4 replies to this topic

[Swift_Psycho]

Alrighty, despite having quite a large number of posts, I have never once yet actually posted a hand for analyzation before. The reason is because many of the threads in the strategy section often answers any questions I might encounter. Well, I finally have a question that I would like feedback on. I run into this situation fairly often, so this specific hand and it's results are irrelevant. I just want to know what you guys think about how to play this.This is a limit hold'em hand that happened a short while ago:3 folds, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB calls, BB calls.I have :spadesk: :heartsk: . This is obviously an automatic raise, no questions here.Flop comes :diamonds9: :spades4: :clubs7: SB bets, BB calls, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls.Here's where I have my question. Obviously I assume I have the best hand here. After the SB bets out and the BB calls, my raise isn't likely to knock either of them out of the hand. With that in mind, would it be better to just call here? On the turn, the betting will double, so should I wait until the turn to raise in order to get maximum value out of my overpair since I believe my hand is ahead of the others' and there is no chance of getting either of these players to fold on the flop anyway?Turn comes :clubsj: SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, SB calls, BB calls.My strength shown pre-flop and on the flop obviously has now scared the SB into check/calling.River comes :diamonds3: SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, SB fold, BB calls.I'm not very happy that the SB folded because I really wanted to check hand history to see what he had, but ah well. So basically, my only question is should I wait until the turn before raising on this "somewhat" safe board? If possible, please include an explanation instead of just giving a quick yes or no answer.

[akishore]

no, raising the flop is correct.you protect your hand under the following conditions:1. the pot is large... not true in this case. it was still a small pot, you want to build it.2. the board is threatening. not really true here, rainbow 9-7-4 board, a couple of funky open-enders at worst.3. you have vulnerable outs, e.g. when you're on a nut flush draw and want to draw to your ace overcard. not true here.so, you safely assume you have the best hand and you have strong equity, so you raise for value on the flop. the turn will rarely ever change your equity drastically.if the board had been 9-8-6 with two clubs, however, calling the flop would have been correct because the turn card can drastically change your equity (any club makes you slow down, any 5, 7, or 10 makes you slow down, etc.).this board is safe, and again, raising the flop is correct. you played the hand perfectly.aseem

[Swift_Psycho]

if the board had been 9-8-6 with two clubs, however, calling the flop would have been correct because the turn card can drastically change your equity (any club makes you slow down, any 5, 7, or 10 makes you slow down, etc.). This is quite an interesting idea to me. Being fairly unknowledgeable about limit and relatively decent at NL (at least in my eyes), this is definitely something new that you have just introduced to me. In no limit, I would be raising strong on the 9-8-6 board with two clubs. The ability to muscle others on a draw out of a pot doesn't exist in limit though. Now that I think about it, raising on this flop (the 9-8-6) would clearly be the wrong play in limit. Thanks for bringing this point up.

[akishore]

read SSHE when you get a chance. it explains all this stuff.aseem

[Swift_Psycho]

akishore said:

read SSHE when you get a chance. it explains all this stuff.aseem

Yeah, probably good advice. I always seem to be behind everyone else's (the people who know what they are doing on this forum) thinking when it comes to limit and perhaps not reading that book has something to do with it.