Not a standard play for me

deception5 · #1 11-03-2005, 09:51 AM

PokerStars 5/10 Hold'em (6 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG calls, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, Hero calls, SB completes, BB checks.

UTG is very loose, BB is also loose, SB is tag. Is this a reasonable limp or should I raise/fold here?

jt1 · #2 11-03-2005, 10:41 AM

A6o is pretty loose though not terrible. I'd call or raise with A7o and K8o. Only you know how loose those guys were so A6o may be reasonable.

As for raise or fold: I don't think keeping the pot small when one of your kickers is poor is a bad thing. You could easily have the second best starting hand, here and if so you want to fold the flop UI b4 you get check raised. Raising often commits you to a flop bet so with a very marginal hand, limping is okay.

On the other hand, only you know how weak they were post flop. Do they fold the flops right away, try to steal or do they peel liberaly? For some reason, and I'm embarrased to say that I don't know why, but I'm much more inclined to raise 78s here than A6o. I guess it's because I'm less likely to loose a kicker war, and more often able to semi-bluff the turn.

deception5 · #3 11-03-2005, 12:50 PM

Thanks for the response - this was along the lines of what I was thinking. It reminded me a lot of the section in HEPFAP "Where the blinds are loose" since I thought there was a very good chance there would be at least 3 to the flop if I raised and then I'd have to try to protect the larger pot. Plus I already have the button.

UTG was around a 62% vp$ip and bb was around a 43%

As far as their postflop abilities, BB is definitely more aggressive and capable of check/raising (but I didn't think he'd raise 2-3 opponents from the BB without a premium hand), UTG is more of a calling station. This was my other thought - if I hit I could get paid of by UTG and if I missed I could just fold if bet into.

I agree, 78s is probably a better hand to raise here because you may pick up the pot when an ace flops and then you may improve to a nicely disguised hand. Picking up the pot when an ace flops and you actually have the ace is more of a disappointment [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]