Is it correct to ever play QQ like this?

[ragedyandy]

Loose aggressive maniacal table at Commerce. I have QhQC in middle position. Limp, Raise, coldCall, I coldCall?, coldCall, button re-raises, SB folds, BB coldCalls, limper calls, raiser caps, we all call. Flop comes 5sJsJc. BB checks, limper bets, capper raises, cold-caller cold-calls, I cold-call again? Everyone cold-calls and BB folds. Turn is an offsuit 9. Limper checks, capper bets, we all call. River is an offsuit 2. capper bet, cold-caller calls, I call, everyone else folds and my hand is good. Is a river raise in order? I thought the button was going to call, but she folded.

My thinking the whole way is that I’m either ahead or way behind. If I raise, I don’t know if I’m raising to thin the field or build a pot. My thought is that my opponents are likely to not fold, so a raise would build a pot while my hand may not be best now and certainly has a chance of coming in second on the end. That would be throwing good money after bad. I also think that if my hand is good, a call from me will still likely build a pot since these guys aren’t likely to fold even to a raise. So calling both saves me money those times that I lose and also still builds a pot (albeit, not as big) because all these guys are chasing.

How would you guys play it?

[Dynasty]

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I coldCall?...we all call...I cold-call again?...we all call....I call...and my hand is good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Never do this again. You played this hand like a scared little Nancy-girl. It should have been you doing all the betting and raising. What the hell are you scared of?

[ QUOTE ]
My thinking the whole way is that I’m either ahead or way behind

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Since there are no other options, I guess I can't disagree. But, you seem to be treating it as a 50/50 proposition. In reality, your hand will be good a vast majority of the time, especially in a Commerce game.

You've got the best hand. Bet it. Raise it. Reraise it. Jam it down you opponents' throats.

[MrDannimal]

When he's right, he's right. And he's right very often.

If you 3-bet the flop, you find out where the raiser is. I mean, you can be fairly sure the cold callers behind you don't have a J or KK or AA, because THEY would 3 bet (unless they're also weak). If you get capped by the raiser, then you can think maybe you're behind him.

Like you said, you're either way ahead or way behind. Raise and find out.

Fighting the weakness is something we all have to do (self no exception at all). Thankfully we have Gunnery Seargent Dynasty here to whip us into shape (and I mean that).

[ragedyandy]

Hi Dynasty,

Yes, I know I played it like a little girl. I should have pointed out that my image at the table was very aggressive, but I'd only shown down a handful of hands ... so the observant opponents could not tell if I was solid, tough, or just another maniac (I've only played at commerce 3 times and all the faces at the table were new to me).

The problem I have with raising is that it's not going to get a better hand to fold and it's very likely not to get any draw to fold, not even 3s2s. And the table was overcall rich. So am I raising at this point solely on value? What if I raise and two of my opponents drop - now I've put more money into the pot, but the pot is no bigger than had I simply called and let the overcallers call.

You never directly answered my question - Is it ever correct to play QQ like this? I suppose you indirectly answered it when you called my play as that of a nancy-girl /images/graemlins/blush.gif