Strong hand in 4way unraised pot

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Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, MP2 calls, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, CO calls, Button calls, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero checks.

Flop: (4.33 SB) 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players)</font>
Hero checks, MP2 checks, CO checks, Button checks.

Turn: (2.16 BB) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, MP2 calls, CO folds, Button folds.

River: (4.16 BB) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, MP2 calls.

Final Pot: 6.16 BB


My thoughts:

I figured the flop was a good spot for a checkraise, thinking any bet would be most likely to come from late position, and then I could force out the rest. If it checks around I don't especially mind, because then I can bet the turn and flush draw/straight draw/1pair hands would be wrong to call but likely would. Thoughts?

Another question on this hand is should I be check-raising this river? I was pretty sure MP2 had a king, but wasn't sure if he'd bet it. The pot is small though, so that makes me think check-raising would have more value.

[Catt]

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My thoughts:

I figured the flop was a good spot for a checkraise, thinking any bet would be most likely to come from late position, and then I could force out the rest. If it checks around I don't especially mind, because then I can bet the turn and flush draw/straight draw/1pair hands would be wrong to call but likely would. Thoughts?

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I don't like this thought process at all. You have no indication where a bet may come from so all it could possibly be is someone betting their position as a semi-bluff. I also don't think you should be trying to force anyone out on the flop -- you have avery strong hand here, and any flush draw or OESD is calling -- heck overcards are probably drawing. If you're lucky, a late position player will raise and let you three-bet. Getting this checked through is a disaster. Bet the flop.

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Another question on this hand is should I be check-raising this river? I was pretty sure MP2 had a king, but wasn't sure if he'd bet it. The pot is small though, so that makes me think check-raising would have more value.

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What makes you think he would bet? What makes you think he would call a C/R? giving a free showdown would be a the second disaster of the hand. Bet the river.

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Given all the preflop limps, and the fact that I have 2 of the good cards for this flop, it didn't seem likely to me that the flop hit anyone else very hard, and that a late position player would be likely to bluff/semibluff. Seems like a stretch now.

But I think the flop check-around sets everyone up to make a lot of mistakes on the big bet streets given the small pot, so I like that.

In regards to the river, when I said "checkraising would have more value" I meant in comparison to a in a bigger pot, not compared to betting out. The fact that he only called the turn and river makes me think he wasn't sure about his hand, and agree with you that betting beats checkraising, but was curious if anyone disagreed.

[Catt]

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Given all the preflop limps, and the fact that I have 2 of the good cards for this flop, it didn't seem likely to me that the flop hit anyone else very hard, and that a late position player would be likely to bluff/semibluff. Seems like a stretch now.

But I think the flop check-around sets everyone up to make a lot of mistakes on the big bet streets given the small pot, so I like that.

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You give up a lot of value by not asking them to call a bet on this flop, though, and there are a pretty wide range of hands that would call on the flop. If the player to your immediate left had raised pre-flop (maening there is a reasonable chance that he bets the flop, then I can see checking with the intention of raising). As to the big bet streets, you have no idea what will fall on the turn, and if a blank falls, you're now asking them to call a bet on the turn (big bet) after having been shy about it on the flop (small bet).

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In regards to the river, when I said "checkraising would have more value" I meant in comparison to a in a bigger pot, not compared to betting out. The fact that he only called the turn and river makes me think he wasn't sure about his hand, and agree with you that betting beats checkraising, but was curious if anyone disagreed.

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Remember that you have no idea whether he will call the river when you have to make your choice. Unless you have a very high degree of certainty that he will bet when checked to, you should just bet this river. You also need a pretty good sense that he will call a C/R on the river to make it more attractive than betting (if you think he'll bet when checked to but fold to a C/R, then C/R gets you nothing unless he would've folded to a bet in the first place).

In sum, unless you have compelling circumstances (reads, prior betting actions, etc.) to justify trying to get fancy, you'll be much better off just betting your strong hands for value when given the opportunity.