Challenge 9.28: $25NL, UTG with suited connectors

[frob23]

Alright, this week we're playing $25NL 6-max. The BB in this hand is a very loose and passive player but the rest of the table is fairly typical for players at this level. We haven't been doing especially well and have been repeatedly drawn out on in several small pots.

This is a nice short one. As always, you might disagree with the Hero's decisions and play this differently. Respond with what you think is the best play. And come on people, everyone should try and answer these questions. Expert opinions aren't needed... just think about what you would do and play along. No one is going to make fun of your answer. I am posting these to help me think about my own hands or hands that I see and to learn. Everyone is learning so there's no need to feel like you can't contribute.

0: CO: $23.53
1: Button: $23.04
2: SB: $25.30
3: BB: $18.99
4: Hero: $21.39
5: MP1: $65.74

Hero is dealt: Q J

SB posts $0.10, BB posts $0.25,

1) What do you do?
a) fold
b) call $0.25
c) raise to $0.75
d) raise to $1.25


Hero raises to $0.75, 2 folds, Button calls $0.75, 1 fold, BB calls $0.50

Flop: K 9 4 (Pot: $2.35)

BB checks,


2) Is this flop good or bad for your hand?


3) What do you do on this flop?
a) check
b) bet $1.20
c) bet $1.80
d) bet $2.35

Hero bets $1.20, Button calls $1.20, BB calls $1.20

Turn: K 9 4 2 (Pot: $5.95)

BB checks

4) Now what?
a) check
b) bet $3.00
c) bet $4.50
d) bet $5.95


Hero bets $3.00, 1 fold, BB calls $3.00

River: K 9 4 2 3 (Pot: $11.95)

Well, we finally got the pot heads up but the river misses us completely.

BB checks,

5)
a) check
b) bet $5.00
c) bet $8.00
d) bet $11.95
e) shove all-in

Hero checks

6) What do you expect the BB to turn over here?

7) How do you feel about your play of this hand and do you expect Q-high to win?

[irishpkr]

1) Fold or $0.75 pre, torn between the two
2) About as good as we could hope for, flopping a FD with a gutshot
3) Betting $1.80 to build pot/fold better hands
4) Check >> bet $4.50
5) I check
6) A good 9, TP type hands, maybe the odd busted flush draw
7) Very rarely do we win this, as Ax draws have us beat, as do any pairs, I guess you could argue firing the river to fold a 9, but readless, can we assume a villian folds it here? Not sure

[PointerJake]

1.call - I dont raise with this type of hand. Good hand to just call with.
2. Pretty good flop.
3. I bet around 75% of pot making them think i have king.
4. I check here if I get a caller prior, hoping to see a free card, If BB bets I reraise or just call depending on prior reads on the BB.
5. If I decided to reraise on fourth street, I go all in here, if not I check it down and give up the hand.

[frob23]

I am glad no one has said, "The hero in this hand is a retarded donk," yet. Because this is a hand that I played.

I'm still not saying I played it well... but I like the responses so far. Keep them coming.

[liladypokerpro]

The hero this hand is a retarded donk....LOLOLOLOL just messin with ya frob

Okay here we go again...

(1) Short handed, I'd like to see a flop with this hand. Given our position, I'd like to make a simple call here rather than a raise, as many hands dominate at this point, and with BB being LAG, I want to see if he's going to fire with an Ax, so I'll have an easy decision to make.

Ok BB doesn't fire, so we move on...

(2) I wouldn't like this flop very much if it were me...granted we've got a KHFD, but the K is on the board, not in our hand, so our hand is in danger if we decide to chase and don't hit the flush.

(3) That being said, I'd make a small feeler bet to see where we stand...so (b) about $1.20, feels comfortable to me at this point.

(4) BB checks...we're being given a golden opportunity to draw for free and possibly hit our flush. I'd (a) check behind here.

(5) Well we ended up betting and got called by the LAG BB...oops...saw that coming...okay so now he checks again on the river. At this point he could either be setting up a trap since you keep betting into his checks, he could be anticipating a shove behind if you bet here, so I would (a) check behind again.

(6) I expect the BB to turn over A9os. Can't really put him on the K considering you say he's LAG and he's been checking this whole time which would not make me feel that he has the King, but the fact that he's willing to call you down gives me the impression that he may have the next best pair.

