Be Honest.... Bad play, bad luck or a bit of both?

[action man]

4 left in the $99 rebuy $10k guaranteed last night blinds 2k/4k  i am shortstack with 36k  other 3 have all got about 90k 

Im in seat 2 and in seat 3 is the luckiest kipper ive seen on a final table for some time. ive been card dead for a while, i am adopting the patient strategy as no raises are getting through, Im waiting for a hand to get paid off with.

so when i get AK of hearts on my sb (maniac on BB) and the other guys pass, I decide that he will almost definately raise if i limp in!!  .............. so i limp.

he checks grrrrrrrrr,    The flop  comes down                     i check and he bets 6k, i decide to call due to implied odds and i think a J K or A is good and there is a chance he may slow down whatever the turn comes.........

My now i have 26k left and theres 20K in the pot...  the best card in the deck hits  the turn making the board               


Now i decide to check, i.e show weakness hoping he's going to make it about 20k or even put me all in, i don't want to scare him off here!!!


he checks arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggg,   Now a the river comes the  three of spades                       



i bet 12k and he pushes, i fear the worst and call he flips             gg, gl. etc.........    i can't make my mind up if i played it badly or not,   

one thing is for sure if he wasn't such a maniac or i wasn't shortstacked i would have raised pre-flop, 

You guys tell me what u think, cheers

[matt674]

At that stage of a tournament, with the blinds as big as they are to me calling no longer becomes an option you have either 2 options, pass or raise. To me i raise here and if he is the fish you say he is then he may well call anyway and you have to take your chance but then it isnt like AK has 7-5 suited dominated, you just have to cross your fingers and hope that this is one of the 6 times in 10 that your hand stands up.

If you try to get too cute with hands like this at the business end of a tournament it either leads to you winning the pot and maybe extracting a bit more out of your opponent or you losing and looking like a bit of a muppet - thats the chance you take, once your opponent hits that flop hes not going anywhere as he is now favourite to win the hand.

[M3boy]

It is hard when shortstacked and a Big hand comes your way.

Like you siad, you think he will raise if you limp, nice play which didnt work.

I dont mind the call on the flop either, but I would of pushed in on the turn (20k in the pot now), weather he would pass or not though is a different matter.

I had to play Aces yesterday slowly, was also shortstacked with 4 left and limped in early position (I had 8xBB). They ALL limp as well. Flop bought 2 suits (I had none of them), and I decided to push on the flop. Got one caller with the flush draw but lucky for me they didnt hit.

[Pab]

I had just wished the claimer good luck right before this hand went down and he asked me if he should have bet the turn, and i said yes probably.

I wouldnt have just completed the SB though as I raise far too often during regular play and a half decent player would see my limp as suspicious.

Dont get caught up on the hand, just one of those things. Im not a big one for giving free cards at the business end of a tournament tho


Pab

[Highstack]

At that stage, any hand I am playing I like to bring in for a raise. Tbh picking up 6k a is important for just the blinds that you win (remember AK is nice but its still only ace high). However we all have our own game and at least you made your play, based on previous decisions by this opponent and you entered the pot with thought.

What you have failed to do is make any mention of what you thought your opponent had. You might be wrong, but you must give him a range of cards that his betting pattern would follow, and flush draws would enter those calculations. It is for this reason that I would definitely be putting a bet in on the turn when I have made my hand. The result may have ended the same and I know that you were trying to maximise, but allowing a free card at that stage is a mistake imo. The pot value was too important to your stack size.

[action man]

thats the thing my image was tight   to that point so any raise is dodgy,  what p1ssed me off is that i had played a blinding tournament that far, and was determined to use the first prize to fund the annual lads belly flopping holiday, ah well is that the drawing board i see over there------------------------>

[action man]

i didnt put him on a flush draw, maybe a 6, basically i thought he was drawing dead, however i would have rather seen another suit on the river

[Highstack]

thats the thing my image was tight   to that point so any raise is dodgy,  what p1ssed me off is that i had played a blinding tournament that far, and was determined to use the first prize to fund the annual lads belly flopping holiday, ah well is that the drawing board i see over there------------------------>

If your image is tight, I assume you mean folding a lot and not being a calling station?

If that is true and you believe that you want action, then a raise looks far less suspicious than a limp to me, particularly if as you say, you were the shortstack.

[Royal Flush]

Pre flop its not the worst play if you think he will raise.

On the flop i am check raising all in here all day long.

If i happen to flat call and see that turn like f*ck am i betting, why would i want him out of the pot? Thats just stupid, unless you get the nuts every 3 hands.

On the river now i have to check, keep the pot small if you are beat and allow him to bluff, if you bet there and i have 2 pair a str8 trips etc i cant raise you because of the spades, if you check i will always be betting.

[Pokerron]

No way would I be giving anyone a free card with that turn and your chip stack.    A bet on the turn and maybe he calls and gets lucky, but as it plays out he doesnt do anything wrong on any street and your tactics allowed him to hit the flush and get paid. 

I think your made 2 mistakes, one was not raising pre-flop (if you do you probably win the minimum but its better than a hole in the head), the 2nd was checking the straight with 4 to the flush on the board against a BB who got a free flop.   You were unlucky, but it was self made rather than the person you describe as a fish getting lucky. He saw free flop, bet his draw, checked turn when he missed and bet when he hit his free river.

[action man]

i know full well he's done nothing wrong in this pot.  I am pretty sure he raises whatever the river comes, this was my dillema, i had no intention of chasing him away on the turn.

[Highstack]

No you don't want to chase him away on the turn, but you need to charge him a price to see the river.

[ACE2M]

I think he played the hand perfectly.

He wants to see a flop with that hand so why raise and his flop bet got him a free card, You have to raise the turn here. The pot is half your stack. As others have said you must make him pay for the river if there is an obvious draw that can beat you.

[Royal Flush]

Is it obvious he has a flush draw?

[ACE2M]

Is it obvious he has a flush draw?

Not saying it is obvious that he has a flush draw but it is obvious there is a flush draw on the board and thats enough for me to want to raise someone who may possibly have a flush draw.