J7s Shorthanded

[Jason Pohl]

I was playing in a $5/10 PL game 4-handed last night. I am normally a limit player, and I have only recently joined the ranks of live players on a regular basis. So, I admit, I am still learning at PL play, though I am winning so far.

I decided that for purposes of deception, I would blind steal w/ any holding that including the 7 of hearts and a somewhat reasonable hand (i.e. K7s, Q7s, J7s, 97, 87, 76, 75).

Anyways, the following hand occurred, which drew some commentary later on that night. Game was 10 hours old. This hand occurred at 6am. My opponent is a loose, semi-aggressive player, but she does not bluff much. I have had good control with her that night. I am UTG and raise to $40 with J [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 7 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] .

She calls and the flop comes K [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 9 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 8 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] . She checks and I bet $50 into the $85 pot. She checkraises to $100, and I call. Pot now at $285.

Turn: K [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 9 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 8 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 4 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] . She bets $300.

Here's what I know. She has $150 left after her bet. She believes she has a powerful hand. This is not a bluff. I'm not sure she would be so strong with a set or a low flush, but I am certainly unsure that she wouldn't. So, I have 3rd nut flush w/ 1 out to a straight flush and I have my opponent covered. What should I do?

Results to follow.

--Jason

[Jason Pohl]

P.S. There are some house rules that allowed me to raise to $40 preflop and to allow my opponent to bet $300 into a $285 pot.

I figured she was pot committed for sure, so I thought of it as a $450 bet into a $285 pot. My $450 call would win $735, so I had to be correct 38% of the time minus the approx. 2% of the time I would suckout for a straight flush. I then concluded that there was sufficient chance my opponent was betting with a lower flush, top set, or top pair w/ A [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] .

So, I raised all-in, the river came 3 [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] , and my opponent showed me Q [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 3 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] .

[img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

--Jason

[Amanjyaku]

I'm not sure that playing J7s four handed is the end of the world. But it shouldn't be so hard to get away from.

What are the hands she would go all in with in this situation? AhKx? Th2h? Count 'em all up and see what the odds are that you were beat.

What did you have her on?

[Jason Pohl]

Possible hands include any two hearts, any set, and A [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] with a King. Frankly, I think I should have discounted any set and the A [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] with a King. That would mean I was essentially betting my opponent has 6 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 5 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] rather than the A [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] or Q [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] with another heart.

More I think about it, I think I made a bad call b/c the range I put her on included hands such as set or top pair w/ A [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] kicker, and I don't think she bets out the max with those hands. But I do think she would bet out the max with any flush.

--Jason

[Robk]

Jason, Like you I am no PL expert. But here are my thoughts:
1. This kind of call is very dependent on your image. If you are always hammering at pots,
and your opponents are just waiting to get any kind of hand to fire back at you then I think you
should clearly move in. But if you're not in many pots aggressively, I think it's a dump, given
your read on the opponent, and how scary the board must look to her.
2. I think it's strange that you included your chance at hitting that straight flush in there,
but neglected to consider the 4-10 outs your opponent has to have if you are ahead of a
set or 2 pair or even the naked A or queen of hearts.
3. I don't think her flop play is very good (that's certainly not what I would do), so I doubt I
would have put her on the flush. But I think that when someone's play is inconsistent from
beginning to end, you've got to go with the later read.

[TheTattoo]

I'm the player who had Q [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 3 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] . I'm sorry so few people responded to your post. There are two points you should have included in your description of the game that are quite relevant in PL:

1. You had been hammering my blind (and my stack) on a fairly consistent basis and I had not been able to run you down with the pathetic cards I was getting in that position. I had been waiting for some opportunity to fight back a bit so you knew you couldn't just have my blind with a bet.

2. I was quarter-stacked against all of my opponents and waiting for an opportunity to double through.

All the other players folded to me. Q[img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] 3[img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] was a great hand to call your preflop raise. Here's why: I need a perfect flop to commit my stack to the pot (three [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img]s with either the K[img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] or A[img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img] on the board OR two 3's OR two Q's, and I can call a small bet if the flop is 245/KJT). It only cost me forty dollars to potentially double my stack. Forty dollars was about 8% of my stack and I could have survived at least another three rounds without a pot if I had to unhand that one.

No matter what the flop, I was going to check, let you bet into me, then raise or fold. Once I caught the flop (which is about as good as it gets four-handed), I committed myself to win it with either a bet or a showdown. End of story.