Hand by Hand 12

The button opens to .15 with 8.78 and with pocket 8s I call on the button. The flop is the Kc/3s/Jd. I should probably either raise or check-raise here, but I check-call a wimpy .05 bet.

That puts me in bad position for the hand. The Qh on the turn is an ugly, ugly card. If I am not going to lead out, I need to be done with the hand. He bets .38 and I again call.

So to this point in the hand I have played passively. A re-raise pre-flop or on the flop would have been good. By the turn it does not matter…I have shown too much weakness. When the 3h falls and I check, I have pretty much, via my passive play, locked myself into a crying call for another half or ¾ pot bet.

I think I was probably ahead throughout the hand, though certainly A/10+ are all very believable as well, as are K/10 type hands…but when he fires 1.78 into the 1.11 pot…and I have 1.77 left… it just is not a good idea to call.

If I “defined the hand” earlier…maybe. But by not re-raising pre-flop, not raising on the flop or turn, I pretty much gave him free rein. I was badly outplayed on this hand.

Middle position open limps with 8.90, the hi-jack…who I have noticed plays lots of position poker…raises to .22 with 15.31, I call with 6h/Ah and the limper calls.

I am more calling based on position and knowing how hijack plays than my cards…I anticipate the flop raise, turn check and my raise taking it down. This is complicated by the limper also calling. Now I kind of need to actually hit my hand.

The flop is Kh/Js/9h. I have the nut flush and backdoor straight draws. But when it is checked to me, I check instead of raising. I do not want to get check-raised off the hand.

The turn is beautiful, the 10h. Lots of straight possibilities, I have the nuts. And the limper leads out for .35, gets raised to .90 by the hijack. If I raise again, it probably ends the hand. I call and the limper obligingly does as well. So suddenly we have a big pot.

The river 7h means only 6h/8h or 8h/Jh beat me…and I am not really considering either of those hands. For all intents and purposes I have the nuts. They both check, I shove my last .65. The limper re-raises, and I think he has either the straight or, more likely, a relatively high flush.
Yep, he shows the Qh/8c.

Uh…what? You limped from early middle, over-called a raise and call and kept going in that hand? Well played. Please, play like that much more often. I want to be in many, many pots with you.

I am happy that I was only .65 short of maximizing my potential win in the hand…had the hijack called that, it would have been perfect.

In fact, backing this up, he went to the river in the next hand, calling an all in with K/J off on the Q high flop.

Quite a few folds later, the utg limps with 2.06, utg+1 thinks for a bit then bumps it to .20 with 2.14, I am middle position with As/Ks. I can call hoping to get more callers and flop a flush draw or I can raise trying to win right then. I choose the latter and bump it to .75 with 4.35. Only the raiser calls.

I think he probably has a medium or high pair…say 7/7+ most likely. Other hands are, of course, possible…drawing hands like suited Aces, connectors…but the hesitation, then decision to raise seems like a pair.

Be that as it may, with 1.60 in the pot and him having 1.30 or so left, the odds all the chips do not go in on the flop seem slender.

And when the flop comes 4h/8c/Ah, he leads out for .05. As usual, I think he is either afraid of the Ace and wants to stop a bigger bet by me or he has a set and is hoping for a re-raise. I re-pop and he folds.

The next hand, utg opens to .15 with 9.64. I call from the cut-off with pocket 4s and 5.16. The flop is Ks/3d/Ac. He checks. If he missed, he might fold to a bet, if he hit he will check-raise. I think he is setting a trap, but I lead out for .20 anyway and he takes his time…then folds. Interesting.

I actually half suspected he had something like A/K and wanted me to bet. I almost checked, but if I check here, he bets the turn and if it is not a 4, I fold every time. If it is a 4, I want to play a small pot because I will feel like he has a set. Many people who flop sets automatically check the flop and try to shove the turn. So I still think the bet was mandatory here, even thinking he was going to check-raise.

It is a form of pot control. If he check-calls, I am probably ahead, a check-raise I fold. So I like the play in that case.

