Commerce 10-20 NL Hand 1 of 3

[Boris]

On hand #1 I don't understand why you raised to $300. You have the nut draw and a middle pair which is a pretty strong hand. I would just call the $60 and try to get more money from him. If he had bet say $200-300 I think a raise is a great play because now there is decent money in the pot and you still have enough behind to scare him out of the pot.

[Ulysses]

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On hand #1 I don't understand why you raised to $300.

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I'm not sure I do either, Boris.

To be honest, this was my first live session in a while and this was one of my first hands and I really didn't have a great plan here. Ths stacks were small enough that I figured taking down $160 was worth it here. I felt that if I called, he was likely to bet $200 into a $220 pot on a blank turn with an Ace and I wasn't really sure what to do then. I figured if he called the flop I have a ton of outs and if I want I can fire again or check behind on the turn depending on my read. If he pushed on the flop, I figured I'm likely a coinflip (and will have to call w/ the odds I'll be getting) and I'm happy to run a coinflip w/ these stacks. That was pretty much my general thought.

What's your plan if you call and he fires $200 after a blank on the turn?

[The Gift Of Gab]

you didn't give your position relative to others, but having the nut draw makes calling more attractive. maybe he or someone else will make a smaller flush and go broke. this can turn ugly if you call a turn bet and get snapped off on the river, though.

[Ulysses]

In the K9h hand, the flop went SB check, BB check, this guy bets, next guy folds, me on the button.