Should I have checked?

[Rich P.]

Sunday night 4-8 game at Commerence. Uncharacteristically tight but perhaps normal for a weeknight game. I'm in the small blind with KK. The UTG, a tigher than average but still somewhat loose player limps as does the EP player to his immediate right. Everyone folds to me. I raise. Everyone calls.

The flop contains an A and K with another unsuited card. I bet. The big blind folds. The UTG raises. The EP calls. I re-raise. the UTG caps. The EP calls.

At this point I put the UTG on AK or AA. He could have slowplayed one of these hands in that position. His willingness to cap the betting lead me to believe two pair and probably AK, although a set of Aces was also possible. I didn't think he would be tricky enough to cap with only top pair. By this time he had to have put me on a set of either aces or kings.

The turn is an offsuit 3. I bet. The UTG calls. The EP folds.

Now I'm sure he has two pair rather than set. I'm hoping he has less, but I still have him beat. A set of Aces would have re-raised here.

The river is an Ace. I've heard alot about leaving money on the table, but is this the time to bet based on my hand alone eventhough I had put him on AK?

I figured the strenght of my hand alone warranted a bet. I knew he would call with three aces but might ckeck them back fearing a full house. If he raised, I would have to call hoping he would overplay trips. The appearance of an Ace seemed to make it less likely he also held an ace. I felt I would just be too chicken not to bet here as there were only two hands that could beat me here.

What would you do /forums/images/icons/confused.gif

[bernie]

why do you take a reasonable read and twist it to make a river bet correct? what would he cap with here? a gutshot? i didnt see maniac in the description. but you also didnt say how he would bet just top pair on this type of board. but i dont see him betting a draw here. he has a hand.

you mention, basically, that he'd have to have at least 2 pair on the flop. the strength of your hand just got counterfeited based on your read. this is an easy call 1 bet, check behind, or fold if the player is that predictable.

id want a very cheap showdown here. there's more than 2 hands that can beat you here. there's another hand also. Ax.(2pair on the flop)

your lucky if he's only holding the underset on the flop. or just an A with a marginal kicker. which can be possible given his turn play. 2 pair is usually raising here, except he's against a preflop raiser and someone who 3 bet the flop. he can put you on at least AK here, most likely...

there's also no reason to think you have a set on the flop yet. not definitively at least. unless that's all you bet this way with. which is a little tight and predictable if you do. id cap this flop many other holdings.

if he is capable of capping this flop with AQ or less, then a thought of betting the river may cross my mind.

b

[Homer]

If you are that confident in your read you should check-call (or even check-fold, though you'd have to be close to 100% sure that he had AA or AK). Are you sure he wouldn't play AQ, AJ, or a set of x's (third card on flop) the same way?

-- Homer

[Rich P.]

I'm really not sure about this guy. While I considered him more tight than normal, that means he wasn't calling 80% of the time. He could have limped with Ax suited.

It's his image of me that makes me pretty confident that he must have at least two pair. I didn't see him as that tricky of a player, though he would bluff often. I don't think he would have tried to bluff me in this situation.

The truth is that I should have ckeck called in this situation. I was confident in my read, but I bet on the strenght of my hand. I lost an extra $8.00. I know I made a mistake. I just want to see what others say about it.

Thanks.