New to Forum - Folded pocket Q's

[arvin]

I'm new to the forum and don't know all the abbreviations, etc. so I'll try to explain the situation as best I can. And if there are any hints on how to post, they would be welcome.

5-10 Limit I have pocket Q's in early position. I raise, next player (maniac style) reraises and the next player (solid player) caps it. Flop comes out A-5-5 rainbow. I check and the next player bets and the third reraises. I figure at least someone has A-K or A-Q or a 5? so I fold. the turn and river are blanks. Bets and raises on the Turn and River cards. The second player had just deuces and the third had pocket jacks which held up. I was sick to my stomach. I figure the pocket deuces was just trying to bluff but for all the raising going on, I chickened out. What would you do in this situation? Thanks for your input.

[pudley4]

Preflop:

It's pretty likely the maniac has a much worse hand than you. The solid player knows the maniac doesn't necessarily have much, so his cap can be with hands that are still worse than yours.

Flop:

You know that if you check the flop, the maniac will bet and the solid player will raise. Neither of them has to have a 5 or an A to do this - the maniac will bet because he's a maniac. The solid player will raise because he's sure he's got a better hand than the maniac.

Your problem is that this line of play doesn't help you determine if the solid player has an A or not. You have two choices on how to play it:

1 - Bet the flop, have the maniac raise, and see what the solid player does. If he 3-bets, you fold.
2 - Checkraise the flop and bet the turn. This is probably more reliable, but could cost you 5 times as much as betting out.

I prefer betting the flop.

[BigEndian]

Pretty clear you didn't pick up on the other player trying to isolate the maniac, that led to the bad fold. If you were new to the table, then this shouldn't get you too bent out of shape. But since you at least knew something about the players, this is an important read to make.

- Jim