6-12 Hand Reading Quiz

[Ulysses]

Loose, but not silly, 6-12.

I open-raise from MP w/ K [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] Q [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img]

4 players see the flop for 2SB.

Flop J [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] 9 [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] 6 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img]

I bet. LP, button and EP call.

Turn 9 [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img]

I bet. LP and button fold. EP check-raises very calmly. I call.

Here's the background on EP. EP is a "tight old man." He plays "by the book." He is very consistent about betting his hands. He does have one move down, the semi-bluff.

River 2 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img]

EP bets. I put him on a specific hand and act accordingly. In retrospect, I think I should have put him on two hands and taken a different action. What does he probably have and what should I do?

[Vehn]

I'm assuming EP is actually a blind. Your description of him is an oxymoron - tight old men who play by the book don't semi-bluff by definition, and certainely don't semi-bluff checkraise a preflop aggressor on the turn. So which is he, tricky/unpredictable or tight/passive/straightforward? By "very consistent about betting his hands" do you mean he'll always bet the turn with trips or a J here? If so then his checkraise is suspect. Regardless your only real choices are to bluff raise the river or to fold of course. Calling is out of the question as he could be semibluffing the turn with the nut flush draw. I'm hoping you didn't call and lose to AX of spades while putting him on QT or T8?

[Ulysses]

My opponent in this hand was not a blind. I think he was UTG+1 and I was a seat or two later.

Re: my somewhat confusing description. He is indeed a walking, talking oxymoron! He's definitely not tricky or aggressive as a matter of general course. 95% of the time, he's typical TOM (but one who plays every couple of weeks, not all day every day) - bet out top pair, top kicker / check-call top-pair, medium-kicker, etc. However, he has learned one move, the semi-bluff, and uses it well in the right situations - where he has a big draw and his opponent is unlikely to have a re-raising hand.

[bernie]

sounds like he's a pretty decent player and hand reader then...

b

[Ulysses]

Yes, in case you took it that way, I didn't mean to imply that "tight old man" meant he was a bad player. He's just pretty predictable. That makes for a losing mid or high limit player, but I think it's a winning strategy at low limits. There's a "tight old lady" who plays regularly at 6-12 who only bets w/ very strong hands, never checkraises, and only raises with the nuts. I'm constantly surprised to see players overcall her river raises or even sometimes 3-bet her on the river with second nuts. There's no question this strategy makes her a winning player, though she definitely is nowhere near maximizing her wins.

[Vehn]

My opponent in this hand was not a blind.

How'd you open-raise? [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[Ulysses]

Yeah, I obviously screwed this up from the get go. I was thinking of another hand when I wrote open-raise. I must have raised after EP limped in. I know he wasn't a blind.

Anyway, you still called it perfectly.

With top pair, this guy is betting out 100%. I know that. So, he doesn't have the Jack.

With trips, this guy is too afraid to miss a bet - he thinks I have the Jack and will be scared of the 9, so he will bet out. He doesn't have a 9.

There's only one hand I can put him on that fits the above criteria as well as his betting pattern. QT for open-ended straight. So, after deliberating for a while, I became 100% sure of my read and called. He showed QT and I showed QK to take it down. While it worked out, I thought it was a real bonehead move after the fact. The other hand he could have played exactly the same way was nut flush draw. For some reason, I just didn't consider that we could both be on the flush draw. Obviously, a raise here is a million times better than a call.