Wuss?

[Homer]

Party 3/6

I'm dealt pocket 7's in EMP. I open-raise, MP coldcalls, SB and BB call. Four to the flop.

Flop: Qd 2c 7d

BB bets, I raise, MP folds, SB coldcalls, BB calls. Three to the turn.

Turn: [Qd 2c 7d] Tc

Checked to me, I bet, SB calls, BB raises, I three-bet, SB coldcalls, BB caps, SB and I call. Three to the river.

River: [Qd 2c 7d Tc] 3c

SB checks, BB checks, I check.


Questions are...

1) Should I have raised, limped, or folded preflop? I knew that MP would coldcall which would lead to one or two others tagging along. To me this makes raising with 77 a bad play. If this is the case, is limping or folding better?

2) Should I have bet the river? I feel wussy to have not bet, and in hindsight I think betting was obviously called for. I think what happened is that BB's cap on the turn threw me off. After he checkraised I put him on QT or a set, but after he capped I thought for sure he must have a set. Then, when he checked on the river, I figured he was afraid of the flush and had me beat. In hindsight he probably would have bet the river with a set, ignoring the possible runner-runner flush (as it is unlikely that either SB or I made a flush given the action to that point).

3) If BB had bet on the river, should I have raised?

-- Homer

[anatta]

No doubt like yourself, if I am going to play a pocket pair from MP, I will raise with it. Given the situation you describe, and the fact that you are in early middle position, and the fact that you only have 77, I would call with it, and hope for a lot of limpers behind you. Fourway in a raised pot with medium pocketpairs is the worst possible outcome.

If the BB is a thinking player, he knows you put him on two pair when he check-raises the turn. Your three-bet says set, not overpair. So I agree with you, his cap looks like a set.

Now we have him checking the river...I see your problem, if he is the thinking player which we assumed he was, why is he being such a "wuss". You concluded that you should bet, and that's cool with me. Raising his hypothetical river bet after that aggression is probably too much. Its likely a 2:1 raise, as his most likely hand is QQ, and only one person fears runner-runner holding QQ so as not to three-bet you, you guessed it...a WUSS!

[Your Mom]

I see a lot of "wusses" when a runner runner flush hits. I guess it would depend on the player if I bet or not, but on Party, where there are "wusses" everywhere, I'd check as u did.

[anatta]

Are the games at Party really that good? I am going to check it out myself, but I was wondering how the games compare to Paradise.

[Your Mom]

I'm up 450 in a month playing .5/1 and a little 1/2. It's hilarious. Much softer than Paradise in my opinion

[anatta]

[RockLobster]

Hi Homer--

I'd like to take a shot at sharing my thoughts on this:

I'm dealt pocket 7's in EMP. I open-raise

I call here. Why? I'm hoping to get maximum limpers behind me, and 7's need some help from the flop.

Flop: Qd 2c 7d
BB bets, I raise, MP folds, SB coldcalls, BB calls. Three to the turn.

I play this the same way. Why? I want to drive out any flush draws, or charge them for their efforts.

Turn: [Qd 2c 7d] Tc
Checked to me, I bet, SB calls, BB raises, I three-bet, SB coldcalls, BB caps, SB and I call. Three to the river.

I play this the same way. Why? I'm lousy at reading hands (but I'm working on it), I feel that I likely have the strongest hand here. Once he caps, I get scared and wonder why I'm even in this hand.

River: [Qd 2c 7d Tc] 3c
SB checks, BB checks, I check.

I bet here. Why? I'm not afraid of the flush draw, and I think it's unlikely that I'm facing another c/r. I guess this is a value bet, I think I have the best hand. I'm so smart for getting all this money in the pot.

If BB had bet on the river, should I have raised?

I would call. Why? Because I can't believe I'm still in this hand, what was I thinking?

Comments welcome.

[RockLobster]

I'm not a good player by any means (my posts lend testament to that fact), but I've managed to win at Party. After 22 hours of .5/1, I'm ahead $59. I'm not allowing myself to go to the big $1/$2 game until I can correct a few more mistakes...

I've done pretty well at the same Paradise game, but I don't have enough hours there to arrive at a conclusion.

Another Party note... they have some pretty cool promotions. I'll be playing in a tourney this Sunday at 6:00pm ET, it's free since I've played 600 raked hands this week. This tourney is giving away $1000 in prizes. It's worth playing for the experience, and it's certainly possible to win something.

I hope this helps.

[TimTimSalabim]

I'm dying to know what the other players had.

I think you should have folded preflop, unless the game was very loose(which it appears it might be), in which case I'd call and try to get a family pot, or very tight, in which case I'd raise trying to get heads up.

Checking or betting the river is a tough one. BB has shown a propensity to checkraise, and there was so much action on the turn that you might be looking at set over set. It depends on how bad these players are. If they're really bad, go ahead and bet for value.

[Homer]

BB had QT for two-pair.
SB had K8d for a busted flush draw.

I took down the 18.5 BB pot.

-- Homer