Good fold, bad call?

elvis44

I’ve been reading the posts here for a couple months and have picked up a lot from the “how should I have played this?” type posts, so I thought I would take a crack at it myself.

Last night I was playing in a home tourney, we have a group of about ten of us that pretty regularly set one up. We are not a very serious bunch of poker players – every now and then a couple of us play at the Emerald’s Hold ‘Em tourney’s. Other than that I stick to $.5/$1 home games a couple times a week.

I thought I would post a couple of hands that have stuck with me and see what anybody may have to say…

9 players. Buy-in 40 and pay out is 200, 100, 60. Starting stack is 500

25 minutes in I am at 640.
Blinds at 5/10.
I have black KK in the BB.
There are 5 callers back to me, and I raise 50. Only call is the button.
Flop is 10, 8, 4 rainbow. I bet 100, and am called.
Turn is Ad. (all four suits are on the board now) I bet 200 and am raised back 200. He looks to have about 200-300 left.
I fold.
Good fold?

Later…
5 players remaining. I am at 1410.
Blinds at 20/40.
I have Ac Jh in SB.
There is 1 caller. I make it 80 to go, and am called by BB only.
Flop is Jd, 6c, 2c. I bet 120.
BB raises me all in, 420 to go.
I called.
BB shows 7d, 8d.
He caught a 5c, 9d for the straight.
Bad call?

I would be very interested to hear any opinions on these hands, after a couple responses I will post what I was thinking and what the button claimed to have had in the first hand.

Thanks,
BK

stpboy

First of all, welcome to the forum. Glad to see that you have been reading what so many intelligent and talented poker players have to say here, I am a without a doubt a better player because of this site and my diligence to a) post and b) read posts!


I will post my analysis later, at work right now.

stp

SirWatts

Seems like you played both hands right to me. In the first hand after raising preflop and then betting into the ace on the turn your opponent should have no reason to think you don't have an ace, so it seems unlikely he would try to bluff here. He almost certainly has at least the ace himself (a flopped set would seem like the other possibility), unless he is a bad or incredibly tricky player. As for the 2nd hand I see no reason you would think your top pair top kicker isn't good, especially when he could be bluffing with a flush draw, and you just got (very) unlucky.

Mike

stpboy

While perusing around here at work I must say that I cannot add to much to what Mike has said. I agree that a) was a great fold...or a great bet by the player And b) was very unlucky, I call there also but it really depends on your read on the player and how much that particular tournament meant to you.

stp

Dave Scharf

25 minutes in I am at 640.
Blinds at 5/10.
I have black KK in the BB.
There are 5 callers back to me, and I raise 50. Only call is the button.
Flop is 10, 8, 4 rainbow. I bet 100, and am called.
Turn is Ad. (all four suits are on the board now) I bet 200 and am raised back 200. He looks to have about 200-300 left.
I fold.
Good fold?

Good fold. You have represented strength pre-flop and with your bet on the flop. After all that show of strength, he can still raise you? There are three possibilities: (1) He has you beat; (2) He has a hand like J-9 and he is willing to give you a shot and represent the ace hoping you have a hand like K-K; or (3) He has nothing and is making very odd bluff.

My guess is that he has A-T, A-8s or A-4s. Fold. Also, you will be left with 490 chips. Still lots to do battle with.

5 players remaining. I am at 1410.
Blinds at 20/40.
I have Ac Jh in SB.
There is 1 caller. I make it 80 to go, and am called by BB only.
Flop is Jd, 6c, 2c. I bet 120.
BB raises me all in, 420 to go.
I called.
BB shows 7d, 8d.
He caught a 5c, 9d for the straight.
Bad call?

Good call, obviously.

Pre-flop you are 3-2. He makes a good call since you raise was small and offered him 3-1 (you should have raised a little more I think).

On the flop, you are 9-1 favourite when he makes has naked bluff. Bad play by your opponent. Bad luck on your part.

elvis44

Thanks for the reponses guys.

First hand:

My guess is that he has A-T, A-8s or A-4s. Fold. Also, you will be left with 490 chips. Still lots to do battle with.

I was thinking flopped set, but figured I would have gotten a re-raise on the flop, so then I decided on the flopped pair with the A. Being so early on I sure did not want out a half hour in either! I did get to bust him out later, and he told me he had AK suited in this earlier hand. Makes his flop call a bit risky I think.

I'm wondering, should I have shown the KK, try to influence respect for my raises?

Second hand:

He makes a good call since you raise was small and offered him 3-1 (you should have raised a little more I think).

I was trying to come up with what I could have done, I agree - bigger raise. I guess I wasn't that confident in my hand and my bet showed it. I will definately remember for the future.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

BK

Dave Scharf

I'm wondering, should I have shown the KK, try to influence respect for my raises?

Great question. I have started a different thread called: "When to show your cards?"