Critique my play? Too Aggressive? Bad play?

[richardn]

Made this play at Foxwoods 1-2NL table...

Hero (~$77) is on the button with A /images/graemlins/club.gifK /images/graemlins/spade.gif
Villian(~$100) is in MP

Hero raises to $15, 2 callers.

Flop comes 5 /images/graemlins/club.gifQ /images/graemlins/club.gif7 /images/graemlins/club.gif
Villian bets $20
Hero reraises all in to $62
other guy folds
Villian thinks and calls additional $42

I played this as a semi-bluff...hoping he'd fold. Unfortunately I played the cards more than the player because he has been LAG and I should have known he'd call. Was this a good bet at all? Did I have enough to force a fold here? I figured there was only one hand he could call with that wasn't a set.

Opinions?

[Scorpion]

How long have you been playing the 1/2 at Foxwoods? There isn't much folding equity at that game. People will call you there with K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif Q /images/graemlins/heart.gif on that board. It's not a bad time to gamble though, you want to get a large stack in that game quickly. I gave up on trying to get people to fold in that game. Wait for good spots to gamble, and just wait for your hands to get paid off.

[Borno]

AQ is the only hand you think he has? I'm confused.. He bet $20 in to a ~$50 pot.


I call here. Your getting decent implied odds.. looks like there are 12 and possibly 15 cards that help you (As, Ks, flush) I could all the As and Ks as 1 out for the 3 cards because they fix to hurt you some times.

so you have... 9 flush outs + 1 ace and 1 king out.

With 11 outs and a $70 pot with $62 behind you and $20 to you...

well.... for the $20 bet you are getting 4.5:1 if you call.. you are a 4:1 dog to hit the flush and have $40 behind you. opponent is LAG. Note: I'm not taking the A or K outs into account at all - but I think they should be.. I am doing this for conservancy.

your pot odds are therefore dece...

your implied odds give you another $80 into the pot.. your $20 call is fixing you to win a $170 pot if you hit.

Since your opponent is LAG and will likely call your all in is senseless.

I call to see the turn, fold if its a brick and he bets. check if he checks.

Even if you think he'll fold to a turn or river bet when the 4th club hits it doesnt matter all that much, EV is already in your court.

[swolfe]

neither of you really have enough money behind for it to be an effective semi-bluff (not enough fold equity). that also means that you're pretty much commited to the nut flush/overcard draw, so i think it's fine...

here's something to think about...you're either folding or all your money is going in. if you decide that you're not folding, then why not call to encourage the other guy to call or raise to make the pot bigger? you're pretty much hoping for another club to fall, so the additional player isn't going to put you any further behind than you already are...and in fact, having it 3 way makes calling on a flush draw pretty much +EV. plus, his $20 bet into a $45 pot is giving you good odds on drawing...

[Borno]

[ QUOTE ]
so i think it's fine...

[/ QUOTE ]

There is nothing fine about it. Why put all your money in here??? Cheap cards = +equity if you hit.

[Scorpion]

If hero calls $20 on the flop he has $42 left, which is going in on the turn. Might as well push the flop and maybe he gets the guy to fold. If not he sees the last 2 cards with no decision to make.

[zaxx19]

[ QUOTE ]
How long have you been playing the 1/2 at Foxwoods? There isn't much folding equity at that game.

[/ QUOTE ]

As opposed to ther live 1-2 games where folding equity is decent? lol

[Borno]

thank you for explaining the concept of a semi bluff.

I fold on the turn if I get pushed with $40 behind in this case.

[richardn]

You guys are right...this isn't a standard game, its the 1/2 at Foxwoods and people will call to the river with crap...I didn't take this into account.

I figured he folds if he's got AQ anything and calls if he's got K /images/graemlins/club.gifQx...which is what he had. Turn and river blanked and I lost.

I was getting odds to call post flop and I was counting on Aces and Kings being outs for me, as well...giving me decent odds to make a bluff at this pot.

I never considered calling the flop at all though, which could induce the other player to call, giving me much more +EV even if I call the remaining $42 after the turn.

If I straight call after the flop and he puts me all in at the turn, the pot is roughly $100 and I've got at best 15 outs (3As + 3Ks + 9clubs) and at worst 12, is it a bad fold? I pushed on the flop because I did figure that if I just called the flop I was so committed at that point that I was losing my whole stack if I was losing.

[Borno]

Its rarely completely right to call in no limit. I think this is one of the cases that you should tho. You've got an excellent draw. If no A or K or /images/graemlins/club.gif falls your in position, if he bets again you can easily fold. In an A falls, he checks, you can still check behind hoping for the flush while keeping the pot reasonable; if he bets you'll feel fine about raising because you feel you have the best hand likely and still a good draw if second best. (this check behind play on the turn if an A hits is weak, I know.. but I like to play it safe in these situations; given he is LAG it is fairly safe to say he doesn't have AQ but I'd hate to dump my stack while I'm dominated - I want to see this river!)

If a K falls and he leads out you can safely call with good outs or check behind him if he tries to induce a bluff.

I don't think folding on the flop is a good move. I call.. if I miss and fold then I just reload and happily continue on knowing I made the right play.

Note: heads up calling these draws is usually -ev... so take this case as a SPECIFIC incident and do not apply calling flush draws on a regular basis.