Newbie seeks advice....

[unglee]

Pacific Poker, $10 NL tourney. 80 of about 360 left, 30 make the money. I have T1900, avg stack is about T2200.

Blinds are at 75-150. I am BB with Qd4s, and everyone folds to the button, who has T4500 and limps in. SB folds, I check.

The board comes up Qh9s7h. I check, he raises 150, I reraise 450, and he calls.

Turn comes up 9c. What do you do? And what would you have done differently? Thanks, I'm still learning!

[dmk]

bet instead of check/raise on the flop. if he calls, make a smallish bet on the turn/river. if raised at any point, you have to fold.

[RobGW]

You've put in 1/3rd of your stack. The pot now has $1300 and you have $1300 left. He could be on a draw in which case you are likely ahead. OTOH, if he has a Q or a 9 you are in trouble. The fact that there are 2 Q's and 2 9's accounted for makes it less likely he has one. Depending on my read on the player and what I think he might have, I would either push or shut it down. As for the check raise, it looks o.k. if your opponent is an aggressive player who will usually bet when checked to, but it is a bad move if he is usually a passive player who only bets when he has something. Plays like this should be used with caution but can be nice to have.

[nuclear500]

I would have folded to his bet, easy. TPNK on the BB isn't exactly a fun hand. You can wait for something better that you actually pay to see. A checked-into pot is a free pot.

You didn't make a bbs, you made an extremely weak Queen and your only hope is to two pair and even then it may not be good.

[Lloyd]

The first question I would ask myself is why did he limp on the button if it was folded to him? If this were a larger buy-in tourney, or if I had respect for him as a player, I'd be concerned. In this case, it could just be because he doesn't really have a great hand - probably something like a low suited connector. I doubt he would just limp in with something like QJ or even QT but it's certainly possible. But he could certainly have a premium pair that he was slowplaying.

I don't mind the check-raise on the flop. As previously stated, if he read him as an aggressive player then it's a good play. If he's passive, then you have to lead out with a bet - probably around 2/3 of the pot.

If I understand the betting correctly, there was T375 in the pot pre-flop. He bet T150 and you re-raised TO T450 for a total of T975. It only cost him T300 to call so he was getting over 3-1 odds making it worthwhile to call if he was on a draw (taking implied odds into consideration). Your raise needed to be higher, probably to around T600 which would reduce his odds to 2.5-1, not good enough if he's on a draw.

If he was on a draw (either straight or flush), the 9 obviously didn't help him on the turn. By default then, it helped you (unless you were already behind). You now have 2 pair Q9 with a 7 kicker (counterfeiting your 4). My instinct on this tells me that you have the best hand but it all comes down to whether or not I think he'd limp with AA or KK. If I thought that was likely, I'd check-fold. Otherwise, I'd make a 2/3 pot-size bet of around T850. But you have to realize that you are then committed to this pot. One way or another all of your chips will be going to the middle. If he raises you, you'll call. If he calls, you'll push the few remaining chips on the river.

[HoldingFolding]

The fact that this is a $10 tourney is important. I think it's essential that you have an idea of what sort of player the SB is. To me the initial call is more likely to be an indication of a passive player rather than slowplaying. That said his calling your reraise would be a worry, if you put him on a draw you have to bet big, not sure I'd be able to pull the trigger.

Incidentally, I think I would have made a pot sized bet post flop; the cr has given him pot odds and he doesn't really have stack concerns.

[unglee]

Thanks the help, guys.

[KKsuited]

One of my pet peeves...

If it is no-limit and the first bettor puts out 150, that's not a raise. That's a bet. Sorry to be picky, but I'm a stickler for correct terminolgy.

[morgan180]

[ QUOTE ]

The first question I would ask myself is why did he limp on the button if it was folded to him?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd be concerned about a limp here. Seeing the table fold around you while you hold AA/KK/etc. cries out for a limp. With this hand I bet the flop, if I hit strong resistance I walk away in a heart beat. Q4 is not the hand I'm getting all my chips in with, unless the flop is a miracle.

[marley81]

I agree with most of what you wrote, however why bet 850? you only have 1300 in your stack. I think if you are going to bet it would be best to move all in on the turn. There is no way you can fold on the river if he calls, so you would be better off making him call an extra 500 with an all in.