Agreesive play or foolish play??

I am a big time newbie in search of guidance.


1/2 PP, on the button, been folding every hand it feels like. Holding JTo. 5-6 limpers, I limp, small blind raises, everyone calls, including me. Flop 298 rainbow, now we are talking. SB bets, 3 callers, I raise, SB reraises, I call and one other player calls. K on the turn, SB bets, we call. River - 7!, SB checks, I bet, he calls, other guys folds, I win.


Was my raise on the flop unwarranted?

Should I have raised him again on the turn?


Thanks!


The newbie

against most PP players at 1/2 your raise on the flop is fine. most of the time he will just call and check to you on the turn, this way you see the river card for 2sb on the flop instead of 1sb on the flop and 2 on the turn. also if you hit your card on the turn you can then bet and have succeded in building a bigger pot.

if this guy is aggressive (as this guy seemed to be)then dont raise the flop. just call and wait for the cards. there is no reason to raise this turn... a sb preflop raise usually means AA or KK and he isnt going anywhere.


personally i wouldn't play this hand preflop either, with this many people in basically two pair or a str8 are you outs to win. let it go, even with position it wont win for ou in the long term (however this is a perfect situation to play jts)


jsut mho (mostly from hfapp)

Your raise allowed the SB to reraise which knocked out 2 players that may have paid off your straight when the bets are worth more. Your lucky it didn't get you heads up with him. If that had happened you would be going to the river with a hand your only going to complete 1 out of 3 times. If he has a pair or better, he is creaming you on the turn. On the turn there are 46 unknown cards and 8 make your straight. You don't want to raise him when you are a 6 to 1 dog.

The raise is good poker. He is only a 2-1 dog to make his straight by the river and with the large number of callers he wants to get more money out there since he will be "making money" in the long wrong when these people call his raise.


Often you will get a few callers even if re-raised, so it is worth the play.

Pre-flop: Limping with JTo on the button is good. Most players will play this hand in any position and will call raises with it. However, this popular hand is seriously overrated. It should only be played in late postion in a multi-way pot. Even then, it's nothing special.


Flop: You hit a great flop. You will make a straight 31.5% of the time. Therefore, your raise is excellent. You only need two players to call your raise to make this a +EV play (since you'll fold on the river unimproved). Don't worry about the small blind 3-betting and driving players out. You can usually count on at least one of the other players cold-calling the 3-bet and making your raise worthwhile. 4-betting was a serious option here.


Turn: Just calling is right. Raising is no good with the small blind still fearlessly betting into both of you.


River: An obvious bet.


I suspect the SB feared the King. I'd put him on QQ or JJ. Maybe he had AA and was worried about two-pair or better.

the only way id raise the turn is if the K makes the rainbow, and you have at least 5 opponents.

if its not rainbow, youll need at least 7.


very nicely played hand, i agree with dynasty about the flop raise. good move. it may have got ya a free card, but his reraise makes up a little for the folders...


b

Wow! That was a lot more feedback then I expected, and THANK YOU ALL! Nice to know I am at least on the right track learning this crazy game!


Paul