The Usual Suspects
 

Hello everyone,

I've been rereading some of the hand quizes in SSHE. One goes like this:
You have black queens in middle position, one player limps, you raise. Two
players cold call and the BB calls. The flop is K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
the BB bets and the limper folds (11.5 small bets). What should you do?

In the text they argue for raising....since you have a [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], you have a
backdoor flush draw.....since you have this draw, you shouldn't fold and
thus if you don't fold you need to protect your hand......

I've been thinking about my experiences in Pacific Poker .25/.5. The players
are quite homogenous. The "usual suspect" at these tables NEVER bets
or raises a flush or straight draw. The "usual suspect" NEVER bets a middle or low pair. In this situation, almost certainly the BB has a king. Shouldn't
you fold this hand at almost all loose passive microlimit tables?

Jim

Re: The Usual Suspects
 

If Villain has a king here nearly always, then yes you should fold. But in many games, on this type of flop, players will bet such a wide variety of hands (spades, JT, A9, T8, etc.) that folding would likely be a mistake.

Re: The Usual Suspects
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've been thinking about my experiences in Pacific Poker .25/.5. The players
are quite homogenous. The "usual suspect" at these tables NEVER bets
or raises a flush or straight draw. The "usual suspect" NEVER bets a middle or low pair. In this situation, almost certainly the BB has a king. Shouldn't
you fold this hand at almost all loose passive microlimit tables?

[/ QUOTE ]
pacific poker does not represent every online poker site - also your observations are surely wrong. players there do bet draws/middle pairs/etc. your job is to figure out which ones do what so you can optimize your play against them. yes, there are times to just give up this hand on the flop. no, that time is not when you know nothing about the guy donking.

Re: The Usual Suspects
 

This is a great place to raise, actually. We fold players induce induce them to make a bade decision a very high percentage of the time here.

Re: The Usual Suspects
 

OK, fair enough....suppose the flop had been

As 9h 7s ..... same answer? (Ace-rag is universally played). How about
As 9h Ks ......still same answer??????

I've just been burned so many times going to showdowns with high pocket
pairs that have overcards on the board.......You are advocating to keep on betting into these guys? Raising to "protect" the hand?

Thanks a lot for the help....the post flop play before the turn has GOT to be the most difficult part of poker.

Jim

Re: The Usual Suspects
 

[ QUOTE ]
the post flop play before the turn has GOT to be the most difficult part of poker.

[/ QUOTE ]
turn and river play is a lot harder than flop play, imo.

and to respond to one of your hypotheticals, if i get bet into on that AK9 flop, i'm going to lay it down.