Hand review please

[cornell2005]

im going to start posting alot of hands where i think im missing something to improve over the summer and hopefully become the player i think i can be

Reads: SB is a manic. no read on other player, but table has gotten noticably looser since SB has sat down. not sure about my plays on any street, although preflop small raise was probably dumb, just saw SB reraise on small raise 2 hands before. Thoughts on all streets?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (10 handed)

SB ($419.27)
BB ($133)
UTG ($101.20)
Hero ($100)
UTG+2 ($100.90)
MP1 ($26.05)
MP2 ($95)
MP3 ($76.08)
CO ($25.90)
Button ($89.45)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls $2, Hero raises to $5, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls $5, SB calls $4, BB calls $3, UTG calls $3.

Flop: ($25) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(5 players) </font>
SB bets $25, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero calls $25, Button calls $25.

Turn: ($100) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(3 players) </font>
SB bets $70, Hero calls $70 (All-In), Button folds.

River: ($240) 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in) </font>

Final Pot: $240

[george w of poker]

being in ep its an even bigger mistake to not raise more preflop.

i think all in on the flop is the move after sb pots it. since you just called, the turn card is horrible for you even though you picked up a draw. its a pretty tough decision since two draws just came in and you still have the button left to act which is why all in on the flop is best.

[Barry_G]

The raise as you said is too small. I would make it $8 to $10 pre-flop.

His pot size bet on the flop could be anything. A set or a semi-bluff flush draw.

The flush hits and he bets the pot again. You have the naked ace but i can't call $70 here i fold.

You never took control of the pot. Small raise then two calls. You don't have a good idea of what he has.

I would raise more pre-flop, reraise his flop bet, and check fold if i didn't improve.

[cornell2005]

here was my thinking, is this bad?

post flop, i thought there was a good chance he was on middle or top pair given a couple earlier plays. hoping the player behind me would fold, i called, pretty sure he would bet again on the turn, thinking im on a flush draw. then, i would raise it all in vs this player and i would pick up additional equity from middle and top pair hands from SB, and maybe even get him pot committed and make him call all in
(even if the player behind me called on a flush draw that wouldnt be the worst thing on the world, bc even if he hits on the turn i still have some outs)

so i guess my question here is mostly on the flop, who raises and who calls in this sitaution vs this player? are they both acceptable plays or is one a horrible option?

[Barry_G]

I definetly like raising better than calling. That way you probably get the 3rd player out and the SB is a maniac he may only have top pair any kicker. I may raise all-in here if i think he would call, but i would raise.

But i've just started so take anything i say with a grain of salt. I do remember playing a few hands with you at $100 6-max.

[george w of poker]

hoping the player behind me would fold, i called,

that doesn't make much since. if you want him to fold, which you do, you should make him fold. there is a lot of money in the pot already and you should take it and put it in your stack and be done with it.

if the guy behind you does call and hits a flush on the turn you have even less outs to hit your flush. again, i think you want to be counting the chips you just won before it gets to that.

calling is bad and raising is good especially since there is a player behind you and there is a flush draw that either one of them could have that will cause the virtual dealer to ship the pot to them instead of you.

your hand is vulnerable to lots of cards and you are unlikely to improve it. slow playing isn't an option here.

[cornell2005]

ok yea i see.

what about if there was no player behind me and i was heads up vs the sb? would it ever be worth it vs a maniac to call with the intention of raising all in on the turn when he presumably pot commits himself with his lead out bet?

that play might be getting a bit too tricky though vs this player i guess, maybe he doesnt understand pot odds enough to realize he isnt pot committed on the flop but may have been on the turn with another lead out bet.

[Richie Rich]

I'm sure this is going to sound like re-verb, but: (1) you definitely need to raise more pre-flop with AA...don't get too cute, &amp; (2) you need to protect your strong overpair, especially when the flop comes semi-coordinated with a flush draw.

If you were willing to go all-in on the turn when the third spade fell, why didn't you just push in on the flop instead? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[cornell2005]

[ QUOTE ]

If you were willing to go all-in on the turn when the third spade fell, why didn't you just push in on the flop instead? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

read one post up. im sure now it wasnt the right play in this situation with a guy behind, but is it ever the right play? is the reasoning faulty? in what situations would it be right?

[Richie Rich]

If I'm understanding you correctly...you were hoping to keep the pot relatively small on the flop in order to "pop" the turn and give your opponents even worse odds for chasing the flush to river? If you're playing with deep stacks and against tricky players, then so be it. But this is Party Poker!

Unfortunately, you were never in control during this hand. The maniac led out on each of the bets, and you only called. (Not to mention his $70 bet on the turn was directed at you.) Even heads-up against the maniac, I would have been willing to go all-in on the flop hoping to take the existing $50 pot down ($45 profit minus the rake). Maniacs are great to play with because they'll chase you down with anything...charge them (and anyone else who wants to come along for the ride) the MAX!

In this case, I think you were trying to play your bullets a little too cute and your strategy ended up biting you in the rear. Playing with considerably deeper stacks (i.e. 100-200xBB+) then I think it's okay to play this way during key moments. But with only a 50xBB buy-in, you need to: (1) raise more before the flop with high pocket pairs, &amp; (2) protect your overpair when the board looks semi-coordinated. Don't give your opponents cheap odds to chase you down. Just play your ABC game until your stack builds up a bit...then throw in a few nasty curves to mix it up.