I must be playing with Wes too much (NL cash hand)
Only seemed fair that Wes get a post with his name in it too. .5/1 NL cash game after Greg's Deepstack. Game has been fast and loose (thanks to Cory) and I've been in there gambling it up for a change, and i've caught some lucky cards. Villian is Pinhead who is my roommate. As such we pretty much know entirely too much about how the other plays. I probably have about 115 and Pinhead around 100. morty limps in the CO and i raise to 4 with the 75o on the button. Pinhead calls in the BB and morty calls. Flop T52r both check and I check behind. Turn 4 completing the rainbow, they check to me and I make some remark about I can't believe it got checked to me twice at this table and bet 8. Pinhead checkraises to 22, morty folds and I call pretty quickly. The river is a 6, pinhead thinks and bets 30. I tank and decide to do what Wes would want me to do (call). Thoughts on all streets?
Comments
How do you check the flop? What was the point of raising preflop if you don't represent anything on the flop?? I don't get it.
On the turn you are prepared to invest 22 without a thought, but you won't bet out 3/4 of the pot or so on the flop? Strange, strange.
I check the flop for a few reasons: I had a feeling that pinhead was going to checkraise me with a pretty big range if I bet, he'd shown he was not going to let me run the table over and the flop figures to have missed everyone (hence he expects me to bet any 2 cards), and he might (probably) fire again on the turn with nothing if I call. It's easier to make these difficult decisions on the later streets when you don't have to worry as much about future rounds of betting. Another reason I check is if someone is looking to checkraise with top pair if I catch a 5 or 7 on the turn I might win a big pot. Also, I might induce a bluff on later streets. Finally, against someone who knows a lot about your game it's a good idea to mix up your play sometimes. I admit this isn't the textbook play giving a free card to 2 players and I normally bet here (100% of the time against unknown players) , but I think when you flop middle pair against an aggressive player there's a lot of value in playing the hand more slowly and avoiding playing a big pot with a marginal hand, or trying to induce a bluff. The fact that there were 2 other players in the pot here makes the check weaker than it would be heads up, but still not a bad option IMO.
Pinhead shows A8 and MHIG.