Weak or correct cautious?

[Swiss Cheese]

I am in the small Blind with A /images/graemlins/club.gifK /images/graemlins/club.gif 20-40 harrahs in East Chicago. folded to MP, any 2 card player, who limps, solid aggressive player raises, button calls, I just call, BB calls and limper calls. 5 players to the flop.

Flop 3-K-Q no 2 flush. I check and it is checked all the way around. OK where is the trap?

Turn is 10 no flush possible. I am not real fond of this card either. I check knowing original limper will bet if he has any part of the flop the original raiser grabs a bunch of chips and calls. I know this could be a play, or he could of raised with AJ after 1 limper pre-flop, and now he is gonna just call to get some other calls behind him. Button folds and I call, BB folds.

River is a total blank I check MP limper bets, original raiser just calls I just call.

Did I play this too weak or cautious correct?


Swiss Cheese

P.S. My hand was good limper had a Q and original raiser mucked before I showed my hand.

[Kevin J]

It's hard to believe optimal play could involve checking top pair 3 consecutive times against multiple opponents.

[Swiss Cheese]

I was looking for the check raise on flop.....foiled. Turn is a 10 a scary board for 1 pair. River I think a bet or a check raise was the play but I think the most I get is 1 more bet. Is my thinking flawed?

Swiss Cheese

[jujujaja34]

Swiss,

I like 3-betting from the SB preflop in this situation. I'd like to get the BB and limper to fold here and play 3 handed. Also, 3-betting lets you take control (granted you are out of position, but with AKs I'm not too concerned) with likely the best hand.

[SoBeDude]

Hi Swiss.

Unfortunately you played it very weakly. You should bet out on the flop and re-raise if raised back to you, or you can go for the check-raise. If you do check the flop and it's checked through, you MUST bet the turn.

And the T is not a real scare card. It puts you behind only to KT, QT, and AT.

Good luck!

-Scott

[elysium]

hi swiss
you should reraise pre-flop and bet out on the flop. you want the raiser to raise you on the flop. and you three bet pre-flop because of your poor position. you need to get the bets in there right away. you can't fool around from the SB.

[Ed S.]

Hey what about re-raising in this game? How do the percieve you? Anyways now and then with that hand and the way it came down on pre-flop its good to raise. But not necessarily all the time.

Oh btw, how are the 10-20 HE games going there? I haven't played there a while. Hows the tables? Tight? Loose? passive? Last time I played there it seemed at bit tight and passive at times.

Thanks.


Ed S.

[arod4276]

Elysium has it right. Reraise preflop and pound the hell out of them postflop from the SB.

arod

[Kevin J]

Hey Swiss-

Sorry. I had no time last night and just shot off a quick (attempted humorous) response.

AKs is a big hand that plays well both short-handed and multi-way. I think sometimes 3-betting pre-flop is fine, but not mandatory as some are implying.

After smooth calling pre-flop, it might seem like check/raising (the flop) would be automatic, but did you at least consider betting out? This pressures the two players between you and the pre-flop raiser while at the same time, possibly forcing others to call two cold on a drawing board. It's tough.

I see your point on the turn and river. It was a tough hand to play and I think you did fine.

I've been playing almost exclusively at Harrah's lately. I must be running good to have avoided you on the one day I didn't play.

[Kevin J]

[ QUOTE ]
And the T is not a real scare card. It puts you behind only to KT, QT, and AT.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about AJ and J9s? You are also assuming no one else was check/raising the flop (and missed) with a better hand than one pair.

[bernie]

why even play AK if youre going to play it that bad? from the flop on, you seem worried about a better hand, then on the turn, youre worried about the nuts.

are you playing this solely for the flush draw? btw...you have an A kicker. youre playing this like you have a crap kicker.

you missed a ton of bets here, along with giving anyone drawing on you a very cheap draw.

youre post was also kind of hard to read as far as who was betting. you were stating who was calling, but not betting.

b

[bernie]

"You are also assuming no one else was check/raising the flop (and missed) with a better hand than one pair"

doubtful anyone else was going for a c/r. the farther the checking goes around the table, the less likely theyre going for a c/r. when you miss the c/r on the flop, you dont check the turn. you bet out. why let the possibility of it being checked again happen? And then if it does get bet, if you decide to check the turn, you raise the damn thing. youve just induced a bluff by checking it twice.

get some ex-lax and make a move.

b

[Kevin J]

Hey Bernie,

I play in that 20-40 game all the time and I can tell you that it's very rare to have a flop checked through multi-way, let alone the flop AND turn.

I'm not saying checking the turn was necessarily correct, but when the ten hits, I do think there's a little less reason for him to bet. If he's not up against two-pair already, most two pair outs would include either an ace or jack at this point. And he certainly can't mind a jack.

[bernie]

you will not gain any info during this hand by just checking it. say he checks the turn, and someone bets. does he know any more where he stands? no.

but by betting out, he puts the pressure on his opponents. one reason, they may see it that he missed a c/r on the flop and may only raise with a better hand. make them think of what you're betting. force them to react. they may think 'he' turned the str8.

i think he played this hand very, very weak. passive calling station-like. except, even a calling station wouldve made a bet before going into check-call mode.

i dont mean to be harsh, but c'mon. bet the damn thing.

b

[nykenny]

can't agree more. bet or check raise the flop. bet or check raise the turn, bet the river. give the any-2-card-player and two cards that hit a little. give the pre-flop raiser something like JJ or AT or QJ... oh well

[DaBartman]

Screw the checkraise, protect your hand!

[acewithaface]

You played this hand too weak. Infact, i would have 3-bet pre-flop from the small blind, and led on teh flop. These are the type of hands, that do real well in a field of 5-6 players, and u probably got the original raiser dominated or in a bad spot. You should bet out every possible opportunity and shouldnt be giving free cards, to all the gutshots out there.

[Swiss Cheese]

Thanks and congrats on the tourney win!!!!!!! I also did consider a bet on flop but with the lineup as it was, I felt as though a check raise was the best way to get head up. hope your running well, see you soon.

Swiss Cheese