Tough Calls

[CrisBrown]

Hiya Moon,

I think TheGrifter was referring to my bet at the flop, not my pre-flop bet.

Cris

[Moonsugar]

Ohh, LOL.

Sorry Grifter. Need coffee!

[CrisBrown]

Hi Guy,

I think you're right, and that's a possibility I hadn't considered: that his river bet was intended to scare me out of charging him more to see my cards. Another possibility is that he'd hung around hoping for another 7, and when it never came, he knew his only chance to win the pot was to take a stab at it. I kept seeing it as a bet that wanted a call, and I've found it's generally a mistake to oblige in that situation.

Cris

[AJo Go All In]

[ QUOTE ]
survival plays more heavily into decisions.


[/ QUOTE ]

i don't buy this. if this is the case, then fold on the flop. after your flop action there is no way you are getting away from the hand.

[CrisBrown]

Hi AJ,

Re: Survival plays more heavily into decisions at higher buy-ins, because there is a lot invested, and they can take an hour or more to fill.

[ QUOTE ]
i don't buy this. if this is the case, then fold on the flop. after your flop action there is no way you are getting away from the hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

*shrugs*

I have before. And I would have here, had he not been such a total maniac. I've come back from such spots before, and when it comes to non-fungible tournaments, there is an ever-present tension between boldness and survival. I can come back from a short stack; I can't come back from the rail.

I don't think I played either of these hands especially well. In the second, I really thought my raise at the flop would induce a fold, and was stunned when he called. I thought I'd been caught with my hand in the cookie jar -- even a maniac can have a hand sometimes -- and I seriously considered just taking my losses and picking a better spot to take my stand.

I should add that I don't call very often in tourney play. I prefer to be the aggressor, unless I'm calling small bets with a bluff-catcher, or I have a big hand and I'm laying a trap to get a big pot. It may be that I surrender a lot of pots by tending to fold in close situations, and this may be a major leak in my game. I don't know, as in most cases I never find out.

And I guess that's what this thread was really about. I thought both of these were questionable calls, and expected a lot of criticism. I'm surprised that everyone has said these were automatic calls. That leads me to suspect my reluctance to call in these kinds of situations probably is a significant leak in my game.

Cris

[frisbee]

Hey Chris

I am a complete novice compared to you guys, but am getting a great kick from reading over this forum. Much needed antidote to the books. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Anyway, I always try to guess what the advice will be, then see if I am anywhere close. In this case (Hand #1) I was way way off.

But I don't know why. I understand what the other posters are saying, but I thought you'd get told that you shoulda bet out more after the flop. $120 seems too tight to me when its just you and the blinds. Isn't the idea that if you have top pair that you take it away by high bets before anyone can get their draws or maybe sets? You'd know more by the response to a higher flop bet what BB was carrying than a 3xBB bet. I'm not saying go all in, but give em something to think about at least. What's he got at flop that can beat you? Two aces, or a king. Pair? No easy draws at that point.

Especially if its a tight table. You need a bigger bet to find out, no?

I can imagine me playing this and wimping on the flop and sure enough an ace will come on the turn and then I don't know what to do. Your tough call waited for the river, but it seems similar.

Get it over or find out more about what they got, no?

I am not really trying to tell you how you should have played it, but how I would have played it--and I'm a loser so far. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] But my confusion remains. Wouldn't my thinking above be a reasonable response to the hand? I worry when it hardly gets a mention that I haven't read the right books!

This forum is great for me, trying to improve my game (restricted to PokerRoom since I'm Mac). Thanks to all you posters. This newbie really appreciates.

Cheers