First big pot in NL--played correctly?

ctv1116 · #1 08-14-2004, 03:21 PM

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 max, 5 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($24.25)
MP ($18.75)
Button ($135.30)
Hero ($38.90)
BB ($100.55)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to $1, BB calls $0,50.

Flop: ($2) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $4, Hero calls $4.

Turn: ($10) 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $10, Hero raises to $33.9 (All-In), BB calls $23.90.

River: ($77.80) 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $77.80
Main Pot: $77.80, between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero ($77.80).

Results in white below: 
BB shows Qh Td (two pair, queens and tens).
Hero shows Kh Ks (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $77.80. 

In the day I've been reading this forum, I've probably been told 10 times never to min-raise, yet I did it here anyway. Which street should I have sprung to life?

mullaney · #2 08-14-2004, 03:36 PM

Looks good to me, it's one of the few times that a min raise doesn't look so bad to me. Waiting for the turn to check raise all-in looks good too. However with a board that coordinated, it is likely that he has some straight draws to beat you. You might consider betting the turn instead of checkraising.

SkippingGoat · #3 08-14-2004, 06:53 PM

I think betting out on the flop is by far the best play. If you get raised you can get all your chips in there. You'll almost certainly get called by a draw or someone with any kind of hand. I think waiting until the turn is dangerous with three broadway cards on the board. AN A, J, or 9 are all big scare cards for you and may force you to fold your top set. That is, I don't think you're strong enough here to slowplay. Think about it, villain either has a strong draw or a strong hand (or something like second pair with a draw). There's no point in letting a draw in cheaply. If you knock out a garbage hand by betting out, you knock out a garbage hand. You weren't going to win money anyway. By giving a cheap card though, you give BB a chance to improve to a better hand than you. This is something you really want to avoid in NL. If the 10 is a 2, I think your play is ok.

As for the minraise, this is one of the very few places I'd say you can make a case for it. However, your raise is only picking up an extra .50 preflop. Not enough IMO to risk getting outflopped.

gomberg · #4 08-14-2004, 07:07 PM

min raising there is not generally a good idea unless you think for some reason based on previous play he will reraise the min-raise. You should be raising decent there with a vast number of hands, so not doing so with your premium hands is just silly. Also, the way you played it, you gave implied odds for any ace or pocket pair to call you and bust you.

As far as postflop, the board is just too coordinated to slowplay here, so bet out and hope for a raise so you can reraise all-in.

nice hand

cornell2005 · #5 08-14-2004, 07:29 PM

bet both the flop and the turn, and its not even close. with that board, you are either getting paid off or not, and are ahead or are going to pay off a better hand. you arnt hoping for a turn card to increase your action, the only cards taht can fall will decrease your action. plus, even if a card neither increases nor decreases your action, if you c/r you will get alot less action than if you just keep betting out and give him a chance to raise.

Jeff W · #6 08-14-2004, 08:09 PM

1. The min-raise pre flop is not bad, but I would raise a standard amount(5xBB).

2. The flop is too dangerous to slowplay, even against a random hand in the big blind. According to Pokerstove, you have 83% equity in this pot against a random hand that includes an A,K,Q,J,T, or 99--hands your opponent is likely to have if he bets here. You don't want to see a 9,J or A on the turn, so play your hand aggressively while you are confident in its strength. A reraise is in order.

-Jeff

Leo Bello · #7 08-14-2004, 08:24 PM

Raise pre-flop, you could have lost some good money into the pot, in another situation if your adversary didn´t hit the flop and decide to fold, so put some money in before. At least 4x BB. Do this always, sometimes you will get no action but it will compensate when u do get.
With that board so coordinated, it was risk to try to slowplay. Your hand was strong but you could have lost to a str8. Considering you decided for the slowplay and take the risk of being outdraw, u played fine. If the board paired you would have him anyway.
so, congratulations on your first big pot.

Utah · #8 08-14-2004, 09:37 PM

I would have put him to a big test on the flop. I dont want to let him draw at a straight cheaply. On your better days he will call thinking you have AK or that you are on a draw

ctv1116 · #9 08-15-2004, 08:20 PM

So is check-raising a no-no in NLHE? I thought the check-raise would be appropriate if he was semi-bluffing (likely here with the coordinated flop).

EDIT: Looking at the hand again, I definitely should have at least bet the turn. If he was only on a draw, he almost certainly would have taken the free card.

cornell2005 · #10 08-15-2004, 09:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
So is check-raising a no-no in NLHE? I thought the check-raise would be appropriate if he was semi-bluffing (likely here with the coordinated flop).

EDIT: Looking at the hand again, I definitely should have at least bet the turn. If he was only on a draw, he almost certainly would have taken the free card.

[/ QUOTE ]

yep re: the edit. he is likely on a a draw, or a hand that may check the turn anyway. but the biggest mistake in this hand is probably the flop. you arnt gaining anything by slowplaying here, only losing.