Learning to think on the fly -- a test

[deucesevenoff]

I think that a raise from each of these opponents will be likely to mean different things.

For opponent one, if we know that he is an aggressive thinking player than a raise does not necessarily mean we are beat. I think that if a tight player raises in a situation like this then he very well might be trying to do some sort of free card raise with a flush or straight draw. Also, if we always auto bet the flop after raising pre flop then he might just be trying to put a move on us. I think that many players with a hand like KK or 1010 would have re-raised us PF so I'm not all that worried about a set (wrong perhaps?) Against a player like this, I think a re-raise all in would be good to prevent him from getting a free turn. Like I said before, I think a raise by a thinking player in a situation like this is more likely to indicate some sort of draw rather than something like a set.

Against the second player, a raise would scare me much more. Since he very rarely raises, a raise in this spot could very well indicate a set. On the other hand, he could easily have something like KQ or KJ and be making a "value bet" thinking we are on a blind steal. I think against him, I call and re-evaluate on the turn. If the turn bricks I say we make a reasonably sized "donk bet" (say 1/2 the pot) into the guy and see how he reacts. If he calls then I think my hand is best, but if he pushes I'd have to seriously consider folding.

Against player number three, I think that he'll try to bluff his money off to me more often than not. I'll call the flop raise, call the turn bet and the inevitable river push.

Thanks for posting this hand Rococo, I think that using default "lines" is a serious flaw in my game. Interested to hear your critiques of these plays.