blonde poker forum

Ok, this was against Rich on the final table...  but I want to know if my play was correct.

Folded round to me in small blind (rich in big blind). I have about 450k, Rich on about 350k. Blinds are 15,000 30,000 (no ante's).

Rich has checked a few times, so with Jd 9s I didn't think a call was a terribly bad move.

Rich checks to see the flop:

 Jc Td 3s

I bet 60,000 and rich raises another 140,000 (200,000 total.)

This threw me off as he could indeed be doing that with anything, but there were a good few hands that were beating me which he'd be doing it with as well.

So what's the correct play.

Let it go? (Rich wasn't playing a LAG style at the time... but not showing any hands after raises).

Call? (Which I would never do leaving myself with less than the pot)

Go all in?

So for me it was either first or last. What's your view.

For me when Rich made that another 140 to go i am folding, as you still held enough to try again,  not too sure if he has a lot but I would be thinking (if I was Rich) a pot bet of 60k was a little weak. Maybe a higher bet out on the flop would have got him off the hand had he hit nothing and if he came over the top then much easier fold.

Ok well that makes me feel a bit better :) Indeed I folded... A bit of my reasoning was that I could find a better time to put all my chips in the pot rather than maybe going in with the worst hand...

Turned out apparently he had the T. Indeed a higher bet earlier would have pushed him off the T, but at the same time, 60,000 was a pot bet thus not giving him odds to call with any straight draws he may have picked up....

Raise pre flop

Erm, tricky, but im prolly all-in here. J10 raises pre, as do most if not all of the bigger jacks in position. He could have lucked out 2 pair but its unlikely he raises immediately with those hands. 0 chance of set. Yep, im deffo ai.

When you called with the J9, what sort of flop were you hoping for (other than QT8)? 

If Rich thinks you are going to c-bet any flop here, it might be better to check-raise him.  Although if he has the straight draw you're giving him the chance to hit.  It's difficult to say what I'd do there, as you'd been playing on the table with him for while an knew the game he was playing.  I think he might have raised you with a bigger Jack pre-flop - but he might have also been checking to see what the flop brought.

I hadn't shown a losing hand to Rich since... well, I hadn't.. on 2 tables (final and one before)... In fact, I only showed one hand to rich and that was when I caught him on a bluff on 2nd to last table.... (he checked to river then bet big into me)

Also got a lot of respect to my bets from him in previous hands....

Wow i agree with bolty!!

***swoon.........................THUMP***

please unquote me, i have a post to remove ::)

I must have missread the question, was he asking was his play right after the flop or preflop?

After the flop :)

But i don't mind pre-flop criticism as that effects all future decisions too of course lol!

It's not really a criticism, just an observation i think, battle of the blinds this deep i always come in raising(espescially against tag bb) removes the tricky flop descission you're facesd with in an unraised pot for 1/3 of your stack.

Sorry, i think your play preflop was the mistake, it led you to an awkward situation post.
As for the question of the way the hand played well i would dwell for 5 mins then shove, he hasn't got a set or he would've raised pre himself and he is never going to call for his life with a single pair.

Though i'm very aggressive on final tables and love to reraise :D

Don't apologise at all rofl... it was my first final table (at a major event) so the stacks being the way they are in comparison the blinds, well, i'd never really been in that position before 6 handed so lacking a lot of important experience really! Managed to play a solid game with no mistakes before that hand mind you so wasn't too disappointed.

Going back to pre flop.. to be honest I really thought he would have called a raise with most cards with the plan of taking me down on the flop. Letting him see a flop and then betting into him I thought was the best way of taking it.. Though he respected a lot of bets, if it was done pre flop into his big blind he may have just come over the top of me using his image... And I really didn't want to be put in that position....

Which is why the check-raise on the flop might have been a stronger move than the bet (if you're going to lay your hand down to a raise).

I think I would have to shove in this spot with what you've already invested in the pot- plus the fact Rich is playing LAG- if he has you beat it's a semi cooler in a blind on blind situation.

the reason you check/check-raise here is simple. NOTHING THAT BEATS YOU WOULD BET WHEN CHECKED TO.

am i right folks?

 ;carlocitrone;

look, raise pre to 90,000

jam the flop

if he calls with kj smash him round the head with your chair

You're wrong. At the final table, when you know the players and know who can make moves (and have experience), people want to make as many moves as possible and when picking up a bit of the flop and sensing weakness, course they will!

Its then how the checker interprets that bet which decides. And due to my lack of pre flop raising it came a problem.

To be honest I didn't feel like raising 25% of my stack pre flop with J9 to a guy that could easily make a move. Guess that's my experience?

It could also be the prudent thing to do against a particular player.

As might the chair round the head thing Bolt suggested.
 ;hide;

Against Rich?  All in like a shot lol

No


I agree entirely.

Ive changed my opinion a bit since then, i'm not sure how +EV the chair is, it's a big move, you have to get up grab the chair, he's probably gonna see it coming and you'll miss, In this instance i think it might be a lot more effective to use a glass or something.

Throw the dealer button at his eye?

I think were missing the obvious here, our plays become a little too intricate, look at the facts, battle of the blinds, he's right next to us, it's  standard headbutt innit?

edit- he might be up the other end of the table, if this is the case i'd signal to my mate whos at the bar and would come up from behind him and kick him in the head

I hope we've all learned something from this thread and we can all go away just that little bit more confident in out live game :)up

Thankyou for your comments they have been very insightful.