Analyze these poker hands!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Finished second in an online tournament the other night. I would’vs finished first except I got heads up with THE LUCKIEST PERSON ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Anyway, a couple of hands I wanted to toss out and see what people thought about them. They generated quite a bit of comment at the time, mostly from people claiming I played them wrong. These hands are both fairly late in the tourney but I don’t remember the exact blinds. I neglected to note the stack sizes but I was chip leader at my table by a fair amount each time.

Hand one:

I’m in the SB with pocket 44. UTG calls, another player calls, I call and BB checks. A 4 hits the flop so I have trips, and there are two spades. I check and so does everyone else. A third spade hits the turn. I check, BB checks, UTG checks, last player bets the minimum. I call, BB folds, UTG calls. A fourth spade hits the river. It checks around.

Hand two: First hand at a new table. I got moved into the BB and had absolutely no read on anyone there. I pick up AQ of spades. A player in middle position raises to 3xBB. The button calls and I call, everyone else folds. The flop comes AQT with two hearts; I have top two pair. I bet the pot, MP raises all in for about three times my bet. Button folds. I call.

I would be interested in reading your thoughts on these two hands. I’ll post my thoughts on why I played them as I did and the results later.

2

  1. Trips on the flop, I think I’d have to bet a decent bet to try to scare the draws off. I’m betting you got sucked out by a flush draw…who might not have stuck around.

  2. I can only guess the guy had KJ, hard to lay down top 2 pair.

3

I’m interested why you checked the flop and turn. It would appear that you allowed a spade draw to stay in the hand. With trip 4’s, I would have made someone pay to challenge me. It doesn’t sound like you were getting much action, so you could have gotten the pot folded to you on the flop, or had a pot worth winning.

4

A couple of things: I wouldn’t have just called after everyone limped in initially while holding a pair - even if it is low. Of course, depending on who I was playing with, maybe I would have just called. However, I would have definitely bet after the flop. I wouldn’t really be worried too much about a higher pocket pair coming into trips and all you’re really worried about is the flush draw. After the turn, if anyone was still in I would probably have played it pretty similarly.

I can’t really argue with the call, but it’s a toughie, especially since you don’t have a read on the players. I don’t think the guy had a KJ to get the straight, so I’d put him on a high pair. In that situation, I’d be mainly worried about him having trips once he went all in.

What was the chip situation? That would probably have decided how I played it.

5

Hand one: I would definitely have made a goodsized bet on the flop to push out any flush draws.

Hand two: I probably wouldn’t have called the last bet, but it’s close. He’s unlikely to be bluffing, and there is a handful of reasonable hands that beat you. Even if it’s a semibluff with a flush draw he has a decent chance of outdrawing you.

6

Seeing as how it was the luckiest guy on the face of the Earth, and 2 hearts come on the flop, I wonder if the guy hit a straight flush or royal flush (flopping a straight would be lucky, hitting a flush on turn or river would be lucky, but neither would be the luckiest guy on Earth…)

7

No no, these weren’t against TLGOTFOTE. He wasn’t involved in either of these two hands.

8

Ah, OK…

9

[dumb-question]What’s UTG?[/dq]

10

You should have raised. Since we don’t know how others are/have been playing, or what the BB is, you have to abuse your position of being able to act last in this scenario. Opening with 4-6x’s the BB is good, and will definitely scare off the inexperienced players. If someone already opens, conversely, bet accordingly, but if it’s strong, just call and don’t raise (bunch of raisers means you fold). People with mediocre to semi-good hands will be less likely to sit around to see the flop. Doesn’t work too well with calling stations and crazies, but enough of these situations will teach them the lesson. Also, it doesn’t work too good for you if people place you as a crazy, but works great if they know you’re rock steady. IMO, I don’t try to draw more money (i.e. slow play) unless I know I have the nuts, or something pretty close to it, especially if we go into turn or river and it isn’t heads up already.

Bet large, all-in, or some monster equivalent.

When I see this, either no one has the flush, or someone has a small one. If you made, imo, the mistake of not acting on your trips early enough, now is the time to make a move. Flushers who aren’t acting are inexperienced players. However, this is a really tough scenario. If you’re a chip leader, call. If you need chips, bet huge.

How much was the BB? If it’s low relative to your chip stack, abuse your chip stack. If it’s high, call. If it’s really high, you may want to consider folding. Most of the time, though if it’s that high, you’re at final table, so just call (most of the time – I think, if you’re final two or three, go all in).

That’s what I would do. Percentage wise AQ suited is really strong, and you get the extra bonus of abusing the BB position, and being a check/calling station until such time you want to dump a monster bet (particularly the river).

11

UTG = Under The Gun, the first player to act after the blinds (forced bets). The button is the dealer, the small blind (SB) is one to the button’s left, then comes the big blind (BB) then UTG.

