[frappeboy]

Since this post got so much attention let me post my thoughts for each street. Seat 7 was a bad player and Seat 5 was a loose player, but not one of those that tries to bluff at every pot, just plays too many hands.

3rd: Clear Raise
4th: Clear Bet
5th: First of all, I don't think folding here can be correct. If I fold here everytime someone catches an ace I won't be in very good shape. Now there are two other options, calling and raising. If I call, the ace will most likely bet 6th and I'll have to call another bet. So I figured the raise was best because it has 4 benefits:

1: I'm very likely to get a free card on 6th street if I want one. If I do, it is no different than calling 5th and then calling another bet on 6th street.

2: I may make someone fold to the raise. With a marginal hand like this if I can get someone with a gut shot or just 1 pair to fold I gain quite a bit of equity.

3: I may get everyone to fold on 6th street if I make another diamond. In this case I may get an extra 2 big bets out of the hand. Also, I may be happy to get another 2 bets in if I make trip tens or even tens up on 6th street.

4: Raising 5th defines my hand. This is a clear concept in NL hold'em, which I've recently been studying quite a bit. I am representing a very strong hand in this situation, to make playing the later streets easier. It is much less likely that someone is going to bluff at the pot, or bet a marginal hands like jacks up or even aces up on the end. This makes it easier to get away from a hand like tens or tens up if someone does bet or raise into the pot.

6th: Now that I've improved to tens up, I have to figure I'm gonna be ahead most of the time, so I bet.

7th: I think due to the raise on 5th, I can get away from this hand and save 1BB. I've defined my hand as strong and my opponent is loose but not a crazy maniac. Both my board and my opponents board look very strong, and the action has been very strong. Yet my opponent leads out with a bet here. This is not a spot where I think most sane people will bluff at. Given the action, I bet he has trips at a minimum but more likely a really big hand like a hidden full house or straight.


The way I decide how to call with a marginal hand on the end is based on how scary my board, and in this case seat 7's board looks to the person betting, and how the hand was played. In this case, both of our boards are quite scary, and we have both showed strength in the hand. If our boards were ragged and i had just called on 5th and called on 6th, then I would be more willing to call a bet on the end.