Free Showdown

[QTip]

Aside from sucking at life, I suck applying the free showdown play. However, I think I got it right here.

EP limper is semi-loose and semi-aggressive. Been seen betting middle pair and so forth.

BB is weak/tight.

EP limps, I'm +2 and over limp with A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

folded to BB who checks.

Flop: A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

EP bets, I call, BB folds

Turn is 5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

EP bets, I raise

[Harv72b]

Making this play against this opponent, you want two things to be true:

1) He will call your raise with a worse hand.
2) He will not 3-bet your raise with a worse hand.

It's also nice if a third condition applies:

3) He will not stop & go the river with a better hand.

If this is me, I would've raised the flop to discourage BB from coming along with a gutshot or something, bet the turn if EP just called my flop raise, and then value bet the river, expecting him to pay off with KQ or JT or whatever he has.

[sean c]

[ QUOTE ]
I suck applying the free showdown play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. Do you assume your behind 100% of the time he 3-bets and do not have a good enough draw to continue? If ahead do you really want him to fold or quit betting? I have a hard time ever thinking the free showdown play is something i would want to do with a pair of aces so i will be interested to read the other responses to this thread.

[hobbsmann]

meh, if I just want two more bets going in I prefer to just call down. OTOH, if I raise this turn it is with the intention of betting the river as well.

[QTip]

Harv:

Calling this flop is standard imo. BB calls with a gutshot, good. He calls with a Q, whatever, fine.

More interested the turn...

[QTip]

Bah.

I don't like the turn raise.

He's not folding much of anything, and most things I don't even want to fold. If that's the case, I need to bet the river again, and 3 big bets seems like spewage with this marginal hand.

Call down, bet if checked to.

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
He's not folding much of anything, and most things I don't even want to fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like a good reason to raise to me.

-McGee

[Harv72b]

Yes, he's not getting correct pot odds to call 1 bet with a gutshot. So yes, you'll make money when the BB overcalls you. But you'll make more money when he calls 2 with a gutshot or 5-outer, you'll make more money when he lays down a hand like QJ or JT (which he would've been correct to overcall with), and you'll win the pot more often when he folds any live draw regardless. Assuming of course that you're good to begin with.

I know your question revolves more around the turn raise, but I really don't like the flop call here.

The turn raise after calling the flop? Meh...he seems aggressive enough to fire again on the river, or at least check/call with a worse hand if you don't raise, but he also seems bad enough to call your raise with a worse hand and then check/call the river UI. The question is whether or not you're comfortable folding to a turn 3-bet, and if not (I wouldn't be given your description of this player), then I think a call/call line is better (betting if he checks to you on the river).

[QTip]

Harv:

JT still is a very, very close flop call. May very well still be -EV since he's OOP and certainly won't get much (if any) action if the straigth falls.

[The Goober]

Q,

I too, suck at applying the free showdown raise, although I often bet the turn hoping to take a free showdown.

In either case, these are the things that I look for:
-a passive enough opponent to let me get away with it
-some showdown value (obvious)
-some fold equity (not strictly necessary, but it's nice)
-a decent chance of improving on the river (so I have the choice of going 2/3 bets when I improve and 1/2 bets when I don't)

Usually this means something like middle pair with some sort of draw.

In this hand, you have very little fold equity (he'll almost never lay down a better hand), if you are behind you only have 3 dubious outs to improve, and you you could easily get him to lay down a worse hand that he would have fired with again on the river.