battle of the blinds

[William Jockusch]

Everybody says check/calling is weak. And yet it felt right here. Comments on my play?

Party Poker 15/30 Hold'em (4 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG folds, Button folds, Hero completes, <font color="CC3333">BB raises</font>, Hero calls.

Flop: (4 SB) 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls.

Turn: (3 BB) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls.

River: (5 BB) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 7 BB

[Nightwish]

Why didn't you raise preflop? Short-handed play is very player-specific, and you tell us nothing about your opponent, but I generally don't like this idea of calling down all the way since you can't even beat A high.

[William Jockusch]

I didn't raise because I have been having a lot of trouble playing the SB against the BB when I give away much information about my hand preflop.

This way, if I hit a king or a queen, I may really be able to nail him for a lot of money, since he won't suspect my strength.

[Nate tha' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
I didn't raise because I have been having a lot of trouble playing the SB against the BB when I give away much information about my hand preflop.

This way, if I hit a king or a queen, I may really be able to nail him for a lot of money, since he won't suspect my strength.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's much more fun to also raise with J2s and stuff.

-N

[Ezcheeze]

If you are playing the SB optimally you should be raising with so many hands that theres no way your opponent can put you on a hand preflop. I think this is true almost no matter who your opponent is.

-Ezcheeze

[stanky]

I can safely say that I never have and never will play
KQ in the manner that you describe in this hand against said number of players and said pre-flop action...

-Pete

[phy1234]

What hand or hands do you hope that your opponet has that you beat? There are very few, not sure why you don't either put a raise in on the flop/turn to see if your opponet has a weak ace and will fold or just muck because your hand is so weak. I think check calling is horriable here.

[JasonP530]

Very few oppoents will bet ace high on the end, so all you beat is a bluff. Some raggedy hand he raised with or a QJ. I would not call people down with King high out of position. That cannot be a winning play. If you raise preflop, there are 3 cards for you to hit. K and Q are good, and an ace may make him fold.

[DrGutshot]

this looks pretty gross to me.

-DrG

[William Jockusch]

He showed 89o, for a missed gutshot. My king high took the pot.

He could beat me if he had any 4, 5, 6, T, or A -- that's 16 of the 45 unseen cards. In addition there were a few other hands that would beat me, like 78, and pocket pairs. Overall, I'm guessing I could beat about 30-35% of his possible hands. In light of the pot size, I felt this warranted a call.

Part of the reason I played this one to the end was that the turn card paired the board, which made it less likely I was beat.

I will grant that playing my unsuited high cards this way, I will usually lose money when I don't pair. But I haven't found any way to play it that I tend to lose less. If I try betting/raising at some point, the problem is that I *will* be folding if I am raised, and now I lose horribly to someone who sometimes bluff raises.