42o in the BB, would you play it?

[davidross]

Played a hand, Online 5/10 with eMark the other night. Mark was UTG and raised. 2 cold callers to me in the BB, and I called. I'm getting 7 to 1 here. I don't make the call heads up or even against 2, but against 3 or more I do. What do you think??

As you can imagine I won the hand or else the play never would have come to light, and Mark expressed some disdainfor the play. Post flop it was straightforward I think.

Flop was A 2 5, giving me bottom pair and a gutshot. Mark bet, got one caller and I called. I don't remember what the turn was, but there was no flush draw and we both called Mark's bet. River brought my 4 and I bet my 2 pair. Mark folded the other guy called and I dragged it.

I will play almost anything given those odds. AM I crazy?

[bad beetz]

oh, good god, muck, muck. four-deuce no good.

[Bob T.]

I will play almost anything given those odds. AM I crazy?

I think so. This seems way to loose to me. You are going to be out of position all hand, and you won't be able to bet anything with confidence unless you make at least two pair. I guess you are saying that in a family pot you would call with this on the button. The odds are the same, but the implied odds would be much better on the button. I wouldn't play it in either spot.

On the other hand, I know that you like to play connectors, and suited cards much more liberally than I do, so you probably have a lot more experience with these hands, than I do, and you will probably play them better than I would after the flop. Additionally, you may very well get some extra action in the future, either because you are perceived as being too loose, or because someone tilt's a little bit and wants to punish that 'crazy 42 off guy'.

I think that you played your hand reasonably after the flop. But I just don't think that you are going to get many flops where you have a big enough piece of the flop to justify this call.

[Allan]

David,

I understand that you are the type of player who likes to be involved in as many hands as possible, but I think you are taking things way too far. How often do you think you are gonna drag the pot here?

Does your thought process go something like this?

Well eMark raised preflop UTG, he must have a good hand. I've got real crap here but maybe I'll hit the flop. I'm gunning for my longshot straight or straight draw to flop but I'll probably get a small piece if anything, thats OK, with all these callers the hand is gonna play real straightforward post flop so I'll probably be able to check call and try and suckout with no real problem.

Put another way, someone calls with crap getting whatever : whatever preflop. He gets to the showdown where he beats your whatever with whatever. Are you happy he has called preflop?

Explain to me how you think this can be a good call.

Allan

[bernie]

7-1 isnt the most dazzling odds.

i wouldnt play it here unless it was suited. im guessing emarks preflop standards in his spot are kinda high, and anyone with even 55 has ya buried. since youll need 2 cards to win and your only playing for a str8 draw and not a flush. unless you really think a 4 or 2 high flush will win.

maybe a family pot with me ending the action i may call this.

this hand isnt that great. at all

but it should help slow players down from stealing your blind though

b

[Georgia Peach]

Any two can win, right? And why not play 42o if you don't make a habit of it. It will certainly give Mark something to think about the next time you cold call him.

[Jeffage]

EASY fold preflop. Playing hands like this to a solid UTG raise is just begging to get busted.

Jeff

[glen]

"I'm getting 7 to 1 here. I don't make the call heads up or even against 2, but against 3 or more I do. What do you think?"

Look at it this way - would you limp in with 42o getting 7 to 1? I wouldn't. I find a lot of people justify calling in the blinds only because they have something invested. Throw these trash hands away and watch your opponents call with them. . .

[davidross]

OK. I was hoping for some more reasons besides it's a bad hand. Any hand is playable getting the right odds. My question is what are they for a dog like 42o. 42s is a call here, I think, because you will flop a 4 flush 1 in 7.5 times. Obviously I will not win this hand with a pair of 4's or a pair of 2's, so what are the odds of me flopping 2 pair or better, or a straight draw. And if I flop 1 pair, do I have odds to chase my 5 outs on the turn. With the flop I got my post flop play was justified. But how often will I get a flop like that?

Someone asked if I'd play this on the button. With 7 limpers I would. But my gut tells me if we ran some simulations I probably need at least 1 more caller to make this playable.

[Bob T.]

David, I wouldn't play it, most others wouldn't play, it, but you would, and that is OK. You have enough experience, and a winning record over time. You have developed a style and set of plays that works for you, that includes apparently defending your big blind and button with a hand that most of us wouldn't touch. You've played enough, to know that a lot of hands aren't played in a vacumn, but are played in relation to other hands. This just might work with your style.

Maybe this allows you to steal a couple of extra pots, when the flop comes all low, and all the other players say, 'I won't play, that's right in mr. 42 off's wheelhouse,'. Maybe you get paid off a little more often on some other hands, because people either think that you don't have a real hand this time, or they think that if anyone that plays weak cards, they can win back the bets later on. Maybe you just get paid off on hands like this one, where people are thinking that river could have only hurt me if he had 32 or 42.

I'm not going to play it, but if it works for you, go ahead.