river checks

[DaveB]

Man the SH forums are so dead. You'd think there'd be more posts with everyone playing Party these days.

party 5/10 6 max, currently 4 players. I have 10 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 10 /images/graemlins/spade.gif UTG and limp. Just kidding. So I raise, only the button folds. Flop is 7 /images/graemlins/spade.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif. SB bets, BB raises, I 3 bet, both call.

Turn A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif. SB checks, BB bets, I call, SB folds. River is J /images/graemlins/spade.gif. BB checks, I check.

Here's another one with 5 players. I have 7 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 7 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif in the SB. Button limps, I raise, BB and button call. Flop is 8 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif. I bet, BB calls, cutoff folds. Turn 3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif. I bet, BB calls. River 9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif. I check, he checks.

Should I definitely bet these rivers? One of them? What to do if I get raised?

thanks..
dave

[soda]

Second hand - you need to bet the river here. Your opponent will call you with any pair and is more likely to have been holding a pair on the flop than to have hit one later. Also, had he hit a larger pair than your 77, he will bet and you will call. Therefore, you must bet to gain the money when he would have called you, but will not bet.

First hand, this is a much thinner value bet. However, I'd like to address the turn. My concern here is that you would have called this person down - turn and river. Your hand is very weak, but very possibly still good - and it would do you well to lose the third player if you can. You were the preflop raiser and the ace is very likely to have hit your hand. When your opponent seeks to put you on the defensive by betting into you on the ace, I think you have good reason to raise here. If you feel that your hand does not warrant a raise, you should probably be folding. Calling here would be my last choice.

This situation is very specific - if the person betting into you is out of position, your hand may very well be good - but can easily be overtaken and you have a very good chance of driving out another player, I say definitely raise the turn, then check the river behind unless you sense that your TT is worth a value bet. Sometimes, I plan to check behind on the river, only to find myself value betting anyway because I sensed the person was weak, or they call down too much.

The TT is a pretty thin value bet, this person could have a weak ace, and may very well fold if he had a small pair on the flop.

He could also have a monster hand and be going for a checkraise here on the river - in this case I would fold unless he was a major goofball.

The second hand (77) is a clear value bet, if you are checkraised, you should fold most of the time, calling down only the craziest of opponents.


soda