Hand from the Party 1/4 Million

Nottom · #1 10-03-2004, 06:08 PM

This was a tough hand for me, I think a case can be made for a variety of options at each spot.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (10 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP3 (t1455)
CO (t655)
Button (t1355)
SB (t750)
BB (t1460)
UTG (t995)
UTG+1 (t1140)
UTG+2 (t950)
MP1 (t1975)
Hero (t1105)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. UTG posts a blind of t30.
UTG+1 calls t30, 2 folds, Hero raises to t75, 3 folds, BB calls t60, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls t45.

Flop: (t255) J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets t200, Hero calls t200, BB calls t200.

Turn: (t855) A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets t865 (All-In), Hero calls t830 (All-In), BB calls t865.

River: (t3415) 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (4 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t3415
Main Pot: t3345 (t3345), between BB, UTG+1 and Hero.
Pot 2: t70 (t70), between BB and UTG+1.

I'll give my thoughts after some others have given theirs.

Rocaix · #2 10-03-2004, 06:18 PM

Seemslike UTG+1 has a set, the way it was played indicates he's scared of a flush draw, especially given that both you and BB merely called his flop bet.

While it's tempting to call the all-in when you make two-pair, unless you have a great read on UTG+1, you have to very reluctantly lay this down. At lower buyins I've seen this type of play before as lead-in semi-bluffs, but at higher buyins you have to give UTG+1 credit for a made hand here without a strong read.

Garland · #3 10-03-2004, 06:45 PM

If you choose to raise preflop, I would have raise more than T75. This is little more than a "mini-raise" that will certainly be called when you actually want them to fold. In your position, I'd raise to about T100-T120 and lean toward the high end because of the limper.

The flop is bittersweet. You've hit the top pair/top kicker, but the hands that are likely to call your preflop raise (and not reraise) are KQ and pocket pairs. Based on the action, I have almost no doubts that at the very least you're up against a flush draw from BB. On the flop, I think you simply can't wait for the turn. I think you need to pull the trigger here and charge the max for draws.

The turn is actually pretty bad despite making top two, and I might get flamed for this, but if you simply called the flop, I'd probably fold it here. The straight got there, and UTG+1 has shown no fear of the A. He either has a straight or a set. At best he has two pair of J10, but even then you still have to worry about BB behind you.

Garland