shorthanded 20/40 hand with a straddle

6 handed 20/40 Hold'em.


UTG is usually a good player, but he says that he's stuck about 2 Gs on the night, and he's playing like it. He straddles. Next to act is a strong player, and he makes it 3 bets. The cutoff, who is very loose, calls the 3 bets cold. The button folds, and I call in the SB with AsJs. The BB calls, and the UTG straddler calls. 5 players, 15 SBs.


Flop is Ah 7d 3c. It is checked to the cutoff who bets. I raise, BB folds, UTG calls, 3 better folds, cutoff calls. 3 players, 10.5 BBs.


Turn is a 5d. I bet, UTG calls, and the cutoff raises. As I am pondering my options, the cutoff says "I'm on a draw." As far as these things go, he's a pretty honest fellow, so I do believe that he's on some sort of draw, but it's hard to say which one (it could be a full house "draw"!, but I don't think that's what's going on). I call and UTG calls in a disgusted manner. 3 players, 16.5 BBs.


The river is 10c. I check.


I will include the rest of the river action and results in a separate post right now.


Thanks for your comments.


-Dan

The river was checked around. The cutoff had Ad4d (top pair, nut flush draw, gutshot straight draw). The BB's hand was not shown, but he said later that he had 63, and that he was upset on the turn when the CO said he was on a draw because he feared that he might chop if he hit his gutshot.


-Dan

Boris will be around later to tell you that AJs is an unlucky hand and shouldn't be played at all. I'm sure many others will question calling a 3-bet with it out of the small blind so I'll let them make their arguements.


Your turn decision is the interesting one to me. With a board of...


Ah 7d 3c 5d


... there seems to be only a diamond draw and gut-shot straight draw available to beat you. Unless, of course, you're up against a bigger Ace or set. Can you 3-bet the turn for value here? I think I would have been confident that I had the best hand and was up against opponents who needed to improve to beat me. An important factor is your knowledge of the cutoff. Would he have called 3 pre-flop bets cold with 77,55, or 33? If not, I'd be even more confident that your hand is best.


When the 10c hits on the river and doesn't improve any draw, I think a bet is in order. Now you're only beat by a set, two pair (only AT seems reasonable there), or bigger Ace.

There is something Sredni calls the "guillotine principle".


Every once and while, a player willing puts their neck in the guillotine. The job, sadly, falls to us to chop their head off. Sredni recoils at the violent image.


Given your description of UTG, he won't have a good head on his shoulders for long.


In that general situation, your hand is a bit scared (as in Sklanskyism brave/scared), and should be played that way. But this is not a general situation.


Given your read, and your description, Sredni would apply the guillotine principle and reraise the turn.


Beware. The guillotine principle is not of the sight by of the nose. Close your eyes and be. The scent of guillotine principle will rent the air.


Such things are as paper to rock, or rock to scissors.


Misapplied, however, it can be broken scissors lying beneath a hovering rock. Wear a steel turtleneck.


Sredni Vashtar.


Sredni Vashtar went forth,

His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white.

His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death.

Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful.

I will be the one to tell you your call preflop is bad. You are not getting the odds to play this hand and wouldn't be worth one raise let alone 3 bets. Granted its not a normal double raise because of the straddle but why are you calling a raise from a strong early position player with this hand. Out of position makes it even worse. The rest of the hand is fine. I would crying call the river.

Daniel,


Seems to me that the cutoff's most likely hand is the nut diamond draw. Can't know how big his kicker is.....I just grit my teeth and pay it off.


Mike

Hand's not strong enough to three-bet the turn.

I just want to weigh in and say that the preflop call seems clear to me. Because of the straddle and the fact that it's shorthanded, I would think that the 3 bettor could have a much worse hand than AJs. I'd bet that AJs beats most of his 3 betting hands.

I think the primary consideration in deciding whether to 3 bet the turn is whether Dan has any interest in trying to knock out UTG.