Am I Going To Hell?? :-O

[JAA]

$3-$6 game at my local B&M.

Q8o in big blind, 7 or so see the flop for one bet. Flop AQ3 rainbow. I check, everyone else checks to the button. As he goes to bet, dealer partially flips the turn (the room I play in currently has a bunch of new dealers who are HORRIBLE and make follies like this all the time) and I get a brief glance at the card before she puts it back on the top of the deck. Anywho, button makes his bet and I am faced with quite a predicament...I'm 90% sure the turn will be a black queen, giving me trips and having a 50% shot of completing the rainbow.

In this game I would normally fold in this situation most of the time, but now I don't know what to do. Sould I muck like I would've if i didn't see the turn, or do I stay in because it's not my fault I saw the card? To make a long story short, I call as do 2 others. Someone makes a comment to the dealer that someone could've seen the card, and player in the 1 seat who folded says "Well the only people who could've are out of the hand anyway" (he was referring to himself and the 10 seat....I was in the 5 seat and saw it, so I'm thinking that I must've been looking at just the right angle at the right second)

So, I decide to pretend I just decided to gamble and got lucky. I checkraise the turn, get two callers, bet the river and get called down by a strong ace.

After thinking about the hand for the next hour or so, I begin to feel like I did something unethical.

What would you have done? or more importantly, what was the right thing to do?

Thanks for any comments - JAA

[Dynasty]

You should have said you saw the card.

[JAA]

Yes in hindsight this has been the conclusion I have come to. Although I had two qualms: a.) I would've felt like a real idiot if I was wrong about the card, and b.) I knew most of the people at the table and I couldn't picture ANY of them indicating that they saw the card.

Obviously this is no excuse not to be a better person, but in the heat of the moment I kinda just went with the flow. I won't lie I'm not impressed with my judgment in this situation.

- JAA

[JTG51]

Call me a goodie two shoes, but I agree. Some things are more important than making a few extra bucks.

[Dynasty]

BTW, if you didn't see the turn card in advance, you shouldn't be folding on the flop. In fact, you should probably be check-raising when the bet comes from the button.

[JAA]

BTW, if you didn't see the turn card in advance, you shouldn't be folding on the flop. In fact, you should probably be check-raising when the bet comes from the button .

Normally I would agree, but not against the lineup I was playing with. The game at that point of the night was EXTREMELY passive. Note that the caller had AJ and the button didn't show but said he had a weak A.

There were only two players in that game that would bet that flop without an A, and neither were involved in the hand.

- JAA

[bernie]

even if you knew the button had a lone A, it's a good move to c/r here. you still could very well have 5 clean outs, and this would maximize your chances at winning.

b

[JAA]

OK, I Could have 5 clean outs, and if I do I'm looking at a little worse than 9:1 odds of catching. There are 7 or 8 bets in the pot (I wish I could remember exactly how many people were in). I'm 95% sure I'm up against top pair or better. (Like I said above, there were only 2 players at the table who would play contrary to this and they weren't in the hand).

This being said, maybe I'm giving up a tiny shade of EV here, but I'm inclined to save my chips for a better opportunity here. I really think you all would agree if you were at my table for a couple hours that night. This was a sort of odd game.

- JAA

[bernie]

this is a raise/fold spot given where the bet came from. not a calling situation. this is without seeing the turn card. calling, IMO would be the worst option here.

b

[Ed Miller]

Regardless of the ethical questions... you should have checkraised the flop... not called.