[Big_Jim]

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Preflop -- I had been folding blinds left and right and felt a need to take a stand, even though my hand was not as good as I would have liked.

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You should have re-raised PF if you were tired of being pushed around. It is just way too likely that you are dominated here.

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Flop -- He made a continuation bet. I don't put him on much of anything yet. I think my top pair is likely to be good. This is my standard raise size -- about half the pot. People fold for that plenty of times, though this time he didn't.

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Check raising the flop just bloats the pot out of position and you have a fairly weak holding. If he is ahead, he is way ahead. If he is behind, he has a lot of outs to improve, and now, you're playing a big pot out of position with no idea what he has, and no way to extract value from a weaker hand. The amount of your check raise makes it even more brutal, since he will fold approximately zero draws.

Now, on the turn, you make a weak bet that is likely to signal weakness to the villian, and prompt him to blow you off the best hand, if you do indeed have the best hand.


Fold PF.