PDA

View Full Version : Bottom two pair


durron597
04-07-2004, 07:11 AM
I'm relatively new to poker, and I've been trying to feel out my instincts so that when I start reading stuff (now) I would know where my leaks are. Anyway, I've had two bad beats with bottom two pair recently, and I'd like a comment on whether I played them wrong (both local games amongst friends).

Hand 1) I'm SB, with 4 players left. I have about T200. BB has about T500-600, and the button has about T150. Blinds at the moment are 5/10. (Our blinds are too small, I know, but bear with me).

As far as reads go, the BB has seriously had the cards tonight for his Top Stack, but he tends to bet his hand relatively accurately, though he has been known to bluff. However, he almost never raises unless he has a hand, and NEVER reraises, but calls when his hand is weaker than he should be calling with. The button is a pretty loose player, calling big bets with overcards.

Anyway, in this situation, CO folds (that's why I didn't mention him), BB limps in. I have 87o, and decide to defend my blinds since I expect to not be reraised (even vs. AA) and they're wired - which I am not. Flop is A87rb.

I look at both players and read the button as having paired one Ace but not rockets, and I decide to push all-in. BB folds, button calls and turns over ATo. The turn is of course a T, see ya.

I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong... was this just a bad suckout, or should I have not bothered to defend my blind? Should I have bet ~50? I feel like I would have called a reraise, though I don't think he would have pushed all-in.

Hand 2) I'm playing $20 buyin table stakes with no blind raising, and I get 64s. SB again, $.25/$.50 blinds, and my stack at the moment is well over $100. BB raises to $1, other players all fold; and I call since it's such a trivial part of my stack and I'm suited and almost wired.

Flop is T64, no /images/graemlins/diamond.gif (my suit). BB is pretty much tight/aggressive, and has about a $70 stack at the moment. He is the sort of guy who will try to steal and then bluff if he gets reraised basically every time, but will do the same when he has a hand too. I check, he bets $3, I reraise like $10, he comes back over the top of me, and I come back over the top of him. This proceeds until he's got like $40 in the middle and I push him all in, he calls, turns over 98o, looking for a 7. Turn = 9, River = T, and his T9 2 pair beats my T6.

So anyway, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to minimize the damage from such bad luck... should I fold with bottom two pair on a reraise? Maybe I should have called there, or just pushed immediately when I saw 64 on the flop - but the reason I play crap hands at all when I can easily afford it is to win lots of money with such hands. He later said he would have folded if I had pushed there, but the reraises pot committed him and that he had to call even on his crap draw because of pot odds.

Any advice would be appreciated.

LetsRock
04-07-2004, 10:50 AM
Looks like you got a little unlucky in both hands. The hands you chose to play are marginal, but playable given the passive description of your game and the very low blinds. You hit the flop about as best as you could and got all your chips in with the best of it. Nothing you can do about the turn and river cards - poker happens.

durron597
04-07-2004, 03:52 PM
I'm starting to think that this is why it's not even worth it to come in with such marginal hands, because even if you DO hit there are so many hands that beat you it's not even worth being in the hand, especially if you are ahead (the second case). Though I still think I played the first hand as best I could have because I was 3/4 stack and if I wanted to win (that game was basically #1 in money only... #2 gets buy-in) I needed to double up; though really what I want to know is "is it worth the risk to pay a tiny blind for the off chance of hitting a flush, low straight, or two pair (likely bottom two pair)?"

The conclusion I've come to is that you either win a small pot or lose a big one, because unless they're obvious flushes or straights it's really hard to lay down bottom two pair when you're playing marginal hands (because of small blinds and unlikelihood of PF raises).