King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

4th level of a $5 SNG at UB. I'd picked most of my stack re-raising from LP. I checked the flop because I knew I had a marginal starting hand and the caller was pretty passive.

When the Villain limp/called PF and checked the flop, I felt his range was Ax, KQ-K10, J10-J9 (A bet would have represented a Q). The call on the turn seemed like he'd hit a pair or two.

1) Would a flop bet have been a stronger play?
2) Would you push the river against an equally big stack?


No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t40 (7 handed)

MP2 (t2055)
CO (t2610) (Villain)
Button (t1610)
Hero (t2780)
BB (t2975)
UTG (t1850)
MP1 (t1120)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, CO(Villain) calls t40, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t120</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls t80.

Flop: (t280) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
Hero checks, Villain checks.

Turn: (t280) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t200</font>, Villain calls t200.

River: (t680) 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t2460 (All-In)</font>, Villain calls t2290 (All-In).

Final Pot: t5430

Re: King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

1. Why are you raising with KT out of position?

2. A continuation bet on the flop would have been fine. A check is also fine.

3. Turn is fine.

4. Why are you pushing 2k+ plus into a pot that has around 600 in it? That's a bet that isn't getting called very often by hands that you're ahead of.

Re: King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. Why are you raising with KT out of position?

[/ QUOTE ]

Raises in this situation had been very effective to either push a single limper out of the pot, and most limps at this level were pretty trashy. I was hoping to either take the blinds, or at least push out the BB and give me a shot at the flop (which it did).


[ QUOTE ]
4. Why are you pushing 2k+ plus into a pot that has around 600 in it? That's a bet that isn't getting called very often by hands that you're ahead of.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I held the second-nut hand and he'd called everything to that point, so I thought I had a good shot at extracting all his chips.

To your point, I definitely exposed myself to more risk than I should have, given there were 5 hands left in the deck that would finish me (the other A-K combinations). Thanks.

Re: King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

how many chips do you start with at ub? it looks like there are a ton on the table.

i would complete pre-flop. there's no need to build a big pot out of position with a marginal hand, especially against a passive villain who may have limped with KQ/AJ/etc.

i could go either way on betting the flop. if he's passive, i like checking because then you can profitably call a bet (b/c his bet means he has enough that he'll pay you off if you hit, and he probably doesn't have a flush draw so, so all 8 outs are good). and taking a free card with a bunch of outs is cool too.

the turn bet is ok but i'd prefer a check/call.

i hate the river bet. if he's good, he won't call without Kx or MAYBE with an 8, and there's no reason to think he has an 8. make a small value bet and get paid off by 2 pair.

Re: King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

[ QUOTE ]
To your point, I definitely exposed myself to more risk than I should have, given there were 5 hands left in the deck that would finish me (the other A-K combinations).

[/ QUOTE ]

there are 12 AK hands (4 A's x 3 K's). don't sweat that though - you're going broke against AK no matter how you play the river.

Re: King-high straight on the turn ($5 UB)
 

[ QUOTE ]
how many chips do you start with at ub? it looks like there are a ton on the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

t1500. It's one of the reasons I love UB -- the combination of decent starting stacks and good blind structure gives you room to maneuver, even in the Turbo games.

I'm quickly growing to hate my river bet, too. Thanks.