A chance to triple up with Big Slick

[DaNoob]

It's the first or second orbit of a Stars single table sit&go. Blinds are 10/20, all relevant stacks in this hand are close to the original T1500. I'm in CO and am dealt A /forums/images/icons/club.gif K /forums/images/icons/club.gif (pretty hand). Two limpers to me, I make it 80 to go. Button & blinds fold, two limpers call.

Flop: A /forums/images/icons/heart.gif T /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif 5 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif

EP checks, MP bets 100, I raise to 300, not wanting anyone to get a cheap draw. EP checkraises 500 more, making it T700 for the original bettor to call, which he does.

What's my play here?

[MtSmalls]

I ran into this same problem, though late in the tournament, over the weekend (see post from Monday). If you assume that at least one of your two callers is on a diamond draw (EP with A-X diamonds?) you're looking at a 60-40 advantage (roughly), if both are your odds go up slightly. The question here is do you want to go all in on a 60-40 deal? In this case you can close the action by calling the flop and seeing if a diamond comes off on the turn. If it does then I think you have to dump the hand and save your stack. If not, then you have to decide to go all in or check it down. I would favor all-in but I tend to be a bit aggressive.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Get outta Dodge, you're behind to one of them and not far ahead of the other. I'd have a hard time not believeing EP has TT, and I'd put MP on a /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif draw. maybe even with the A.

You don't have "Big Slick." You have "Walkin' Back to Houston"

[DaNoob]

You don't have "Big Slick." You have "Walkin' Back to Houston"

Is that really what it's called? If so, quite ironic as I actually AM from Houston.

So what is big slick then?

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

*Both* are nicknames for AK. "Walkin' Back to Houston" describes what you have to do if you overplay the hand in a NL cash game. See Doyle Brunson's Super System.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

No way EP is on a draw here. He sees the MP limper bet into the raiser with an ace and a flush draw on the board. What could he be making this bet with? He didn't raise or reraise preflip, so it's not a big pocket pair lower than aces. He wants to see how much the preflop raiser likes this flop. Preflop raiser then raises the pot - he likes the flop. Now if EP is on the nut diamond draw, there's no reason to raise. He's behind, and 1/5 of the time he's going to miss on the turn and have to put more money in or fold. The raise only makes sense as a semi bluff, but both other players have shown strength, so the *win the hand right now* part of the semi-bluff, while not totally out of the question, isn't likely enough to compensate for the downside risk to his chips. Thus the read is - he has a hand that beats top pair and he wants the flush draw to go away. If I'm holding AK here, I have to figure I'm behind one of the two, and at best drawing to 3 outs and at worst to 1. There's a chance that MP is on a flush draw and EP has AQ or AK, but in my mind, going with that read is like trying to make my read fit what I *want* to happen.

[DaNoob]

So, after burning through almost all of my 60 second clock, I muck the hand and let the other two duke it out. The turn is a blank, EP bets another 2-300 and MP calls again. Flop brings the flush card and I'm expecting the turnaround. EP goes all-in and MP.... mucks.

I never got to see either of their hands and it definitely threw me for a loop. I don't for the life of me understand what MP was calling with that he would muck on the river for his last 300 chips with almost 4000 chips in the pot and 3 flush cards on the board.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your thoughts...

[sam h]

Danoob,

That's definitely a strange conclusion to the hand.

I would probably have folded too. My biggest comment is that you made your decision more difficult by making small raises that don't define your opponents' hands that well. A pot sized raise preflop would have been to 110. When the action is to you on the flop, there should be about 370 in the pot. A small raise of 200 prices in draws and invites opponents to make moves on you. I think if you had made it 600 to go and EP had still checkraised, you would know much better whether you were up against a set or two pair. Of course you would have committed 300 more, but that's poker.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I smell a set here. Nobody in the history of sensible players check-reraises a bet and a raise and DOESN'T have top pair beat.

Only if a total maniac was the check-raiser would I call that bet. Otherwise, bye-bye.

al

[JayKon]

sniff... sniff... indeed. You stole my reply Al /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

It had to be a small/medium set, or an over played two-pair. Although the results post makes the whole hand really wierd.

[happyjaypee]

looks like collusion/chip dumping or am I a little too paranoid??


-Happy /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Maybe MP was calling with 2 pair and bailed to pressure with the flush card on the board. It makes no sense, seeing as how he's completely crippled, but maybe he's just a bad player.

[DaNoob]

I couldn't believe he mucked either, as I figured he was holding out for the flush card. Plus, I was ticked because I really wanted to know whether or not I had made the right decision. I ended up taking 2nd in the tournament, so my decision couldn't have been too wrong, but at the time I was pretty ticked to have lost about 1/3 of my stack.

MP busted out a few rounds later and I never found out what either of them had. Very interesting hand though and very representative of the temptation you face when you flop TPTK.

[Jon Matthews]

I agree and EP might then have been playing a flush draw super aggressively, if he was being honest that is.