flop set against 3 to flush

Hero is on the button with two black tens;
UTG and one middle player limp as does hero on button and small blind, bb checks;
Hero has around $200 and BB has $600; blinds are $1 and $2. Hero is very tight, and BB seems to be pretty solid though not necessarily great.


($10 in pot before flop) Flop: Kd 10d 2d

SB bets 2, BB raises to 10, Hero raises to 30; SB folds, and BB calls

($72 in pot after flop) Turn is 5c; Board is Kd 10d 2d 5c

BB checks, Hero bets $50, BB calls

($172 in pot after turn); River is 7s; Board is Kd 10d 3d 5c 7s

BB checks, hero check

BB wins $172 pot with Qd 2d


I’m not really disappointed with the way I played the hand, but on the other hand, I wonder if I could have played in differently—i.e., better. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I would have played it pretty much the same way. you reraised on the flop and got a call. He likley thought you might have the Ace high flush. he checked on the turn you bet( I would have done the same thing). River went check, check. you had to check because he probably wasn't letting the queen high flush go. not when there is only on card in the deck that can beat him. And any flush had you beat.

[JaBlue]

You should be happy you didn't get stacked this hand. You played it fine.

[ajmargarine]

I think you played it fine after the flop. I probably would have bet only $40, instead of your $50 on the turn. Just as strong, but saves you a little bit in case he already has the made flush, and he still doesn't have odds to call to improve. But thats just a nitpick and your bet was fine.

Preflop though I am raising this up to $12 to try to winnow the field as you have position throughout the hand. (4xBB + 1 BB per limper = $12)

I really don't like raising with tens at the lower nl games. They generally have to improve to win, because you often get at least a couple callers. I'd rather limp and try to win a big pot than raise preflop and put myself in a difficult spot after the flop. But obviously if I had known...

[Nikademus]

Yeah, the only thing I would have done differently was to raise pre-flop. Limping on the button with tens was a bad move. BB likely would have folded pre-flop, and this hand would have been yours.

I'm also surprised you didn't get re-raised on the turn, unless he was hoping for a check-raise on the river (which you wisely avoided).

[ajmargarine]

[ QUOTE ]
I really don't like raising with tens at the lower nl games. They generally have to improve to win, because you often get at least a couple callers. I'd rather limp and try to win a big pot than raise preflop and put myself in a difficult spot after the flop. But obviously if I had known...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, in a 5-way pot they are going to have to improve, sure. But, you raise so you aren't playing a 5-way pot. The two limpers have already shown the strength of their hands. The blinds are unknown, but you can make it expensive for them to play. If you get it down to 2 or 3-way action, that's great, as you probably have the best hand going in and you have position throughout the hand. Many flops will come where you are still best and you know it. And there's enough flops that come with one overcard, where the action is check, check, and then you bet and take it down right there. Limping preflop here is a weak leak IMO. Please reconsider. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm not saying that raising here with tens is wrong. I'm simply saying that I prefer just to limp and try to flop a set and win a big pot. I think in the long run, it's probably about even either way. I bet at least half the time, some one is going to be betting into me after the flop and I have to release it. And a good part of the time I continue the bet only to get a caller and maybe two. I then have to check the turn and fold to a bet on the river. Furthermore, tens is a hand that a lot of people overplay, so they often don't put me on a set of tens when I limp and I'm more likely to get paid off. The amount I win when I double through on some one versus the amount of small pots I win minus all the the money thrown away trying to push people off of hands makes it a lot better, in my mind, to just limp with a medium hand like tens.

[xcrack999]

TT on the button is NOT a medium hand. If you're not raising TT on the button when no one has shown aggression, what DO you raise with? Only AA, KK, QQ, JJ, and AKs? I raise TT like 95% of the times when it's limped or folded to me on the button. But I play 6-max, and you might be talking about full-ring.

[amoeba]

it would be interesting for you to go through your history and see how often you doubled through somebody with a set in an unraised pot. My guess is not many.

while the likelyhood of somebody hitting toppair when you hit the set goes up when its multiway unraised pot, the possibility of somebody wanting to get their stack in with top pair weak kicker is much lower.

you are going to hope somebody flops lower set, top 2.

[theben]

the flop is Kd Td 2d how?

flop raise is ok. turn is ok as long as you are against donks. river is fine

sorry, I meant to change the 2 to a 3. I can't remember exactly what it was, but that's basically it.