4 replies to this topic

[Black Chips]

Several month ago I played in a freeroll online tournament. 200 plus players started and there were 33 left. I was in 6th chip position. The chip leader was at my table with twice as many chips. The chip leader was in the BB. Several players including myself limped in. I held AJo in mid position. The flop came AcKsQs. The BB bet, relatively small. The other limpers folded and I called. I put him on an A with a weak kicker or one pair with a weak kicker since he hadn't raised. The turn was a rag. He increased the bet . I called. The river was a rag but it was a spade giving him a flush. He put me all in, I had about 1/4 of the chips I started the hand with and I felt pot commited so I called. He had As 9s so my read of his hand after the flop was correct. The question is should I have gotten involved with the chip leader since there were so many hands that could beat me? Should I have raised after the flop to find out where I was? Should I have raised preflop?

[poker_bull]

Chances are, being the chip leader, holding top pair and the nut flush draw, it would be very rare for him to toss that hand to a big bet. I would have just prayed to the lords for the spade not to drop, but since you didn't do that...

[Saint Joel]

considering it was a freeroll where i've found people frequently overvalue their hands... if you had raised after the flop, i could see him putting you all in and giving you a very tough decision, where presumingly you'd fold, but i think you played it correctly based on your read of his hand, bad luck that the third spade hit tho, its hard for you to get away from it, but you had to feel you were beat before you called that last bet

[pat_s_lee]

Few things:1) I don't like to always assume the BB has a hand worse than yours. I've seen too many players get caught up in that and when BB slow plays a KK, they start wondering. Personally, if I'm going to get involved with a hand like AQ, AJ, I like to raise it preflop just to get some information on where players stand (esp. the blinds).2) Hands like AJ, AQ off, etc. are potential trouble hands. Doyle has a section in his book about it. If I do play them, I do play then cautiously.So maybe to answer your question, your read was correct and I would probably have bumped it pre-flop.

[JFarrell20]

Should have raised him on the flop. Definitely. Then pay attention to how he bets on the turn (if he even calls your flop bet). If he throws out a weak lead, I'd raise him again (enough to buy him out if he is chasing a flush). You've got to assume you have him on the flop since he didn't raise pre-flop (meaning it's highly unlikely that he flopped two pairs or a set. And your kicker is probably better...which it was).