Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Hero ($16.65)
MP2 ($7.30)
MP3 ($16.30)
CO ($5.05)
Button ($11.55)
SB ($19.65)
BB ($12)
UTG ($20.30)
UTG+1 ($2.65)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with [Ad], [Ah]. SB posts a blind of $0.05.
UTG calls $0.10, 1 fold, UTG folds.

Flop: ($3.20) [8s], [As], [2d] (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, MP3 calls $2, SB folds.

Turn: ($7.20) [Td] (2 players)
Hero bets $4, MP3 calls $4.

River: ($15.20) [Js] (2 players)

This is $10 Nl at party, I was wondering what the best way to go about playing this hand would be. Should I just bet out like $4 and hope to get a call from a lesser hand? Or go all in? or check? Thanks in advance to anyone who helps out.

Move in on the turn.

Is move on the turn really the best line? He still has 13.30 left and the pot is only 7.20. Wouldn't that be forcing out a lot of the hands I want to call? If he has the flush draw he still only has 7 outs and if he has the flush draw and the gutshot its 10 outs. What if i bet the pot and just move in on the river no matter what?
I trying to examine some of my plays becuase its been a real bad day. The guy on this hand had KdQs and its just been one of those days. Decided I needed a break so I figured I would review some plays. Thanks for the help.

I would check. Judging by his betting, it looks like he was going for a Flush draw and jut hit it. You'll be able to tell your next move by his actions.

This is microlimits, so I say move in on the turn. I like to say "the pot is big enough" and too many people (like myself) get their (set of) Aces drawn out on the river. There is nothing wrong (at microlimits) with pushing with the current nuts.

Think about what hands your opponent could have and call with. A flush draw is a very possible move. But, frankly, many times I have seen KQ for the gutshot here too even after calling larger bets!

Really, you need to work on your reads and put your opponent on a range of hands. Some people are eager to give their chips away - make them pay for it and at these limits don't worry so much about eeking out that big pot. Just wait for your next set of Aces.

What if he has a set or two pair? I'm folding on the river based on my read and my style of play for that table over anything else. How much of a bet will affect your decision?

Obviously, I'm not happy to be out of position and seeing a spade on the river. Based on whatever percentages I come up with I'm going to make a bet and possible fold to an all-in - even though it's a piddling more.

Without a category to put your opponent on my advice will be very different. Without the reads, there's no action going on -- at microlimits you go all in with the nuts and get called way too often!

Speaking of which... isn't this the limit where you push big pre-flop and get like 2 callers with AJ and 55?

Yep, this is also the limit where you have people drawing to one overcard making pot-sized calls.

Pushing all in is the right move. Don't get cute. The all in move will signal "weakness" to some or "bully" to others and people at this limit often have little respect for their money. They will often conclude "you can't bully me around you punk" or "you can't bluff me out of this pot" and call =)

Now, if this table was tight (which is very rare at those level) then you should bet $7-8 instead of all in.

if this was 5 / 10 instead

pot is 700 going into the turn.

I would overbet the pot on the turn
if this is consistent with past aggression
betting 900-1100

Chief

We have $13.65 on the turn. The pot is 7.20.

What do YOU think when you see someone out of position betting $7-8 out of $13.65 at $7.20?

And our hand is so good we HAVE to be all in at some point, and we can't fold.

Might as well be all in on the turn.

i missed out on the stack sizes.

move in on the turn definitely is the best line
you are charging the hands that would call a substantial bet on the turn exactly the price they should pay to see a river

Thanks for the help. All-in definately sounds like its the best line. There is a good chance that they have the flush draw and either a gutshot or pair. With those outs they will almost always call the all-in at this low limit. Also I don't have to worry about how to play if a trouble card comes on the river.

Would a bet of $3.20 on the flop be a lot better so that if I am called the pot is around $10 and my stack is $12 and much closer to pot sized for the turn bet?

If I was in position here, how large a bet could I call? Do I check behind if checked too?

Meh, it's purely academic, and you're not going to be able to think like this in real time AND hit the cards you need to push the turn. Hit a spade instead, and you're going to kick yourself for not betting or overbetting the flop.

What matters is you bet the flop, and it's close to pot on the flop. Underbetting slightly isn't a HUGE deal, given the strength of our hand and the equity we have.

How about on this flop? I no longer have the nuts, there are a lot of hands with straight draws, if i push i could get action from two pair or 1010. A push is definately in order again here right? (Pushing is effectively making a pot sized raise)

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

UTG ($10)
MP ($9.40)
CO ($4.40)
Hero ($9.95)
SB ($3.35)
BB ($7.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with [Jh], [Jc]. UTG posts a blind of $0.10. SB posts a blind of $0.05.
UTG (poster) raises to $0.7, BB calls $0.70.

Flop: ($2.45) [Kc], [Js], [Td] (3 players)
BB bets $2, UTG folds, Hero...

this is a pretty obvious all in but for some reason i keep worrying about someone having the hand that beats me and just calling. really have to break the habit

second hand you posted...all-in after his $2 bet...the only hand that has you beat is KK or AQ and one of those you have alot of re-draws with 2 cards to come.

Given stack sizes, like Salt and Pepa said, "Push it real good!".

At these limits, hopefully it says, "I'm a little scared." And the tight player will call.

Like I said, all in in 99% of the tables at this limit.

TJ, are you saying that anyone who'd call a $7 would call an all-in? Does the tightness of the table matter (my specific scenario was a table of TAGS)? Do we really want him to fold.

