A nice 3some with Jim Easton and a fish

[Brian]

Party 3/6, typical table. I am dealt K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif K /images/graemlins/club.gif UTG and open with a raise. JimEaston 3-bets me in MP. I know he's JimEaston, but I am not sure if he knows it is me. Fishy cold-calls in LP. I cap it. Both call. 3 to the Flop for 12sb.

Flop: A /images/graemlins/heart.gif 2 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif

How do you play out the hand from here?

-Brian

[Jim Easton]

Yes, I know it is Brian and I know he knows who I am.

[Stu Pidasso]

[ QUOTE ]
How do you play out the hand from here?

[/ QUOTE ]

Bet


Stu

[BigEndian]

Bet the flop. Bet the turn and expect a raise. Three-bet him on the turn if you want to show him who's boss /images/graemlins/smile.gif. Or just call-call to win the max/loose the min since he could likely lay down TT, JJ or QQ to you when you 3-bet the turn and will cap when he has you crushed.

- Jim

[Nate tha' Great]

I posted a very similar hand in the shorthanded forum the other night. I had KK, had capped before the flop, and was first to act after it when it came Axx. My first instinct was to bet out. Then somebody asked me:

What does a bet on the flop accomplish?

I didn't have a good answer.

It will not get a better hand to fold.

But it might discourage a weaker hand from playing.

Protecting your hand isn't a top priority here. (Yeah, I know there's a flush draw).

So I'd check the flop.

If nobody bet, I'd go ahead and bet out on the turn.

If there was a bet but no raise, I'd call. I'd do the same on the turn. And the river.

If there was a bet and a raise at any point, I'd fold.

[BigEndian]

By not betting the flop you give your opponent infinite odds to spike thier set card with a lessor pair than you. Not betting is a bad choice imo.

[edit] Btw, exactly this happened to me when I was up against a lesser pair day before yesterday (though on the turn). They were going to come along any way because there was a three-flush of one of their cards. But not betting was horrible.

- Jim

[Nate tha' Great]

He's got, what, a 20:1 chance to spike his set card? I'll agree, that's not immaterial. But consider:

- An opponent with QQ or JJ or TT is going to bet here when checked to at least half of the time.

- If you don't have the best hand, then checking it through makes it cheaper for you to spike *your* set card.

[Jim Easton]

What range of hands did you put me on? What range of hands did you think I put you on?

[BigEndian]

Good points, though it's not out of this world that he has 88-TT. Regardless, the PF cap by Brian would make him very suspicious of a check on the flop. If my opponent capped PF, and I didn't have the Ace I might check through the flop and call down from there.

- Jim

[BigEndian]

I would put you on either AK, AQs or a pocket pair from 88+ that 3-bet to try to isolate and see if it came back capped to see where you were at.

- Jim

[Brian]

Hi Jim,

I put you on AK or AA-JJ, maybe TT.

-Brian

[Jim Easton]

I know you have reasonable raising standards. Once you cap, that narrows your holdings. I put you on AKs, AA, or KK, with QQ and JJ possibilities, but less likely than the others.

[Brian]

I am still not sure what to do in this situation. I actually think check-calling the whole way might be best, with maybe betting the River depending on what developed. I decided to bet out on the Flop, and both Jim and the fish called.

The Turn was a brick, and I check-called Jim's bet (so did fishy). River was another brick, and I again check-called along with Fishy. Jim had AKs.

-Brian