Playing too scared?

Macke

I did think he had Ak or KJ something like that.. King Jack gives him a gutshot at least.. but I guess it is my fault for checking the turn...What of his river bet? Think it's a little small?

*********** # 5 **************
PokerStars Hand #73299445730: Tournament #554010743, $1.00+$0.10 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (25/50) - 2012/01/04 18:35:50 ET
Table '554010743 33' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: marksass (2345 in chips)
Seat 2: mijako15 (6000 in chips)
Seat 3: nono0512 (1525 in chips)
Seat 4: TuFun (8855 in chips)
Seat 5: MAFH Nº1 (4327 in chips)
Seat 6: Bosna6666 (5308 in chips)
Seat 7: joaovascao (3000 in chips)
Seat 8: DaguyisBack (3325 in chips)
Seat 9: jorgebarri85 (4245 in chips)
Bosna6666: posts small blind 25
joaovascao: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DaguyisBack [Qs Qc]
DaguyisBack: raises 200 to 250
jorgebarri85: calls 250
marksass: folds
mijako15: folds
nono0512: folds
TuFun: calls 250
MAFH Nº1: folds
Bosna6666: folds
joaovascao: folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc 9d 2h]
DaguyisBack: bets 675
jorgebarri85: calls 675
TuFun: folds
*** TURN *** [Tc 9d 2h] [3c]
DaguyisBack: checks
jorgebarri85: checks
*** RIVER *** [Tc 9d 2h 3c] [Kh]
DaguyisBack: checks
jorgebarri85: bets 550
DaguyisBack said, "AK?"
DaguyisBack said, "King Jack?"
DaguyisBack: folds
Uncalled bet (550) returned to jorgebarri85
jorgebarri85 collected 2175 from pot
jorgebarri85: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2175 | Rake 0
Board [Tc 9d 2h 3c Kh]
Seat 1: marksass folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mijako15 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: nono0512 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: TuFun folded on the Flop
Seat 5: MAFH Nº1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Bosna6666 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: joaovascao (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: DaguyisBack folded on the River
Seat 9: jorgebarri85 collected (2175)

Unknown

bet the turn so worse hands will call and have to pay a price. its makes the river easier too. now that you checked the turn you kinda should call the river because you gave him a chance to bluff.

HammerDad

K10 and QJ also got there. Yeah, we have blockers to QJ, but given the way the hand was played you gotta call here. He may think he is value betting hands like A10 or blocker betting hands like J10.

jontm

darbday wrote: »

bet the turn so worse hands will call and have to pay a price. its makes the river easier too. now that you checked the turn you kinda should call the river because you gave him a chance to bluff.

maybe look at it this way;

you raised pre-flop and bet flop, then checked turn. How many guys raise then c-bet when they miss, then don't fire again? It justifies his bet by both replies above.

As for OP, you might be able to answer yourself by asking; Why did you check turn?

His bet size I like and maybe a bit small, but it reeks of value bet, either to sell the bluff or because he did hit king and knows your spooked by turn and river...he may even get you to fold a small king here.

Richard~

yeah, a big thing here is to ask yourself why you didn't fire turn. was it cause you expected him to bet if you checked so you could checkraise? was it cause you expected him to bluff twice if you checked? was it cause you expected him to have you beat here a fair amount of the time so you wanted to keep the pot small?

find your own reasoning and you'll be on track to find the answer to the quesiton you asked. generally you're likely best off betting for value on this turn since people call more at lower stakes, and then firing again on the river for value even when it's as wet as this k card. As played his bet on the river is less than a quarter of the pot so I think we have to call hoping he has a naked 10 that he thinks is good. When he bets 1/4th of the pot we're calling 1/4 of the pot to win his bet, the pot and our bet so 6/4 of the pot which I think translates to us only having to be right 1 time out of 6 for our call to be good on the river

When you have big hands at any stakes you have to maximize what you win from them, probably sounds really obvious but they don't come around often enough not to do that. Preflop and flop are really really perfect for you, even if I don't agree that raising 5x pre is really a good idea, if you get callers like this frequently it can't be bad either. By flop is perfect I mean you should be thinking to yourself "how can I get AT LEAST two bets out of my opponent before showdown?"

so to answer your question, yes, it does look like you're playing a little too scared but if you could try to explain a little more what you were thinking at the time, especially preflop and on the turn, that would help in giving you a better answer

Macke

I made it 250 from 50.. 5x the blinds yes.probably too much... but I figured i'd get a couple callers going by the way that table was playing. I just didn't want to make it say 150 or so which is pretty cheap and have 4 limpers thus really leaving my Qs vulnerable.

Said I don't know why I checked the turn..wasn't going for a check raise at the time.. and I didn't think he had aces or kings..just kind of frozen.

May sound funny but I think of myself as an aggressive type player yet can still get timid always worried about monsters under the bed..something I want to fix up...maybe a couple of you who have played with me in the PFC games (the small amount of time) noticed.

HammerDad

Checking the turn isn't bad for pot control. But if we check the turn we should be calling most rivers, this one included as we only have to be right 1 in (about) 4 or 5 times to be EV neutral and I think villain has air enough in their range to make the call.

ryanghall

I don't play $1 tournaments but in a high stakes tournament, I'm definitely shoving pre. Raising is probably right in these.

As played, bet enough on the flop so you can happily get it in on the turn. Yes, you're playing scared.