Another first time hand review

[Iplayragstoo]

Hello all..long time lurking here, and finally have some content to add/discuss. This is at the Trump casino in Indiana near Chicago. They run a no limit game with 200$ buy in and 5 and 5 blinds. I havent played many hands, and even showed an early KK hand after my river bet wasnt called to hopefully get some respect in future bets. The table is rather solid(8 handed), with a few solid players, and one maniac [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] who will call or raise with crap, as long as he has position. Then this hand comes up. I have about 600$ in front of me after buying in for 440$.

I am currently in middle position with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Its folded around to me, and I make it 30$ to go. The standard raise here is 20-30$ all day. The Asian maniac (now AM) calls as does one EP calling station.

Flop comes
7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]10 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
EP checks, I bet 50$, AM calls, EP calls.
Turn
A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
EP now bets 95$ and all-in,
Now here is my delema, do I just call his all in, or re-raise again, and try and get it heads up. I knew in my mind that AM was going to call no matter what if I just called. I thought about it, and then just called (bad to just call?)
Well suddenly AM gets all animated, and starts to say "Oh, I got to make a move, I got to make a move" He thinks about it for another 60 seconds, and counts his chips, and then pushes another 440$, on top of the all-in, in the pot. I think about it for about 1.5 seconds and say "CALL".
My questions are - Should I have tried to move AM off his hand thinking he was on a draw, or a big ace? I really didnt give him much respect with the way he was wildly throwing chips around, so a straight wasn't to far out of range for him. I had already decided that EP was on a big ace the way he went all in on the turn, and I really felt that my hand was good against him at that point. I will look for responses, and post the river card and results in white below.

<font color="white">Well I turned over my hand and EP was delighted to see I had top 2, EP turned over 8Jos for the flopped nut straight, and AM didnt turn his hand over yet.
River
The best looking card I could have hoped for the 10 of spades! WHOHOO! EP went nuts (as expected), and AM muttered to himself a few times, then nicely said "nice hand", and then tabled A7os for the flopped smaller 2 pair. I then raked in the largest pot I have ever won around 1500$</font>

[dennischambers]

There are a couple issues with how you played this hand. To begin with, i'm not sure I would have called EP's all-in. Granted, the fact that he called your PF raise puts him on high cards, but the way that he pushed immediately after you showed some strength with your flop bet makes me a bit suspicious. However, the fact that I was not there and that you didn't say whether or not you had a read on him makes it questionable. I don't fault you for making the call, but I don't know if I would have done it as quickly as you did.
As for the AM, the question about just calling the all-in or pushing depends on your read of the AM. I think just calling is a good play, because, as you correctly stated, he is going to make a maniac move in order to try to take you out of the hand, and you probably want his money in there with your hand, because chances are he doesn't have you beat. I liked your flat-call of the all-in as opposed to a reraise, but I'm not so sure about making the call in the first place.

[banditbdl]

Here it seems pretty clear that whether you raise EP's all-in or just call the AM is gonna get it all in with his Aces over Sevens. In a more general sense the issue of whether you should check or go all-in right away boils down to two things. 1)What kind of hands will AM make a big bet at the flop with, but might actually fold if you go all-in in front of him. Obviously, if you can get him to bet big at the pot with a hand that he might have folded if you went all-in first then that's good for you. You have to weigh this against factor 2) The chances AM might check behind with a hand that he could river you with, a flush draw, straight draw, a 7 or a 9. If this happens you'll have given him the infamous infinite odds to draw out on you which is never good.

All that said unless AM is a complete and utter idiot (which he very well could be) I think you're better off coming over the top here and hoping AM makes a bad call. The main reason is that AM would be bluffing into a dry side pot if he doesn't have much of a hand. It doesn't do him much good to knock you out with a big raise if he still has to beat EP. If AM has a brain at all then this fact will considerably lower the odds he makes a move at the pot meaning you need to reraise and make sure you're not giving AM an unnecessarily cheap chance to outdraw you.

[ben mo]

the AM is usually not going to bluff into a dry side-pot on the turn, and you don't want to give him odds to draw, so i'd raise the EP bet. you could be beat in one or more places, but the pot is too big to play defensively (and you obviously can't fold).

ben

[Iplayragstoo]

Well my read on both EP and AM was that they were not strong players. I watched EP limp, and fold on the river several times, I really, really thought he had a big ace, and was trying to get me off the hand. I mean he called a 30$ raise pre-flop with J8os. They were both an "anytwo" if I every saw one. As for AM I felt he would make a move at the pot with about any hand, he made steal attempts the intire time I was at the table, and he was to my left, so I was always playing into him [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. I knew he was gonna call the all-in for sure, but I was also hoping he tried a mini steal. I didnt want to see him push, but in my mind, I felt I had him beat period. I don't think he really understood the concept of the dry side pot, but who knows for sure. I did get lucky on the river, and I really wish I had more time at that table, as the fish were jumping in the barrel [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Iplayragstoo]

Thats what I thought after the fact, but at the same time I guess I was getting greedy. I had watched him play so much crap in the past that I just figured I had him beat. I should have raised at least the 95$ the EP player had bet out. This way it would cost him to try and draw out. Overall I think i played the hand OK [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] for my only 3rd time playing live no-limit. I must admit, I like this game much better then playing 5-10 limit. I can protect my hand here, where as its 5-7 handed preflop in that keno game. Thanks for the advise/input.

[Phishy McFish]

I would never get away from this (if you lossed...I haven't looked yet)....I'm not good enough to lay down top 2 pair...but I suspect one might have a set.