Black tens against a blind straddler at the Mandalay Bay

[Mackie]

No surprise he called your pre-flop raise, he should do this with any 2 cards.

Bet on the flop is fine.

No reason to bet the turn, imho. That's just my style. It avoids the big bet checkraise and can induce a river bluff.

I see no reason to raise on the river. Even straddling tilting manicas can get dealt an ace.

[Luke]

No reason to bet the turn, imho. That's just my style. It avoids the big bet checkraise and can induce a river bluff.

Well, my style is to protect my hand against possible overcards (K, Q, and T) as well as other free cards that can make straights and flushes. I also like to bet my hand for value when I am almost assuredly ahead and my opponent is going nowhere for one bet.

Luke

[Luke]

No reason to bet the turn, imho. That's just my style. It avoids the big bet checkraise and can induce a river bluff.

Well, my style is to protect my hand against possible overcards (K, Q, and T) as well as other free cards that can make straights and flushes. I also like to bet my hand for value when I am almost assuredly ahead and my opponent is going nowhere for one bet.

Luke

[PDosterM]

[ QUOTE ]
I still think you just call the river though as there [are] way too many drawing hands he could have that he ends up just folding to your raise.

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I agree there are plenty of hands he would fold to a raise, but that is irrelevant to the decision. All that matters is that when he does call, is he more likely to call with a winning hand or a losing hand? Since there are many more hands he will call with that lose, the raise is correct.

[Luke]

He called my river raise and tabled 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. MHIG.

Preflop and flop is standard.

On the turn, my initial gut reaction was that he hit the 8 as I saw him pull a similar headsup stunt before with a middle pair and he would have went to war on the flop with a 7 or ace. My first thought was to 3-bet his checkraise but my fear was that by doing that, he might fold right there as he was capable of making sudden folds if he was totally bluffing and faced resistance. But most likely he would call that 3-bet and check/fold to a river bet unimproved yielding me only 1 extra bet.

I quickly reasoned that by waiting until the river I could let him to continue betting and raise if a "safe" card fell giving me 2 extra bets as this guy will call with a bunch of hands and simply call if a "scary" card fell, earning me 1 extra bet. Of course there was a chance he was ahead and would 3 bet me, but that was the least likely of all scenarios and not much of a concern.

FWIW, I was like 90% sure he did not have me beat on the turn and 95% sure he did not hold an ace.

After my river raise I got a lot of strange looks and whispers from the rest of the table. I'm not sure if it helped my image and EV at the table but at the very least, I enjoyed the reactions I received.

Thanks for all the comments.

Luke

[Luke]

I still think you just call the river though as there way too many drawing hands he could have that he ends up just folding to your raise.

I felt that to this guy, the turn 3-bet and river bet combo would look more like a legit hand than the call the turn CR and raise the river combo. Thus, if I call his turn CR and let him continue bluffing/overplaying his hand onto the river and then put in a sudden raise, I'm more likely to get a call from one of the many garbage hands he quite possibly held.

Luke

[Nightwish]

IMHO, the turn bet is mandatory. However, I would be more inclined to just call the river instead of raising.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
Make it to showdown as cheaply as possible.

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That's the goal of the calling station.

[Squirrel]

That's beautiful.

[Little Fishy]

I'd say he has either 8's or a draw (probably flush). why not reraise his checkraise on the turn and make him pay a little more? then if club or 8 hits the river just call. I think u played it pretty well though.