Slow playing aces for the second time in my life.

[BeerMoney]

I don't usually slow play aces, but the guy with the 9 showing was solid, and I thought the bring in was fairly tight. I don't get tricky too often, but what do ya think?

7 Card Stud High ($5/$10), Ante $0.50, Bring-In $2 (hand converter (http://www.geocities.com/greenage22/7StudConverter.hta.txt))

3rd Street - (0.70 SB)

Hero: A/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif___calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif___brings-in___calls
Seat 4: xx xx J/images/graemlins/heart.gif___folds
Seat 5: xx xx 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___completes
Seat 6: xx xx 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___folds
Seat 7: xx xx 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif___folds
Seat 8: xx xx J/images/graemlins/club.gif___folds

4th Street - (3.70 SB)

Hero: A/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif J/images/graemlins/spade.gif___checks___raises
Seat 2: xx xx 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___checks___calls
Seat 5: xx xx 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif K/images/graemlins/spade.gif___bets___calls

5th Street - (4.85 BB)

Hero: A/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif J/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/club.gif___bets___raises___calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___calls___raises
Seat 5: xx xx 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif K/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/club.gif___raises___calls

6th Street - (16.85 BB)

Hero: A/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif J/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/club.gif K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___checks___calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif___bets
Seat 5: xx xx 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif K/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___calls

River - (19.85 BB)

Hero: A/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif J/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/club.gif K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif___checks___calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif xx___bets
Seat 5: xx xx 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif K/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif xx___calls

Total pot: (22.85 BB)

[PhiGamTN]

no idea how to play this but i'm guessing 5 had kings in the whole and 2 had 3/5

[absentx]

Yeah, kinda lost on this one, but my prediction would be that seat two got away with murder in one of two ways:
1. had 3 and a 5 buried and the 2 completed
2. might of had a pocket 6's or 2's and decided he might as well start raising once he saw all the action on 5th street.

As for seat 5 I think he made two pair on or before fifth street but finally thought twice about your strange raising and betting pattern (which I think was a fine idea) and realized you probably had his Kings up beat, then he cooled down.

I guess the one bad thing that might have happend is that because you didnt re-pop seat 5's completion on 3rd street, player 2 stuck around.

That is my two cents and I have no idea if it is correct!

[Roland]

If you have to start slow playing big pairs it’s probably time to find a better table.
In this case I’d still re-raise – alright, he’s folding nines, but there’s always the chance he has something he wants to stick with, maybe kings or queens or a three-flush.
That’s just me though – I love re-raising. /images/graemlins/cool.gif
Nothing much I can say about the rest of the hand – I see no other way to play it.

[SittingBull]

Based on ur assessment of Seat2,he woluld not come over the top unless he had the Str. He would NOT be playing pocket 2's--hence,he does not have a set.
However,it's reasonable for him to make a min call since he did not have to put the entire amount in the pot. He's receiving a discount for his backdr Str. UR raise would have knocked him out. U let him in too cheaply.
I read about Stu Unger's call against another player who did not bet enough to make the call incorrect for Stu. This was a no limit Texas Hold'em game where thinking in terms of implied odds is paramont. Stu's Oppo. has a strong hand on the flop. However,he did NOT want to chase Stu away,so he made a bet that was NOT incorrect for Stu to call. Stu had a bellybuster. On the turn,Stu completed his bellybuster and his OPPo,. went ALL-IN ,thinking he had the best hand. UR checking allowed the 3-Str. a cheap call.
SittingBull

[CarlosChadha]

Hi Beer,

Against good observant players this kind of slowplay is okay because it puts a little fear in their heart whenever you just smooth call with As on future hands. I know that I always have a tough time playing against someone that just smooth calls with an A up because it is hard to know where they are at. Keep in mind that if the ante structure was higher you'd rarely be smooth calling with an
A up, regardless of your hole cards (usually folding or reraising to take control). When the pot is small, little slow plays are okay (just make sure that you can get away form the hand if he makes something scary like a paired door card because now the pot is smaller than normal).

I think that your check raise on 4th was a bad play, because it will usually result in giving a free card. Good players will smell your obvious slow play and bad players will just get scared to keep on betting without a very strong hand. This also detracts from your future plays when you smooth call with a weak holding and catch a very scary card on 4th (that doesn't help you) and bet out (hoping your opponents fold). Also, you now are in a 3 way pot, so getting tricky is no longer smart.

On the river, there is highly unlikely that you can fold in this huge pot when you only have 20 seconds to think. But in a real life game with plenty of time to think on the river, I believe that if the 2 seat reasonable player, you will win this hand less than 5% of the time. Pretty much the only thing he might have is the 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif and another diamond in the hole (most likely 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif), or maybe the other 2 As and was trying to get it heads up on 5th. But since he failed to get it heads up, it seems unlikely that he would continue to bluff to the river vs 2 opponents, especially since it looks like you might be on a flush draw. I'd say that about 78% of the time he has a str8 on 5th, and 18% of the time he has trip 6s and 4% he has 4d3d, didn't hit either of his draws and is on a total bluff.

Regards,
Carlos

[beta1607]

I think its good to mix it up every now and then since many 5/10 players like to "realize" things and I am sure you gave your self decent cover for if you ever limp with an A up again against some of the regulars.

On 5th you have to be a pretty concerned about seat 2. After cold calling 2 on 4th and then capping the next street when he caught a scare card against 2 opponents its a safe bet that your are behind. However your hand is too good and the pot is too big to fold so have to get to showdown as cheap as possible and hope to boat up.

[Bartholow]

Do you think the checkraise on 4th is bad because he caught a suited high card, or just in general? I disagree, but if you think you have to just bet out on 4th then you should probably just go ahead and raise on 3rd no?

[CarlosChadha]

purely because he caught a very scary suited paint card