I called with King High...

Here is one hand that at first I thought I played very poorly but upon further reflection decided that maybe it wasn't that bad. I'm still not sure.


15-30 limit. The game is unusually bad. Full of tight, knowledgeable players except for one or two.


I have KsQs one from the cut-off. There are two limpers to me (big pot already /images/smile.gif) and I raise. Big Blind and both limpers call.


The flop was something like 9s-5c-3d.


the action was checked to me and I opted for the free card. My reason being that one of limpers in particulur was very likely to call.


The turn was: 9s-5c-3d-(6c).


Now the BB bets and both limpers fold. I don't know the BB but in the half hour I've been at the table he has played a solid game. I call.


The river is a complete Brick. BB bets again and I call.

All comments appreciated.

Hmm, what do you think he had? Pre-flop he had odds to call with all sorts of things that hit here: A9s, Axs, Q9s, T9, 87s, 55, etc. I don't see what you think he could have that you could beat unless he is a habitual bluffer.

I think this is a great post. This is an area which gives me a lot of trouble.


Even though it’s likely the bb is semi-bluffing, I probably don’t call the turn at 5 to 1 unless I know him to be a frequent bluffer. But there’s a lot of yin and yang to this hand.


Yin- If you think he’s bluffing, it may cost you two big bets, which means you have to adjust your effective odds down to about 3 to 1.


Yang- Then again, your check on the flop probably convinced him you don’t have a pair, which makes it a little more likely you’re against a bluff or semi-bluff. So you have to adjust for that.


Yin- But he may have been trying for a check/raise on the flop. Some of the hands he would check/raise the flop with could leave you drawing thin (if he holds something like A9s), -- To dead (such as 33).


Yang- If your call on the turn might prevent him from betting again on the river, you have to adjust for this also.


Yin- But at this point you may want him to bet again on the river so you can pick off a bluff.


This gets too complicated for me. It’s possible much of this could have been avoided by simply betting the flop with your runner-runner spade draw and two big overcards and taking (what might be a more important) free card on the turn if needed. This may reduce it down to one dilemma on the river, instead of two different dilemmas on two different streets. Less adjustments to make.


Of course as it turns out, you played it perfect!

"I opted for the free card. My reason being that one of limpers in particulur was very likely to call."


This strikes me as a reason to bet, not to check.


"The river is a complete Brick"


Can't be. A 9,6,5 or 3 pairs the board; a 2,4,7 or 8 puts a four-straight on board; and a J,T or A is an overcard to the board that you don't have.


I don't like check, call, call post-flop very much with King high nothing. I'd have bet the flop and then the other streets play differently.


Hope he had Kc-xc and missed completely.

Boris,


I would have bet the flop & at least considered folding if BB raised. The rag flop is just too likely to have helped him. My thought is find out now (on the flop) while on cheaper street,as you do have two overcards & backdoor flush draw.

I hardly ever face these sorts of decisions and so maybe my judgement was a little off. Basically, in the heat of the battle I put him on a draw and didn't raise because it wouldn't make him fold. In this case my read turned out to be totally wrong and I wish I would have raised.

""I opted for the free card. My reason being that one of limpers in particulur was very likely to call."


This strikes me as a reason to bet, not to check."


Why?


"The river is a complete Brick"


Can't be. A 9,6,5 or 3 pairs the board; a 2,4,7 or 8 puts a four-straight on board; and a J,T or A is an overcard to the board that you don't have. "


Oh yea. maybe I didn't remember the hand correctly. I think the turn card may have been the 4c. Or maybe I was on complete tilt for the hand. Who knows. All I know for sure is that the Bad Guy won with an unimproved A-J.

""I opted for the free card. My reason being that one of limpers in particulur was very likely to call."


This strikes me as a reason to bet, not to check."


Why?


Call is good; raise would be bad. If I can get one or two opponents out, I have more of a chance to win with my unimproved K-Q.


Sorry to hear the bad guy won. Did you consider raising on the river? I can rarely pull the trigger on that one as a bluff (there's a thread or two on this above) on the river, but maybe this would have been a good time.

I've never pulled off a river bluff raise but this would have been a perfect opportunity, especially since I had a king and not an ace.