[Bigdaddydvo]

I played this hand at the 85+15 Rebuy tournament at Caesars Indiana the other night. It illustrates the importance of having the confidence to go with your read and pull the trigger (even with the chance that you'll look stupid afterwards). In this case failing to choose my top choice enabled the Villian to get lucky and win a big part of my stack. Before I start it is worth noting that a read is often time based on the action at different streets of a hand, in addition to tells/mannerisms, etc.

Rebuy period is over. Blinds are 100/200. Villian has about 5000, Hero has 3000. Hero is BB with K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Though I've only been at the table for a few hands, I've seen the villian limp once before.

Villian calls the BB in MP2. Hero checks.

Commentary: I consider myself lucky to get a KJ suited in the blind. Though it's a nice, playable hand, having it out of position can be problematic. Though a raise is a viable option, I elect to check, keep the pot small, and see what develops on the flop.

Flop: 2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Commentary: There is little chance that this flop helped the villian. It might have helped me since I'm in the blind and could have any two cards. I'll probably check here and see what he does. If he bets, I may give him credit for a medium pair and fold. If he checks behind, I may try to represent a 3 on the turn.

Hero checks. Villian checks.

Just as I thought, there is only a small chance this flop helped the villian. Unless he's holding an Uber-monster like 22 or 33, I can probably take this pot away later in the hand. At this point I put him on something like a weak suited ace.

Turn: 2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Commentary: This is a fantastic card for me. If the flop didn't help the villian, the turn card certainly didn't either. It's time to bet and represent a 2 or 3 that I could easily have from the BB:

Hero bets 300. Villian immediately raises to 600.

Here I estimate that Villian thinks I'm trying to pick the pot up and decided to pop me. I sensed a lot of weakness in his raise. If he bumped it up to 900-1K, I could possibly give him credit for something better. The idea that he has a suited ace and is playing the board and his A kicker seems like his likely holding. This is hardly a hand villian will want to go broke for. Why not really convince him that I've got a 3 in the hole?

At this point the correct move is to reraise all in

Pushing with air and busting is an awful feeling (exactly how I went out of the 2005 WSOP ME, with incidentally the same 2 holecards). In this case, though, the push fits into the story of having a 3 in the BB, slowplaying the flop, and betting/pushing the turn. Alas, I didn't have the heart to push right there. But with it being only 300 more in a 1400 chip pot, I couldn't fold right there. I settled on calling and betting the river hard no matter what card hits.

River: Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Hero bets 1000.

Commentary: This is the result of the half hearted compromise play I decided to go with on 4th ST. Attempting to make it look like I'm extracting maximum value from a 2 or 3 in the hole.

Villian quickly calls.

Unfortunately for the Hero, the river helped the Villian just enough to pay me off. Results:

<font color="white"> Villian shows QsJh </font>

My read was off a bit, but close enough to know that the Villian isn't strong on the turn. Granted, the plan I came up with works if any card but a Q hits on the river, but moving in on the turn prevents even this small possibility.

Making a read is important, but not as much as having the courage to act decisively on it.