trips question

[nicky g]

small plhe home game, on the button with pockets sevens. 2 limpers, i put in a raise which the blinds and limpers call. flop comes qc jc x. all check to me, I check too. the turn is the 7c, giving me a set and making a possible flush on board. all check to me, i bet the pot - £4. all fold to the player on my immediate right who is a very good, very tricky and aggressive player who check-raises me another £10. i have £30 left.
what do people think is the right course of action here? my image is pretty tight, i have not been playing many starting hands, though we have not been playing long and the only hand i have played post flop here i have bet all the way and won. do any factors point to a bluff or a better hand than mine? do i have odds to call? if i call, am i committed? should i raise all-in and hope to fill if he does have the flush? thanks in advance,
ng.

[Ray Zee]

you probably should fold here. you are over 3 to one to fill and it seems that may not even win for you. so fold.
its hard to play when you are predicable as you never know when they are just running you off or know exactly what you have and are milking you.

[nicky g]

i did indeed fold, and the check-raiser was kind enough to show me his... total bluff.

i think checking the turn and hoping to pick off a bluff on the river (assuming it wasn't a club) would have been a better idea, given that on the flop i was effectively done with the hand anyway, and the fact that anyone with any sense knows the club on the turn is very unlikely to have helped me, so can therefore bluff me out. i also think calling the check-raise could arguably have been ok, given the combined chances of filling and that, as an aggressive player, he could well be on a bluff/have a worse hand, but it's very marginal. i generally hate to flat call because i'm unsure of where i am with cards to come, and raising could have been suicidal in the situation mentioned, given the money situation. i think he played it well and i manoeuvred myself into an impossible situation.

i am surprised you think the hand may not be good even if it does fill, surely he is not going to show up with a bigger set in that situation?

thanks for the advice. you are right that i was playing far too predictably in general.

[King_J]

No, I like your play on the turn, atleast the bet. I would probably have moved all-in when raised there though. Am I too loose if I like the all-in raise?
I play online and I wouldnt hesitate a second to call there. But maybe your homegame is different?

[nicky g]

yes. there is no way this guy would have called an all-in reraise without a hand that was beating me in this situation, except trip 6s which is unlikely to say the least. so i'm not a fan of all-in here. he is amuch better player than your usual onliner.

[nicky g]

sorry, to clarify: i say trip sixes because the x on the flop was an offsuit six.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Well, you know the guy. Can he possibly have the flush? Would you always bet the turn here if checked to twice? If you would often check that turn card, then it seems very unlikely he has a flush, as he wouldn't expect you to bet it for him. If he almost certainly doesn't have a flush, then you almost certainly have the best hand. I would just call, rather than raise, as long as he is likely to bluff again on the river with that last 20 rather than shut down. If he will shut down when bluffing here, then raise all-in now and deny him a free card for some straight draw or a one-card flush draw.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[nicky g]

thanks greg, that is good advice. to answer your question - he could easily turn up with a flush here, he plays a lot of bizarre hands and is very difficult to read. but i like your other points, those are definitely things i need to be thinking more about. my "people" game needs looooooooottts of work.
thanks, ng.

[DJA]

You know your opponent better then we do... You were checked to twice and then bet the pot... I think there really only 3 hands this player can have... A monster (set bigger then yours), a flush, or absolutely nothing... I lean towards absolutely nothing... It was checked to you twice and finally on the turn you bet trying to pick up the pot. He decides to take the pot from you because you would have bet the flop if you had something....

Just My Thoughts,

if you fold a set
to a little pot check-raise
do it on the turn

the almighty