Sunday, March 29, 2009

Another Uncoventional Poker Play

At The Oaks Today....

I was playing at the Oaks Sunday tournament, and I made another play which is out of the norm.

It was $75-$150. I was in the small blind.

The player under the gun called. Everyone folded to a late position player. This player is aggressive pre-flop. Frankly, he overplays his hands pre-flop, and is unpredictable post flop. He raised to $600.

In the small blind I had 8-8. I called. I had $1,700 left after the call. The limper called. There was $1,950 in the pot. Frankly, normally the right play is to move all-in since I only had 4 times his bet left. However, this was a one rebuy event, and I played the hand as if I had another $2,500 behind the line. (None of us had taken the rebuy yet.)

The flop came down 7-8-9 rainbow. I hit a set and wanted to optimize my winnings, but protect my hand.

The player I wanted to get all in was the aggressive player. He had $1,700 left as well.

I could check the hand, but I decided to make a play that looked like I was on a draw.
I bet $700.

The limper folded. The aggressive opponent thought for a while. I was sure he was going to move all-in. He just called.

The turn was a Q.

With over $3,000 in the pot. I bet $1,000. He insta-called with Q-J.

The river was a 2, and I took down a bet pot.

Would he have moved all-in, with his Q-J against two opponents. I think he may have taken a free card. If so, the turn may still have him moving all in.

What do you think?

4 comments:

OhCaptain said...

You were moving in regardless of what happens in this hand. Since this was a rebuy, I'm pretty sure he was shoving too and was searching for value.

That coordinated a board would make me nervous with only a set and probably keep me from thinking too much about value betting.

Mitchell Cogert said...

Thanks for you comment.

I was trying to protect my hand with the bet on the flop, but really the small bet was to induce an all-in move on his part. I was thinking if he had any overpair or even A-K, he would move in on the flop. I was wrong.

But given the short chip stacks, you are right. Once he called on the flop, we were pot committed no matter what hit on the turn.

"El Chapo" Guzman said...

Betting 700 into 1800 on a coordinated board doesn't make it look like you're on a draw. All it accomplishes is to make you look like a fish that doesn't know how to properly size a bet. It won't induce a bluff because pretty much everyone realizes that you're not bet/folding in this situation. You played preflop and flop atrociously; if you'd missed your set, you'd have an awful time figuring what to do out of position against an aggressive player, yet you were far ahead of his raising range.

Just shove preflop next time and quit trying to get fancy because 9 times out of 10 it'll come back to bite you.

KC said...

Nicely played. I like your pre-flop play with the re-buy on the back burner. I'm afraid I would have had to have pushed after the flop, though - great patience on your part.

What's Your Poker IQ?