Ready to call then.....

[UpTheMariners]

mid or late position raise im repopin pre, but i really dont think im that far ahead of an early position raise. what would you do with 10's or 9's in this situation?

[PocketLady]

That's why I think it's better to raise on the flop, not pre.  You are mostly likely being called preflop, and then the pot is already quite big on the flop, perhaps too big for this situation.  The opp has more invested and will be more reluctant to fold.  If you raise on the flop, or bet the flop, it is a lot easier for the opponent to fold.  If he wants to call then its bad play by him and its unlucky when he makes a straight, but at least your money is going in when you are infront and not behind.  You are a big stack which means you can spare a few chips to try and pick up small pots here and there, but at the end of the day you have to be protecting your stack and not letting yourself get outdrawn unnecessarily

1010 or 99 I flat call pre and bet out on flop, pass to a raise.

[UpTheMariners]

ok lets be devils advocate and say we check raise all in on the flop. i feel these hands call us.... qq+ aq & 77 all of which are beating me. the only hand he may get fruity with is 10's if he thinks im at it.

as for flat calling pre then betting the flop surely any decent player is going to raise this bet?

[PocketLady]

By no means am I suggesting check-raising all in on the flop.  Like you say you are only getting called by a better hand.  I'm just saying raise.  Raise a decent amount that is enough to get him to pass but not so much that you are totally committed if he wants to get clever and ask you the question.

As for 99 or 1010, I suppose a check-raise here is ok too, although there are more hands beating you.  The only situation where I check-call this down is if I am up against a player who appears to be without a fold button.

[Royal Flush]

as for flat calling pre then betting the flop surely any decent player is going to raise this bet?

Correct

You are a big stack which means you can spare a few chips to try and pick up small pots here and there, but at the end of the day you have to be protecting your stack and not letting yourself get outdrawn unnecessarily

Surely you have to be growing your stack?

The only situation where I check-call this down is if I am up against a player who appears to be without a fold button.

That is the time i would be check jamming.

[PocketLady]

Yes of course you need to be growing your stack, but protecting it in vunerable situations with vunerable cards against a player who can take a serious chunk of it.  Which means we want to be trying to control the pot size a little so it doesn't get out of hand and we can get away from it if necessary. The flop bet by opponent looks weak, but I am not jamming because AQ or better is still plausible.  The joy of both players being fairly deepstacked means that we do not need to get all of the chips in the middle to take down this pot.  It also looks incredibly weak, and it's pretty obvious we are probably not making this move with a queen in our hand, but we probably don't get a call.  I've said what I would do, but basically the hand just needs to be played more aggressively at any point up until the turn, otherwise it's just down to the luck of the cards.  If you bet it and get outdrawn, c'est la vie, 50p please, but if you don't bet you are letting him make his hand for free.  Give him a chance to fold is what I am saying.

Is it a bluff? We bet because we think we have a stronger hand than the opponent, and we don't want to get into a situation where our hand isn't better than the opponents.  JJ needs to be protected, it can be a very vunerable hand.

That's why i re-raise pre, well not to 'protect' it but because i think slow playing is too hard OOP with JJ

Out of interest, what do you do on the flop if you get a caller from the reraise? 

[AlexMartin]

No-one has come up with a good plan for this hand yet given stack sizes and position. Someone call LL.

[Royal Flush]

Give him a chance to fold is what I am saying.

I am saying give him a chance to bluff

[PocketLady]

Give him a chance to fold is what I am saying.

I am saying give him a chance to bluff

If you have say 15k in chips then I would agree, you could do with a double up, but there's no need to risk being outdrawn in any way with 40k.  You are already in good shape and can still win the pot, albeit a smaller one.  With JJ on not a terrible flop, do you really want him to see anymore cards?  If he bluffs he can't get away from it.

[Royal Flush]

If he bluffs he can't get away from it.

Happy days!

[PocketLady]

And you quite possibly end up losing a 40k pot instead of winning a 10k pot.  There has to be a balance of getting the most out of this hand whilst minimising the risks of losing half your stack.  I think reraising pre is ok, I just prefer to raise the flop.  The opponent could quite easily have AK or similar, so why on earth would you want him to see all 5 cards?

[UpTheMariners]

im still happy with the line i took and was calling any bet under a pot size one.

[Sunday8pm]

That's why I think it's better to raise on the flop, not pre.  You are mostly likely being called preflop, and then the pot is already quite big on the flop, perhaps too big for this situation.  The opp has more invested and will be more reluctant to fold.  If you raise on the flop, or bet the flop, it is a lot easier for the opponent to fold.  If he wants to call then its bad play by him and its unlucky when he makes a straight, but at least your money is going in when you are infront and not behind.  You are a big stack which means you can spare a few chips to try and pick up small pots here and there, but at the end of the day you have to be protecting your stack and not letting yourself get outdrawn unnecessarily

1010 or 99 I flat call pre and bet out on flop, pass to a raise.

This is most certainly wrong. Id like to see the number of re raises called pre in a multi, but im damn sure it isn't 'most likely'

Re raise pre and commit yourself. You still have half your stack left if you are wrong...

[PocketLady]

My line of thinking is that it will be easiest to win the pot on the flop

Re raise pre and commit yourself. You still have half your stack left if you are wrong...

Surely this statement is a contradiction in itself

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Blocker bet the river! 6k, is hard for him to raise unless he has it, taking away the bluff element of overbetting the pot and leaving you in a tough spot like you are!