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Old 12-16-2005, 06:31 AM
NYCNative NYCNative is offline
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Default Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

Middle levels of a MTT. Started with $10,000 and 25/50 blinds. Blinds are now $150/300 with $25 antes and I have lost half of my stack. Average is about $13,500 or so. I need to make a move soon but I am not desperate quite yet.

I am in the Big Blind and it is folded around to the button. She is solid unless she is running good or bad - she gets overconfident when running good and gets tilty when running bad. Right now she is running good (she is the chip leader) and overconfident. She limps with, I'm fairly certain judging from her mannerisms, a meager hand.

Small blind folds. I look down and see two Aces.

I give it some thought and I pop a raise but only add $800 more on top. She thinks about it and decides that getting 2-to-1 on her money is worth the call so she does.

I check in the dark as a sign fo strength. She checks in the dark as well.

The flop is A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. I made top set. I also have the Ace of Spades.

The turn comes along since we both checked in the dark and it's the 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. I now have top set and the nut flush draw. I come out of my shell and bet pot-sized which is about half my remaining stack. She raises and I go all-in feeling commited and she calls me.

She had K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].

Even though I am behind, I have significant redraws here and can overtake her with a boat or nut flush over a third of the time.

Naturally a harmless Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] comes along and I'm done.

I knew that I was taking a chance by playing the hand the way I did mainly because I felt that this was my chance to double up and have a chance to compete before the blinds really started to get big.

Making a big PF raise might have netted me the blinds but I deemed that a waste; I wanted to price her into a call that made sense against my range but not my holdings.

The check in the dark gave her a free shot at the flush. In retrospect, I probably should have bet the flop to protect my set. However, there's a good chance that had I done this that I would have tried to price her in again because I was still a huge favorite against anything she had including the flush draw.

Can I safely write this off as a calculated risk that at any time gave me a good chance to double up but just didn't happen to work out for me? Or was it a bad gamble?
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Old 12-16-2005, 07:16 AM
AceofSpades AceofSpades is offline
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

I don't know...The reraise and then check in the dark sounds like a bad idea to me.

First you announce you have a big hand by reraising/or raising (she limped on button)?-and not enough to give much more value to your hand either, and then after warning her, you give an extra free card to help her catch a strong hand?

I play online, so checking in the dark is not possible, but I would like to hear your reasoning as to why it would help in this situation?
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  #3  
Old 12-16-2005, 07:57 AM
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

I see nothing wrong with the minimal pre-flop raise in this situation. You got heads up with the chipleader with your aces which is wonderful, but what exactly were you thinking with the check in the dark? A loose player with a big stack is the absolute last person you want to give free cards to, especially before you see the flop. The great thing about being a player who always follows up a pre-flop raise with a continuation bet is that you can bet your big hands and get paid off. In this particular situation (depending on my image) I might put out a big pot size bet - just because it's the last thing you would expect someone with the nuts to do.

All things considered, it is unforunate that the player made a flush draw. A 1/2 pot-sized bet would almost certainly get called by a player in position with the draw. If you happened to be crazy enough to lead out with a huge bet with the nuts, the mistake would have been on her, not you.
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Old 12-16-2005, 08:05 AM
Yuv Yuv is offline
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

Did ESPN film it? Who checks in the dark? Did you have your sunglaces upside down as well? Were you singing whlie making the turn bet?

You probably would have lost anyhow, but I see zero adventages to checking in the dark.
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Old 12-16-2005, 08:52 AM
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

To paraphrase the unibomber
"Never again will i check in the dark, 10% of the time, something cool happens, but the other 90% you find yourself trapped in a hole of nothingness"
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  #6  
Old 12-16-2005, 08:59 AM
Skjonne Skjonne is offline
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

[ QUOTE ]
"Never again will i check in the dark, 0% of the time, something cool happens, but the other 100% you find yourself trapped in a hole of nothingness"

[/ QUOTE ]
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  #7  
Old 12-16-2005, 10:58 AM
MikeSmith MikeSmith is offline
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Default Re: Praying for a double up, Aces in the Big Blind

you havent heard this enough, dark check is dumb, leave it to phil hellmuth
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