TPTK slowplay

[ryanghall]

Party 200 NL. Villain has $180, I have him covered. I don't have much of a read on him as he just sat down. If anything, he seems to play a few too many hands.

I get A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] on the button.

2 folds, player A calls, 2 folds, player B calls, Villain min-raises to $4. I reraise to $10. All fold except Villain who calls.

Flop A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Villain bets $16, I call. My thought is that he may have an AQ/AJ/AT type hand, and since there's no obvious flush/straight draws and no other high cards on the board, I may be able to trap him safely.

Turn: 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Villain bets $50. I call.

River: K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain pushes for $103. I call.

Like this line? Dislike? Let's discuss.

[NYCNative]

Preflop reraise should have been more - $16-20 or so.
I do not smooth-call TPTK after flop. I raise to $50.
I feel you played this way too passively.

[Rococo]

I mostly disagree with this advice. If you are ahead, very few turn cards will kill your action or allow Villain to catch up here. If Villain is at all LAG, you don't want to let him off the hook by blowing him up unnecessarily on the flop.

I like it, but I suspect that you may have chopped here.

[NYCNative]

I disagree with your disagreement. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Seriously, all I see above is "Hero Calls." When you have a hand, why turn into a calling station? It's usually better to raise than just call. Dictate the action.

[Rococo]

Suppose that Villain holds AT. Do you really want to raise the flop? If you do, you may not get another dollar out of him. By raising here, you encourage your opponent to play correctly.

[amoeba]

sometimes calling down is the best line, it is rare but sometimes it is the best line. maxims like you should always be aggressive and dictate play does not work against every opponent. against loose aggressives, its often the worst line as you reveal alot about your own hand but learn nothing about his.

[ryanghall]

In my defense, I am usually ridiculously aggressive postflop.

However, I felt that in this case, since the min. raise seemed to show Ace/high card, I thought that I was OK smoothcalling (of course the major risk is that he sucks out 2 pair)

I very rarely take a line like this but I thought it was justified this time because of the circumstances.

Ryan

[nietzreznor]

I like your line. There are no real draws on the board, and just calling will make you the most versus A-lower kicker type hands. On this board, I think too often a raise will only be called by something that beats you.

[jonnyUCB]

you should be pretty sure villian will only lead with top pair to make this play correct

[pk Wools]

that's right, not many hands will call you except those that have you beat but raising has its benefits.

suppose he has A lower kicker, he might call if he was loose enough prelfop to call you to start w/

but most importantly it reveals what he might have, suppose he has the 8 there (unlikely but possible) a small raise would let you know where you stand, when he bets 50 on the turn and 100 on the river, by calling him w/ AK you essentially gave him correct odds to catch 8 or two pair. I say you should have raised... the problem w/ being passive is that it'll put you in more situations where you make mistakes that cost you money