Would appreciate some comments on this hand

[byronkincaid]

Late Night Poker Ace tournament. 6 player sng type event, 1st goes through to the final, 2nd goes into semi.

4 players left, I have been raising and reraising a fair bit usually with good cards but I haven't had to show many down. Some of the others have made comments about how they think I'm bullying them. I am joint leader with about 3700 chips (started with 2000). I'm UTG with 88, blinds are 75/150 so I raise to 450. Joint chip leader on the button reraises to 800, the other 2 pass so I call for 350. My opponent who's name I believe was Matey Boy has made a loose call to a raise on a KQT flop with Q5 and caught a Q on the turn to bust out his opponent with AK. I have passed to a pre flop reraise by him once a few levels before.

I have been reraised so I'm putting him even as a loose player on AJ+ TT+, I don't think he's a tricky player from what I've seen. Flop comes KJ5. I check and so does he. Turn card is I think a 4. This is where I think I made a mistake, I bet 1000 to try to take down the pot there and then. I am quickly called. River is a 5. I think for a while and check, Matey Boy bets 1000 and I pass. I'm unhappy that I made a stab at the pot but otherwise this is just a standard kind of hand for me.

However when I finish the tournament and come out to be interviewed the first thing the guy says to me is that the commentators said I should have called. As the commentators were Simon Trumper and Jessie May I would imagine that it was Aces who said this. I am getting almost 5/1 but I think I'm beat and if I call and lose I'm down to short stack with 900 chips.

I know what hand Matey had now but I'd be very interested if anyone has any thoughts on how I played the hand.

[Ironside]

me tinks you were up against AQ maybe AT or even QT

if you should of called well that depends on the chances you think of him making a stab at it

if you think he would make a stab at it 1 time in 5 with no hand then call if you think that he would neve bluff in this postion or he would do it less than 1 time in 7 then fold

[stewart]

my view on it is a little strange but ill give it anyway lol,

pre-flop you raise UTG with a pretty good hand 4 player, you get re-raised by the next guy to act who is a smilar attacking player by your desciption, basicly on the flop of KJ5 you check obviously, and he also checks, at this point i presume you put him on maybe a J maybe something simlar or 2 pictures that missed, on the harmles turn a 4 that couldnt possibly help your hand you bet he knows this couldnt of helped your hand so he call, the river is a 5 and you check now he knows a bet will prob win him the pot so he does bet but he bets enough if he does get calls he still has a few chips,

i would of thought that you maybe acted a little to quickly in this case and didnt think it threw before you acted on the flop/turn/river  something i used to do myself, if you analyzied like you have done in your post i think you would make an easy call on the end,

as for betting the turn, its easy to say afterwards but i wouldnt of done that, i would most likely of bet half the pot on the flop to see where i stand if he calls then i would check the turn, if he checks behind me i would move-in on the river.. everyone plays hands diffrently though

thats just my view hope it helps
stu

[ACE2M]

Personally i would have not made any move at all after the turn(i am fairly aggressive). I would bet at the flop fairly strongly (1/2 pot),  you may win it here or find out where you stand at least e.g. he comes over the top you can fold without too much damage done. He has basically played you on the turn as i am sure you have done to many yourself, you should not make the turn bet without also commiting yourself to a river bet if he smooth calls and the river brings an apparent blank. As soon as you check a river blank the weakness alarms go off and it's raise raise raise for me.

I would call his river bet as he is either playing a busted draw or a strong hand and if i couldn't tell any other way i consider it a 50/50 call at odds of 5/1.

i think he is holding AJ/A10/Q10/AQ or KK/JJ (i think i have covered all bases!!). Personally i plump for AJ as his speedy call is designed to unsettle an unconfident bet and hopefully get a check on the river.

I am probably way off but thats my two penneth

[tikay]

An awful flop for 88, given the pre-flop action. Just one of those situations where you sometimes have to let it go & wait for a better opportunity.

Should you bet the River once you've bet the turn? Not necessarily. There is such a thing as cutting your losses.

[tikay]

But maybe the "lets we where I am" bet on the turn was the wrong amount to really answer your question. He HAD to call that, so you are no wiser. Unlike us, after the event.....

[byronkincaid]

Thanks for all the perceptive replies. He had AQ and said he put me on A rag so he thought he had me beat. It's interesting (to me anyway:) ) that in the last few months my main priority has been adding more and more tables but in doing that I think I have stopped learning about the actual game itself. I hardly ever think about my internet hands but on the rare occasions that I play live I always seem to have some hands to mull over on the long journey home. Perhaps it's time to up the buy ins and drop a few tables or something.

