Taking Marginal -EV Spots to Set Up a Profitable Image

ZeeJustin · #1 05-26-2005, 04:55 PM

The button has been playing a ton of hands, and he has been notorious for slowplaying his big hands. He's a good player, but very aggro, and not aggro enough when he has a big hand.

He would never make an all-in like that on the flop with a big hand. I think it's pretty obvious he's on a draw. He could just have ace high, or JT for a straight draw, but I think a flush draw is by far the most likely hand for him.

I have 6 outs to make a pair (4 if he has a flush draw), a back door straight draw, and a back door flush draw (which is unfortunately no good when he also has a flush draw.)

Also, and I understand this isn't common, but the fact that he may be on a complete bluff also gives me some chance of splitting the pot if say a 2 and an ace come on the turn/river (or something similar).

Let's not forget how much money is in the pot already as well. My pot odds can't be ignored.

Yes, I know this spot is -ev, but given I have so many different ways to win, and my pot odds, it's barely -ev.

The idea behind this play is to set up a profitable image. Players will stop bluffing vs me making my river decisions very easy, and they will make many thin value bets vs me that I will happily call with marginal hands. Also, I did bet the flop, so the players can't even respect me when I'm aggressive. By the time they figured out that I am not the player they think I am, I will already have a ton of their money.

All comments are appreciated.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 max, 6 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($5391.25)
Button ($1071)
SB ($1285)
BB ($855.25)
Hero ($1265.75)
MP ($1069.65)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of $5.
Hero calls $10, 2 folds, Button calls $10, SB (poster) completes, BB raises to $30, Hero calls $30, Button calls $30, SB folds.

Flop: ($130) 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $150, Button is all-in [$1031], BB folds, Hero calls $881.

Turn: ($1161) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: ($1161) 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: $1161

Results in white below: 
Hero has 3c 4s (two pair, fours and threes).
Button has 8c Tc (high card, queen).
Outcome: Hero wins $1161. 

Edit: for some reason the all-in wasn't showing from the converter.
Edit: Ugh. I messed up when I manually put the all-in in the hand. It was the button who shoved.