Giving a free card

[John White]

I know, I know. People will want me to bet the turn. I can't find my copy of HEPFAP so can't read the "Giving a free card" section. Any comments on doing so?

PokerRoom 0.50/1 Hold'em (9 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="666666">3 folds</font>, MP3 calls, <font color="666666">2 folds</font>, SB calls, <font color="666666">1 fold</font>.

Flop: (7 SB) 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, MP3 calls, SB calls.

Turn: (5 BB) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks.

<font color="blue">I gave my absolute best internet tell right here by giving a pregnant pause.</font>

River: (5 BB) Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">SB bets</font>, Hero calls, <font color="CC3333">MP3 raises</font>, <font color="CC3333">SB 3-bets</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero caps</font>, MP3 calls, SB calls.

<font color="blue">I was going for an overcall here, so I gave another long pause. And to my surprise and delight, got a raise behind me and a 3-bet. So I capped. I have the second nut hand, but these guys obviously think they've got me beat.</font>

Final Pot: 17 BB
<font color="green">Main Pot: 17 BB, between SB, Hero and MP3.</font>

So are there any hands that would have capped on the river that would have folded to a bet before it?

And what the hell do these guys have?!

[Greg J]

Very odd.

I bet the turn here.

[ QUOTE ]
I gave my absolute best internet tell right here by giving a pregnant pause.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are giving your opponents too much credit. Plus there are things like server lag... I don't pay attn to such pauses and I call myself an observant player.

I think your fancy play cost you some money here.

[Jimbobobb]

I think tells are overrated. I pause for hands all the time because I'm 4-tabling. It doesn't mean anything, and I don't pay attention to how other people pause because I'm just looking at how they bet. Not betting the turn here is pointless. Flush draws will call, and 5's or TT or AK or a K might raise - get all the money you can into that pot. Giving a free card is very harmless it's true. But you're losing money because there are lots of other hands out there that will call your turn bet or put more money in on the turn with hands that are drawing dead to you, or to at most 1~2 outs.

I'd say maybe SB flipped over a 5, and MP3 flipped over AJ. Either way it looks like these guys would have gone nuts with you on the turn as well. You left a lot of money on the table.

[ggano]

Slowplaying here isn't very dangerous, it's just unprofitable. In addition to things like flush draws that someone else mentioned, SB might have been trying to check-raise you with a K, for example. And on the river, when you're going for the overcall, MP3 might have folded even for one more bet (e.g. a flush draw), which would be a disaster. Better to raise and get one more bet from SB, and maybe MP3 might call 2 cold, and/or SB might even re-raise. None of that can happen if you just call unless MP3 raises, so you got lucky here but on average I think you're losing money this way.

[John White]

Results in white:
<font color="white">SB shows Q5, full house 5's full of Queens
MP3 shows AJ, straight T to the A
MHIG</font>

SB obviously was trying to c/r the turn. I wonder if an inside straight draw calls the turn getting only 6:1. There was certainly money left on the table.

[Piiop]

FPS - Fancy Play Syndrome.

When will your opponents call a bet:

A) On the turn - when they're drawing...

Or

B) On the river - when the missed their draw?

(Answer --&gt; A)

Also, you miss the opportunity to get in a raising war and trap the other player if they're on a draw.

I'll agree that tells on the internet are pretty insubstantial, not to mention that it's really unlikely your opponents are paying attention or thinking that your pause means something.

On the river, I raise it up here instead of going for overcalls. You can't know if MP3 is calling 1 anyway, and you'll definitely at least get a call from SB when you raise.