Hand To Talk About

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

Here's an interesting hand I played Friday night in a $60=$120 game.

An early position player limped, a middle position player limped, a late position player limped, the small blind called, and I raised out of the big blind with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Everyone called.

The flop was T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. The small blind checked. I bet. The early (before the flop) limper called. The two later position players folded. The small blind check raised. I made it three bets. The early position player called the two bets, and the small blind called. So three of us saw the turn for three bets each.

The turn was the A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. The small blind checked. I bet. The early position player raised. The small blind folded. I called.

The river was the 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], giving me the nut flush. I bet and my remaining opponent folded.

All comments welcome.

Best wishes,
Mason

[mike l.]

i believe very strong cases can be made for 3 betting the turn and checkraising the river, especially the latter.

[nopepper]

i 3-bet the turn..if you are 4 bet..i would the attempt a c/r...if just callled i would lead out on the river.

[SLEEPER]

Hi Mason,

I would have checked the flop so that I could maximize the number of players in the pot for when I hit a big hand. Any heart, Ace or King. Since the small blind bet the flop, I would have called, and the limpers might have called as their effective odds would have increased.... You never know! When the Ace lands on the turn, I would have called a bet from the SB, or led out myself. Depending on the action on the turn, I would have had a choice to bet/raise or checkraise the river as my hand is obviously good.

[PokerBabe(aka)]

I like the way Mason played this one. I can see the rationale for 3 betting the turn, but I disagree with mikel that you are going to get a check/raise in on the river. The 3rd heart and the ace mitigate against the check there and Mason's bet is the best strategy.

Nice hand, Mason.

[nef]

Pre-flop and on the flop is standard.

On the turn I think your opponent could be raising with either a set, T7(would he play this?), or as a semi-bluff with a draw, with the draw trying to raise you off of what to him looks like JJ,QQ,KK. He didn't raise the flop so Aces up isn't likely, and I doubt he would take all that heat with a weak limping Ace you could easily have dominated(AJ?), so a pair of Aces is unlikely.

On the river when you make your flush, would check raising be correct? If he has the draw (89, J9 etc.), you could get him to bluff. If he has a set or two pair he will likely bet and you can collect two bets.

I guess I would bet the river if he would usually raise me with a set or if the flush card would usually stop him from betting a good hand or bluffing.

[Tosh]

You give no reads at all. Do you not have any or just forgot them?

A lot of players would let you get in a check raise on the river, that would be my play against most players.

[Noo Yawk]

Hi Mike,

I think going for a check-raise on the river is a bad idea here. Most players tend to freeze up when a flush hits the board, and you risk getting checked through. I want to ensure that I give myself the best chance of collecting at least one bet here. If you hit a straight in this type of situation, I'd be more inclined to try the check-raise as it's a bit less obvious.

If he's aggressive, wants to overplay two pair or a set, or just tends to represent hands, I'd rather bet and hope I got raised.
If he folds like he did here, then kudos to him. But I want my best shot at collecting at least one more bet with the nuts. By not giving him the option of checking through, I accomplish this.

JMHO.
see ya-NY

[Rushmore]

Mason,

Are we to believe that the EP player made a bare naked move at you on the turn?

Because he's getting 12-1 to call your river bet, and yet, finds a fold.

The reason I ask is because he certainly found an odd place to run this bluff. On the turn, when the ace hits the board, he is raising you with the flop check-raiser still to act behind him.

I don't know, but it sure looks a little odd.

I mean, if he's holding an ace, he's got a call on the river getting 12-1, no? When he mucks, we assume he held no ace, and was either bluffing or semi-bluffing (as we have no reason to put him on just a ten, do we?). The heart comes, and he mucks, so semi-bluff seems excluded, leaving either a serious butt-in-the-wind bluff or an ace.

His river muck says either the former, or you gotta start mixing it up a little more.

Hope I'm not outta line or too far off base here.

[Clarkmeister]

In that games and higher at the Bellagio, people love to bluff/semibluff at an ace, especially one that comes on the turn, simply because they view it as a freeroll funded by the size of the pot since they deem it unlikely to have helped you. This would be a great place to try it since Mason's flop action screams "overpair", and he likely views Mason as easy to push around. But it is for these reasons that Mason needs to check the river, especially with hearts coming, because that is a perfect card for his opponent to bluff again at on the river.