[Emily_Haines]

Playing live at my local casino and I'm on my 2nd buy in and have almost 500

I get dealt 89s hearts and open to $12 from the cut off

Everyone folds except for the BB who calls and has about 400

Flop comes Q25 all hearts

BB checks and I bet $25, BB check raises to $75

I have played zillions of hands at 1/2 levels and usually when you get check raised it is never good news. I have not played with this guy before but from the short time I have played with him he was not afraid to mix it up. Lots of preflop raises from any position with this guy and always followed with a continuation bet regardless of how many in the hand.

I'm like WTF??? could he really do this with a higher flush?? Maybe Ah and Q, two pairs and sets.

Well it's only 50 more so I'll call and reevaluate.

turn brings a 9 diamond

Villian leads out and bets 100

I tank for a long time and make the call.

River brings the K spade

Villian has his chips in two stacks one with about 175 and the other with about 25. He slides out the 175 stack out past the line.


I'll tell you what he had later. How do you play this hand?

[Al Masters]

After he raises you to $75 i go all in ASAP, let the chips fall where they will,you either win it right there when he folds or you make him put all his chips in to hit his draw, if he already has a higher flush well then you can't fight hard luck and next time you'll know not to raise 8-9 of hearts 6 times the big blind from the cut off pos.

Just making the call after he bets a $100 when an innocent 9 of D hits is a big mistake in my opinion, no way i let him see the river without presure from me.

[BeerDog99]

I agree with Al and I would say I would not be worried about the river either, it blanked anyway.

Given it did not pair up you are golden, I would suggest the villian has a set of fives.

LOL, worst case for him is that he has J 10 and he hit his str8 on the river.

If he has a higher flush, it is what it is. You cannot be calling the flop re-raise and turn bet without seeing the river after it blanks.

Cheers.

[wtt0315]

i put him on queen five. You said he likes to mix it up. If i have high flush as he would need to have he smooth calls your 25. With his reraise he is trying to protect so if he has a flush its a low one or he flop 2 pair or a set and needs to protect. You push he calls i feel so its up to you weather you want all your chips in or you want to try to slow down the betting

[lolguy999]

buddy you should have shoved the turn. Looking at his profile, he's not afraid to mix it up that means bluffing and believe me i know bluffing. He could have A of hearts maybe AQ for top pair top kicker nut flush draw. Calling the flop was the right move ( you bet pot and get raised 3x) Turn puts the pot to 175 if im not mistaken (75+75+25). You call the flop so he can either give up on the turn or he can dig himself a deeper hole if he so chooses. The bet of 100 of the turn should give you direct instincts to just fiddle around and shove him up. Anything other than a made higher flush would put him at a dog position and you should still worry about the board pairing on the river or heart coming up on the river but nonetheless whatever the case unless he made a better one of the flop he's a dog to win. Harmless river so why the fux not you played it this far, if you would fold the river then might as well just fold the fukkin turn because the river is a hardcore blank.

In one advice, you should have shoved the turn

In other words it seems like from your typing that you did call. If he's bold he could have put YOU on the flush draw by you calling his 3x raise on the flop and you didn't get there. If i had to guess he had AQ with the A of hearts.

[BeerDog99]

I agree with LOLGUY99, Ah Q is a viable hand in this spot.

That said, I would be surprised if he had that and led out on the turn. He must have known Emily hand some sort of hand so so bloating the pot on the turn is not a great move in my opinion.

[Emily_Haines]

Yes your right that's why I took so long on the turn. If I call there I have to call the river on a brick. I quickly called the river bet and he turned over pocket AA with the A of hearts. No way I could put him on this hand since he was raising pre-flop so much.

[daneblazer]

So much depends on your read on this guy, which you don't have much of right now. You have to ask yourself what he is check raising you on the flop with there? The bottom of his range is probably something like Ah Q

You both are deep there, I don't like the shove on the flop because you are going to scare away everything that is going to give you value while mostly getting called by hands that have you crushed. Shoving the flop is more of a tournament play. If he's firing barrels like that and doesn't seem like he's going to fold to a raise, just keep calling until you get to showdown and fold if a heart comes. Seems like a passive way of playing, but if a shove isn't going to make him fold and he is just going to fire into you, let him do all the work and save yourself some $ if he hits his draw.

[lolguy999]

Yes your right that's why I took so long on the turn. If I call there I have to call the river on a brick. I quickly called the river bet and he turned over pocket AA with the A of hearts. No way I could put him on this hand since he was raising pre-flop so much.

either way you should have gotten your money in on the turn rather than letting him bet into you on the river. The odds of flopping a flush with the remaining 11 not to mention the hearts delt to some players who folded is rare enough, but two people flopping flushes i consider it rare. AA is certainly possible given his bluffy description you gave but really he misplayed that BAD. Check-raising almost gets you no action and no value and no information. If he's pushing image he should have repopped you 3x persay PF

[Ian]

Preflop: Without knowing more information your raise is a mistake. You are risking 6 BBs to win 1.5 with a hand that cannot stand a reraise. If you get called you'll almost certainly have the worst hand and the rake + jackpot drop will eat up all the blind money you were after.

