Biggest flaw in my game

[NiceCatch]

Is this a ten player table? If it's short, there's a decent chance he just has an A, and AJ or AQ might have him beat. It's quite possible you weren't going to make anymore money off of him, and waiting until the turn made you an extra $50. I guess you could have called and hoped he picked up a second pair on the river...

[jtr]

Why didn't you raise TT from late position preflop? It certainly would have helped in your quest to get money in, assuming villain had an ace.

[scottgiese]

Your opponent was probably either on a stone-cold bluff, or had ace with a weak kicker. Sure, maybe he had something like 88 or 99, but it's highly likely from his overbets that he had nothing at all and was trying to steal.

If he had KQ or some such, semi-bluffing with an inside straight draw, you're right not to let him see a river free, and $50 doesn't give him the right odds unless you'll call a big bet if he hits it. In that case, you'd want to raise more to give him worse implied odds, but the amount depends on how much money you each have left.

I'd probably raise sometimes there and call sometimes, depending on a lot of factors, not the least of which is my opponents style and our stack sizes. Usually, I'd figure he's very weak and give him one more chance to make a mistake. If he's got a lot of chips, I want to get him committed if he's sitting on an ace.

But don't underestimate the value of mixing up your play when you flop a monster -- if you play it the same every time, good players will pick up on that. Maybe that's why you complain that this type of hand poses problems for you. Maybe you only raise the minimum when you want callers. So bet more. And bluff with a minimum raise once in a while.

Don't be afraid to try different things there. Rarely, I might even consider pushing all in with that, but usually I want to give my opponent more rope to hang himself.

[creedofhubris]

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Why didn't you raise TT from late position preflop?

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