UB 6-handed 50-1 hand; 3 overcards to my PP

[nicky g]

Fairly passive 6-handed game on UB. 2 limpers to me in the SB with 88, I raise, BB calls all-in, all call. Flop isn't too bad for me; Q53 rainbow. I bet and the two limpers call. Turn is less a less helpful king, putting a two flush on board. I grit my teeth and bet, only one calls. River is a 10 (doesn't complete the flush). I don't think a bet achieves much here so I check; limper bets. Who calls, who folds? I know very little about the player, he's just sat down and I don't play these games much.

[Ginogino]

Nicky:
I think you have to call him down. He limped in, and then merely called when the Q hit the flop and the K came on the turn. Most players I know would have raised at some point with a hand containing a K or Q, even with a bad kicker (though many players I know wouldn't have limped in with K or Q with a bad kicker, even suited). It's certainly possible that the 10 paired him. If so, you'll lose an extra bet.

But your betting pattern doesn't promise that you hold a pair, and I've seen too many bad opponents who will bet their A3 or A5 or 44 or the like. You don't have to win this showdown every time. You'll win often enough to be net ahead.

Gino

[Copernicus]

I agree with a call. His play smells like a missed flush draw to me. You may have gotten unlucky with the flush draw hitting a pair of Ts on the river, but I don't see him having anything bigger. In fact if he does have something bigger he probably cost himself a bet or two with his passive play.

[eugeneel]

Maybe it's just a difference of style, but I think you completely misplayed the hand. I would never have raised preflop from SB. I would have called and if the flop had anyhing above an 8 (not including paired flops) I would have checked and foldeded to anyone besides the last player (if he has a habit of making positional bets I would have raised him.) After the king came though, it was 100% wrong to bet. you play 50-100 or .50-1.00?

-Eugene

[nicky g]

lol .50-$1. but i'm sure i'll be moving up any time [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].
i don't think you're allowing enough for the fact that the game is 6-handed; there are not as many good hands out there, 88 is much stronger than at a nine or ten handed table, and i prefer the bb out. if you always check-fold any medium pair to an overcard on the flop in these games you will die a slow and boring death.
anyway i stupidly folded and the guy won it with a pair of treys.
posting protocol question - do these 6-handed tables qualify for posting here? or should this have been on the small stakes forum?

[nykenny]

I tend to agree with Eugene. Raising with 88 out of SB with 2 limpers is little too aggro. What i would normally do is if only one LP limped, then i sometimes (when BB is tight and or LP is weak) raise to hopefully drive out BB. If heads up I would bet like u did and check river.

But MOST of the time, I would just call. If I only called, against small field, i'd bet on flop if nothing scary comes. With no resistence, i'd bet turn and check river unless i look very strong on river.

[Bokonon]

I've been playing a ton of $1/$2 shorthanded recently and I've learned that at this limit, at least, a lot of people go way too far with bottom pair or 3-out draws. I think you have to call here, expecting to lose . . . but not expecting to lose so often that the one extra bet isn't worth paying to take a look.

As Slansky would put it, folding there is a "mathematical catastrophe" if it turns out there's the tiniest chance he's bluffing.

(Take it from me, the idiot that folded KK on the river just because four clubs had hit the board and I wasn't holding one . . . stupid pair of threes won that pot too.)