O8 River play

[autobet]

If they were on draws then they will not call you on the river so che king is correct.

The only hand they can call you with that you can beat is a 9 with a worse kicker.

Checking seems best. You may get a busted draw to bluff at it, but can't expect to be called by too many worse hands if you bet.

[autobet]

It would be fun to fold in the big blind just to entertain the table. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I guess I'll have to wait till I play in a cardroom to try that one!

[PollyEmory]

[ QUOTE ]
It would be fun to fold in the big blind just to entertain the table. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I guess I'll have to wait till I play in a cardroom to try that one!

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd think, right? I see that tons at .5/1.00 Usually not in BB, but players constantly fold out on the flop turn and river (most baffling when it's checked around and they are last to act before showdown!!!!!!!!!!)

[L0QTiS]

bet the flop

check/fold the turn - If someone bets here, they probably have the king or a 9 and you're definitly having kicker trouble with your trips. Your bad flush draw just isn't good enough to call any action here either. Check hoping for a brick on the river.

With this river, consider betting the river for value, but likely fold to a raise.

[Buzz]

Hi Polly - I wrote a longer reply earlier, but it got eaten by aol. Here's a short version.

You don't have a very good starting hand, so you properly check and see the flop for nothing extra.

Then the flop has a pair of nines and no low is possible.

Since you happen to have a nine, you hope nobody else does too - and with only four opponents seeing the flop too, there's a good chance none of them has the case nine. And there's also a good chance none of them has KKXY.

So you bet the flop, hoping to take it down right there.

But then you get two callers.

In a normal, typical game at higher limits, this would be very scary. They both can't have the case nine - but one of them certainly can. And in that case, what could the other one have?

Most shrewd Omaha-8 players would routinely slow play KKXX on the second betting round after a flop of K99.

Some Omaha-8 players overplay AAXY hands - but that usually involves also raising with these hands before the flop. Could one of your opponents hold AAXY? It's a distinct possibility, in spite of the lack of a pre-flop raise.

Some Omaha-8 players over-play pairs, but anybody with any sense holding a pair should get out after you bet this flop. QQJJ, QQTT, or JJTT? Possible I suppose.

Clueless? You run into fewer clueless players as the limits get higher, but at this low limit one (or both) of your opponents could be clueless. But even clueless players can end up with cards that beat you.

Notice that your kicker is not very good. Anybody with a nine plus an ace or a queen has you out-kicked. And of course anybody with an nine plus a king has you drawing dead.

Any of these possibilities, KKXX, 9KXX, 9AXX, or 9QXX, taken alone is not likely. But when you put them all together, considering two opponents have called your flop bet after a flop of K99, you should be wary. And if you add in the possibility of some fool playing top pair here (KXYZ) after this flop, then when the turn is another king it definitely does not look like you are ahead. Not at all (although as it turns out, you are ahead).

In a typical game, at least one of your two opponents would probably be ahead of you after the flop, and almost certainly would be ahead of you after the turn.

Here is turns out you are playing two fools. One is overplaying AAXX, without having raised with it before the flop - very hard to read. The other is purely clueless - also very hard to read.

At any rate, your check on the first betting round is fine, as is your bet on the flop.

However your bet on the turn is playing as though you are clueless yourself. I don't wish to offend, but that's the long and the short of it.

What about betting the river? Hard to say. Normally the only person who could call would have you beaten, and your justifyable reason to bet would be to try to knock out a better, but non-nut hand held by a weak player - but with these two fools..... who knows? At any rate, no, I wouldn't bet the river (but I might call a river bet from somebody I thought had too much testosterone).

Just my opinion.

Buzz

[PollyEmory]

Thanks, Buzz. The turn bet was a really really bad idea I now realize. I actually ran into the miracle of having two players paying me off with worst hands on this board. Few people are that lucky twice. I should have check-folded the turn. Even if I folded a better hand, the pot's not nearly big enough to justify calling a turn and then a river bet on slim hope that noone has either the 9 or the K. Point taken.

This also puts me in a weird situation re: river play. If I checked the turn and it was checked around, then betting the river for value would prob be a good idea. But as I bet the turn and still couldn't lose either of the callers, I don't think I can bet the river for what could they possibly hold but a king or a 9?

Thanks for all your answers so far, everyone.

--Polly

[Buzz]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think I can bet the river for what could they possibly hold but a king or a 9?

[/ QUOTE ]

Polly - Exactly! These two particular opponents don't - but they should.

You'll beat opponents this bad over the long haul. No reason to get greedy and take unnecessary risks.

Buzz