One more XYY hand...

In my last session, I'm holding 10,9. The flop,

with four callers, comes: 10,10,x.


Some guy (a reasonable player) in front of me bets.

What do I do here? In this case, I think I might

be out-kicked. So I raise, trying to see if he's

got the fourth 10. Two guys fold and the original

bettor calls -- heads up. I'm thinking he doesn't

have the 10.


Turn card: A.


Guy checks. I bet. Guy calls.


River card: A.


Guy checks. I bet. Guy calls.


Guy's holding an A. (I think the guy didn't raise on

the river to be nice -- the whole table had been

commiserating about my obvious bad luck at people who

had been getting incredible draws against me for the

past couple of hours -- but I'm not sure.)


What's wrong with my reasoning and play in this hand

(aside from the fact that I should've checked the

river)? Should I have called the flop and raised the

turn, even with a marginal kicker? Also, I'm not sure why

the guy called me all the way to river. Did he think

that I wouldn't raise the flop holding a third ten?


On a tangential question, is it basically always correct

to fold an XYY flop when you're holding the X and your

turn bet gets raised?

If it were me I would have raised the flop and hope it was reraised for another raise. You hold a very powerful hand, but he stayed in the hand chasing and beat you out.


You probably would have lost the hand anyway, if he wanted to continue to chase, which it looks like he did, but the next time he wanted to chase, he may have thought twice about chasing when you are in the hand.


On the other hand if he's a calling station and is going to chase to the end reguardless, I think you played okay. But, you have to be careful here, about who he calls down, you or the whole table.


For the XYY, there's not much information there. Generally, if I hold an overpair, I would stay in the hand.


Mike

The guy is a chaser calling you on the turn even if he hit he's lone A as he did not have the proper odds. Your raise on the flop should have rang a bell on his head that he was behind. He can't raise you on the river because he was afraid of the 4th 10. He was just lucky and outdrawn you. I hope you took his money in future hands.

Jen,


Was your opponent first to bet? His position should be a big clue about what his possible holding could be. Without knowing his position, this almost smells like a "feeler" bet to see who will be coming along.


In this case, what is "X"? If you're the last of the 4 to act, then his bet with AX sounds very reasonable to me. If he's first, well that's a little bit more risky but not altogether wrong. Depends on what the texture of the game is and his own personal style. Also depends on his assessment of the strengths/weaknesses of his opponents.


Rule of thumb that I like to use is, raise the flop with a two-suited board or a flop like TT9 where lots of people will be tied onto regardless of whether they know you have trips. Call flop and raise turn if board is rainbow or something like TT6.


As for your tangential question, the answer is "it depends". I would probably consider folding a lot if you are check-raised unless your opponent is very, very good (even to try a semi-bluff check-raise in ll games is unlikely) or extremely overaggressive (maniac). Try to classify who your opponent is and progress accordingly. If you bet and then get raised, I'd be less likely to fold, but would still consider it a probable first option. Check for other outs that you may have picked up such as a flush draw... or even a gutshot straight draw. These might give you just enough of an out to continue.


Mike

Thanks for the advice.


The betting order was something like caller 1,

caller 2, Guy, me.


I don't remember exactly what X was -- something

like a 6 or 7. I was a little flustered at the

showdown that someone had made yet another miracle

draw against me that I didn't notice his 2nd card.

I assume he stayed in because he didn't believe

that I had the third 10, and he had the X card

with an A kicker...