My First NLHE Post in a Month...

[ML4L]

Hey all,

This hand came up last night in a .25/.50 home game. I have about $70 in front of me; my primary opponent (SB) has about the same. He is a pretty average player; nothing remarkable about him. My image is very solid. We're 8-handed; a couple of limpers in LP, SB completes, and I check with Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif4 /images/graemlins/club.gif. The flop comes:

Q /images/graemlins/spade.gifQ /images/graemlins/club.gifJ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

SB checks, I check, LP (good player who would bet many hands here) bets $3, SB check-raises to $6, I think for 15 seconds before reraising to $12. SB calls. Turn comes:

3 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

SB now leads out for $10. I have about $55 left; about $30 in the pot. What now? Comments on the flop play? Thanks in advance.

ML4L

[AJo Go All In]

when i flop trips-no-kicker out of the blinds i tend to play it very passively. you are either way ahead or way behind. i dont' really understand what you are trying to accomplish with your check-reraise on the flop. if you have a very solid image i don't see how SB could have less than a queen here (if he is a thinking player). hopefully he has Q-rag like you and you'll end up chopping, or i guess it's possible he's got something like KsTs or AJ.

anyway given what you did i would probably just call the turn. i see no value in raising other than possibly moving the SB off a slightly better queen, although in a low stakes game i wouldn't count on that. if a blank hits the river and he pushes in on you i would strongly consider folding.

[Redhotman]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey all,

This hand came up last night in a .25/.50 home game. I have about $70 in front of me; my primary opponent (SB) has about the same. He is a pretty average player; nothing remarkable about him. My image is very solid. We're 8-handed; a couple of limpers in LP, SB completes, and I check with Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif4 /images/graemlins/club.gif. The flop comes:

Q /images/graemlins/spade.gifQ /images/graemlins/club.gifJ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

SB checks, I check, LP (good player who would bet many hands here) bets $3, SB check-raises to $6, I think for 15 seconds before reraising to $12. SB calls. Turn comes:

3 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

SB now leads out for $10. I have about $55 left; about $30 in the pot. What now? Comments on the flop play? Thanks in advance.

ML4L

[/ QUOTE ]
My guess.
SB knows LP is loose in this position and has KTo, Qx, or AJ. His bet on the turn is to protect you from making a big bet.

I think you should min raise here and check the river. If he comes over the top on you, think about folding.

[AeonBlues]

Your kicker is weak. Playing 3 Q on flop is like playing pair on flop, your kicker is still bad. I would fold against the check raise, as in a 3 handed pot, with a check raise, you are almost allways drawing slim to none. You will be the dog in this situaiton many more times than you are ahead.

AeonBlues

[crockpot]

my inclination against people i don't know would be to fold on the flop when SB check-raises. but if you know these players well, you can play on.

if i'm stuck in this situation on the turn, i would raise a small amount and fold if he reraises. if he reraises you can be pretty sure he is full or has a better kicker than a jack with his trips, so you can fold knowing you don't have enough outs to continue. however, if he is the type to come over the top with a hand like Q8 even after you have represented this much strength, it may be best to call him down. if you weren't going to fold on the flop, there isn't that much reason to do it now, even though you are probably beaten more than half the time.

[ML4L]

Hey all,

Thanks for the responses. Again, I have Q4 on a QQJ3 board facing a $10 bet into a $30 pot from SB who I check-reraised on the flop. When he check-raised the flop, he could have had many hands: a queen, a jack, a straight draw, even ace-high or an underpair (hoping that LP was stealing). My logic for my check-reraise was that I had to figure out if another queen was out and where it was. If I flat call and allow LP to call and SB bets out on the turn, what can I do? I have a player still to act behind me, and I might already be beaten by the original bettor... So, I decided that the best approach would be to take control of the hand cheaply on the flop. If LP calls my reraise, he has a queen, simple as that. If SB calls, it narrows his hands to a straight draw or a queen.

My approach on the turn was that I would check behind if a small card came and bet if a large card came. SB does not have QJ (would slowplay) or AQ (would raise preflop). I doubt KQ as well. If he does have Qx, the best I can do with my 4 kicker is split (unless I spike a boat), but that's only if he gets counterfeited. When the 3 comes, I want the free card to try to river a card that will get me my split.

When he bet into me on the turn, that ruled out the straight draw. He had a queen, no doubt. And if he did, odds were excellent that he had me outkicked (or just filled up). Because what hand does he put me on? I clearly have a queen, so if he wants to bet his, it must be better than mine... So, I folded.

In an attempt to put my mind at ease, he showed me his queen. But, in doing so, I saw his kicker. He had Q2, meaning that we would have split. But, given his probable range of hands and the fact that the best I could do was split, I like my fold. Thoughts?

ML4L