coltrane
05-22-2004, 04:13 AM
Live NL game - blinds are 5 and 5
The table is kind of weird. Fairly loose/weak playing going on (raising the minimum, raising with ATo, but then a lot of calling minimum raises pre-flop with trash, betting weak into big pots, etc.). My table image is tight - I've played very few hands. Problem is that my stack is very small - I bought in for $500 and now I'm down to about $375 or so (everyone has me covered).
I pick up queens in early position. UTG opens for $35 (a normal pre-flop raise has not been more than this). I re-raise and make it $70 to go. I do this because I want to isolate this guy - I think he's got some kind of ace. But now, a middle position cold-calls me and both blinds cold-call me and the original raiser calls me! This really irked me - not because I thought they had great hands, but quite the opposite. Whenever someone had been raising before the flop (even though the max had been $35 or less), people were just ignoring it and calling - with trash. But I figured based on my image and the fact that I made it $70 to go, more people would fold. Also, based on the callers (who had been raising with ATo and re-raising with JJ), I truly believed that no one had aces or kings because with 5 callers in the pot, they would definitely have re-raised again to isolate more. I put the original raiser on an ace, and the other callers on either pocket pairs smaller than mine or things like a decent ace or face cards (JTs, KQs).
The flop comes 334 rainbow. UTG checks. Now, it's on me and here's the problem. I actually like the flop because I think my queens are still the best hand. I don't think anyone has a three in their hand (even these guys aren't that stupid) unless they have pocket 3's. I think the only real possible hand out there right now that beats me is pocket 4's. But now, there's $350 in the pot. If I check, I have a bad feeling that everyone checks and gets a free card (which could easily be an Ace or a King or another card giving someone a set). So I decide to bet the pot, but at this point that puts me all-in. So I go all-in and the middle position guy raises and everyone else folds. He turns over 44. I obviously knew as soon as someone called me that I was beat.
What could I have done in this situation? I re-raised a large amount before the flop. I think it was a terrible call by middle position to cold-call $70 on my raise with 44. With my table image, he can't put me on anything less than a big pair. And with that amount that I raised to, he can't imagine anyone else is going to cold-call behind him. Heck, the original raiser might've folded. And with the fact that I had such a short stack, he really didn't have the implied odds to play for a set. Anyway, needless to say, I'm not happy about the outcome. I realize that queens are not the holy grail of hands, but in this case it wouldn't have mattered if I had aces. I thought my reads were right and my play was right. Does anyone disagree? I'd love to hear opinions. Of course, one thing I can think of is the fact that maybe it's just stupid to play at a NL table with a short-stack like that and I shouldn't have done it in the first place.
-Sunny
The table is kind of weird. Fairly loose/weak playing going on (raising the minimum, raising with ATo, but then a lot of calling minimum raises pre-flop with trash, betting weak into big pots, etc.). My table image is tight - I've played very few hands. Problem is that my stack is very small - I bought in for $500 and now I'm down to about $375 or so (everyone has me covered).
I pick up queens in early position. UTG opens for $35 (a normal pre-flop raise has not been more than this). I re-raise and make it $70 to go. I do this because I want to isolate this guy - I think he's got some kind of ace. But now, a middle position cold-calls me and both blinds cold-call me and the original raiser calls me! This really irked me - not because I thought they had great hands, but quite the opposite. Whenever someone had been raising before the flop (even though the max had been $35 or less), people were just ignoring it and calling - with trash. But I figured based on my image and the fact that I made it $70 to go, more people would fold. Also, based on the callers (who had been raising with ATo and re-raising with JJ), I truly believed that no one had aces or kings because with 5 callers in the pot, they would definitely have re-raised again to isolate more. I put the original raiser on an ace, and the other callers on either pocket pairs smaller than mine or things like a decent ace or face cards (JTs, KQs).
The flop comes 334 rainbow. UTG checks. Now, it's on me and here's the problem. I actually like the flop because I think my queens are still the best hand. I don't think anyone has a three in their hand (even these guys aren't that stupid) unless they have pocket 3's. I think the only real possible hand out there right now that beats me is pocket 4's. But now, there's $350 in the pot. If I check, I have a bad feeling that everyone checks and gets a free card (which could easily be an Ace or a King or another card giving someone a set). So I decide to bet the pot, but at this point that puts me all-in. So I go all-in and the middle position guy raises and everyone else folds. He turns over 44. I obviously knew as soon as someone called me that I was beat.
What could I have done in this situation? I re-raised a large amount before the flop. I think it was a terrible call by middle position to cold-call $70 on my raise with 44. With my table image, he can't put me on anything less than a big pair. And with that amount that I raised to, he can't imagine anyone else is going to cold-call behind him. Heck, the original raiser might've folded. And with the fact that I had such a short stack, he really didn't have the implied odds to play for a set. Anyway, needless to say, I'm not happy about the outcome. I realize that queens are not the holy grail of hands, but in this case it wouldn't have mattered if I had aces. I thought my reads were right and my play was right. Does anyone disagree? I'd love to hear opinions. Of course, one thing I can think of is the fact that maybe it's just stupid to play at a NL table with a short-stack like that and I shouldn't have done it in the first place.
-Sunny