hand i think i played horribly

[mike l.]

i think i sucked eggs all over the place on this one. but maybe im wrong?

20-40 decent game. i have T7s in the cutoff. the blinds and button are tightish so i figured i might pick up $30 easily. plus i remember mason stole from mid position with this hand one time in a hand to talk about. so i raised. button 3 bet, and weak tight sb called. bb folded, and i thought about folding but figured for one more bet id see if i could get lucky. so i called.

the flop came AhJd7s rainbow. checked to button who bet, sb called, and i called.

the turn was a Td putting two diamonds up there. sb checked, i bet, button raised, and sb called two cold. i called.

the river was As. sb bet out and i folded.

comments?

[cero_z]

Hi mike,
I'm curious why you think you played horribly. My take is that a bad call on the flop tied you to the pot, forcing you to make tough decisions for the rest of the hand.
Here goes: I don't usually try to steal with that light of a hand, but it depends on the circumstances (mostly your image). No way you can fold for one more bet pre-flop. The flop call is probably the most controversial play, IMO. You're getting 12-1 and you close the action, but there's no card you can really love, so I say check-fold the flop. On the turn, I assume you bet to improve your chances of winning the pot, even though you may be behind. The button raised, as planned, but the SB cold-called! Trouble. Still, I think you now must call for the size of the pot. You were let off the hook by the river card, which allowed an easy fold. If a blank had come off, you'd probably have to make a crying call again. I think this hand is interesting because it shows how loose play early can create compounding errors throughout a hand.

[Tommy Angelo]

Before the flop, did the guy on the button look at his cards before you acted? If you don't know the answer to that question, then yeah, you really played this one bad.

[mike l.]

"Before the flop, did the guy on the button look at his cards before you acted?"

good point and no he didnt. he waits just like most of the decent players down here.

[Gabe]

If you haven’t played a hand for the last two dealers, I think it’s good to try to steal here. If you’ve raised before the flop on the two previous hands and lost them both, I think it’s bad. The trouble with taking one off on the flop is making two pair on the turn might be unpleasant. I think betting out on the flop and folding to a raise is way better than checking and calling. Was there one of your suit on the flop?