Tournament Hand of the Week: September 24th

[ACE2M]

i raise more pre flop 1k/1.2k, attempting to look like i'm buying it with a strong but not top quality hand that may fold to a shove, this is a crossover from cash games. Works on line for me. Anyone flat calling is likely an idiot in my opinion anyway unless they have AA maybe it's worth trapping. I always raise more from the blinds with my big hands also hopeing to negate my positional disadvantage and give myself easier decisions later on (and thining the field of course).

I check the flop sometimes and bet it at others, but 2 checks from me is likely to solicit a bet from my oppo on the turn and i'll be happy to c/r and take it there or get it all in. I am not in anyway concerned about him hitting a kicker with his ace, if that happens then so be it, it's going to happen whatever and i'm going bust.

[iorek]

I need to know if you've got your latte or it's just ordered. I'm not superstitious but I hate leaving my seat between ordering and tipping and I really like lattes.

That said I like the preflop raise of 800 and once the flop comes my only concern is how to get all the chips into the middle. Should this hand cost me all my chips then so be it.

I would check call all on the flop except if he put in a very small bet which I'd minimum raise. If he has an ace he'll call anyway if he hasn't he can bluff at it from here.

As to body language I don't try and act, I don't trust my abilities. 

[pswnio]

I want him to think that it's just a standard but slightly scared continuation bet. I will put my chips in quite forcefully with a strong declaration of the amount I'm betting, I will look him in the eye, and then I will barely move. I am trying to represent a bluff.

[TightEnd]

Bluff tells to employ when making the bet...pick one and try not to do overdo it


Hold your breath

scratch your nose

forcefully throw your c-bet chips towards the player

lick your lips

check your watch


(well they work for me!!)


Against an unknown who does not know you, might sway him to pushing you off it your c-bet!

[celtic]

i make it $1k pre flop and bet $600 on the flop to make it look like a weak info bet, then move all in if he re-raises. if i'm beat then i'm beat. also if i do this on the flop then i dont have to worry about making a decision on the turn / river if another A comes.

[MANTIS01]

Part II

I flopped the full house and now my only consideration was finding a way to get all the chips in the middle. I did not see the sense in checking here because if my opponent had an Ace he would call/raise if I bet and if he didn't have an Ace he would check behind my check. You MAY be able to entice one small feeler bet from your opponent if you check but as soon as you call/raise that bet the strength of your hand will be revealed and your opponent will shut down.

So I am definitely betting here and I think the amount of the bet and the way you put that bet across the line is important in this sort of situation. Again, I see no point in betting out and "looking" weak when you do it. I want my opponent to disbelieve the story I am telling him and as such he may make a move on me with K-Q, a flush-draw, or any pp if he doesn't have the Ace. Most decent players are aware of the Caro strong=weak philosophy so my opponent is going to get super oodles of strong here and hopefully reject my strong act as weakness in disguise.

I decide to bet 800. But I make up the 800 with all my small denomination chips which makes the bet look bigger and more impressive than it actually is and then I jam those chips out there...splashing them in the general direction of my opponent. I hope that he cuts through my bravado and sees the amount of the bet is actually smallish despite my supposed strength and I am not pot-committed so a re-raise could result. Just to finish the job I lean back in my seat (distance from cards is a good tell for weakness) and subtlety touch my nose a bit (pacifying gesture).

My opponent thinks about what to do for a long long time before finally calling the bet. Does this flat-call give us any clues as to what he may be holding? If he has an Ace would he re-raise here with a flush draw out there and almost 3k in the pot?

So we go to the turn with 3,625 chips in the pot and a latte going cold on the side.

The Turn

The turn hits the felt and it is.....

 

So we have a board of

      

You have 3,400 chips in your stack so what do you do now? If you bet how much and why? Or do you decide to check instead?

All comments are appreciated and as usual more action and the river will arrive on Friday...

[TightEnd]

I'd now be tempted to check for several reasons

a) the story is I've c-betted the flop and now I've got called I'm slowing down

b) A flush card comes, I want him to think thats slowed me down

c) for either of those reasons, with position he may be tempted to have a stab at it. I am then dwell-calling and taking a stab on the river with an overbet, not a value bet

d) The line you take here c-bet the flop, check the turn....if he checks behind then the bet from you OOP on the river can be seen as a bluff...more likely to get paid by a marginal hand then, say KQ

[celtic]

ffs the suspense is killing me, this is worse than waiting to see if Cindy is actually coming back to Eastenders!!!

I stick the whole lot in at this point if i had played it like you did. The 5 doesnt change anything in terms of you being infront and probably doesnt change his hand (only if he had 55 which i doubt) Take the pot there and move on.

one sleep til Friday!!!!!!!!!

