20-40 88 UTG

[AJo Go All In]

20-40.

i raise UTG with 88, folded around to the cutoff who 3-bets, bb cold-calls, and i call. 3 to the flop for 9.5 sb.

flop comes 6h 4h 3c. BB checks, I bet, CO raises, BB calls, I 3-bet, CO and BB both call.
turn is the 9c. BB bets, I raise, CO calls, BB calls.
river is the Js. BB checks, I check, CO bets, BB calls, I think and decide to overcall.

comments? how did i play it? how did they? what do they have?

[cosmo kramer]

I don't think the CO has anything. It looks like he has AK or AQ of hearts. The fact he just called the 3-bet on the flop and coldcalled on the turn makes me put him on a draw. Thus, his river bet is a stab at the pot. Therefore, it is the small blind who you have to contend with. It's difficult to say what he has because there was no player description. If he's loose, I could see him calling the raise with A5 of clubs. That would explain calling on the flop, with his open-ended straight draw and then betting the turn when he picked up a lot more outs. But this doesn't explain his call on the river, so maybe he has A6 or 65 of clubs. This hand is tough to analyze any further without more info on the BB, but that's my initial read.

[elysium]

hi aj
nice. i've noticed some improvement in your play. looks like the CO has AQ or ATh; the BB has 67 or small pair; and unless the J9h got you, i think you win here.

[M.B.E.]

I don't like the flop 3-bet. There's too much of a chance the cutoff has you beat with a bigger pocket pair. Yes he might have raised the flop with overcards (AK or whatever) but even if you think there's a good chance of that, why not wait for the turn card before you put more money in the pot.

The BB called two cold preflop, called two cold on the flop, and then bet the turn when the 9 hit. That looks like a flush draw with the 9h. Maybe Kh-9h or Th-9h. Why did you raise on the turn?

On the river when the action gets to you there's 17 big bets in the pot. So I think calling is correct, although you probably lost the hand.

[cero_z]

AJ, I haven't read the other replies yet. Here are my thoughts.
I hate your overcall, as I'd give up once my turn raise got called in 2 places. Up to the river, you played it fine. I think the BB has at least 9s with a busted heart draw, and the cut-off may have AK, but KK, QQ, JJ, and TT are all good possibilities. After all, you raised UTG and didn't back down on the flop or turn, so he has to put you on a hand of some value. For him to bet the river rather than taking a free showdown, you're beat.

[cero_z]

MBE,
My read on AJ's opponents' hands is right in line with yours. But actually, I think he made a nice play to move the CO off of a higher overpair or AK, which didn't work (some players will never fold overpairs, but some will). This would've been a brilliant move if the BB had been getting tricky with a worse hand, but once they've both put in a bet on the river, 88 is no good (or I'll be very embarrassed).

[AJo Go All In]

my hand was good. CO had AhKh and BB had 55 (?)

[AJo Go All In]

[M.B.E.]

I like the way both your opponents played their hands. I still don't understand your play. In particular, why did you raise the turn?

[AJo Go All In]

why i raised the turn:

i put the CO on something like AhKh or AhQh and as those hands have a lot of outs against my hand, i wanted to charge him the maximum to draw, or even better, lay it down, although i suspected he wasn't going anywhere.

i had a hard time putting the BB on a better hand than me. i suppose it was possible that he had a 9 (Ah9h is one hand that makes sense for him to have), but it seemed unlikely. i was playing pretty tight (the worst hand i had shown down prior to this was JJ), and i was representing at least TT or JJ here. so even if he had the 9 that i couldn't put him on, i don't think he would think it was good. i thought the most likely scenario was that he had a hand like Ac 6c, or some other small piece of the flop picking up a flush draw on the turn. i see this semi-bluff turn lead all the time.

admittedly the BB could have had 99. the game had only been moderately aggressive and i was planning to muck if i got 3-bet on the turn by either player.

i'd love to here more thoughts about the turn play. i feel like the river check was pretty clear as most hands calling me after i've shown so much strength have probably got me beat.

[cero_z]

AJ,
Well I am a little embarrassed. Glad to hear your hand stood up. I just think the BB's lead on the turn was ridiculous, especially if he'd noticed you were playing tight. But I know what you mean about seeing that play often; this player is picking a terrible time to make it, IMO.