Hand I don't know where to post

[tewall]

They've added a lot of new places since I was last here.

The following hand was playing 1 on 1 against a fellow in a tournament setting. I'm not putting in the tournament section because the blinds were so small it's more typical of a cash game. I don't remember everything exactly, but close.

My opponent and I have 500 each, blinds 1-2. I'm in the small blind. I raised 5, he re-raised me around 10, I called, with Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

My opponent is a bit on the aggressive side, though not unreasonably so for heads up.

Flop comes something like Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

He bets around the pot. I call. (So there's around 75 in the pot).

Turn is a blank. He bets 75. I raise 75 more. He thinks for quite awhile, is indecisive, and finally calls.

River is a blank.

Pot is about 375. We each have a little over 300 left.

He checks. I go all-in. He folds.

Comments?

[schwza]

i don't like the river push. it's unlikely he'll call you with a worse hand here. he's shown a fair amount of strength - i'd guess his hand's about as good as yours - so i'd just check behind. with these deep stacks i don't think you want to get all your chips in with TPGK on the river.

[tewall]

I put him on top pair with a better kicker than mine. I pushed because I didn't think he could call me.

[tewall]

bumping in the hope of getting more comments.

[Kirkrrr]

tewall,

First off, it's great to see you at these forums. When I just got into playing a lot of tourney's and SnG's, I remember reading your posts and finding the information invaluable.

Second, you're wrong in one respect. Even though the limits may be more akin to a cash game, it is -still- a tournament. As such, the risks one can take in a cash game cannot be taken there. I just sort of wanted to bring that to your attention.

As far as the hand... you're a much better player than I am but I will give you my opinion, FWIW.

Pre-flop: His re-raise pre-flop can mean just about anything since he probably put you on a steal attempt and raised with any semi-decent hand. AA, AK, AQ, KK are just as possible as QTs, K9s, KJ, etc. I wouldn't have been surprised to see JTo here.

Flop: Since you said "He bets," I'm assuming you checked to him. Any decent player will bet in this situation about pot, which is what he did. Again, that gives very little information by itself.

Turn: Since you called, with that kind of a board, he probably put you on a draw and fired another shot at the pot, again pot-size. At this point, there's a reasonable chance that you have the best hand and 10 outs if you don't - though whether you can count your Jack as an out I think is questionable, AK being a real possibility here.
You make a min-raise and throw him for a spin. If you're bluffing, why not bet more? He's figured out by now that you probably don't make half-hearted bluffs and this isn't quite like it should be... he calls. Your all-in on the river makes him realize you werne't joking and since I doubt he had much in the first place (maybe overcards, most likely some piece but NOT an overpair, TPTK or TP2K), he had very little choice but to fold.

In short, on the river I seriously doubt he would've called pretty much anything reasonable, while a bet too small might have given HIM the incentive to push which would have put you to a very unpleasant decision. All in all, ni han.

If this doesn't help much, I hope it at least encourages the critique of some of the better players around these parts than yours truly [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
Kirk R.

[tewall]

Thank you very much for your reply and kind remarks.

My thoughts during the hand were, when he re-raised me pre-flop he probably had a better hand than mine. On the flop I had no idea where I was. Since he is aggressive, with top pair hands one way I like to play is let him lead, try to keep the pot relatively small, and just call him down.

On the turn a lot of thoughts went through my head, and I finally settled on the min-raise. This is the action I'm least sure about. It turned out well, but I'm still not sure if it's a good play, although I think it is. I could semi-bluff with a normal raise, but if he is semi-bluffing himself (in which case my "semi-bluff" would be raising with the best hand), then he would either go all-in or fold. Calling seems preferable to that, as I have to fold to an all-in bet and if I'm ahead I'll make more if I induce him to bluff on the river (assuming he doesn't hit a draw)

What happened after the min-raise was I became convinced he had a hand like AQ. It's hard to explain why, but it's just one of those things where you observe your opponent and a light goes off.

On the river I didn't think he could call me with AQ if I went all-in, so I did. I was more sure about my read than I was as to what his response would be. He's a decent player, so I thought he'd fold. If I had had less respect for him, I wouldn't have made the play.

A reason I think the min-raise is O.K. is that it leaves enough chips left that he can still fold to an all-in bet.

One of my reasons for posting this hand is I don't often min-raise, so was curious what others might think of it.

[cornell2005]

generally with those blinds id just call the turn and see what happens on the river. i wouldnt feel the need to steal this pot from him and try to make him lay down a better hand. especially in a tournament setting. Given that you want to take this pot, the turn and river plays are nice. when you decide this, you obviously must raise the turn, and must follow that up with a push on the river.

[CollegePlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
They've added a lot of new places since I was last here.

The following hand was playing 1 on 1 against a fellow in a tournament setting. I'm not putting in the tournament section because the blinds were so small it's more typical of a cash game. I don't remember everything exactly, but close.

My opponent and I have 500 each, blinds 1-2. I'm in the small blind. I raised 5, he re-raised me around 10, I called, with Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

My opponent is a bit on the aggressive side, though not unreasonably so for heads up.

Flop comes something like Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

He bets around the pot. I call. (So there's around 75 in the pot).

Turn is a blank. He bets 75. I raise 75 more. He thinks for quite awhile, is indecisive, and finally calls.

River is a blank.

Pot is about 375. We each have a little over 300 left.

He checks. I go all-in. He folds.

Comments?

[/ QUOTE ]
your only getting called with better hands...

[tewall]

I don't want to get called.

[CollegePlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't want to get called.

[/ QUOTE ]
Most good players will not call the turn raise unless they plan to call the river all-in. Against this player though it appears to be a decent move.