$100-$200 Hand

[CreamPuff]

Interesting.
I remember a post a while back, in which
you had K9 in the BB. vs. a button raise, and you
played it the same way you describe, but no reason
was given.

In Briers hand would you bet the turn if it had been
a 3rd spade, to prevent a free card?

[Jim Brier]

When my opponent failed to bet the turn, I figured my hand was good so I bet. I will get crying calls from worse hands in this shorthanded game. My opponent called. He won with A-K.

I failed to write this hand down after it was played. So David may be right in that I may not have been suited. Against this particular opponent, I probably should have folded preflop.

I find it incomprehensible that my opponent failed to bet the turn after 3-betting the flop. If he thought his A-K was good enough to 3-bet, why is it not good enough to bet the turn when a blank appears?

[Vehn]

Because he knew you would fold?

[Jim Brier]

But how could he know this? Furthermore, he is now giving me a free card to beat him which could result in his loss of an entire pot. I like his 3-bet on the flop in this situation but I think he must bet the turn.

[Clarkmeister]

I suspect his check behind on the turn is a reflection of your table image.

Since you stated that you are willing to fold top pair on the turn for a single bet even in this shorthanded headsup situation, it appears his check is reasonable (though debatable) with AK since you are very likely to either fold or checkraise but not call.

[Penguin]

Let's say he figures you for a K (or less) after you checkraise and you call his 3 bet. He may have reason to believe you will fold on the turn to his bet.

So from his perspective, he is giving a free card (to your 3 outs) in exchange for either a sure call by you on the river, or the chance to call your river bet (or even the chance to raise you on the river).

This works out to losing 7 BB one in 15 times vs gaining 1 BB the other 14 times. So if he is pretty sure you will fold the turn, his turn check has some positive expectation.

Maybe (probably?!) this is a mistake on my part - but in his position I have checked the AK too - I figure I am way ahead, and that the check (by raising the suspicion level) will ensure me a river call by a lot of hands including A high or any pair.

This turn check is confusing, but I think it is correct. Although checking runs the risk of both a missed bet and a free card disaster, I think these two factors are outweighed by a few other things.

For one, He probably knows that unless he is beat, it is fairly unlikely that you'll call his turn bet. Also, by checking the turn, you might become more liable to call a river bet out of confusion. In addition, him checking the turn could encourage you to make play on the pot at the river with any number of hands (inducing a bluff).

I think when he checked the turn, he was 90% certain that he had the best hand, so why not raise your river bet? Well, it seems that his raise would only get a call if he was beat, so it really has no value other than making you wonder what he had in the event that you fold.

I think there are a lot of close decisions in this hand, and I can't really criticize any of them. I think Jim and the raiser played the hand well.

Sam

[AceHigh]

"I like his 3-bet on the flop in this situation... "

I don't. His 3-bet let's you get away from you're hand. You correctly guessed that you should fold on the turn if you don't improve. His hand is very strong, why should he drive away a customer?

Wouldn't it be better for him to just call your c/r and call your turn and river bets? He can always bet if you check.

Plus he can wait until the river to raise you.

Although it's hard to tell why a player at that level would check the turn, I think that as a tight and conservative, he respected your raise and call on the flop and therefore decided to play it safe on the turn by checking behind fearing a checkraise from a 2 pair or set. He may have thought that you were ahead at that point and he had to make a crying call on the river otherwise he would have raised you.

[mikelow]

His failure to bet the turn saved you a bet.