Did I make every possible mistake?

[Ulysses]

15-30. Not the greatest game. Button is the only really terrible player (loose calling station); the rest are at least reasonable.

Preflop: Folded to CO, a strong, aggressive player. He raises. He could do this w/ a very wide range of hands in this situation. Button folds. Big blind is a somewhat loose player (but not an idiot) who is down to about 4BB left. I'm in small blind w/ black 7s. I call. BB calls.

Flop: 9d 5d 2s

I bet. BB calls. CO thinks a moment, then folds.

Turn: 3s (9d 5d 2s)

I bet. BB raises. He now has less than 1BB left. I call.

River: 5c (3s 9d 5d 2s)

I check. BB tosses in his last 4 chips. I call.

Was every single thing I did in this hand a mistake? I think I only maybe did one thing right.

[Depraved]

The play seems pretty reasonable to me except for the preflop call. Personally, I would never call with 77 in this spot - I would reraise to try to drive the big blind out, and to represent something bigger against the steal raiser. I think not reraising here is almost suicide with such a vulnerable hand.

The turn and river play seem ok. If the big blind is a little loose, there are enough hands he could raise with on the turn where you are still ahead. The river is a little scary, but he could definitely have a busted draw or overcards, or maybe even lowest pair. His low chip count makes it a little easier to call/call, but I would probably call on both streets anyway unless here were a bit tighter.

[CrackerZack]

I like the flop bet.

I'd 3-bet PF, your position sucks, but get the BB out if possible. Him being that low in chips, it may not be but it would be nice.

[ML4L]

Hey Ulysses,

Preflop: I would 3-bet to get it heads-up, but a call isn't terrible.

Flop: I like the bet.

Turn: I think that you played it fine considering that the turn card brought a flush draw. He could have two overcard spades, spades with a gutshot, etc. You're getting about 4 to 1 odds to see the rest of the hand through. I would call the raise.

River: Not the greatest card, but you definitely can't fold now...

So, all in all, I don't think that you played the hand that poorly. I'm guessing that you lost, but hopefully I'm wrong...

ML4L

[elysium]

hi ulysses
the only mistake i see is not reraising pre-flop. you've got to at least try to get the BB out. his 4 BB is pretty irrelevent; that's less than he is often likely to put into play.

[JTG51]

I like a 3-bet both preflop and on the turn.

With him only having 1 bet left, I think 3-betting the turn is clearly better than calling. You are going to call a bet with any river card anyway, so get it in now incase he's got a draw and for some reason decides to check behind on the river when he misses.

I think the turn play was a bigger mistake than the preflop play.

[Ikke]

Your biggest fault was IMO not 3-betting preflop. Its not only absolute necessity to get the BB out, but calling also makes your postflop play way way more difficult.

The best scenario would be to get BB out and bet about any flop. You will almost always be able to play close to optimal IMO, because there arent that many flops where you're ahead and will get played with (high card flops), and you might get more action on flops that are less likely to have hit you. I have a bit difficulty to explain what I mean exactly, but by just calling you put yourself in a position to get outplayed postflop, where by 3-betting you protect yourself from that.

On the turn you should have 3-bet. You are going to put your money in no matter what. He will call with about any hand on the turn and will fold nothing you want to fold. If you call the turn you give him a descision on the river he shouldnt have gotten. He might be able to check his absolute worst hands or bad hands that might have some showdown equity. With a 3-bet on the turn you would have gotten that money that you might miss now. If he's ahead it doesnt matter.

Your flopplay is close. But I would tend to check-raising if CO is an autobettor when checked to. But that would also depend a bit if BB is now focused on going all-in this hand no matter what. If that's the case then betting out is better. This is your only decision that is opponents dependent and close.

So, to rub it in ;-) preflop BIG error IMO (because of consequences on postflop play) and on the turn an error that was quite obvious. The flop could be an error if BB would still play (near) optimal postflop and CO will bet when checked to.

Regards

[skp]

Preflop: 3 bet to get heads-up witha likely steal raise

Flop: Having not raised preflop, a checkraise ought to be considered but betting out is not a mistake per se

Turn: Given that the turn puts out a spade draw with which the bb may be semibluffing and given taht you are going to call on the river no matter what, you may as well 3 bet the turn

River: having not 3 bet the turn and given the particular river card that came down, chceking to induce a bluff seems better than betting.

[Ulysses]

I agree w/ pretty much all of the responses. skp's response almost mirrors my thoughts on this hand.

This was one of the weirdest hands I've played in a while. Somehow my brain was one step behind all the way.

Pre-flop, just as I'm calling, I'm saying to myself "Self, what the hell are you doing? Three-bet dammit!"

On the flop, I bet out and immediately say to myself "Self, you should have checkraised here. PFR will auto-bet here and you can get BB to fold a couple of overcards here."

On the turn, as soon as I get raised, I take a look at the board and know there's a decent chance he's on one of the flush draws, so I call. As soon as I call I say to myself "Self, knowing that, you should just 3-bet here and get all the chips in, since you'll call on the river regardless."

On the river, I for once actually thought before doing anything and thought "Well, if I check, he'll probably toss in his last chips w/ a busted draw." And I checked. And then I called and was shown 46o for the turned nuts.

Yuck.