Bicycle 3/5 hand. How much to limp-raise?

[Garland]

This is my first night at Bell Garden's Live at the Bike. I'm preparing for tonight's internet broadcast (Live At The Bike). I've been playing for about 4 hours or so, and just about every player is awful:

Blinds are $3 and $5. The max buy-in is $200, but the relavant stacks are pretty big.

I ($1000) limp UTG with 99, loose-raising Persian guy raises in EP to ($25...he only has $88 left after raise), loose really poor playing MP (~$500) calls, average button (~$300) also calls. It's folded to me.

Notes: MP has been known to limp and cold-call (open limp and overlimp) in with huge hands such as AA (twice), JJ or AKs etc. He will show aggression if his hand is forced.

I wish to isolate the original raiser with a limp-reraise. How much is sufficient to get the job done?

All comments appreciated. Results to follow.

P.S. The highlight of the evening was getting to play and chat with actress Laura Prepon two to my left from "That 70's show". [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Garland

[xorbie]

Why exactly do you wish to isolate here? Big stack, bad player, often overlimps strong hands sounds like quite the odds you want for that set.

[nopepper]

fold the hand pre flop and kick it to laura!

[edge]

I don't think this is a good time for an isolation reraise out of position. If you make it 150 and one of the limpers calls, it's not going to be a fun hand (unless you spike a 9).

[imported_bingobazza]

You want the original raiser to call, and the other 2 to fold, and for your raise to be small enough (presumably) for you to get away from it preflop of either of the other 2 limpers (especially MP) re-raise? Id make it around 130 - 160 to go....but if MPs as bad and as loose as you say, more like 160. That should knock out small pairs and biggish aces. Any more and you're pot committed to the 300 stack. A significantly lesser amount and you risk a (almost correct) call from an underpair or AK/Q from the MP.

Tricky one. Interesting decision on a raggedy flop if MP calls given history.
Bingo

[creedofhubris]

[ QUOTE ]
Id make it around 130 - 160 to go....but if MPs as bad and as loose as you say, more like 160.

[/ QUOTE ]

[soah]

This doesn't sound like a good spot to reraise. There are a couple of major problems - the first being that once the shortstack guy calls, it increases the size of the pot and gives the other two players better odds to call as well. You know those times where you try to narrow the field preflop, but then the first guy calls your raise and starts off a chain reaction of calls behind him? That's what I can see happening here... in order to get those two players out, you're probably going to have to make your reraise really big.

That leads to the second problem, which is that you can't even be sure that you have the MP player beaten. Suppose you reraise, the shortstack calls, and MP pushes... needless to say, that would really suck. The fact that he will slowplay big hands preflop seems like a pretty major concern.

The third problem is that if your isolation attempt fails, you will be out of position and you won't get many "good" flops for your hand... if you're ahead on the flop your hand will be vulnerable, so checking sucks, but you're behind on the flop often enough that betting sucks.

I would prefer to just call here and see what the flop brings. You might be able to win unimproved if rags flop, and since your opponents aren't very good, you should be able to get paid off by marginal hands if you flop a set.

[Garland]

I opted to limp-reraise to $100. The short-stacked Persian Esfandiari wannabe short stack all-in ($88) as expected, MP calls!!, button folds.

Flop: 955

Check-check

Turn: K

Check-check

River: blank

I bet $150 (Persian guy folds as I bet), MP folds claiming to have AT.

I don't regret my decision to limp-reraise. I had studied my opponents first and read that they didn't cold call with huge hands. However, I just wanted them out of the way. The $100 was for sure enough to cover the all-in guy, but I misjudged how much MP was married to his hand. I agree with the posters here that $130 should do the trick, but $160 is probably excessive and would just about make me pot-stuck (preflop or postflop).

Thanks for your thoughts,

Garland

[BobboFitos]

bet the turn garland

[redtrain]

Bet the turn? I say bet the flop! After limp/reraiseing, checking the flop is a tell you have a monster.