$1/$3 Nl First Hand At The Table

[benhoug 0]

In Cincinnati for Opening Day, and some friends and I decided to do some gambling Sunday night at the Argosy in Lawrenceburg, IN. I had won a little playing in the pit (which was the first time I'd played pit games in well over a year), and decided to play a little poker. I was really just looking to kill time while my friends were done gambling so I took whatever table had open seating, which turned out to be a $1/$3 NL game w/ a $300 max buy-in. I'm mostly a LHE/LO8 player, but I used to play a good bit of NL. I bought in for $275, and told myself I was going to play straightforward and tight, and not get mixed up in any big gambling type hands. Well, that all changed very quickly, on the first hand I was dealt, in fact.I'm in LP w/ 5 6 . UTG raises to 13, UTG+1 calls, and so do a couple others. I call b/c 1.) I love this hand, 2.) I was getting a great price, and 3.) I was gonna get paid off if my hand hit. ($65ish in pot).Flop comes A 4 5 . UTG bets $18, UTG+1 calls, it folds to me, I make it $80 w/ my bottom pr/flush draw. UTG folds quickly, UTG+1 studies me for a minute or so, maybe longer, and calls. I really wanted to just take the pot down, but I wasn't too upset w/ a call. ($240ish in pot).Turn: 7 Now I have an OESD/FD/Pair. Villian checks to me. I was fairly sure he was weak, so I figured now I could get him off his hand w/ a bet. I moved in for roughly $180. He studied for even longer this time, and finally said, "OK, let's gamble. I call."Any thoughts on how I played the hand (aside from not sticking to my plan of playing tight/straightforward poker).

[iowahawk09 0]

My first thought would be to play your hand very aggressively. You have alot of outs to fall back if you get called down and playing suited connectors can be very profitable if done right .My only concerns:You don't have a read on this guy since you just sat down. He could be a solid player and have 2 pair, set, higher flush draw etc, and then you could be in trouble.However, chances are he is a typical casino donkey who cant get off his AK or AQYour betting pattern seemed a little fishy to me however. I don't think I would raise to $80 after the flop. Even though the pot is very large, it screams draw to me.If this first large reraise tipped him off, then he is definitely gonna be suspicious of your all in on the turn and possibly call you down because of the chance you might be bluffing.I would say reraise to around $40-50 after the flop. After the turn, I wouldn't just instantly push all in. Bet a large amount, but only big enough to make him think you are trying to get chips out of him. I would say around $75 would accomplish this.Now Im not claiming this is the correct way to play the hand, but this is how I would have played it.

[dms26 3]

I don't see anything wrong with it, he probably doesn't have AK or better judging by how he played it pre and post flop. You might be able to get him off AJ or worse ( AJ is one of the hands I'd most likely put him on). Even if he calls with this type of hand you have about 20 outs. He could also be on a K or Q high flush draw which would be great.The only problem I see is that you're giving a good price for him to call when you raise the flop, but if you raise any more than that you might as well shove because you're not going to have enough to push anyone off a hand on the turn.Go Reds

[dms26 3]

I would say reraise to around $40-50 after the flop. After the turn, I wouldn't just instantly push all in. Bet a large amount, but only big enough to make him think you are trying to get chips out of him. I would say around $75 would accomplish this.

It looks like there were 5 in preflop. pot= 65ishBet 18, call, we call and raise 62 more. pot = 181 and it's 62 more to call giving villain 3:1. Raising any less than 80 seems kind of pointless unless we want to try to get a free river. Betting smaller is only going to get AQ, AJ pot committed by the time the river hits IMO.

[mtdesmoines 2]

Now I have an OESD/FD/Pair.

You're stuck in this pot either way. Might as well put the chips in.

[Acid_Knight 2]

You're stuck in this pot either way. Might as well put the chips in.

Another reason to push here is that the villain likely has only one pair. If you push, he might fold it. Even if he calls, assuming he has one pair, you have 20 outs to win the pot. If you check and improve on the river, it'll be VERY HARD to get paid off since any improvement to your hand will have either 4 to a straight on the board or another spade, all of which are scary cards that will help him make a solid fold. This is an easy turn push.

[fckthis 0]

I shove turn. Only a set and 2 pair call here, and still you're not in bad shape. You make so many better hands fold here.

[NEtwowilldo 0]

I love the way you played this hand.

[benhoug 0]

Only a set and 2 pair call here

LOL. Villian called. The river was a brick Q . I said "I've got a 5" as I tabled my hand. Villian's response, "What's your kicker?" He tabled 53 off for a pair and gutterball on the flop. We chopped.