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Did I Play This Too Aggressive?
Hi guys,
I have a hand from a live tournament final table I played in earlier this week - would appreciate your comments!
Blinds are 600 / 1200 and my stack is about 23k
Aggressive villain raises to 2400 from early position, 1 other caller, I'm sat in the BB with As4s and make the call.
Flop comes 8s 8h 3s
Villain c-bets 3500, other guy folds. I think for a while before re-raising to 9000. Villain thinks for a long time before shoving the rest of his chips in. I obviously call because I have too much in the pot now. He turns over 7s and they hold up, leaving me with only a few thousand chips left.
Should I just be calling the bet on the flop? I didn't put him on a pair for whatever reason and my feeling was that I could win the pot there and then. Perhaps my other mistake was re-raising too much? I'm pretty much pot-committed as soon as re-raise to 9000 surely?
Thoughts and comments much appreciated.
Dan
I have a hand from a live tournament final table I played in earlier this week - would appreciate your comments!
Blinds are 600 / 1200 and my stack is about 23k
Aggressive villain raises to 2400 from early position, 1 other caller, I'm sat in the BB with As4s and make the call.
Flop comes 8s 8h 3s
Villain c-bets 3500, other guy folds. I think for a while before re-raising to 9000. Villain thinks for a long time before shoving the rest of his chips in. I obviously call because I have too much in the pot now. He turns over 7s and they hold up, leaving me with only a few thousand chips left.
Should I just be calling the bet on the flop? I didn't put him on a pair for whatever reason and my feeling was that I could win the pot there and then. Perhaps my other mistake was re-raising too much? I'm pretty much pot-committed as soon as re-raise to 9000 surely?
Thoughts and comments much appreciated.
Dan
Comments
OK, here's my tuppence's worth, although I am sure some of the other Sky Poker folks have told you how badly I play
Preflop.
We've got a hand which flops well multi-way although we only have 19BBs or so. His minimum raise is an invitation to be outflopped in my opinion, so I am happy enough calling here for the extra 1,200.
Note: I wouldn't have called if he made it 3x or 3.5x. Why? We're taking the flop out of position where we're simply hoping to flop the nuts. In those cases where we hit the magical flop, he also needs a bit hand to stack off. If we flop a bit of it - Axx for example - our hand is tricky to play out of position as we might still be behind to a better Ace.
So, I'd either re-raise if I think he's aggro/full of it or fold if he's a solid enough player. Yes I am ahead of a lot of his range blah blah blah but I frankly don't care; I'd rather be playing poker in position and with simpler decisions. Call me a nit. Or Tikay junior. Actually, just stick with the nit. Calling looks alright by the maths, but poker is a game of situation, and I think the flop is going to be a stinker to play more often than not with a hand like A4s.
The flop
The flop is actually a pretty poor one for you to lead out on, so I am assuming you check it to him and he bets the 3,500.
It's a dry board where basically the range he's representing something like:
Any pair
Any ace high
KQ/KJ
A smattering of air-ball bluffs.
Check raising to 9,000 does the following:
Gets him to put the rest of his money in with any pair better than JJ.
Potentially folds any pairs between TT and 44, although you're basically trying to tell him you've got an 8.
Folds out the Ace-highs you were beaten by.
Folds the trash hands and King-highs.
Leaves him drooling a bit and thanking the poker gods if he's got an eight or 33.
All in all, we're not folding out many hands which beat us (only the foldable pairs and some ace-highs), while we're enticing better hands to a decision he can most likely play correctly.
So, let's flip the question around here. If you're sat in his seat, what are you worried about? Dan might have slowplayed a big pair preflop - ok, it happens from time to time. He might also think I am semi-strong and can't take the heat. He *could* have an eight but would he really play it so strong? Nah, none of this adds up to a really strong line and so I think I could get my money over the line (a little tentatively, that said) with pairs between TT - 66. I might even be able to get it in with AK if I think you're a good player who is putting me to a test with air. It kind of helps that I know a bit about your poker and you're a thinker, so this is a possibility.
What about your flush draw outs? Well, they do give you those extra outs to catch when he makes the hero call. Mind you, he's playing his hand right. If he knew what your cards were after you raised to 9k he HAS to stick his money in and hope to fade the three aces and 9 spades. There's so much in the pot and he's in this tuornament to win, I assume.
Tricky spot, and one where I think the stack sizes aren't condusive to a 9k re-raise. You either check fold or lead the flop yourself. That way you can bet the 3.5k or so yourself and get away from it if he shoves.
End of story I just played a really bad hand at the wrong time. Eugh.
I much prefer your raise size then c/raising all in due to its inviting nature. Villain cannot flat call this raise, so must commit the rest of his chips, even though you have not raised him all in, making people second guess themselves and fold. Flatting the flop bet would be horrific, commiting 25% of your stack out of position.