Should I have backed down?

WSOP Bound · #1 04-05-2005, 11:40 PM

This one had me confused. The opponent seemed to be a reasonable, maybe slightly too aggressive, player, hadn't really noticed anything too out of line to this point.

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (6 handed) converter

Hero (t1710)
Button (t1705)
SB (t4195)
BB (t1800)
UTG (t3060)
MP (t2530)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t105, 2 folds, BB calls t75.

Flop: (t225) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB bets t225, Hero raises to t900, BB raises to t1125, Hero ????

Here was my thinking:
AA, KK, QQ and JJ seem like unlikely holdings. AA is almost completely out of question, and of little concern since it likely ends in a chop anyways. None of the big hands make sense given the preflop action. Actually, I hope he happens to have KK or QQ here. I just don't think it makes any sense. JJ seems like the most likely of these, since some players don't like re-raising preflop with them, but a set of Jacks would usually come out firing with two flush cards down.

77 or 22 seems possible. Middle pair would possibly explain the preflop call followed by the flop action.

JTs, QJs, KJs, AJs are possibilities as well. They'd be worth calling preflop, and given reason for him to bet out on the flop. I don't think that any of these could explain the reraise though.

Two diamonds 10+ seem to fit the betting pattern decently. Worth calling, maybe trying to pump the draw on the flop before that scary third diamond comes. Again I can't reconcile this hand with the re-raise though.

Something in the back of my head is screaming SET, but the odd betting makes me scratch my head. Come out with 225, get re-raised 675 and come back raising another 225. I can't see putting this down with 2050 in the pot. So I start thinking call. The I think that the small reraise could indicate that he has something like TPTK and feels that I was trying to push him off the pot (I had gotten a decent run and had been throwing around some chips in recent hands). When I run down that possiblity and realize that after calling the 225 I have little reason to not see this down at any cost I'm thinking it's time to push.

Any thoughts would be appreciatted. I was rather lost on the proper way to play this hand.

Apathy · #2 04-05-2005, 11:52 PM

Since there are draws on board and you opponent is aggresive (i.e. would push draws) I see no way to fold here you have to pay off a set or two pair.

WSOP Bound · #3 04-06-2005, 12:13 AM

Thank you for taking your time to respond. This seems somewhat in line with my thought process. Just knowing that this opponent COULD be enough for this player to go aggressive on me seems like enough to eliminate the possibility of folding. I didn't know if this was a valid thought process or not, but it did feel right and your response helps confirm it. The real question that I guess was somewhere in my mind is specifically how should I react. My initial reaction is to launch immediatly into call down mode and see what happens. However, I will be left with 700 or so chips and the pot is over 2000. If he puts me all in on the turn it seems difficult to get out, therefore it feels likely that I am putting all my chips in this pot one way or another. Does this mean that I should push now? Seems like that way I at least have a *chance* that he was refusing to be pushed around and decides to fold when I come back over the top. I haven't been playing all that long and am still somewhat lost, so I expect there to be some flaws in my thinking. Hopefully someone can help, because my biggest SNG problem seems to be determing when to push.

lastchance · #4 04-06-2005, 12:49 AM

Autopush for me. It's Aces, people show crap, Top Pair will call you all day long, flush draws are pot-commited.

And there's the point where you only t700 left into a pot of t2250, which will become t3000 unless he makes a fold that you love.

So yeah, autopush. I probably push over the initial raise.

WSOP Bound · #5 04-06-2005, 05:36 PM

You know it's funny how things just dawn on you. I was setting here typing up a response asking why you would push against the initial flop raise and defend my t675 raise.

As I was working out the hand it occured to me that a pot size raise in this situation gave my opponent near perfect pot odds (2:1 pot odds with a 2.1:1 draw) and more than enough implied odds to making calling worthwhile. If he was indeed on a flop draw I setup a situation where even a fish has the oppurtunity to play this draw correctly.

Of course all of that only matters if he is indeed drawing. A set or two pair and I'm destined just to lose all of my chips here. TPTK and I have him crushed. Probably a decent thought to more or less average those two possibilities out and focus my thoughts on the flush draw. Thanks for giving me the oppurtunity to think it through. Hopefully what I came up with is correct. Any thoughts?