[redsimon]

"Commentators said you should calll?"

Presumably because they could see the cards?

Once he called the 1000 on the turn I would be done with this hand unless an 8 rivered.

[snoopy1239]

I would have tried to have checked it out.

With a board like that, there are so many ways he can heave you beat. , 10s, , AJ, QJ, etc. Not to mention that he may be trapping with KK, AK, AA, KJ, JJ, etc.

As for the commentators, well, it's always easier when you can see the cards.

[DTD-ACES]

Hi All

I have written a Latest News on my site re the show with dates it will air .

In this heat Justin was my choice to win , however in my opinion he misplayed an earlier hand KQs and i think that had unsettled him when this hand came up . As far as knowing the hands making our decision easier , lets be honest, after ten years of playing at the highest level all over the world it should and does only take me one level to work out the styles of players regardless of being in a commentary box and i am sure Justin would have called if not for the earlier hand . One of the reasons i was chosen was i had the best record on TV for this format , played 11 times , top 2 seven times inlcuding first and second in series 2 and 4 of the original Late Night Poker and they therefore considered me qualified to give an insight into how these should be played .

He had already seen the same player bet out with second pair then call a reraise and get lucky and hit a Q on the turn , therefore he should have known that if he hit the flop he would have bet but this time he checked , when a harmless looking 4 hit the turn Justin did nothing wrong in betting out and was quickly called , if he had been raised he would know he was in big trouble but a call indicated a drawing hand , therefore when the board paired  the 5 it can't have helped his opponents hand , when Justin checked i was sure it was to induce and call a bluff if made , if as his opponent says he thought Justin had a smaller A , why bother betting , just show the hand down , instead he bet 1000 into a 3600 pot , he either has a monster like Kings full but this is unlikely as he would have raised on the turn or is on a bluff or thinks he is betting with the best hand and wants a call as his bet looks weak , i was surprised when Justin passed and commentated so . One other thing , we commentated on 28 hours of hands but i am sure that Justin was in the SB and the other player was in the BB , hopefully this hand will be shown on TV .

As part of the commentary to add something new , i was picking up and explaining tells , also i was preempting the players decisions , as most were relative novices with most having little or no live experience most of the plays and tells were ABC and the rest such as tough callls or folds i decided on body language , in the end the directors asked me to slow down as otherwise no one would ever believe we did the commentary live .

Once the shows air i will be happy to discuss some of the hands here as i love this site and the users and i am always willing to offer advice or explain my thinking .

Don't be put off watching because there are no names , the standard of play was very high and some of the moves and laydowns were amazing and the whole series i have no doubt will make great TV .

Jesse is the ultimate professional and should be respected as the guvnor of commentating , he really was superb , all the things he says throughout the show and at the end are unscripted and he did 5 days having got back from Vegas the first day of filming , i hope all the players enjoyed the experience and i enjoyed doing the commentary and meeting them all .

ACES

[TightEnd]

Once the shows air i will be happy to discuss some of the hands here as i love this site and the users and i am always willing to offer advice or explain my thinking .


ACES

So what about that then?

[byronkincaid]

Simon, thanks for your comments, it's much appreciated. As you saw, I blew a pretty substancial chip lead in 3 hands. I agree that I misplayed the KQs hand, I should have raised with 2 overcards and a flush draw not some lame call and pass rubbish like I did.

Thanks for explaining your thinking on the other hand, it shows me just how much I've still got to learn about the game. I could've been sitting there all day and I don't think I would have worked it out. I'm sure you're right as well regarding what positions we were in. I think playing many tables at a time online I just put everyone into a sort of generic typical player for whatever level SNG I'm playing. I saw and noted how he played the Q5 hand yet I wasn't able to use that information in the correct way. I was just thinking he could be slow playing a monster and I wasn't able to think past that.

I'm definitely looking forward to your commentary on our tells. We were laughing during the break that we were sitting there staring at each other but most of us wouldn't know a tell if it came up and slapped us in the face. Having an experienced pro like yourself picking up and letting you know what your tells are is extremely valuable information, I'll no doubt be wearing the tape out rewinding it all the time to make sure that I can pick up on them as well.

Win or lose I thoroughly enjoyed being the table maniac (for a short while at least )and I hope it helps to make a really good program.

Thanks again

Justin