12

Under the Gun… Person just left of Big Blind…

13

He’s in the SB, not on the button.

Even if he was on the button, with two players limping in before him, it’s not a raise.

I would have bet big on the flop in hand one. You got in cheaply, hit your set. There’s 4 BB in the pot – what more do you want? Were you hoping someone would bet a draw, then come over the top? The chances of someone else betting that flop depend on the make up of the board.

Hand 2, I probably would have folded pre-flop. You got a good raise from middle position, so he’s probably holding TT-AA. At best, AQ, AJ or AT.

BUT, with the button smooth-calling. Maybe he’s a sap, but with no read, that’s a HUGE warning sign.

Seriously, between those two players, do you think you have the best hand? Do you think that you’re not dominated? And, you’re out of position for the rest of the hand.

14

Oh, I understood that. SB position is just as good a position to exploit low pair just as BB position.

I disagree, but that’s probably b/c I’m more aggresive a player. Except for final table (or perhaps last two final tables, where’s you’re just trying to outlast everyone to get on final table) – maybe (I mix up my play, though still aggressive), I need more info – it’s still a good idea to raise because you can force those check raisers to act, and if people start raising or calling a big check-raise, then you know to drop out of the hand. Also, as I said before, you can force out those middling hands and, if the BB raises on you (the SB), then you even have more info and can act last to that raise. Besides, on avg, the percentages range from, what, 53 - 47 for to 47 - 53 against (I’m too lazy to dig up the percentages), or 80-20 if there are pairs involved? I think it’s most likely that the scenario, without more, will be low pair vs. two large cards if no one is raising (I’ll change my answer if everyone in the hand is a smooth caller, though unlikely).

15

#1: Misplayed on every street. The call on the turn leaves you in the worst possible situation with a pocket pair–you’d rather be heads up or in a family pot than have 3-4 players in.

A good rule of thumb is to never slow-play a set. A better rule of thumb is to never slow-play a set when there’s a good draw on the board–like, say, two spades. A big bet on the flop would have been appropriate, and if you had any takers, another one on the turn.

Finally, you’re almost certainly behind on the river, and no one has shown the least bit of aggression, so a steal attempt might not be a bad idea. (Even so, I probably would have checked as well.)

#2: It’s hard to turn loose of Big Chick when you already have a bet in the pot. Just remember–you have to have a better hand to call a raise than you do to raise, and you have to have a much better hand to call a raise and a call than you do just a raise. Once you’re in the hand, though, I think you have to call the all-in; you’re not behind that many hands.

16

Hand 1:

The UTG limp struck me as suspicious. I gave him credit for a moderately strong hand and knew at the least he’d have two overcards. I generally am not going to raise with a small pocket pair but I’m not going to fold one in the SB in an unraised pot. Thus the call from the SB. On the flop I considered betting but I was sure that UTG would bet out and then I’d check-raise him. On the turn with the third spade I decided not to lead at the pot. The minimum bet smelled funny to me, like a made flush trying to induce action. Since if I was beat on the turn I had redraws, I decided to call it. With a fourth spade on the river and no spade in my hand, I didn’t feel like I could bet. I didn’t think anyone with a made flush would believe me and since I couldn’t call any raise I decided to check. UTG ended up taking down the pot with J8os with the 8 of spades. I never would have thought he’d play such a ridiculous hand from that position. Strangely, everyone who gave me noise had nothing to say to the guy playing garbage and hitting runner runner. If I had to do it over I’d bet the flop rather than checking in the hope that someone would bet it for me.

Hand 2:

I’m not going to fold AQs there. It’s two blinds to win 6 1/2, and there’s a wide variety of hands that they could be playing. Yeah I could be behind to AK or a pocket pair, but I could just as easily be up against AJ or a weaker Ace. I think the preflop call was correct. On the flop, I’m losing to exactly 4 hands: AA, QQ, KJ and TT. AA and QQ are unlikely since I have one of each. I bet out because of the straight and flush draws. His all in re-raise could have been with one of the 4 danger hands, but he could just as easily had AK, AJ or AT, a four flush or straight draw. If I call and lose I’m still in good shape in the tourney, and if I win the pot I’m in the top 5 in chips and can probably coast to the final table. I can’t lay down top two here; I think the call is right. Unfortunately he had the KJ for the flopped Broadway straight.

17

pffft. Misleading thread title. It clearly says “Poker” and Texas Hold’em resembles poker in only a vague and superficial way. Wyatt Earp didn’t play no Texas Hold’em.

18

Thank you for that incredibly relevant observation; feel free to express similar thoughts in all future threads on the topic, because I know they’ll be much appreciated.

19

I deserved that and apologize. It was inappropriate and I regretted it after posting it.

20

Manfully conceded, sir.