Thought process

Need help in my thought process. I'm a fair player moving up from 5-10 this weekend to 10-20 game. Half the field are very good players. I get AK in the pocket and the the hand comes out 2 5 A 7 10 rainbow. Betting raising, but end up against an aggressive player at the end and I cap it on the river thinking I got top pair best kicker, if he has pocket As so be it. He flops two pair, 5's and 7's. What an I missing in my thought process? Why would any good player stay with 7-5, and then a pair of 5's to the turn, etc. What was my clue to save the extra bets since I'm not going to fold?

A lot more information is needed to provide a reasonable answer. ie: position (yours and his) betting on all rounds (including pre-flop) how many players in the pot (eg: pot size). Only after all this is available can anyone offer a reasonable explanation.


Jimbo

Yes, I agree - please elaborate.


The Cat

I can only comment on your river play. There is no way that you can go in a raisig war with just top pair. How do you know your opponent does not have Aces up, a set or even a wheel? When sombody bets or raises this board on the river, he always beats Top pair. I belive you need to read couple of good books on Hold'em.

Please re-post with position of players, the action prior, how many saw the flop and the type of players. Then post the hand as the cards came: flop, turn, river. You state he flopped 2 pair, but saw the turn with a pair of 5's???

Also, don't try to base someone elses thought process on what you would or wouldn't do.

Bravo, you are right I'm in the learning stage. There is no wheel here, the AA was addressed in the original post, and if he had a set-the raising war should have taken place sooner in which case I could figure it out. The general state here is he was 4 off the button and I was the cut off, I raised post flop he called and one other (not sure the others position-but belive it was the BB) After the flop it is checked to me and I bet-both call. After the turn he bets I raised other folds he calls. With these cards showing I see no two pair, the only thing that beats me here is A X matched, if this was the case why would he not raise. This is the question, where is the thinking wrong-I can accept pocket AAs and was afraid of the 10 on the river, could accept either of these-but two small pair. My thinking is he has A face card like myself.

Unless you know your oppenent extrememly well,under most circumstances, it would be hard to 3 or 4 bet past the flop with top pair best kicker. Id definitly call him down, but on a uncoordinated board like that, he's tellinf you he can beat AK.

Ok, never, ever, ever get into a raising war at the end with one pair. You bet the river and get raised, you should give a quick thought to folding, then probably pay off, because of the size of the pot.

"I'm a fair player moving up from 5-10 this weekend to 10-20 game. Half the field are very good players"


are you sure youre properly able to assess what a good player plays like. (this is not an insult, i dont know you. this is a very important question to think about.)


"I get AK in the pocket and the the hand comes out 2 5 A 7 10 rainbow. Betting raising, but end up against an aggressive player at the end and I cap it on the river thinking I got top pair best kicker,"


you CAP it? you may have a bright future playing 80-160 in LA, but this is a bit overaggressive for 10-20.


"He flops two pair, 5's and 7's."


he didnt flop it, he turned it.


"what an I missing in my thought process? Why would any good player stay with 7-5, and then a pair of 5's to the turn, etc."


he may have had correct odds to chase. correct implied odds. learn what that means if you dont know. he also may not be a good player. or he may be an excellent player.


"What was my clue to save the extra bets since I'm not going to fold?"


dont get so excited over top pair.

I think your problem comes from reading hands. The most important rule in hand reading is to value the most recent piece of information much more than any other information. In this case when the player bet the turn, you should have put him on 2 pair. Your raise was fine, but you should have checked the river behind him. When he either bet or checkraised the river, you should have put him on at least 2 pair, and forgot about any other information. If he bet the river, you probably should have folded, but a call wouldn't be too far out of line. If he checkraised you on the river, forget about it, you are beat.


BTW If you are looking for rules, here's one that will work in the long run: Never put more than 1 bet in on the river with one pair. That means call no raises and make no raises.