Good play / bad play??

[Cactusmack]

Just wanted to pass a play I made today by everyone and see what they think they would have done.
4-8 game, kill on ( ie. game is 8-16 for a round ). 9 players in preflop and one raise, so 9 * 16 dollars = $144 prior to the flop.
A 6 7. I am on the button. Check into me all around and I bet. 5 stay in ( raiser only calls ). Now 144 + 5*8 = 184 in the pot. Turn J. Check to me again. I bet 16. Raiser and one other call. 184 + 48 = $232.
River is another Ace. So the board is A67JA.
Now i have played this hand strong, especially against the raiser. I had K 10. I knew everyone thought I had the ace which was what I wanted. When the ace on the river hit, I saw the raiser look at his chips and go for them, so I quickly put my head down and grabbed 32 and held it out. And he falls for it. He checks with frustration. I bet 16.
Rightfully he is upset, huge pot and he thinks I have 3 aces. So, he grabs 16 and tosses his bet right by chips and disgustedly says "might as well add this to it for you". The whole table is sighing at his call thinking he is burnt.
Well, my stomach hit the floor. He bet with pocket tens thinking I had the nut because he was upset!
Thought I played it perfectly, apparently I was wrong! After that no one would back down and I got crushed.

Did I play it that bad, or was it naive of me to try and bluff out someone who was fairly new to the game????

[Jeffage]

First, welcome to the board. That said, it sounds like you did a lot wrong. You didn't say where the raise was but I assume it was from a player not in the blinds. So you coldcalled with K10..a horrible hand to play to a raise, dominated by raising hands AK, AQ, KQ, big pairs, etc. Then you ran a stonecold bluff into 9 people including a preflop raiser. This is simply a waste of money in my opinion...someone is likely to have an ace and the pot is bloated so people will call with less than that. You are not going to win this pot betting the flop. Then you get FIVE callers. Ok, so u made a bad flop decision. Lets not compound it and again bet into the field with absolutely nothing. You're likely getting called or raised. Basically...fold preflop if facing two bets. And just check the flop. I wouldn't want to invest money in this spot.

[Bob T.]

Well, my stomach hit the floor. He bet with pocket tens thinking I had the nut because he was upset!


Don't worry, you were going to lose this hand. The ace on the river didn't change anything. If you had an ace, you beat his TT, if you didn't, then he was going to win. With the size of the pot on the river, it is right for him to call if he wins about 6.5% of the time.

Did I play it that bad, or was it naive of me to try and bluff out someone who was fairly new to the game????

You didn't play it all that bad, you moved up from last place to second place. That is the problem about bluffing into a large field, you have to get them all out. That is why most people don't bluff into a large field. An experienced player might call you for the size of the pot on the end also.

Thought I played it perfectly, apparently I was wrong! After that no one would back down and I got crushed.


After you try a stone cold bluff into 8 players, they never back down. Not exactly a surprise, is it. After you try this dramatic bluff, all your opponents are going to adjust to the fact that you are going to bluff. The way to make them pay, is to play rocksolid, and get them to pay you off. Nobody is going to fold anything with any showdown value against you for the rest of the night.

[JTG51]

Bluffing with no overcards and no draw against 9 opponents has to be close to the worst play you can make in poker. Calling a raise with KT probably isn't too far behind.