I know I'm the biggest preacher of "Pay attention to the pot size when you bet" on this site... and I pretend to get all offended when something is minisculely underbet when a pot bet or slight overbet is in order...

But it's really the kind of thing where...

a) pot size is so close (proportionally) to stack size...
b) we need to bet here...
c) betting too little is bad for value/outdraw reasons...

therefore...

All in!

Honestly, yeah, a TAG might fold here. That's not a terrible thing though, because IF he's drawing, and IF it hits and we don't know it, and IF we bet and he moves in, we can't fold.

So it's easier to be all in on the turn, and not care whether he calls or folds.

Thanks for the help, it is really appreciated. I am going to put a few more hands in here where im not really sure how to play them.

I have a few questions on this one:
1) Against multiple limpers I will often just call out of the small blind with AK or AQ a lot so I can hit something rather than miss and have to play out of position. Is this good or should i raise this most of the time?

2) Once i flop trips with the ace kicker do i check the flop? Would i check it if I had raised this preflop?

3) Should I raise the late position better on the flop or would it be better to wait until the turn to check raise him in case he was just trying to steal? Does this change depending how many other people are in this pot (especially considering the flush draw?)?

4)After I am reraised all in I am still willing to put my money in right?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

UTG+1 ($4.95)
UTG+2 ($12.75)
MP1 ($37.90)
MP2 ($9.85)
MP3 ($10)
CO ($9.90)
Button ($4.20)
Hero ($13.30)
BB ($8.20)
UTG ($8.05)

Preflop: Hero is SB with [Kh], [Ac]. MP3 posts a blind of $0.10. Hero posts a blind of $0.05.
1 fold, Hero (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.40) [Ks], [2s], [Kd] (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP3 bets $0.4, Hero calls $0.40, BB folds, UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($1.20) [5d] (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $0.4

Next time make a new thread.

1.) I do this a lot too. There are reasons for re-raising AK and AQ, and if you want to it's not bad, but I personally don't like doing it, because I don't like announcing my hand strength OOP just yet. I like being sneaky if it comes down to kicker wars.

2.) You gotta understand that there are REASONS for everything, and getting it RIGHT is based on situational things. Sometimes check, sometimes bet, but know the advantages and disadvantages for each. It's not always right to always bet, and it's not always right to always check.

SINCE we called preflop, and SINCE the only way we're getting paid is catching someone on an overplayed K with a kicker problem, I'm check/calling the flop and waiting for the turn to raise.

3.) Stick to the plan. Check/call one bet. A check/raise DECLARES that you have a king, and we don't want him to think about us having a king juuuuuust yet. The 2 kicker means it's highly unlikely that he's already full.

4.) It's exactly what we were hoping for. Nice hand. Happily pay 22, and K5, lol.

I think you're way good here, and I think you played this hand exactly the way I would have. I think leading the turn and hoping to get raised so we could push might be better than check/raising, by the way... but that's academic. The hand went according to plan, so nh.

He had K5 on that hand and I spiked an ace on the river to win the pot.
If i had K6 there should i play it more aggressively since i may be the one with kicker trouble and want to find out where I am at? If I am raised on the turn with the bad kicker can I lay it down assuming they would have to have me beat to bet or will someone play a pocket pair or bluff like that hoping to get me to lay down whatever I have?

If I had K6 in the blind and the same flop happens, I'm playing the hand much more aggressively than I would if I had AK in the blinds, yes.

That doesn't necessarily mean "push your uncertain situations out of position harder," though. It's the kind of thing where examples work better than blanket statements.



Honestly I have a tough time laying down flopped trips in a general sort of way.

As the card rank that pairs the board gets higher (KK2 vs 22K), the more likely I am to fold a bad kicker to heavy action.

Also, the bigger the field on the flop AND the higher the paired card value, the more likely it is someone else has it (and has you kicked, because he's playing a King from a non-blind position).

I know it sounds like I said a lot and nothing at the same time there... I hope that helps somehow.

It definately helps a lot. One of the reasons I was wondering is because I would almost never drop the trips and I feel I am making too many calls when I am beat. I was wondering the K6 example would be a time where I could. It especially helps when you point out things that are obvious but that I still often forget to think of, like this statement:



If i sat there and thought about the hand I would realize this but its just something that I don't really think of during the hand that I need to. Thanks for all the help.

(:

Oh I'm a big pot size awareness guy as well, but a slightly over pot-sized bet on the turn is definitely okay to make the drawing player make a bad decision 2 to 1 is not enough to draw here even with 2 overcards.

Yeah I gave the numbers some thought over dinner tonight and in the end, the all in is just way simpler of a play and probably profitable enough at these levels. As Mr. Harrington says, "Keep it simple stupid."

With lots of people in the pot, you often will fold a hand like K6 in the small blind and play it cautiously in the BB (if limped around). That'll help you avoid this trip situation with bad kicker as well as the more common situation of hitting top pair with crap kicker. Calling a raise out of position with K5 like that guy did takes a bit of crazy =)

I can't fold trips either and I hate losing trips to kicker wars.

Many of us do...

There's no way he's able to lay this hand down if he played it like this, right?

You set a trap, sprung it, and ended up being unlucky (shrug). You still had some outs. Fuck it. Listen to TJ. 22, K5, K2: unlikely. KQ, KJ, KT are MORE likely. I think you show a profit playing like this.

"Mucking trips" is not a skill most players need. I'm a decent limit player, and I show a big profit, and I don't think I've ever mucked trips.

I am a break even NL player. I lose money all the time, but "getting the money in with dominated trips" is NOT one of my leaks.

Cheers,

Ice