There's nothing wrong with making steal raises, but your raise was too big and it helps to have some sort of read that you'll get away with it. Given your read on the BB, it sounds like you have incentive not to raise. If it doesn't make your hand transparent, go 4X, and if you are sure you'll get action just open limp (especially if you think the button is going to fold).

Flop: As played preflop, betting is a good idea, but overbetting the pot is not. Go more like 3/4 pot so as not to scare out marginal hands that you would like to call. Once you're raised, I agree with calling.

Turn: The stacks aren't deep enough to raise for a free showdown and your hand is too strong to fold. Calling is the only option left.

River: Call. You are getting over 2:1 on your money. You have underrepresented the strength of your hand, and by tanking on the turn you've given off a tell that your hand isn't super strong. Your opponent's bet may signal a bigger flush, but it could also signal: a smaller flush, a set, an overpair he got cute with preflop, KQ, a bare Ah, 43, or (given your read on him as an active player, and the fact that the hand evolved from a blind steal situation) a total bluff he can't give up on. Barring him exposing a bigger flush, folding is a definite mistake.

Just my opinion...

[Ian]

After reading the other responses, I'll add to my above post that shoving the flop is a bad mistake because every hand better than a 9 high flush calls and almost every worse hand folds. If the stacks were shallower than shoving would be a lot better, but this deep you'll fold out hands like AA, AQ, and possible even a set.

An active player is going to make a lot of moves in a blind steal situation, it's best to give him rope to hang himself.

Just my opinion...

[Emily_Haines]

next time you'll know not to raise 8-9 of hearts 6 times the big blind from the cut off pos.

I never open limp from the cutoff or button

[daneblazer]

I never open limp from the cutoff or button

He's not saying to open limp, you are raising way too much for a steal attempt. 3x or 4x bb is plenty.

[Emily_Haines]

He's not saying to open limp, you are raising way too much for a steal attempt. 3x or 4x bb is plenty.

1/2 NL live does not play like online

3x raises accomplish nothing

Standard raises are usually in the 9-12 range

[daneblazer]

1/2 NL live does not play like online

3x raises accomplish nothing

Standard raises are usually in the 9-12 range

How deep does this game run? Is there a max buy? Is there a straddle?

Normally, I like raising a certain amount in utg to hijack, then raise a little less in the cutoff and button to let my positional advantage play in my favor if I'm called or played back at. Seems a little much to raise 6x bb from the button unless you are going to get 3bet constantly.

[BeerDog99]

all good points. To back up emily, in every live casino 1/2 game I have seen, a $6 or $8 raise generally does next to nothing on clearing the field or getting information on your opponents hands. $10-$12 is the only raise that will sometimes thin the field and/get any information.

[lolguy999]

lol 9x-12x??? now that's an eye opener

[hyudra]

Nice that you found a loose table where you were able to pick up some monster hands and crush opponents. But then again, if you were able to stack to $500 on your 2nd buy-in, then I would have come under the conclusion that your opponents play very loose with marginal hands.

[BeerDog99]

lol 9x-12x??? now that's an eye opener

Emily said $9 (i.e. a 3.5BB raise) to $12 (i.e. a 5BB raise).

Cheers.

[wtt0315]

when i play here at palm beach if someone raises to 6 bucks in a 1-2 game people are like ahh pot builder and almost everyone calls. you raise 6 bucks online and everyone folds. a 10-12 dollar raises usually will get 1-2 callers live.

[Kaladarus]

Just curious were there any limpers in the pot before you raised? What is the max buy-in at your table?

Depending on the action preflop I don't mind calling and seeing a cheap flop here and there with a hand like yours. A raise is acceptable also and it's nice to mix it up. I know $9-$12 raises preflop are standard in these types of games so that's fine.

I think your play after the flop knowing what you know about this player is very good. If you sense he is a weak player I think an all-in on the flop is a good play also. You are ahead of most hands and if the player calls they are likely to be drawing to an unmade hand. The range you described could be a good range for some better players. I think an average-weak player is most likely to be raising you there with a drawing hand, a set, or top pair and a good kicker. With a flop like this at least 95% of players wouldn't raise a hand that is already beating you. This is extremely unlikely here because if they have pretty much the nuts they will usually want to give you something or an opportunity to put more of your dead money in without threatening marginal hands.

His turn bet looks like it's just trying to scare you and his river bet could be because you tanked on the turn. In my opinion the most likely hand he has here is Ah and q. The way he played the hand really sells Ah and Q here. The river is a mandatory call unless you have some real good information on your opponent.

[Kaladarus]

Also you thinking and taking your time on the turn is an excellent play. If you don't want to push on an easy card like a 9d then definitely give him a chance to bluff it all on the river. (if he is bluffing and doesn't hit his draw) I would probably prefer the push on the 9d though.

[KEdge2k]

I call here, consider a check-raise all-in against a potentially loose player who I think will call with a bad hand. He's put you on the defensive on all three streets. Lots of hands that you beat here though: AQ, KQ, QQ, KK, 55, 22, 99...