5.50 How do I play this JJ on the flop?

Sorry, no hand converter for Hollywood. I cleaned it up as best I could. Hero is on the button Blinds are $25 $50


Seat 1: SB ($1,435 in chips)
Seat 2: BB ($1,670 in chips)
Seat 3: UTG($1,360 in chips)
Seat 4: UTG+1 ($1,528 in chips)
Seat 5: UTG+2($1,217 in chips)
Seat 6: MP1($1,603 in chips)
Seat 7: MP2 ($1,385 in chips)
Seat 8: MP3 ($1,535 in chips)
Seat 9: CO ($1,928 in chips)
Seat 10: Hero ($1,339 in chips)



ANTES/BLINDS
SB blind ($25), BB posts blind ($50).

PRE-FLOP

UTG folds
UTG+1 folds,
UTG+2 calls $50,
MP1 calls $50,
MP2folds,
MP3 folds
CO folds,
Hero bets $250,
SB folds
BB folds,
UTG+2 calls $200,
MP1 calls $200.

FLOP [board cards AS,8H,AH ]
UTG+2 checks
MP1 checks,
Hero?

[Scuba Chuck]

How would you bet this hand if you had AK? That's how much I would bet here. And you can safely fold if called, repopped. BTW, I would bet 100, that way, you can be really confused when the FD calls you.

[11t]

Hero checks the flop and hopes to get to the river for cheap. Hero does not put another cent by betting into this pot.

Donks at lower limits love to draw and slowplay aces/flopped trips. You do not have enough chips to throw a bet at this because it is very likely you are drawing to 2 outs and you are going to be c/r here a large % of the time.

Thanks. I pushed this, as I had about the size of the pot left in my chip stack. Then I thought, well who the hell is going to call a push except the guy who has me crushed? Not a smart play.

J-J is giving me fits lately at the 5.50s and 11s. No one is folding to a raise and more than half the time I can expect overcards on the flop. I'm wondering if I should just push pf or play for set value. I literally curse every time I find myself w/this hand in a full ring.

[11t]

I don't think hero can safely throw out a bet here with how big the pot is. He has liek ~t1000 left behind and the pot infront of him is like ~t800. A bet here nearly pot committs himself.

I say try to get this to the river as cheaply as possible, your hand has showdown value.

[45suited]

The presence of two aces of course lessens the chance that there is an ace in someone's hand. Like scubachuck said, I bet this flop as if I were holding AK. You'll know soon enough of you're beat.

That's a small price to pay for preventing someone with a Q or K from catching up with you. Also, you're too likely to induce a bluff if you check the flop, IMO. This flop, while certainly not ideal, is not disasterous either, and you shouldn't give up on the hand just yet.

[11t]

I dunno, at low limits like this I think the percentage of time in which somebody has a-x here is high enough to offset the value of gaining this pot with a continuation bet since a bet is going to be very expensive for you.

Thats just me though.

FWIW I'd be way more willing to bet at this in a cash game it is just the pot size versus your remaining stack is so uncomfortable and it is still in the earlier rounds.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, you're too likely to induce a bluff if you check the flop, IMO


[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking along the same lines. I hated the flop, but with the two hearts on the board, the fact that there were 2 aces instead of one, and the checks in front of me, I thought I had a good chance of having the best hand.

I like your line much better, though. A small bet to represent an ace gives me the information I need without putting all my chips at risk. Hopefully, it also slows the other two down.

[Scuba Chuck]

[ QUOTE ]


I like your line much better, though. A small bet to represent an ace gives me the information I need without putting all my chips at risk. Hopefully, it also slows the other two down.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of times, you should think about hands as if you had the goods. If you had them, how would you play going forward? For example, could you/someone have played AK the way you did preflop? Yes. Then, you're okay to act accordingly postflop. With this board, when you flop trips, you're not betting to protect a marginal holding, you're betting to keep the fish around. I certainly bet here, but even a smallish bet is threatening enough to their stack, as well as minimal enough to not hurt yours.

Another thing to think about is this. How often do you need to bet 100 here to win 750?

[Marc H]

[ QUOTE ]
How would you bet this hand if you had AK? That's how much I would bet here. And you can safely fold if called, repopped.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Another thing to think about is this. How often do you need to bet 100 here to win 750?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a great point. I absolutely squandered my position here. This is something I need to think more on. In general, I think I value my hands correctly according to position, but too frequently I don't think I PLAY position correctly.

[zipppy]

Looking at the hand as it stands, I like Scuba's advice for betting as if you have the ace. It should allow you to get away from the hand and make your opponents fold if they don't have it most of the time.

However, (and I didn't see this mentioned, but I may have missed a post) I think the root of where you forced yourself into a difficult spot is preflop. raising up to 5x the BB with JJ with this many people left in the hand/tourney is too much, IMO...even if you have great position.

As you said, a lot of people are calling raises (regardless of the size) preflop in $5.50s, especially if they are already in the pot. raising to 150 will acheive the same results 80% of the time (sometimes 1-2 of the blinds will enter as well), and it better controls the pot size for future bets.

Getting involved with a pot that reaches 15+bbs preflop can be leaky unless you have a monster (AA,KK) or a great multiway hand that you get in cheap with.

Also, I don't mind playing JJ for set value. personally, I'd either raise to 3x bb or limp, depending on the flavor of the table and who's in the pot.

>>>ZIPPPY

[11t]

Scuba, do you actually bet 100 into a 750 pot here with AK? Cus I don't, I bet 500-600 here and plan on getting all my chips in on the turn.

[zipppy]

I would bet that small. I want other people to get their chips in as well, and nearly betting the pot pushes them out.