Hand to Talk About

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

Here's a hand I played last night (Saturday) in an $80-$160 game at The Bellagio.

I was first one in and raised from an early position with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. A middle position player called and the big blind called.

The flop came A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. The big blind checked. I bet. The middle position player folded. And the big blind called.

The turn was the A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. The big blind bet and I called.

The river was the 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. The big blind bet and I called.

All comments welcome.

Best wishes,
Mason

[shaundeeb]

Any read on the player?

I think you have to raise the river. Very few hands ahead of you, wouldn't be surprised to see a AQs or A10s.

[cold_cash]

I want to raise the river, but I feel like by saying that I'm stepping into a trap.

[shaundeeb]

That was my intial reaction but a set may c/r the flop or turn unless they are 100% sure Mason has AK and they think he will raise so they can 3bet. Once the pot got headsup villian had better options to take I think if he just filled up his set. A c/r also charges the most for mason to draw to a higher boat. Could be 3 to 4 outs if villian has JJ or AJ or could be as many as 10 outs.

[freehat]

raise the river

[afk]

[ QUOTE ]
I want to raise the river, but I feel like by saying that I'm stepping into a trap.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was my first instinct too. Guess we'll see how this pans out.

[Victor]

nice hand tommy......

[JasonP530]

You missed a river raise. There are no more streets for him to bluff if he is. The player could be value betting a big pocket pair he smooth called with, a J, or have an ace and not put you on one since that would only leave one. Or, he could be bluffing, and I dont think you want to show your ability to just call his bluffs. You want him to bluff more if he is, and value bet(raise) if he has something he will call with. It cant be that big a mistake to raise, because sometimes you will get 3 bet and still be ahead.....

[slavic]

Mason -

This looks exactly like your stop and go BB defense plan.

So what do we know about the player? I'm having a hard time not seeing a river raise, if he's a reasonable but average player I see Ace/trash, JK, JT, QJ suited or not, almost any pair. His holding seems timid so I don't want to stop him since you're now likely way ahead, but there has to be value in a river raise even though it won't be paid off most of the time.

Thx,
slavic

[The Dude]

Well, you apparantly won, which means raising was the right play.