3/6 hand at the Taj

[Porcupine]

After an extended absence, I was back at the tables recently. It took a while to shake off the rust, and I have been bothered by this hand. In hindsight, I can think of several ways to play this that I'd feel better about. However, I really just followed a "tell" and could have just as easily been patting myself on the back for a good laydown. Anyhow, I'd like to hear other opinions. Table was very passive pre-flop and the suits aren't important.

EP limps. I limp from late-middle position with AA.
[I felt since I hadn't raised pre-flop yet, and the table was so passive, a raise would scream AA. Is this an automatic raise?]

Button and both blinds limp as well.

5 see the FLOP of 559 rainbow for one bet each.

The SB perks up and then quickly checks. (I can't fully describe his overall body language, but I felt strongly I had a good tell and he had a 5).

Checked to me, I bet [should I let the button bet? Do I still call the 2 bets when he is checkraised?]. Button calls. SB checkraises (now I'm really convinced he has a 5). BB and EP fold. I call [better to reraise?] as does the button.

3 see the TURN of: 8

SB bets out. I fold (my thinking was I didn't want to pay 2 bets to see his 5). Button calls.

RIVER is a blank (I forget the exact card).

SB and button both check (Doh!). SB shows a 9 and takes it with 9955x. (Ouch!)

Comments/suggestions appreciated.

[bernie]

not following your read cost you only 1 sb....

however, seeing that he will do this with a top pair on this type of board, id 3 bet him next time it came up. he just showed you how he plays a paired board with top pair....

but the fold, with less information, i dont think is that bad....IF you use the info gained from it.

was this your first hand you played? id have raised preflop. if you dont show it down, they wont know for sure what you had anyway....nothing wrong with going HU with AA postflop...EP wouldve called...maybe even someone else behind you...

you say it wouldve 'screamed' AA....based on what? raise it and confirm it. if they all fold, epsecially the EP, it may be time to switch gears and maybe try for a short run over the table....

you dont know how theyll react until you do it..and it may open up other doors for other plays....

b

[Porcupine]

Thanks for the input.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
but the fold, with less information, i dont think is that bad....IF you use the info gained from it.


[/ QUOTE ]

Part of me was worried that I had made a terrible fold. I did use the info to get some extra money on a later hand with someone else at the table called a "risky play", but I knew he didn't have the nuts.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
was this your first hand you played? id have raised preflop. if you dont show it down, they wont know for sure what you had anyway....nothing wrong with going HU with AA postflop...EP wouldve called...maybe even someone else behind you...

you say it wouldve 'screamed' AA....based on what? raise it and confirm it. if they all fold, epsecially the EP, it may be time to switch gears and maybe try for a short run over the table....

[/ QUOTE ]

In hindsight, I should have raised and then adjusted my play (if necessary) based on what happened. It wasn't my first hand, as I limped several times before that hand. I was also considering the lack of action that resulted from another player raising a couple hands before this one.

[soda]

With the limper, I'd say yes - this is an autoraise preflop for me. Let them figure out what you have the hard way.

You saw that the flop hit the BB (v. good), but were wrong on which part hit him (not good). No big deal though. Chalk it up to experience. Next time you see a flop like this hit someone, ask yourself which part he/she hit. The trips or the top pair.

With big hands that I've played weakly/passively - I tend to go further with them than I'm ordinarily comfortable with. The reason is that the whole table is putting me on a hand that's one notch lower than what I really have. To compensate, I'll call more often and muck less.

soda

[Ed Miller]

What soda said about adjusting your play to call more when you underplay your hand is very important. I see posts here regularly where someone underplays a hand like an overpair, failing to raise on several streets, and ends up mucking a winner because he got scared of the action on later streets.

Remember, when people bet and raise into you on the turn when you've been showing strength up until then means something 100% different than when they do the same thing when you have been playing like a wet noodle. Always try to think about what range of hands your opponents would put you on based on your play...

[nicky g]

reading people is surely the weakest part of my game, but i think if you do pick up a tell you have to have an idea of what sort of a player the person is or it can be really easy to misinterpret, and what would consitute a strong hand in that situation - with no preflop raise his top pair might well be good until someone suggests otherwise. the perking up you saw could just be from a tight player or someone on a bad run of cards who found something playable for the first time in a while and "woke up." all that said i think the fold was ok, but a preflop raise would have made your decisions easier.

[Porcupine]

As majorkong pointed out, that is an excellent point about calling more with an underplayed hand - that is definitely something I can work on. In this case I decided (based on all info available at the time) that I was going to fold "right now" versus calling on the expensive streets hoping to hit my 2 outer.

[Porcupine]

reading people is surely the weakest part of my game

My people reading is weak as well, but feel like I am showing some progress. As far as the the "waking up", it was that in addition the way he checked. It is difficult to explain in text, but it was an ethusiastic/happy check, not acting, a "I love that flop, but feel it is best to check it" check.

but a preflop raise would have made your decisions easier

True. I see this the same way as playing starting hands. More then the initial mistake, it is the difficult decisions you are faced with later in the hand that end up costing you. I doubt I would have faced a checkraise if I had raised pre-flop; Furthermore, the SB may not have even still been in the hand.

[johnb]

You seem to be where I was about a year ago on hand reading. You are thinking about it and putting people on a hand which is good. However, you seem to put people on only one hand and fixate on that one which is not good. The next step is to focus on putting people on a range of hands and designing a playing strategy for that hand to narrow the range down.

Two years ago, I would have had the exact same reaction as you to the 'perk up' and checkraise. I would have thought "Ok trip 5's. Time to fold." Playing experience and interaction here though have taught me to consider all the alternatives.

When I got to the part of your entry in which you said the player "woke up" my first thought was trip 5's OR a nine. His check raise of the flop might have given more creadence to the 9 to me. A lot of low limit players would have waited to the turn to make a move when the limits went up.

I think I might have re-raised on the flop to see what his reaction was. If he caps it, i go into check call mode especially with just calling before the flop.

[Prufrock]

johnb,
Your advice as to place someone one a "range" of hands
is outstanding and just what I need to do to step up
my game. Thanks.

[RollaJ]

For what its worth from what I've seen at most LL tables where people flop trips, they tend to check/call the flop and c/r the turn. This is a pure/perfect semi-bluff the guy put on you, trying to force you out early.
And yes Always raise preflop with AA, do you really want the blinds and people with K4s to get in cheap?, If you raise preflop, chances are 76.48% that nobody had the 5 /forums/images/icons/wink.gif