Tonight I tried to loosen up from the blinds

[brettbrettr]

I don't know why exactly, but I did.

pokerroom 2/4, Hero is in BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

UTG+1 (moron) calls, CO raises, SB (tag) calls, Hero calls, UTG+1 calls.

Flop: 7 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

SB bets, Hero raises, both fold, SB calls.

Turn: J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
SB bets, Hero calls.

River: 3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Sb bets, Hero raises, SB 3 bets, Hero folds.

I'd have folded to the turn stop n go had I not picked up the str8 draw. Clearly after missing on the river I decided I'd try to take a stab at stealing this one. SB was a TAG so I figured it *might* work. Terrible?

[Nate tha' Great]

Preflop: Good!

Postflop ... not good.

I'm a big advocate of playing liberally in the blinds but that doesn't mean that you should go wild every time that you catch a piece of the board. You're not in a good spot on the flop. The TAG SB needs either a strong hand or a very good draw (something like K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] is a healthy favorite against you, and some kind of suited queen - a very likely holding here - has you drawing essentially dead) to lead into the field here, and you also need to worry about the CO waking up with a queen or a big pair. For that matter, UTG could have caught a better piece of this board than you have. You don't have any redraws to speak of, and the implied odds situation here is pretty bad. I think it's a fold by a fair margin. Everything that happens after that is only proof of how you've gotten yourself into trouble. Just to reiterate, it's *not* the preflop call that got you into trouble, but the dodgy postflop play.

[brettbrettr]

So, with a laggy SB bettor my flop raise may have had more validity? Or on such a drawy board I shouldn't bother?

I realize there aren't cookie cutter answers for this but I'm trying to understand the situations in which my flop raise is a decent play, and those in which I should get rid of it.

additional questions:
Pre-flop, would you bother defending with a MP tag raise and a fold to me in the BB? An LP raise?

What if the hand isn't suited?

[Willluck]

its a fold or bluff on that turn...probably fold of course if he was a weak TAG you would raise.

[Kailia Marie]

Hi Brett,

This preflop call is fine and should be made routinely. Suited connectors will do well here in this spot with good implied odds on the call.

This may sound weak-tight, but I would advocate folding on the flop. SB is a TAG type player and has elected to bet into the field rather than checkraise the CO preflop raiser. This should indicate a strong hand or draw and the last thing you want to do is be trapped in between him and preflop raiser to act behind you. I would vote to fold the flop.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Kailia

[Nate tha' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
So, with a laggy SB bettor my flop raise may have had more validity? Or on such a drawy board I shouldn't bother?

[/ QUOTE ]

Certainly if the SB is laggier then you can think about raising more liberally, although here I think the board is just a little too coordinated. Since the SB is a TAG, you've just gotta do some hand reading. The sorts of hands that SB is likely to have here include a suited ace or queen in [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]s, JTs, KJ or KT [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]s, T9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 87 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 77, 99, and maybe something like Q9s or AQ with the ace of [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. It's not just that he's betting into the field, but also that he needs a pretty good hand to coldcall the preflop raise. Against the worst of those hands, you're about a coin flip, and against the best of them, you're drawing close to dead.

[ QUOTE ]
I realize there aren't cookie cutter answers for this but I'm trying to understand the situations in which my flop raise is a decent play, and those in which I should get rid of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Situation that looks similar but is quite a bit different:

The board is 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Everyone checks to the preflop raiser, who bets. The SB folds.

Now you should at least call and quite possibly raise, especially if the preflop raiser is aggressive. Based on some Pokerstove hand ranges that I plugged in, I estimate that your equity here is about 42% (assuming that the PFR autobets this flop when checked to), whereas in the original situation it was only 13%. It's probably worth investing the time to figure out why that's such a night-and-day sort of difference.

[ QUOTE ]
Pre-flop, would you bother defending with a MP tag raise and a fold to me in the BB? An LP raise?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll defend with T9s basically always, but I'd muck it to EP raises and tightish MP raises while you're still getting comfortable with a broader range of blind defense hands. I think it's something of a misconception that more callers automatically should make you more willing to defend in the big blind; heads up your preflop odds are not as good but it's much easier to win the hand if you make a pair, or on some sort of semibluff.

[ QUOTE ]
What if the hand isn't suited?

[/ QUOTE ]

Wait until you're comfortable with the suited variants first.

[brettbrettr]

Thanks.

[chief444]

If you consider this loosening up from the BB, I'd really hate to see some of the hands you've been folding.

I would also fold the flop.