PLO-I think I played this one pretty bad (long post)

[2005]

Online PLO game .50/$1 blinds. The other player in this hand Luv2Play has just won 4 pots in a row without showing down. I haven't been at the table for that long, only like half an hour or so. He's got a big stack... max buy-in is $100 and he's already at like 200 when I sit down. I have moved my stack to around $250 and his is around $240. Something important to mention is the fact that the money I have on the table is my case money at this site. Here's the hand history with my comments put in as well:

Dealt to wsop2005 [Ah Ac Td Kc]
badczech: folds
africa: calls $1
Murray: calls $1
wsop2005: raises $4.50 to $5.50

(I had been limping with big pairs, but I like this hand so I decided to put in a raise here to maybe get some isolation. Also, I wanted to get Murray out of the hand if possible, I don't like playing against him.)

Mr. Gutshot: folds
luv2play: raises $14 to $19.50
(Ok, the only times I've seen him raise pre-flop since I've sat have been with AAxx or KKxx)
AaronW: folds
africa: folds
Murray: folds
wsop2005: calls $14
(maybe I should have made a big reraise here, but I figured I'd see the flop and if no king came I'd raise him as long as the board wasn't too coordinated.)

*** FLOP *** [7h Qd 2s] (pretty much the perfect flop for me)
luv2play: bets $39.90
wsop2005: raises $119.70 to $159.60
(I raise, wanting to win a somewhat big pot right here.)

luv2play: calls $119.70
(He thinks for a pretty long time before making this call. When he calls I put him on KKQJ or something of the sort.)
*** TURN *** [7h Qd 2s] [Qh] ([censored]!)
luv2play: bets $67.40 and is all-in
wsop2005: folds
(I thought for a long time before this, but I read him for a Q and another one came on the turn. I didn't want to put the rest of my money in here with what I thought to be 2 outs. I fold even though I'm getting almost 4-1 on my call. )
wsop2005 said, "wow"
luv2play collected $358.20 from pot
luv2play: shows [4d 9c 6d Tc] (a pair of Queens)


SO.... He showed me a completely naked bluff and I felt like an idiot, but should I have called because the pot was so huge anyways? Looking back, and hindsight is 20/20, I guess he was just putting his money in b/c a bit of a scare card peeled off the deck and he thought he could push me off a hand with his bluff. He was apparently right. I saved my $75 and turned it into $200 in the rest of that session, but that hand has bothered me for a long time.

All comments, positive or negative greatly appreciated. TIA.

Gavin

[Greg (FossilMan)]

A handful of mistakes.

First, never play with case money if it's going to affect your decisions. Even if you're not a pro, and this is entertainment money. If doing this affects how you play, then you really can't play a winning game, so you shouldn't play at all.

Second, the only reason to not reraise preflop is for deception. You are heads-up already, so it's not like you're making a reraise against a field that you know will call anyway, and where they will know what you hold but you won't know where they are. Flat-calling out of caution shows that this case-money thing is hindering your play.

On the flop, you raised big, which is good. When he just calls, you've got to know he isn't likely to be ahead of you. Even though the Q on the turn is the worst card in the deck, I count over $350 in the pot, and then he bets $67. That's 7:1 where you might be ahead, and admittedly if you're behind you're a 20:1 dog.

But, my basic principle in these games is once I've put this much of my money in the middle, I don't fold unless I know with almost absolute certainty I'm beat. Some people will fold like you did. They reason that how can the guy be bluffing, when he knows I'll call for the size of the pot. Well, I've seen too many stupid bluffs like the one you saw to follow that reasoning.

While it's true your opponent played his hand terribly (with the exception of his bluff on the turn), you have to admit you played it worse by allowing him to win with that bluff.

It all comes down to being on your case money. You played scared, and paid for it.

Congratulations on coming back and earning a win. Next time you should buy in for less than all your money. And, once you've won a bit, leave the game and come back in for less so you can lock up some of that money to buy you back in later should you suffer a bad beat.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)