[celtic]

is it possible to feign worry about the flush here? can you assume that someone has called 800 preflop with 2 clubs in his hand for 20ish% of his stack?

Not a critisim just a genuine query as its nots not really a hand i could put him on.

[pswnio]

If I were him, a bet of 800 into a pot of over 2000 would look suspicious to me. It's too small and to my mind represents strength rather than weakness.

I think he's definitely raising you on the flop with any ace holding except AK.

So this leaves him, after the flop action, with
- a potential flush draw (sooted connectors he might happily have played getting better than 2/1 on his money with position pre flop)
- AA (possible, unlikely but you have to consider it)
- AK (possible, unlikely)
- absolutely sweet fa but hoping that a scare card hits that will get you off your hand (unlikely given that he knows nothing about you).

His flat call worries me much more than a raise would have done. But I'm still aiming to get the chips in.

After the turn card comes down...

If he had raised your flop bet I would put him on an ace or flush draw and I would check this, feigning uncertainty and weakness, encouraging him to take the lead.

However, because he flat called, unless he's on an absolute bluff, I don't think you gain anything from checking the turn.

1. If he has a hand which he's uncertain about (ace), he's probably going to check behind if you give him the option, and might give it up on the river if he doesn't feel committed. I don't think you get more of his chips this way. If you bet out here he will possibly call, and thereafter not be able to get away on the river.

2. If he's hit the flush, he's going to put chips in whether you bet or not.

3. If he has you beat, you're going broke regardless.

2 and 3 all the chips are going in the pot. Therefore because of 1, I'm leading. I don't want to bet so much that it makes it difficult for him to call with just an ace. You bet under half the pot on the flop, I follow this up with similar. I'm going with 1500 here. He should know that you're now pot committed but he'd be getting 7-2 on his money if he just calls and he MIGHT just feel unable to get away from his ace and raise.

[MANTIS01]

Posted on: Today at 02:56:17 amPosted by: Sunday8pm 

An incredibly boring hand. Re-raise pre to anywhere from 800-1200. Bet 1600-1800 on the flop and stack an ace. Yawn. Next.....

If you bet 1600-1800 on the flop your opponent will fold almost any and every hand and as such you make nothing from this opportunity. This hand involves delving deeper into subtle areas of play to try and maximise the situation.

So on the surface the hand may look boring...and of course...raise pre-flop with kings + bet flop = opponent folds...is a straightforward equation. However, this is the most basic of strategies. Being more creative and manipulating what looks like a standard situation to trap your opponent is a more advanced level of poker theory. I understand this may be hard to grasp at first but if you keep visiting the board you may be able to make headway.

I took my nephew to an art gallery the other day. He found it boring. But that's only because he was too young to appreciate the quality of work on display.

[celtic]

Posted on: Today at 02:56:17 amPosted by: Sunday8pm 

An incredibly boring hand. Re-raise pre to anywhere from 800-1200. Bet 1600-1800 on the flop and stack an ace. Yawn. Next.....

If you bet 1600-1800 on the flop your opponent will fold almost any and every hand and as such you make nothing from this opportunity. This hand involves delving deeper into subtle areas of play to try and maximise the situation.

So on the surface the hand may look boring...and of course...raise pre-flop with kings + bet flop = opponent folds...is a straightforward equation. However, this is the most basic of strategies. Being more creative and manipulating what looks like a standard situation to trap your opponent is a more advanced level of poker theory. I understand this may be hard to grasp at first but if you keep visiting the board you may be able to make headway.

I took my nephew to an art gallery the other day. He found it boring. But that's only because he was too young to appreciate the quality of work on display.

 

[bolt pp]

Posted on: Today at 02:56:17 amPosted by: Sunday8pm 

An incredibly boring hand. Re-raise pre to anywhere from 800-1200. Bet 1600-1800 on the flop and stack an ace. Yawn. Next.....

I took my nephew to an art gallery the other day. He found it boring. But that's only because he was too young to appreciate the quality of work on display.

then why take him in the first place?

[MANTIS01]

Posted by: bolt pp Today at 11:00:48 am

then why take him in the first place?

For the same reasons you would try any new experience...you MAY like it.

Similarly, when you visit the PHA Board you MAY learn something...but then again there are no guarantees...you may find it boring.

It appears my nephew likes Halo and burgers.

[Dubai]

The 1k Bellagios during the WSOP are the one of the worst standard tournaments you will ever see.

Sunday8pm is bang on, this hand requires no thinking whatsoever and I think you fail to understand the difference between deep thinking and incoherent spew. If you wish to write pages and pages about the most basic of poker hands then that is your choice but to single out the most accurate post on the thread for ridicule is just plain laughable.