Time for an episode of "What Would You Do?", the Tournament Edition.
It's the early/middle period of a NLHE tournament, maybe a quarter of the field has busted out. Your buy-in has given you 15,000 in chips to start. You've been playing squeeky tight, and so by this time you are down to around 13,500 in chips. In this hand, you are in the Big Blind. The SB has about 20,000 in chips; the Button has nearly 30,000; and the Villain in this hand is in the Hijack seat with around 18,500 in chips. In other words, you are the small stack in this hand. One player was recently pulled to another table, and a second player just busted out, so you are 7-handed for now. The blinds are 250/500 with no ante.
You post your big blind (500 chips). The first two players fold. The Villain limps. The cutoff folds, the button calls, and the small blind completes, so that makes four players and 2000 in the pot. You look to see a truly rotten hand, 5c 3c, and just check.
The flop is 3h 3d 8d, so you have flopped trips with a rotten kicker on a draw-heavy board. Question One -- Do you think you have the best hand at this point? Be honest!
The SB checks. You have 13,000 and bet 1500 into the 2000 pot. Question Two -- what do you think of this bet size?
The Villain (18,000 chips) calls. The button and SB fold, so it's heads-up now with 5000 in the pot. You have 12,000 and the Villain has 16,500.
The turn is the 2c. You bet 3500 into the 5000 pot. This gives you 8500 left. Question Three -- what do you think of this bet size? The Villain calls and has 13,000 left.
The river is the Kd. The diamond flush draw has come in. There's 12,000 in the pot; you have 8500 and the Villain has 13,000. Question Four -- What do you do now?
Answers to come (at least, my answers, which may not be the "correct" ones).
By the way, "What Would You Do" is based on actual, real-life hands that have been played, I'm not making it up nor any of the details. Just in case you were skeptical!! :-)
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Comments
PS most of your post was in some funny foreign language so I just guessed.
Q2 - Reasonable. I'd have gone bigger to scare off more draws, but anyone on a flush draw may well have called anyway, depending on their stack
Q3 - Coin toss. Based on past history of the other player's bets I'd have put in that sort of bet myself, or pushed at that point to see if he folded. You have to think you're still ahead at that point, so you put him on a straight decision to either chase the flush, or fold
Q4 - Again - absolute coin toss - depending on your table image. Personally I'd have pushed because you;re committed at that point - but a check may be a good move here as well, as it may get you out of trouble. If he makes a small bet, you fold and live to fight another day as he has you beat and is just trying to extract extra cash. Of course, live, you'd have more information to go on (which is why I hate playing online)
1. You have to assume you have the best hand
2. I would have overbet and put in 3k to take it down there and then. 1.5K is tempting if on a flush draw. If your 3K gets called you can narrow his range to either 8-8 or an overpair.
3. It's a good bet size but I'd have been tempted to check it.
If you check and he bets you could have picked up more info on what he's holding. If he is on a draw he wouldn't bet very big so you could raise it all in and make him decide whether his flush draw is still worth persuing. If he bets big you have to consider he's holding either 2-2 or 8-8 or bluffing of course. Even at this stage there's not much that can beat you. If he checks behind you and the diamond comes its an easier fold.
4. Push. I'd be pot committed now. Looking back at your previous plays it could be seen that you were on the draw and you could represent the flush yourself maybe. If you check/fold you don't have much of a tourney left anyway, it will be just push/fold poker. You'd have a couple of orbits to pick a hand to push with and unlikely any hole cards you pick up would be better than the cards you're holding on the river in this hand.
If he reveals Ad Xd I wouldnt be surprised (however I'd still a bit annoyed for getting so involved out of position) but it was a good opportunity to double up so I could live with the outcome either way.
Others will prob disagree but thats what I'd do Alex.
(edit I re-read it and meant to put 8-8 instead of 5-5 in answer two)
In that situation I would have pushed on the turn, if he had the flush draw he would have folded with only the river left to come and if he had the 8 or even 8 king he would probably have called given the low cards on show and you would have in either situation won the hand and substantially increased your stack.
