Chasing all the way. (was I justified?)

[jt1]

Loose $3-6 game with two loose raisers. One of whom is MP3.

I'm in EP2 (left to UTG). I have AQ /images/graemlins/heart.gif I raise. MP1 cold calls. No suprise there, he is very loose and very passive. MP3 re-raises me. Everyone folds except the blinds. SM calls. BB caps it. Everyone calls including me. I wanted to fold, but my two hearts convinced me to stay.

The flop is 64K rainbow with one heart. Everyone checks to MP3 (who re-raised me pre-flop, and now has the button) He bets. SB folds. BB calls. I have MP3 as a loose raiser and someone very aggressive after the flop. At this point the pot is 10 big bets so I call. MP1 also calls.

The turn is a Q to complete the rainbow. Everyone checks to MP3. He bets again. BB folds. Now I definitely have odds to calls. I call. MP1 calls. The river is a rag. Checked to MP3. He bets. we both call. How'd I do?

[rkiray]

I would bet or check raise the turn given your description of the players (thanks BTW, it really helps). Same thing on river. I think your other calls were fine.

I think you won.

[jt1]

Speaking of player descriptions I should have mentioned that the BB who capped the betting was a tight player. And based on that I'm not sure if I was right to call 2 bets cold. But then again I was getting 9-1 to call with AQh. What do you think?

And since you mentioned it Rkiray, I actually lost. MP3 was holding AQ. but MP1 cold called me with K2. but the important thing is always 'did i play well?'

[Brian]

Hi jt1,

Your call on the Flop is fine, even though the best thing you have going for your hand is the backdoor Flush draw (which is 22:1 against I believe, but you are getting exactly 22:1 plus theres implied odds). However, when you do call, it is imperative that you realize often times even your Ace outs won't be good, because even though the MP3 player is a looser raiser and (presumably a loose re-raiser), you still have the BB to worry about. Right now you are drawing very very slim against AA and AK, and dead against KK (other than Flush).

So when you catch the Queen on the Turn, I would definitely advocate checking and seeing what happens. When the BB folds, you are probably fine to continue on. However, I will say one thing. While many players may be loose raisers, only true maniacs are loose RE-raisers. I think many of my opponents would describe me as a loose raiser, but I am a pretty tight re-raiser in most situations. But, if he is a maniac, then you can certainly call.

On the River, I would call, but I think you've lost when the MP1 player overcalls after you.

I think that this is why even though on the Flop you have the odds to chase your backdoor Flush draw, it's very close to folding because you can lose even more bets if you catch good, but not a Heart, on the Turn.

-Brian