[Ignatius]

> MP makes it $40 to go, LP calls, you raise to $80

You need to raise the pot here in an attempt to get it heads-up with LP. Your (almost) minimum raise is esp. bad considering the almost all-in LP as it will put you in a though spot when you don't hit the flop.

> Flop is J 8 2, all Spades. MP checks.

I would tend to bet here, esp. if there is a significant sidepot, as you easily could have the best hand, the all-in player reduces the risk of a check-raise (he cannot rely on you to automatically bet when checked to) and to prevent MP from betting the turn.

cu

Ignatius

[Zeno]

Thanks for the responses and advice. I'll just lay out the hand and then add some comments on the end.

I checked behind - I was positive that he wanted me to bet.

The turn was the Ace of clubs. MP bet the pot. I called, and raised $700. He thought for what seemed like 5 minutes but was probably only about 2 minutes. He then folded, and I rake the side pot. The river was a rag (an off suit 5, I think). I turned over my ace king and Mr. MP slammed the table, very angry, and said, I knew it. The LP all-in player had Ace Duce for two pair and wins the main pot. He busted out a few hands later.

The advice to raise more preflop is certainly sound. I made the light reraise to see if he would raise again - meaning he probably had Queens or better - and get a better read on his hand. It was my first hand against this player and I wanted more information to go on. Perhaps this was not a good strategy - as pointed out by Ray and Ig---.

It is difficult to put the "table feel" or read into a post (I was staring right at his tiny little eyeballs all bright and eager); but I was positive MP wanted me to bet big so he could raise. Why do what your sure your opponent wants you to do. I figured that I could take a free card. Anyway, he talked with his friend next to him at the table after the hand was over and through the garbbled side talked I understood he was kicking himself for the way he played. He had raised with Jacks and flopped topped set with the 3 spades on board. I figured he had me beat when he took so long to lay his hand down. Why he folded is a bit puzzling. Too Tight? Scared of the flush?

This same player soon left the game without playing another hand.

Then again, maybe I simply muffed up the hand, made a big semi-bluff bet and got lucky. Perhaps I need to stick to just fishing for trout on the Rio Pecos.

-Zeno

[bruce]

Christmas came early for you! Your opponent played this hand horribly. This is weak tight
play to the maximum.

Bruce