Hand reading and knowing when to go out on a limb

[Borno]

10 handed live 1/2 max $200 buy in NL.

I'm in SB with A9o

UTG live straddles $5 (this guy is awful - he regularly straddles, raises and calls with nothing fancy)

5 players limp.

I complete for $4 in the SB.

I completed because in this game I generally like to see the flop ith a fairly large portion of my hands because the competition is so weak I can usually use deception + hand reading skills and emulate their behaviour to get them to fold or pay me off.

Flop is 3, 4, 6 (2 diamonds). ($25 pot)

I lead out for 15 - betting the pot in this game is not standard and creates unusual reactions from players so I generally bet 1/2 to 2/3 of the pot on the flop and raise my bet from there.

The straddler calls and then MP1 a player I have seen play only a few times that seems reasonably tight raises $40.

Here I am with just my overcards and I think there is no hand he could have except for 66, 44 or 33 that wouldn't fold if I raised.

I think this because what other hand except for 77,88,99 would have just called on the straddle but not raised from this somewhat tightish player.

So I raise up to $135 an $80 bump. The straddler folds (clearly). MP1 sits and thinks for a long time.

MP1 calls.


Discuss MP1's possible range of hands and if you think my play was decent given the range I put him on?

MP1 could have an overpair up to JJ and the obvious hands to make the set, if he is a real TAG. More importantly, you may have given him a read by calling the $4 from SB. From his POV, what hands will call that from SB? As Harrington says in HoH2: the call to a standard raise from SB is typically AX or a small pair. MP1 is also getting 2.5:1 odds for this call.

I question several moves in this hand:

* A9o from SB with 5 limpers and to a raise?
* A leadoff bluff with 5 hands seeing the flop and a draw heavy board?
* A reraise bluff into a "tight" player who has shown strength?

I don't know the specifics of your table, but this all seems very fishy to me.

[Borno]

flame me more. *bump*


... board is draw heavy - thats why I'm pulling this killer move. To get these draws to fold.

Why is JJ just calling PF with a straddle.

Can someone seriosuly analyze this.

Limping A9o for $4 in a $25 can't be that horrible with no raise - if this is -ev its very slight. I can easily let this go on the flop if I miss and I can often buy a pot by leading.

Someone analyze this a bit more please.

[ajmargarine]

[ QUOTE ]

UTG live straddles $5 (this guy is awful -

I completed because the competition is so weak...

[/ QUOTE ]

You're just burning money in this hand. Against weak competition, you don't need to get fancy from the SB in a multi-way pot. Fold preflop. C/f the flop. Wait til you're in position and use your superior hand reading skills to push people off hands after they have already acted, not before they've acted. Plus, ABC poker wins against weak competition.

[LetYouDown]

I'd tend to put him on 3-3, 5-5 or 10-10. Depends how tight he is. Either way I'm proceeding very cautiously at this point. Stack sizes relevant to further streets.

At a $1/2 game I think you're getting way too fancy. Why go broke here? You'll have much better spots later on, no doubt.

[TheWorstPlayer]

Obviously the best move is just to wait and shoot them in the nest. Just check/fold the flop. Most fun move by far, though, is to raise the heck out of that preflop. Even push if you want. There is already ~30 in the pot. Can't believe you just let all those guys limp in like that.

[Malachii]

77-99 or a set. I don't think you played this well at all. Bluffing into 4 players is bad poker period... especially when they're live players. Completing from the SB with A9o is bad. This strikes me as the kind of play which is motivated more by ego and/or boredom then by the desire to walk away a winner at the end of the night.

you seem to think this hand is interesting, but it's not. This is a textbook example of the circomstances under which you should not be bluffing. If you ended up somehow winning this pot, congratulations. But reraising the guy under these circumstances and OOP is really terrible. I don't even hate the preflop call, but I'm looking to flop two pair or better with it. this is not a bluffing situation.