OK JR, explain yourself

[davidross]

PP 2/4. DIdn't get a hand history so here is what I remember.

I open raise from lp with KK. (May have been a limper). Cold called to my left and 2+2er who may wish to identify himself 3 bets. Folded to me, I cap it, Cold caller calls as does 2+2er.

FLop A, 5, 3.

I bet, CC raises and 2+2'er 3 bets. I fold and watch.

Turn and river bring a T and another 5.

CC shows AQ and wins when 2+2'er shows a counterfeited A3s.

So why the 3-bet with A3s??

[J.R.]

Sorry, I haven't played at paradise for over two months, and my handle there is mountain_rat. I have found much easier games at other sites.

[davidross]

[Yerma]

Was it me? I hope so! It sure sounds like me!!!

[davidross]

WOuldn't have expected anything that good from you.

Ma says Hi.

[Yerma]

[rkiray]

sorry David,

I was just making a play and we both got burned. It was a fairly tough game and we both sat down at about the same time. It was tough because there were several very agressive players, but no one I would describe as a maniac. I started off well with a bunch of good cards, Raised frequently and won some pots. Luck quickly changed and I was down a little bit. You were in a tough seat because most of the agressive players generally were acting behind you. It looked to me that you made a good adjustment here and started to raise alot. In general your raises were getting respect, generally the agressive players were folding, and certainly almost never reraising. My raises were getting similar respect. So I decided to try to make a play at you. I had actually waited several hands for the opportunity I wanted. A few hands earlier I had reraised you with KK, I won the hand and you chatted "nh". I now wanted a hand where I could semi-bluff reraise. I was hoping that this would get all the agressive players out and I could steal a pot from you.
It didn't work.

BTW, I was very happy when you said you would post this hand. I generally haven't posted hands here and I usually don't put quite this much thought into a hand. So it was worth discussing. In fact, I sometimes thought the discussions on this board bordered on obsessive. I'm sure the problem is I'm just not a good enough player yet (I've only been playing for about 3 years). I always consider my hand and what I think the other players in the hand have. I think a little about my table image. If I haven't been getting card and thus playing really tight I might loosen up and raise a little more. Conversely if I've had a good run and raised a bunch, I might slow down and tighten up, since the table might think I'm a maniac. I also try to note if someone is not respecting my bets/raises or is giving me too much respect. But I rarely try to make a play based on what I think an oppenent is thinking about me. This was an exception. I know in S&M's books they claim you need to think like this (and even deeper at higher levels), so even though the play didn't work I was happy I tried. I'd love to here what you were thinking about in this hand.

Rick

[davidross]

Rick,

First of all, no need to apologize, you saved me money and it spends just as well as the money I win. I was surprised at the showdown to see your hand simply because it didn’t seem strong enough to warrant the pre-flop 3-bet. You flopped 2 pair so the flop 3 bet is absolutely correct. If you had shown me everyone’s hands pre-flop I would have been thrilled at your 3-bet. My KK looked pretty good against AQ and your A3s with only 2 aces left for you guys. When the Ace flopped I bet out just in case it was QQ and JJ I was against, your 3-bet convinced me to fold much cheaper than I would have heads up for example.

You asked what I was thinking during the hand. I raised and got cod called. When a decent player cold calls I think pair or big Ace, same as I do when they raise. When you 3-bet I put you on AK or TT, JJ, QQ with a small chance of AA (I won’t believe that until the turn and I still won’t fold). I capped it with the intention of betting the flop no matter what. The Ace flops with two little cards and I’m pretty sure I’m toast, but if I check a good player will bet anyway and I’ll never know, so I bet. I’m raised and 3-bet so I Know I’m behind with 2 outs to catch up. It’s an easy fold now.

I had lost with KK the hand before as well when two aces flopped and I thought someone was putting a move on me so I pumped it and of course saw A6 I think. The very next hand I got AKs and had to fold it on the flop when rags flopped.

Pick one or two hands a night to post where you found yourself faced with a hard decision. I used to do this a lot and although you will receive conflicting answers, you will begin to develop a philosophy for playing certain types of hands.

[rkiray]

In retrospect it was a really dumb play because of the cold caller between us. I think there were a couple of reasons why I made the play anyway. The cc had been playing fairly tight passive so I had not paid much attention to him. I was mostly watching David and the three agressive players to my left. But thinking about it, a tight passive player calling a raise should have made me throw my hand away. I just wasn't thinking of this person as a big threat and thought that I could force him out later. Also I think I went into tunnel vision mode thinking about the semi-bluff RR play. I had waited many hands for the legit RR with KK five or six plays earlier which I wanted to set-up the semi-bluff. I should have folded and then tried the semi-bluff a little later. There are alot more hands to semi-bluff RR with than legit RR hands. I think I was just excited about trying to make a more advanced play than I normally do. Oh well, live and learn. /forums/images/icons/cool.gif

Rick