T7h bb

[mike l.]

20-40 full game very loose, pretty aggressive.

i call in the bb w/ T7h after utg loose cuckoo raises and 4 players call including somewhat timid loose sb.

the flop is Kh4h4d. i bet, cuckoo raises, folded around to sb who calls two cold, i call.

the turn is 3h. sb checks, i bet, cuckoo, calls, sb calls.

the river is 3s. sb checks, i bet.

comments?

[Gabe]

[ QUOTE ]
somewhat timid loose sb

[/ QUOTE ]
I think you played it right. You can fold if sb ccheck raises. Of course, you have to think about how likely the sb is to have a 4, how likley he is to slowplay. I would have expected him to come alive with a 4 after all the flop action. Of course, some of these timid players worry about there kicker when they flop trips. He could have a bigger flush too. I don't know I think I'd still bet. I'll probably pick up two when I'm good. I don't know. Iguess it's close. How's this for stream of conscious answer?

[mikelow]

Only question is whether you should go for a check-raise either on the turn and river.

The pair on the board suggests just betting out twice.

[Diplomat]

Hi Mike,

on the flop, would you not be better off checking and calling, or checking and raising? If you are looking to build a pot and get several bets out of several people, betting right into a cocko pre-flop raiser probably will not do it. He'll raise your bet with anything, and the players behind will face two bets instead of one. Just a thought.

-Diplomat

[mike l.]

"He'll raise your bet with anything, and the players behind will face two bets instead of one."

my bet on the flop was not super-concious, but i did remember thinking: "i would like to win this with a pair of tens or with nothing if i dont make my flush, and i am sure if i bet the flop this guy will raise with anything to represent a K (i have played with him quite a bit and he loves to raise the flop when the guy on his right bets, ive even seen good players on his right bet into him on the flop just to clear the field)"

when the sb called the flop i was worried about him having a K for sure meaning i had no chance to steal the pot or win with a pair, or even worse the chance he had a better flush draw. since i knew representing trips would be just a hopeless bluff i decided to play my hand slow and straight forward from that point on.

on the river i didnt think it was close at all re: a bet. i felt certain that early position had a K (with an outside chance of KK that i would just have to pay off) and that sb had either a K or a flush (bigger or smaller split just about down the middle, maybe leaning a tiny bit towards bigger). since sb hadnt come to life on the turn i figured my hand to be near the nuts and figured the couple flushes sb could have he would only call with, while early cuckoo was a sure bet to call. so it was not just an easy value bet, but a mandatory bet imo: youd be losing way to much EV by not betting the river here. so i thought that was interesting. btw, i did get called in both spots and they both mucked face down when i showed.

[Clarkmeister]

The most recent postings of mike l. would tell mike l. to fold this preflop.

[mike l.]

"The most recent postings of mike l. would tell mike l. to fold this preflop."

yeah i know. but those werent received with much applause around here so i loosened back up in the blinds, at least a little.

[cero_z]

Hi mike,
You've pretty much covered all of the questions I have on this hand, except: Why not check-raise the cuckoo on the turn in this hand? Isn't he always going to bet when you back down? Or is he intelligent enough to fear the flush? Were you afraid of giving either player a free look with one big heart? Seems to me, the cuckoo will always bet a pair w/ a heart draw on the turn. This play would IMO let you know just where the SB was at, enabling even more sure-footedness on the river. But I agree you have an easy value bet on the end.

[mike l.]

it was close between betting the turn and going for a checkraise. this cuckoo tended towards playing straightforwardly on the scary boards, expensive streets generally so i figured playing straight forwardly was what i wanted to do. results wise i think i may have been able to get a checkraise in here and take down two extra bets.