No Limit at Foxwoods - Bad beat or bad playing?

[Murph]

Game: $5/$5 Blinds No Limit Hold'em at Foxwoods.

I start this hand with $2,700. (It had been a good afternoon up to this point. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

I am on the button. 3 players limp in for $5. I have 5d and 2s. I normally would not call with such crap but we have a family pot going and I figure (based on past observation) that neither SB or BB will raise so I limp in for the $5 to see the flop. Both SB and BB check.

Flop comes 3c 4h Jh. Everyone checks to me. I'm open ended so I bet $40.

Everybody folds except one other player. Let's call him "Joe," a loose and aggressive player but not one who qualifies as a maniac. Joe calls the $40.

Turn comes Ad.

Joe bets $100. I raise to $300. Joe reraises to $900, leaving him with about $700.

I'm thinking this is great. I have the nut straight so I go all in. Joe then calls.

He flips over As and 3d.

And sure enough, a 3 on the river giving him the boat.

I thought I played this hand well. But now I don't know.

Am I an idiot or is this just a bad beat?

Thanks for your input.

[bugstud]

yes, and yes. He called with two pair, you layed 25o in the first place. Someone had to not learn a lesson, and it happened to be him.

[Justin A]

What is the goal of NLHE? Does anyone know?

That's right, it's to try and get all your opponents money into the middle when you're holding the best possible hand.

But holy hell, fold that junk preflop.

Justin A

[mmcd]

In games w deep money, it doesn't matter wtf you hold preflop (assuming theres not a decent preflop raise) as long as you play it well postflop. I've seen a guy lose an 8k stack in a hand just like this when he flopped a set of Aces. The 30 bucks his opponent put in before the flop meant absolutely nothing.

nh, well played, but tough beat.

[DBowling]

I agree. You can play whatever you want if you expect to get paid well when you hit. You hit. You got all your money in. You got outdrawn. Bad beat. Well played.

[Justin A]

[ QUOTE ]
In games w deep money, it doesn't matter wtf you hold preflop (assuming theres not a decent preflop raise) as long as you play it well postflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

No offense to our poster, but I have a hard time believing he plays all that well post flop if he's wondering if he played this hand right. And what makes you think you'll get paid off enough when you hit a hand like 25o to make it profitable? This hand is a fluke.

If it doesn't matter wtf you hold preflop, should you then play every single hand?

Justin A

[evanski]

Dont post your bad beat stories. Tough hand, but what exactly are you looking for people to comment on? Oh well, if this was me, I wouldnt have gone all in with the nuts. I would have known he had a3, just called, and waited to see if he filled up on the river. I mean really.

[mmcd]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In games w deep money, it doesn't matter wtf you hold preflop (assuming theres not a decent preflop raise) as long as you play it well postflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

No offense to our poster, but I have a hard time believing he plays all that well post flop if he's wondering if he played this hand right. And what makes you think you'll get paid off enough when you hit a hand like 25o to make it profitable? This hand is a fluke.

If it doesn't matter wtf you hold preflop, should you then play every single hand?

Justin A

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not just about getting paid off when you hit, it's also about being able to take the pot anyways when you miss sometimes. I don't think you should play every hand,(although you could if the money was deep enough and the players were weak enough) but I do think you need to play a fair amount of "surprise" type hands. While 25o is on the lower end of that spectrum, I think for 0.25% of his stack, it doesn't make a difference whether he plays it or not. My background in big bet is more PL than NL, but I think the hands that can make oddball straights are probably among the best hands in deep money big bet games.

[Murph]

[ QUOTE ]
Dont post your bad beat stories. Tough hand, but what exactly are you looking for people to comment on?

[/ QUOTE ]

I am looking for feedback so that I can learn to be a better player. While I think I played the hand correctly post flop, I lack the depth of experience to be positive. So I am looking for either reassurance or constructive criticism.

[ QUOTE ]
Oh well, if this was me, I wouldnt have gone all in with the nuts. I would have known he had a3, just called, and waited to see if he filled up on the river. I mean really.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please don't be sarcastic; it is impolite and does not further the goals of this forum. I am a newcomer to this forum and that type of response does nothing to promote my desire to post in the future.

[Murph]

[ QUOTE ]
And what makes you think you'll get paid off enough when you hit a hand like 25o to make it profitable? This hand is a fluke.

[/ QUOTE ]

Playing 25o is certainly not a typical play. If anyone raises, I don't make the play. But in the $5/$5 NL game at Foxwoods with a bunch of limpers, I will sometimes throw in $5 to see the flop because the potential return can be very high. I realize that it is very, very loose gamble. And I am going to be more gun shy in the future.