River Decision

[josie_wales]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (9 handed) converter

This is at the start of the 2nd rotation of me being at the table.

HERO ($56)
MP1 ($27)
MP2 ($49.70)
MP3 ($93.40)
CO ($200.51)
Button ($50)
SB ($118.45)
BB ($49.25)
UTG ($19)

Preflop: HERO is UTG+1 with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG calls $1, HERO calls $1, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $1, MP3 calls $1, CO calls $1, Button calls $1, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($8) 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(8 players) </font>
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, <font color="CC3333">HERO bets $10</font>, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls $10, SB folds, BB folds, UTG folds.

Turn: ($28) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players) </font>
<font color="CC3333">HERO bets $10</font>, Button calls $10.

River: ($48) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)

Looking for comments on Preflop EP Limp, Flop Bet, and course of action on River.

Thanks all,

Josie Wales

[nicky g]

I don't like the limp - not so good hand and look what you've gotten yourself into on the river out of position.

Lie the flop bet. WHy such a small turn bet? Go all-in on the turn, to avoid the situation you end up in (scare card hits, you don't know where you are). You'll get called by worse hands and draws here that won't call on the river. There's only AJ to be scared of - ok so he could ahve a set, but it looks like a draw and if that'swhat your up against, so be it; most of the time you;re ahead.

On the river, who knows. A small bet to discourage him from bluffing might work but would be of dubious logic. A big bet is crazy unless you know he's nuts. I like a check, and then a call or fold depending on the size of his bet and what you know of him. I'd probably lean towards calling as: could well be on a flush draw, and will likely bluff no matter what if remotely aggressive when you check on such a scare card. It's very player dependent I think.

[Prevaricator]

Fold KQo EP. The way the button is playing makes me thing 55. He could have KJ or even JT i guess. Those are the only hands with a J in them that he could have played, and there's not a lot you can do about it if he bets big on the river.

[josie_wales]

What is the general concensus about QKo in EP at a standard table?

JW

[Prevaricator]

I'd muck easy.

[peiper]

Fold

[Richie Rich]

KQo is an easy fold from EP, unless the table is very loose/weak/passive.

[Richie Rich]

Josie-
On the turn, I'd say that you're most likely ahead (...unless you're up against a slowplayed set). But you NEED to bet more aggressively on the turn (since you didn't do so on the flop).

Think about how many cards you DON'T want to see on the river...any club, any Ace, any Jack, and Nine -- even another Ten or Five wouldn't be a sight for sore eyes. All in all, that's roughly 26 cards you don't want to see. Protect your hand, and don't let any cheap draws beat you...

RR