Both bets look to be a good size and on a low board like that I would feel that I had the best of it with trip 3's so I would be going nowhere.
I am with Sadie and TK re pushing before the river because he is drawing and you do not want to give him another free or cheap card.
If you did go the river and the flush draw came out and a K you would be in a world of pain.
Like the first bet, no problem, asked a question and got an answer. He may have a boat, but I'm not folding my three's even with the kicker. The turn gave you the opportunity to take the pot, so for me out of position, I'm making a larger bet (pot sized +), showing that I'm pot committed and not allowing the draw, if he has a boat, fair do's as I wasn't folding, but in my book the 3,500 bet was light and gave your opponent the implied odds he needed to call. From here on out you are not folding, so my only problem is the bet size after the turn, when it was time to take the pot down.
2. Bet more. Probably 1,900 or so. Villain and button are crap and passive. You want to get the highest amount in that you can. This is not about protecting against flush daws its about maximising value on a great hand against crap opponents.
3. See above 4,750, maximising value, getting yourself and villain pot committed. If he isnta-called on the flop consider pushing all in as it means he alsmost certainly has an overpair or A-5.
4. Push. If he has the diamonds so be it, but it's only about 20% that he does. He's so passive that he might just check his over pair if you don't get it in now.
A lot of the responses above would be fine if vaillain wasn't completely shit. But he is so they aren't.
By this stage in the tournie, you need to be taking good chances to double up against crap opponents. This is a very good chance and you just be all over it.
I'll post the answer given by the person who originally set this poker scenario later this week
1. I do think that I have the best hand on the flop; even though my trips have a rotten kicker, it's still trips, and it's extraordinarily unlikely anybody else has the other three.
2 & 3. As you have figured out, my bet size is intended to chase out anyone who had draws. If somebody is still in the hand, they could have me beat (i.e. a better set or even a full house) or an overpair, which I beat.
I have learned quite a bit from this discussion, and since it started I have concluded that I should have gone for a check-raise, either on the flop or at least on the turn or river. I think that would have disguised my hand better. C'mon, everybody knows what I have, the way I played this hand.
So here is how the hand ended. I have 3c 5c. The Board is
3h 3d 8d 2c Kd
I still think I have the better hand. If my opponent hung around for the flush draw, he paid too much for it. I put him on an overpair -- like JJ or TT or maybe even AK (but I doubt that). I just don't think he has slowplayed a monster with like 88 or something.
If I check, and he goes all-in, I am going to call for sure. I am not good enough to lay down trips here. If I check and he checks behind, it is because I have the better hand and so I have left money on the table. If I go all-in with the best hand, either he folds and I win the pot or he calls and I win a bigger pot.
If HE actually has the better hand, then there's nothing I can do other than just pay him off and go see when the next tournament starts. I'm not going to fold and hold onto just 17 big blinds (soon to be about 8 big blinds once they go up). Might as well go out now in a blaze of glory.
I go all-in. He thinks for a rather short while (about what I don't know), and then calls. He has 5s 5d which is I guess sort of an overpair, but since my 5 has a better kicker I take the pot. He ends the hand with about 4500 and I double-up and then some.
Epilogue: He actually hung around for quite a long time after this hand and built up a decent stack, but lost before the money. I finished in the money but just barely ... got my buy-in back and not much more.
Hope you enjoyed this, I may steal some other scenarios later
AW
This makes no sense,
your 5 and 'kicker' are irrelevant he has 2 pair you have 3 of a kind, you win because you have a better hand not a better kicker.
No i do realise that Leroy, just a little bit of a wind up - sorry...
Like I said the villain is a terrible player, loose and passive, and that was obvious right from the start. The advice the guy on the original forum got to check raise is horrible as well. You always bet this hand against loose, passive opponents. You check-raise if they are agressive and neither are. I'm betting that the forum concerned wasn't 2+2.
I don't really have the time to play online - and don't take it seriously enough to win any money. Still play live pretty regularly though - home games and casinos. If anyone wants to join me up at the Vic I can usually be found occupying a seat at the Thursday freezeout a couple of times a month. When I say 'occupying', that kind of gives away my playing style as well