So I'm the chip leader...SB playalong

[stevepa]

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Odds are you probably have the best hand, but you gotta protect it from straight draws so I wouldn't check.

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Why do you have to protect it from straight draws? KQ is dead, KT, QT are unlikely and have 4 outs. I don't mind giving them free cards.

I check the flop, probably check-raising. The pot is pretty huge so any bet is going to represent a large percentage of the players stack. Hopefully someone commits themselves with KK, QQ, TT or some kind of jack. I don't particularly like betting, because if you bet and the min-raiser pushes, it lets the bigger stacks fold hands like KJ-JT. Also, if the min-raiser checks, there's a reasonable chance one of the other two players takes a shot at the pot.

Don't worry about being behind here, if you are then you lose all your chips. Worry about maximizing your win against hands that can pay you off like pocket pairs, jacks and weaker aces.

Steve

[jcm4ccc]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't worry about being behind here

[/ QUOTE ] I think you do need to worry about being behind. You had a raiser and two callers (even though it was a min-raise, it was still a substantial portion of their chips). Playing AT like you have the nuts is just donking away chips, I think. You need to tread carefully. Check the hand, assess the situation, play some poker.

[stevepa]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Don't worry about being behind here

[/ QUOTE ] I think you do need to worry about being behind. You had a raiser and two callers (even though it was a min-raise, it was still a substantial portion of their chips). Playing AT like you have the nuts is just donking away chips, I think. You need to tread carefully. Check the hand, assess the situation, play some poker.

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I don't mean don't worry about being behind because you're never beat. I mean the pot's big enough that if you're beat, you're losing all your chips. So don't worry about it. Similarly, if a guy has a worse ace, you're getting all his chips, so don't worry much about that either. Like I said in my original post, you should be worrying about the hands they can have where it matters what you do (didn't strassa make a big post about this once?).

As for the flop action, call. You're behind sometimes, but not nearly often enough to fold against normal party players.

Steve