Kings and the crazy guy

[oddjob]

this is a hand from last night, that is still bothering me. it's colorado $2-5. there's one $2 blind, and up to $5 betting all rounds.

it's my blind and i pick up the black K's. there's about 6 limpers to me. i raise to $7. 4 callers.

flops is AA7, oh boy. i bet $5, the guy next to me raises to $10.

this guy plays way too many hands. even if it's raised to $7 preflop, which means he could have anything. i've seen him call $7 with 82s?? he also tries to bluff way too many pots, and has been caught many times. so his raise could mean anything.

it's folded to me and i make it $15.

he calls.

the turn brings an offsuit blank. i bet he calls.

the river is a queen. i bet, he raises. i fold.

comments?

[Abagadro]

What did you put him on on the river that you didn't put him on earlier in the hand?

You are getting around 19-1 on your call against a person who you've said bluffs too many pots and is "crazy". I think you definitely have to call this.

[oddjob]

i put him on an ace when he raised me on the flop. then when he didn't reraise me i had no clue as to what he could be holding.

i don't understand why he'd reraise me on the river if i had just represented an Ace, so when he raised me on the river i put him back on the Ace.

to be honest as i was throwing them away, and the cards were just hitting the muck, i realized i should have called that bet. that's why i think this is bothering me so much. his raise had totally thrown me off and i found myself making a bad laydown without thinking about it.

[Homer]

I wouldn't have made it $15 on the flop. You are either light years ahead or behind. Raising could make him give up his bluff, or you will be reraised by an Ace, if he really has one. I think the play is to call the flop raise, check-call the turn, and check-call the river. If he checks behind you on the turn, then bet the river.

-- Homer

[oddjob]

i think you are correct. after thinking about the hand i felt i played it poorly the whole way. even if i think he's bluffing, and done what i wanted with that reraise, he would have folded right then (if he played it correctly) but he made a move on me and succeeded.

for the record he showed me KQo. and it was the 2nd time i had kicked myself for a laydown. the other one was me laying down Q9s for $12 preflop. i know this was the right thing to do, but if i had played it i would have made quads to beat quads for the bad beat jackpot, and taken home about $900.

i actually had a good winning session, but for some reason these two hands are tearing me up.

[bad beetz]

I agree completely.

This is the kind of hand where your serious aggression will only be called by hands that beat you, but weakness will be very profitably bluffed against, as you have a hand which is very unlikely to be drawn out on, and beats most hands that don't cream you.

[Homer]

You can kick youself over this one, but not the other one. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

-- Homer

[Homer]

As a side note, this practice of going limp (check-call, check-call) on select occasions is something that took me quite a while to pick up. Much of the discussion here is centered around being very aggressive, so a newbie gets in the mindset of picking a hand and only betting and raising with it. Sometimes, though, this can be like banging your head against a wall. You have to shift gears against certain opponents, and let them take care of the betting for you.

-- Homer

[Ed Miller]

[Dynasty]

This is the kind of hand where your serious aggression will only be called by hands that beat you

Really? Maybe you should read the results. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Still, the best play once it's heads-up is to call the flop bet and then check-call the next two streets against the opponent described.

It really should have been obvious that the reason he raised the river was because the Queen improved his hand rather than because the flop improved his hand.