I then win a pot with 4 high when everyone folds to my big blind holding of 3d/4c.
UTG+1 open with hockey sticks picks up the blinds.

The very nxt hand I have pocket Jacks on the button. UTG+1 limps with 9.43, mp limps with 9.85, the cutoff limps with 6.71 and I bump it to .35 with 5.45. MP and the cutoff call and we have 1.20 or so in the pot, I have position and a pair.

The flop is pretty good for my hand, the 9d/2s/6h. They check, I bet .65, they fold. This game is easy (when you have better cards).

The next hand the sb limps with 6.16 and I check with 10c/6d and 6.18.

The flop is the 10s/9h/Qh. He checks, I bet the pot and he surprises me with a call. We both check the 3c. The river is the 3s. I think I am probably ahead, he probably has a dry ace or maybe a Jack to give him a straight draw, maybe a small pair. I bet .15 on the river…no need to go crazy and build a big pot. He calls with Ah/4h….missed flush draw, dry Ace. Nice.

A little later I make a curious call. UTG limps with 8.25, I am in the cut-off with 6.42 and 7h/8h and elect to limp along. I do not mind an open raise here, but think being second limper is begging for a re-raise that I will fold to. As it turns out the big blind checks with 15.00.

The flop is 2c/Qc/2s. We check it around. The 9h on the turn gets two checks. I bet .10 expecting folds. Instead I see a click-raise and call. Normally a click-raise gets a big re-raise from me here…but with the call, I fold.

The river 4h should change nothing. It completes no draws, pocket 4s are unlikely here, a Q/4 or 2/4 is just too bizarre. UTG leads out for .20 and gets raised to 4.24 and called.

What? Did we have pocket Queens slow-playing? Something like an A/2? Pocket 9s? Nothing else really makes sense to me. I guess Kings or Aces or maybe an A/Q or A/9…but the latter two seem like bad plays to me. Someone must have a boat here. Maybe even queens versus nines.

Aha. Yes, the big raise shows pocket queens. He flopped the boat and waited. Well played. The other guy…well…he limped with 2h/7s, flopped trips, and called what really had to be a boat on the river. I got off easy.

UTG+1 click-raises with 7.26 and, in the big blind with 9h/ah, the better than 3-1 pot odds make calling seem like an okay play. A 10d/7c/2d flop does not get me too excited, I check, he bets another .10 and I fold. Not a good place to go to war with no hand and no draw.

Middle position limps with 11.45, the cut-off bumps it to .15 with 3.90, I have the button and Jd/Jh. I probably should re-raise here, but I am afraid of a big re-raise that drives me off the hand. Note that this could be a good thing if I am against Q/Q+ or if an Ace or King flops since then I will know they are more likely to hold that card.

By calling passively, I give anyone with something like A/Q proper odds to draw to it since they determined the bet size and I never gave them a chance to fold. Then again…Jacks are not Queens, Kings or Aces, so maybe I SHOULD play for the set.

Anyway, utg calls, and along comes that feared flop…Ah/Qd/9d. I am not behind lots of hands. The preflop limp/caller thinks for a bit, then bets .30. I think if he actually hit this, he lets the raiser bet. This time the raiser folds, so I call to see what the turn brings.

The turn brings another Queen and he bets .40. Now, normally I fold here. There is an Ace I cannot beat and a Queen that has me drawing almost dead as well. He has shown strength twice…but…BUT…

The limp/call does not scream Aces, A/K or A/Q to me. It screams smaller hand. By flat-calling the flop I also indicated weakness. He then, instead of ramping up the raise, only added .10 to it. Instead of half pot, he goes quarter pot. It is entirely possible he has something like nines or tens. I decide to take one more card off and call the .40.

The river is a brick in every sense of the word, the 2s. He now min-bets. I am sure I am ahead, but not so sure I want to turn it into a big pot. I call and he shows…5d/kd.

I never put him on that hand but perhaps should of. That draw was there on the flop and fits the way he played the hand…cautious pre-flop, semi-bluff the flop, defensive bet on the turn and fish bet the river.