movin' on up

[crockpot]

despite never having played higher than 3/6, i felt the need for some 10/20 last night, mainly because i was observing the ub games and they were eminently beatable.

immediate impressions: a lot more people who complain about their bad beats at the table, tell the fish they're idiots, etc. while it's nice to know that these so-called pros aren't knowledgeable enough to keep their mouths shut, it still creates a bad environment. it also seems like some of the players suffer more severe tilt than at lower limits because they're affected more by the beats.

two hands i'm submitting for critique. the first i know i screwed up; the second is open for debate.

hand 1: EP maniac raises. (a little info on EP: i had seen him show down J8s and 97s in EP after raising, but he had aces twice and slowplayed them each time by limping or flat calling a raise.) i three-bet in CO with A /images/graemlins/club.gif K /images/graemlins/heart.gif, which i assume is automatic against this guy. button, who's playing typically for the most part except while on tilt (and is not on tilt now), caps. blinds fold, we both call.

flop: T /images/graemlins/heart.gif 6 /images/graemlins/club.gif 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif.

checked to the capper, who bets. we both call. (so far, so good?)

turn: K /images/graemlins/spade.gif

maniac checks. what would you do? here's where i made my first possible screw-up by checking. button checks.

river: 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

EP bets. your play?

hand 2: four limpers to me and i limp with TT. (do i need to raise for value here, even though i don't want to make the pot too big?) blinds come along for a seven-way flop of 542r.

SB bets, two calls, two folds, guy to my direct right raises. your play?

i three-bet. SB called, one of the callers called, and the raiser called. turn was an 8 putting a two-flush on board, checked to you. your play?

river was a king, no flush. checked to me and i check. good/bad?

[astroglide]

hand 1: i would have raised the flop, bet the turn, and bet the river.

hand 2: flip a coin preflop. if people aren't afraid of cold-calling it should probably be raised. i would have bet the whole way because i'm not afraid of k3 /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[crockpot]

no more responses? sorry if the language of the post is dry.

on hand 1, i didn't feel like playing the flop any more aggressively, because i didn't think this guy would cap without less than AK, and he probably wouldn't have laid down much here in this big pot. with the backdoor flush and two overcards, though, i thought i had enough to at least call.

on the actual hand, i checked around the turn, which was a mistake, at least in theory. but my real mistake was raising the river, when i should have gone for the overcall. button folded, EP three-bet me (which he would have done with KJ or maybe less), and i paid off his set of tens.

on hand 2, the river check wasn't so much being afraid of the king as not thinking my hand was ahead most of the time there. on the previous streets i felt i had to bet to avoid giving out free cards, but there was a good chance i was beaten here after everyone had stood all that heat. the SB showed A3o, so not raising preflop cost me big time if he was going to fold.

[astroglide]

you can't be results-oriented about the tens hand. it either was or wasn't a good idea to raise, and what they were holding or hit doesn't matter.

[dansalmo]

On the first hand, I would bet the flop here since you may have the best hand or get raised to knock out the third player. You are then set up for a check raise on the turn.

On the second hand, you should 3 bet the flop, bet the turn and check/call the river.

[CrackerZack]

Hand 1... PF 3-bet is mandatory against almost anyone. I'd bet the turn, after you whiffed, I'd raise the river. If Button is decent your chance for an overcall from QQ is small so get the extra bet from the maniac. If Button was dumb, call and get the overcall.

Hand 2... I'd probably limp along also. I'd definitely 3-bet the flop, definitely bet the turn and definitely bet the river.

[crockpot]

i'm trying not to be results-oriented. but i still think that a call was the correct play. for some reason i got it in my head that the guy behind me would have folded QQ or JJ had i called, when in fact it's likely he would have overcalled with those hands. although if he had AQ or the pot is heads-up i like the raise.

[Nightwish]

Hand 1: I don't think the turn check was necessarily a mistake. There's no flush draw, you have the best hand, and the guy immediately behind you is on tilt. Most of the time he'll bet this. Now, when EP bets on the river, you need to raise. It looks like the button will fold (but maybe he's really on tilt and will call with something like 99). If EP 3-bets, then just call.

hand 2: Contrary to what most people here would probably say, I think the limp pre-flop is OK, but you should raise in this situation about half the time. The 3-bet on the flop is great. There are too many draws out there, and you need to make them pay. You also need to bet the turn when it's checked to you. I would also bet the river. At least one of the guys has something like 66 or 77 and will call. The rest probably have draws and will fold (or maybe call with A5).