Playing a straddled pot with Js7s

[skp]

We are playing a must straddle game. I am on the button with Js7s. We have a family pot with $200 in it.

Pre-flop call, okay?

Flop: 9s6c2d

Straddler bets. 3 guys call. I call (?). One of the blinds calls. $260 pot.

Turn: 7h

Straddler bets. 2 callers. I call. $340 pot.

River: 9c. It gets checked to me. Bet or check?

And how did I get myself into this mess?

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
And how did I get myself into this mess?



[/ QUOTE ]

This is, of course, the only question I really want to see answered.

[andyfox]

"Pre-flop call, okay?"

-Sure. You're suited, you have the button, you play better than the others, it's a big pot. Overlimp.

"Flop: 9s6c2d Straddler bets. 3 guys call. I call (?)."

-Sure. See Coilean for the value of backdoor draws in a big pot.

"Turn: 7h Straddler bets. 2 callers. I call. $340 pot. River: 9c. It gets checked to me. Bet or check?"

-I would. It's unlikely anyone's gonna check-raise here. Maybe somebody's got 8-7 or T-7 or some mess like that. Sure doesn't look like anybody has a 9. I suppose somebody might have A-7 or 8-8 or somesuch, but what the hell.

"And how did I get myself into this mess?"

-Hey, it's not a mess when they all check to you on the river. You can always turn 'em over and hope there's a long, slow silence and lots of grimacing and lip pursing and head shaking followed by muck muck muck.

Is it a live straddle?

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
You can always turn 'em over and hope there's a long, slow silence and lots of grimacing and lip pursing and head shaking followed by muck muck muck.


[/ QUOTE ]

I find it more fun to see hopes dashed as Ace-high hopefully turns over, followed by pocket 5s or A6, followed by a triumphant 87 turning over his cards, only to be crushed by your all-powerful Jack kicker.

Now, when I can confidently turn over something like King-high in a situation like this and say "send it!", that's fun to do.

[trillig]

I'm pickier about my button calls, but OK your in with the dangerous J7s, I'd just check the beast at the river... I run into far too many river sandbags and love to disappoint them...

-t

[skp]

Interesting. If anything, I run into almost no river sandbags night in and night out and therefore value bet all kinds of stuff on the river.

On this hand, when everyone checked the river, I figured I had an easy value bet (and still do despite the fact that I turned out to be wrong in this instance). Anyway, what happened was that I bet and the straddler called me with AA.

To Andy:

It was indeed a live straddle; obviously, this chap belonged to the camp that believes that AA "plays poorly" against a large field as he did not raise preflop when the action got back to him when we already had a family pot.

[andyfox]

Not.

/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[nykenny]

[ QUOTE ]
We are playing a must straddle game. I am on the button with Js7s. We have a family pot with $200 in it.


[/ QUOTE ]
is this game within driving distance from New York City? /images/graemlins/confused.gif Can we bump up the limit to 20-40? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[hutz]

I run into far too many river sandbags and love to disappoint them

If you routinely pass up good value bets on the river merely because you think/fear you are being set-up for a check-raise, your bankroll is suffering the greatest disappointment of them all.

[andyfox]

I think it's a long drive from NYC. And while the game itself might be good, there's one spot in it that's pretty tough. I'll leave it for others to elaborate.

[skp]

Well, you couldn't drive any further even if you wanted to...the game is on the west coast in Vancouver. Besides, the game is not always this good. Sometimes, we only have 8 players seeing the flop.

No, you can't bump it up to 20-40. The Great Canadian Casino has decided that no one here has the required bankroll to play that high. There is only one type of game and one limit offered at the joint: 10-20 hold 'em with a 3 dollar rake. Guys have gone hoarse asking for bigger limits. They finally relented and made one table a 10-20 kill game. So, on the weekends, you will generally have one kill game and 4 regular 10-20 games. Given that the house refuses to spread bigger games, we often have must straddle games in order to create big pots.

The Great Canadain Casino runs a monopoly and is without a doubt, the worst run cardroom anywhere in the free world.
Their motto is "the customer is never right". I asked them why they don't run any tournamnets and the brutally frank answer I got from management was "Why would we want to do that...it's way too much work for us".

[M.B.E.]

[ QUOTE ]
We are playing a must straddle game. I am on the button with Js7s. We have a family pot with $200 in it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find this call irresistible -- but it usually ends up costing me $50 preflop, not $20.

That's because when I play the BB or straddler finds a "raising hand" like KJo. Not something like AA which never wins in a family pot.

[elysium]

hi skp
i don't understand the flop call. you've got nothing.

on the river, check it down. you're not a big enough favorite if called. you need to be about a 60 % favorite here.

[Diplomat]

Hi skp,

I thought it was interesting that they relented within a month of Blue Boy adding a 10-20 game...strange eh?

I've seen worse run cardrooms, but only in terms of the floor. The mindset of the management is hillarious, although often is the way of charity (sort of) casinos.

-Diplomat