TT first hand

[schwza]

first hand of a homegame. 16 players, $30 buy-in. blinds 5/10, stack = t1000.

first hand, i'm utg with TT. table is 8-handed.

i raise to 60, cold-called by utg+1 and CO.

flop (t195, 3 players): 977r

i bet 150, utg+1 fold, CO calls.

i have never played with CO before, but the players who i've played with in this home game have been pretty terrible for the most part.

turn (2 players, t495): (997) 3 putting two-flush on board. i bet 250, CO calls.

river (2 players, t 995): ((997) 3) Q off-suit. i check, CO bets 250, i call.

comments on all streets.

[halis123456789]

I hate the 5 x BB raise UTG

I would like it more if it wasn't the first hand, and you had already established a tight image.

I could easily see limping with this hand. Raising 2 x BB is pointless, it won't limit the field. I figure it's the first hand against bad players. Limp, see what happens.

I get the impression that utg+1 is a real fish, the type that will call a 5 x BB bet with anything and then fold if he doesn't hit.

It's hard to tell if the CO is playing badly or slowplaying, or both, but I doubt he's playing well.

I like the bet on the flop, in a perfect world you would bet more than this trying to get him to fold, but against a possible "live one" i doubt he would fold a complete draw (two overcards) even if you bet 250T.

So, you bet 150 and he calls again. This is when you slow down. You don't know this guy, he could have anything. Check the turn. If he bets 250, fold, and try to get a line on him.

If he checks after and bets 250 on your river check, fold. You can't afford to lose this amount of money on the 1st hand, when you aren't sure about the guy.

[schwza]

bump.

anybody else?

[edfilan]

I also think that the open raise was a little excessive. It telegraphs your middle pair (to an observant solid player) and makes it more expensive to defend post flop with a vulnerable hand.

Unless he's a total fish, I'm putting CO on a PP also. After the flop, you should have only 2 hands to worry about -- JJ and 99. QQ or higher should have reraised preflop and 77 is too remote to consider. JJ probably would have raised the flop so that leaves 99 as the only hand that has you beat. On the other hand, I could see someone who is slightly fishy calling all the way with any pair and then desperately betting the river after you check. I definitely call the river.

[DireWolf]

This is a pretty crappy situation. Have you played with these guys before. I think you are ahead more than behind and i would play the same as you untill the river, except tried to keep the pot a little smaller. If your raise preflop had been 40, you could have bet 100 on the flop and 200 on the turn.

I think you should throw out a blocking bet on the river. 300 will probably do. There aren't any hands that you beat that will raise that river. If you are going to call the river bet anyways, i think this is a good time to bet. I think you got lucky that villan only bet 250 into a 900 pot. It would be a much harder call if he had pushed i think. Maybe thats all wrong though.

[U235]

This is hard. A fine hand for showing how much playing out of position sucks.

Pre-flop: I don't like a big raise UTG with this hand either. I'd play TT mostly for set value at this point; a raise of 2-3BB should get the pot big enough where you could get some action should you be lucky enough to hit your set. Also, keeping the pot smaller may make betting easier in later streets.

Flop: Good flop for you. A kind of weird thing is going on here in that the worse the players are, the more likely they are to have cold called with a seven (or nine, you mixed your flops up). But, also, the worse they are, the more likely they are to chase with unprofitable hands. The bet of 150 is good, although a slightly smaller bet would mean that you would not have to bet as much on future streets.

Turn: About as brick-ish as can be. The bet of 250 is OK; against a good player, I'd probably be done with the hand once he called. Against a bad player, however, you are probably still extracting value. Again, a smaller bet may make things easier.

River: If you are pretty sure he is a bad player, I'd make a bet here, expecting him to call with some worse hands and not re-raise with some better ones (such as a Q). He may even fold JJ. You would have to bet at least as much as you did on the previous streets (preferably slightly more), assuming you plan to fold to an all-in re-raise (which I would). As for a check, I only think this is good if he would not bet a queen here. I think most would bet a queen, and I would fold to an all-in bet/bluff, so I don't think that there is much advantage to a check.

Once he bets 250, it is an easy call. I'm likely beat by a Q, but I am getting 5-1. The tough part will be holding my tongue while he takes the pot.