AJo in SB
 

Hi all, been busy and out of the loop, but I found time to play this hand:

LL online, loose table, most players are pretty passive.

UTG calls, EP calls, and it's folded to be in the SB with A [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] J [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] and I raise it. BB folds and UTG and EP call. Just three of us to the flop.

FLOP
[7 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] T [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] J [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] ]

I lead out, UTG raises, EP folds. I re-raise and UTG caps and I call. As soon as UTG capped it I was almost sure he had either a set or two pair, but I have a difficult time letting go of top pair sometimes and this time I did have outs to warrant a call, right?


TURN
[7 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] T [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] J [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] ]6 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img]

Check call. If a third club, J, or A hit I would have turned on the aggression, but is it OK to fold here?

RIVER
[7 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] T [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] J [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] 6 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] ]9 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img]

Check-call

Thanks for the help,
Adam

Re: AJo in SB
 

hi mauis
fold on the turn.

Re: Elysiun, thanks for the help! (NT)
 

What were results? *NM*
 

Re: AJo in SB
 

I might have folded the turn, but I hate the river call. He capped it on the flop so you know he's got to be able to beat jacks.

Re: AJo in SB
 

hi maui
it was late last night, and i was tired.
what you must do is train yourself to compare your opponents pre-flop betting and flop betting to the flop board. he didn't come out raising, he limped. because the game was loose passive, JTs and 98s are strong candidates. so is QJs. but his flop betting indicates that he has a made hand with no kicker problems, or a strong draw that does not include KQs.

when the board is like that, straight-ish and scary, you need to improve when your opponent caps the flop. it looks like JT to me, and on the turn with only 8 bets in there, your roughly 18-1 or drawing dead. your opponent hasn't quite carried the betting into the realm of dismissing any single read you may have him on that suggests youre leading or can capture the lead, but he is right there on the line. in other words, he is right at the point where any more aggression on his part and even though he may have capped the pre-flop, and the board was nothing but 722, you would have to consider the possibility that he held 72, even though his pre-flop betting contradicts that possibility. he is telling you that he has you beat as though his cards were face up, almost. not quite there yet.

you need to improve to continue. you either have to hit your A, J, or a club. hitting the club being the most likely thing to happen. when a rag falls offering you only 3 outs, there aren't enough bets to continue. and of course maui, knowing you, youll want to know why.

when you are heads up like this on the turn, in first position, after having capped the flop, your opponent betting when you check is much different from his betting after you check to him on the turn when the flop hasn't been capped. when the flop has been capped, and your LP opponent bets, that bet is like a raise! why? simply because your check to him is horrifying. in fact a case can be made that his bet after such a horrifying check is stronger than a raise after you bet. and that you should fold to the bet only, but call his raise if you bet and he raises. why? because a bet by you forfeits the check-raise, and may be a semi-bluff. his raise therefore may be a semi-bluff of your semi-bluff. but when you reserve the right to check-raise, and he believes that you will check-raise, but he bets into you anyway, this guy may have not the JT but the 98. so a bet by your opponent maui, after the flop has been capped and you have check-raising privledges, is often stronger than a raise, and you can fold top pair without reasonable back-door with no problem. and that is what you have here.

Re: What were results? *NM*
 

ZMan,
He flopped the straight on me with 98o, and I paid him off. Oh well.

Re: AJo in SB
 

Elysium,
I see the line of thinking for evaluating the situation given a check or bet by myself on the turn and its implication to my opponent's assessment of my holding as well as his action that indicates the strength of his hand given his betting action on the flop. I realize now why I definitely should have check folded on the turn.
Thanks again for the insite and analysis. I appreciate it.
A hui hou,
Adam

Re: AJo in SB
 

Even in a looser game I'm wondering why you raised as the LB with AJ, a marginal hand. You had no position and the callers were in early position. What did you figure them for that you could beat?