Quiz - river decission

[rigoletto]

Party Poker 5/10 (6 handed)
Hero has 5h, 6h and is SB

MP1 limps, Button raises, Hero calls, BB calls, MP1 calls

Flop(8 SB): 4d, 7h, 5c

Hero bets, BB folds, MP1 folds, Button calls

Turn(5 BB): 2d

Hero bets, Button calls

River(7 BB): Kh

Do you: bet (and fold to a raise, call a raise), check/call, check/fold?

P.S. ccould somebody tell me how to spell decission, descision , desiscion...

[Bob T.]

decision

I think it depends on your opponent. If they will bluff if checked to, I would check/call, if they would call you down with Ace high, or a worse pair, I would bet/fold to a raise.

[J.R.]

I'd bet unless the opponent was tricky/over-aggressive or capable of folding an A here. Given the way this hand has been played I would bet since he hasn't made a move yet and seems to like to call.

Is the preflop call rountine? I normally fold this in the sb.

[The Bear]

I think you should bet and fold to a raise. Many opponents will call w/ an ace here, but just show it down if checked to.

Also, I don't play shorthanded often, but I'm pretty sure I fold this preflop.

Decision.

[rigoletto]

Well, hero bet, button raised and hero immidiatly called his raise.

If you apply a little hand analysis I think you'll will agree that hero played made the correct play river play. I should mention that button is not one of the best players around.

[J.R.]

If you apply a little hand analysis I think you'll will agree that hero played made the correct play river play.

Hand analysis would indicate the button's likely hand is overcards on the turn. That's why I would think the K is not a great card, since there are many hands consistent with the button's play that contain a K.

If you knew he would bluff raise the river more than half the time *, betting and calling a raise would be correct. If you knew he would bluff/value bet A high if you checked and but fold worse hands if you bet, betting would not be correct. If you knew he would call with A high and other worse hands and only raise if you are beat, but wouldn't bluff with the worse hands he would call your bet with, betting and folding to a raise would probably be correct (although bad for the image).

But what I don't get is why you think hand analysis dictates the correct river play, since a read of AQ or AJ (or some other non-pair overcard combination) doesn't dictate the correct river play, but rather how your opponent will likely respond to your river action with this range of non-pair overcards is what dictates the correct river play. And since we don't have that info, what can we do?

*Half is probably not right since the betting out decision also depends on how often he calls with worse hands, but my sense is he would have to bluff raise fairly frequently to make it correct to bet and intend to call a raise here.

[rigoletto]

OK, I was trying to provoke some more responses. Most times the best play would be to check call and hope you induce a bluff. With this opponent I thought otherwise:

I could pretty much put him on overcards with an A, so only AK has me beat. My betting into him all the way suggests more than a single pair and I was pretty sure he'd only call with AK, so I bet because I would have called a bet anyway and there was a chance that he'd call with A high. I was fully ready to call a raise because that would spell bluff from this player.

I posted because I've noticed that a lot of players just make the call on the end here when they hit (and it's often prudent if you suspect either a bluff or a strong hand) and the raise is often a desperate attempt to pick up the pot. I wondered if anybody would pick up on this from the post.

Oh, he showed AQ by the way.

[Arcane]

bet, you are going to call if he bets...make this bet everytime unless you are setting up a bluff which u didn't

[rigoletto]

[ QUOTE ]
bet, you are going to call if he bets...make this bet everytime unless you are setting up a bluff which u didn't

[/ QUOTE ]

This is really player dependent. It's a shorthanded game and good players will often (correctly) put you on a bluff or small pair and let you bet all the way only to raise the river with KK or AK etc.

[Arcane]

it is fairly easy to put him on overcards since he isn't on a cold steal and hasn't raised the flop/turn. while a K might hit him, I feel that a value bet outweights the chance of this getting checked through since someone with Ace high may call. you can usually fold to a raise since i find it hard for a non-K to raise here.

[Aaron Lovi]

Hi Rigoletto,

I think most shorthanded players would drop the bomb on the turn rather than the river if they held the big overpair on a sort of straightish board. If you're just on a draw, he figures you won't call the river raise with nothing, so he makes an extra bet by popping the turn instead. Alot of players will also just go to war on the flop as well.

So, unless he flopped a set, his hand shouldn't be all that strong on the turn. I'd bet and call a raise in your spot.