$100-$200 Hand

[Jim Brier]

This is a 6-handed $100-$200 game at the Bellagio. David Sklansky was sitting in the game although he was not involved in this hand. I am in the big blind with the Kh-Th. The player under-the-gun opens with a raise to $200. It is folded to me. I call for another $100 with $350 in the pot. Since this is a shorthanded game, the raiser could have a wide range of holdings, not necessarily a premium hand. There is $450 in the pot and two players.

The flop is: Kd-9s-7s, giving me top pair. I check. My opponent bets $100. I now raise to $200. My opponent makes it $300. It looks like I am beat but my opponent may be 3-betting for a free card. Furthermore, I am getting almost 10-to-1 pot odds and if I pair my kicker, I can extract probably another $600 from my opponent. My plan is to check-fold the turn if a blank arrives. I call. There is $1050 in the pot.

The turn is the 2h. I check. My opponent checks.

The river is the 3s. What should I do?

[MichaelD]

Jim,

While I must confess I have never played 100-200, I have played my share of 40-80 and 60-120.

In regards to the hand, here are my thoughts.

Pre-Flop: I believe this call is a must as in a short handed game at limits 30-60 and higher and especially at 60-120, pre-flop raisers will have a wide variety of hands as you pointed out.

Flop: Personally I would have preferred to see you lead out on the flop and call the anticipated raise. I do not feel check-raising is a bad play here but it limits your ability to lead into the turn unless you hit a 10 or a King.

TURN: Because of the strength your opponent showed after your check-raise on the flop, I believe checking is the correct play.

RIVER: Given the way the hand played out, I would check the river. His bet obviously indicates a hand that very likely has you beat. His bet is representing a flush. There is also an outside chance he hit a set of threes on the river and a small chance has a K he was afraid to bet the turn with. I would check and make a crying call for the sole reason of finding out his playing tendencies. I hate to pay off here and it is a sure sign of losing play in the long run, but you do have top pair and its not like paying off with A high. I believe the information you will gain about his play will be very useful in a short-handed situation. I believe the one bet to be worth the investment, especially since you do have top pair and an outside chance of having the best hand.

On a side note: I really would have liked to have seen how the hand played out if you had led the flop, called the anticipated raise, and then led the turn again after the blank hits. It is going to be tough for your opponent to play back at you with a hand you can beat and I feel you can pretty safely lay this down if he raises you again on the turn.

Personally I love short-handed games such as this and wish I could find more of them in my area - Chicago. I think the ability to read players and adjust to their tendencies is of paramount importance in short handed situations, especially at limits above 20-40. This is why I would pay off on this hand unless you already had a good read on your opponent. If I already knew how he played, I would save the bet as even though the game is six handed, he did raise utg and there is a good possibility you are beat. If I did not know how he played, I would call the river to specifically see the two cards in his hand.

I am curious to hear the results and I apologize for my rambling.

Just some thoughts...

Michael D.

[Glenn]

Check-call the river.

I don't know how you could check-fold the turn shorthanded, was it something about the player in particular? If I were UTG I could easily have something like TT, A9, A7s, etc. With these hands 3-betting the flop works out wonderfully because you can check behind on the river (getting to a showdown for 1 SB less) when you don't improve but you charge a flush or straight draw more and can get the extra bet when you do improve. There are other reasons to still call even if this is not the specific play he is making. I think folding on the turn would be bad.

Haven't played larger than $30-60, but poker is poker right? ;-)

I have read the other responses and come to the conclusion that you should bet the river. If you have played for a while (or played this opponent before), your opponent might know that you are the kind of player who will make a few lay-downs on the turn (not saying this in itself is weak).

If he has a marginal hand, such as QQ-TT, A9 etc., he probably knows that his "bluffing" potential with these hands on the turn is limited, you will call with nearly all hands that has these beat (maybe even all) anyway. So he might be making a play for a very cheap showdown with such a holding. There are several scare or helping cards that can fall on the turn on the river, making it a very real possibility that the three-bet he is putting in on the turn is the last he puts into the pot.

Back to the fact that he might know that you, like most winning players, are "bluffable" to some extent in certain situations (when for instance he is strong enough, legitimately, to three-bet the flop with, for instance, a flush draw w/a gutshot - legitimately signalling enough strength on the flop to perhaps make you laydown on the turn), I think he will often continue semi-bluffing with a flush draw.

A big reason for this is the texture of the board. It's hard to find a flush draw that doesn't have anything (the ace overcard, top pair of kings or a straight draw) else going for it.

I vote for betting the river. Not made up my mind on how to react to a raise yet though. Probably a fold at this limit. ;-)

lars

Given the way the hand played out, esp with the check by your opponent on the turn, I'd say he most likely a) either has you badly beat, or b) has a semi decent holding such as middle pair. Either way I think I'd check call this one on the river.

Short handed like this you can't fold top pair for one last bet, and you might induce a bluff (or a misplaced value bet) on the river. How'd it turn out?

Leon

[Broyle Dunson]

Im not sure 6 handed qualifies for shorthanded,and the pre flop call is questionable .With Jim Brier in the blind and David Sklansky still to act I cant imagine someone UTG raising with a hand that cant beat K-10 even if it is suited.That doesnt add that much value heads up.Unless your not telling us that this UTG player was wide open it sounds like your out of position against a player who was capable of playing you off your hand.Also I find it disturbing that you would build a big one on the flop and be so ready to lay it down on the turn for one bet,you did have top pair ,as for the river ,if he is the type of player that will shut down and not bet his overcrds or underpair but will call with them bet,if hes the type that bluffs too much and will bet an underpair or AQ but not call with it check and call.

[mikelow]

Check and make a crying call. It looks like the flush draw
came in. BTW, I would have bet the turn, as it looks like your opponent was drawing.

[Penguin]

Check and call.

As you say, there is a possibility that the flop 3 bet was for a free card, and that is given more credence by the check behind on the turn.

However, with you checking twice, there is too much chance that he will bet the river without a flush for you to fold top pair (and there is a better chance you can induce the bluff than that you can get called by a worse hand). I wouldn't bet the river, because its 50/50 for me to imagine hands that you beat that he would call with (say JJ) than it is for me to imagine hands that beat you and would even raise you (flush, trickily played AK etc.)

Bottom line: you are at the river with top pair. You want to have a showdown without paying a flush 2 bets. Checking has a lot of bluff inducing value. So check and call.

P.S. As I go through the process of writing this reply, your opponents play smells more and more like a QQ, JJ, 1010, which was testing you on the flop. So I look forward to the results!

you should bet with the intention of folding to a raise.

the crucial point is that if you check, he almost certainly will bet if he's got you beat, and you have to call. whereas, if you bet, and he raises, there's basically no chance you're winning.

so the question is: what's more likely, him calling you with a worse hand if you bet, or you picking off a bluff if you check? I think it's clearly the former, so bet!

On the other hand, there is an argument to be made for never folding to aggression on the river -- i.e., not folding to a raise, even though your chances of being ahead are less than your pot odds, for game theoretical purposes. If this is a concern to you, then check.

ben

[David Sklansky]

I saw the hand. Didn't remember that the KT was suited. And if it wasn't, the preflop call was debatable in this spot against this opponent in his early position. His fourth street check was probably wrong in spite of the fact that it made him an extra $200. Meanwhile given there is only one overcard to worry about and the fact you are out of position against a good player, I believe the best way to play is check call, check call (and bet on the river if he checks behind you on the turn) with the river play being very close between all three alternatives (check call, check fold, come out betting.)