a good time for a semibluff raise?

10-20 at the horseshoe. the games just okay, not too tight or too loose, not too easy but certainly not tough either. much better game than the 8-16 at bellagio earlier that same day.


im in the BB with T9s. weak utg limps in, good solid player in mid position limps (probably the most solid player at the table which isnt saying much really), cutoff raises. this guy raises a LOT in late position. he's okay, pretty loose with those raises though. sb calls, i call, limpers call. 5 handed, 5 big bets.


the flop is 55J with two of my suit. i bet, utg folds, solid middle limper raises. the cutoff just calls, sb folds, and i call.


the turn is an offsuit Q. i check, solid player leads again. raiser folds and i check-raise. middle player thinks for a few seconds and folds. he says something like "well i had a jack with an ace, but it looks like you got me beat."


in the 10-20's i usually play in i cant get away with semibluff turn raises, was nice to be able to pull one off for a change.

Mike 1. Hey-- looks like your on a roll! On your sb raise with your button T,9 hand, you read your table correctly and made an excellent play because of it. Bravo!. On the Quad 7's hand, I would raise the turn and just end it there. No need to drag it out, IMHO. Hope your winning streak continues. Babe.

"On the Quad 7's hand, I would raise the turn and just end it there. No need to drag it out, IMHO. Hope your winning streak continues. Babe"


thanks for the kind words. my winning this week was preceeded by a long break-even spell so hopefully this is the start of a surge of good extra-solid playing for me. ive started wearing a cd walkman at the table and it really helps me focus better and not get so damn bored. keeps me alert as well.


the funny thing about that quads hand is i think i couldve raised the turn and he still wouldve called (he had a big pair)

and made a crying call on the river. so i cost myself a big bet there. there was an ill-advised checkraise semibluff i made on the turn of a hand earlier in the session when everyone was paying attention and i was called down when i missed on the river. that one "failed" semibluff ended up paying off several times later in the session with weaker hands calling me down when i got there. i had been rereading all of theory of poker earlier that day.


golly i sound green when i say things like that /images/smile.gif

I play in a pretty weak 10/20 game where most players act according to their own holdings and are oblivious to what their opponents may be holding. In the long run, the game is pretty easy to beat.


But one of the reasons I enjoy playing poker is that it is a challenge to outhink your opposition. Your hand is a perfect example. You must know that this fella does not have a 5 and does not have QQ or JJ. You further know that you have to at least call with your 13 or 14 outer (depending on whether the Jack on the flop was a spade or not). You also know that if you checkraise, the other guy may fold because he can't be so sure that you don't have the 5. So, the extra bet that you invest on the turn is well worth it.


Good thinking. In my games, if I were to pull the same move, the guy would simply shrug his shoulders and call twice.


Like I said, in the long run, that's a good thing for me but it sure takes away from some of what makes poker fun.

Solid player doesn't look that solid to me. Limped with A-J from middle position first in, followed by a bet on the turn when an overcard came with a pair on the board. Sounds to me like you're the solid player.


Nicely done.

. . . (and two is a lot for me.)


Telling everyone he folded A-J might be the biggest mistake he made on the hand.

Or maybe he's a solid liar.

I think it's a ill-advised comment, truth or not. Let's say he had a medium to small pocket pair (which is what I think he had). His play would make some sense. Limping up front in a soft game, making a move on the pot on the flop, continuing on the turn when not reraised on the flop, then folding with what looks to be a two-outter.


Now the instinct to 'safe face' kicks in, so he lies and says he had top pair. If anyone actually believes him and it affects their later betting, it can only induce them to bluff more, which in my view is bad for the hero.


I LOVE staying quiet when making these kinds of folds. Ideally, they have no idea if I was on a spastic bluff or really did laydown top pair.


Tommy

Did the thouhgt of middle player haveing a small flush draw sound fair to you tommy,, or over cards,, the cold call a raise with AJ,, is not uncommon so why think he is not speaken the truth ,, IMO I think hero DOES not have a good read on the situation and got away with a BLUFF,, wich was guttsy,, but pd off.. His read might have been well enough to pull it off or the player over read is oppistions hand and folded.?

I think he makes a very good play here. The only hand the guy can play back with is QJ. Anyhting else the better will have a hard time calling. KJ,AJ,J10, smaller pocket pair. And even if he gets called or raised still has tons of outs. Nice hand!

"(depending on whether the Jack on the flop was a spade or not)."


Doh...of course, the Jack on the flop has to be the Jack of spades if you flopped a spade draw....