(7) Well my play would have been different than the play given, but as for the play given I think you cost yourself a lot of unneccessary money in this pot. And no, I don't expect Q-high to win LOL

[frob23]

BB is loose and passive... not LAG. I don't expect him to bet or raise here.

[liladypokerpro]

Oh okay I misread sorry I was (and still am) in the process of getting ready for work so had to skim thru fast LOL Either way I'd probably leave things the way they are for now...passive players only bet when they think they're going to win, and he's probably not sure about his pair...but he's been sure enough to call you down the whole way.

[frob23]

Alright, sometime tonight I'll post my thoughts on this hand. There's still time to jump in if you haven't.

[frob23]

Oops, sorry, I forgot to post my thoughts on this hand.

0: CO: $23.53
1: Button: $23.04
2: SB: $25.30
3: BB: $18.99
4: Hero: $21.39
5: MP1: $65.74

Hero is dealt: Q J

SB posts $0.10, BB posts $0.25,

1) What do you do?
a) fold (3 pts)
b) call $0.25 (1 pt)
c) raise to $0.75 (3 pts)
d) raise to $1.25

Obviously, since we know this is me and we know how I play this hand. I elect to raise 3xBB or $0.75. I think folding here is equally acceptable. The reason I raise here with these sorts of hands is to balance my range a little as well as provide a little bit of deception when it comes to the sorts of hands I raise UTG. Obviously, I am not looking to flop a single pair here if I get called and want to continue. I want to flop two pair, trips, or a solid draw. If I pick up the blinds, that is best of all. I also expect to be able to pick the pot up with most flops that contain an Ace.

If I am only raising the big pairs and AK here, it narrows my range a lot. Of course, not many people pay attention anyway.

Hero raises to $0.75, 2 folds, Button calls $0.75, 1 fold, BB calls $0.50

Flop: K 9 4 (Pot: $2.35)

BB checks,


2) Is this flop good or bad for your hand?

This is actually a pretty good flop for my hand. It's unlikely anyone has a King from the pre-flop action (with the exception of the BB who is very loose). On top of that, I have a gut-shot and a flush draw. I expect to be able to pick this pot up most of the time with a bet but also have some equity if I get called.

3) What do you do on this flop?
a) check
b) bet $1.20
c) bet $1.80 (3 pts)
d) bet $2.35 (2 pts)

I bet. And I believe I make a mistake here and bet too little. The $1.20 bet is not very threatening at all. Something closer to $2 would be better and maybe even a pot sized bet would just take it down right here. I expect the other two players to have nothing on this flop most of the time and the BB might have hit middle or even bottom pair.

Hero bets $1.20, Button calls $1.20, BB calls $1.20

Turn: K 9 4 2 (Pot: $5.95)

BB checks

4) Now what?
a) check (3 pts)
b) bet $3.00
c) bet $4.50
d) bet $5.95 (2 pts)

This card doesn't help us and we had two callers. And it's time to ask ourselves if we believe we can buy this pot or if we should slow down and try and see the river cheap. With one player, I think buying the pot is an attractive option and I think a bet of $5.95 would do that just fine. But with two players, both who called, I have some reservations about the possibility of having stepped into something. I think a check here might be best and I might call a smallish bet from the Button if he bets after my check.

Of course, I don't actually do that. Instead I fire off a bet of half the pot size and pick the worst option available to me.

Hero bets $3.00, 1 fold, BB calls $3.00

River: K 9 4 2 3 (Pot: $11.95)

Well, we finally got the pot heads up but the river misses us completely.

BB checks,

5)
a) check (2 pts)
b) bet $5.00
c) bet $8.00
d) bet $11.95
e) shove all-in (2 pts)

Bad decisions previously have left us with a real bad decision on the river. And I am equally split on shoving and checking. It's going to be really hard to represent that the river helped us after playing so weak during this hand. But I expect to have no hope of winning in a showdown if I just check. I hate betting any of the middle amounts because I would just be giving the money away when he raises or calls. I think there is some fold equity from shoving because he might get off a hand like middle pair. But he's also a calling station and he might just look me up.

At the moment, I was happy to just check it down and lose my $4.95 on this hand. I felt there wasn't much good throwing good money after bad.

Hero checks

6) What do you expect the BB to turn over here?

7) How do you feel about your play of this hand and do you expect Q-high to win?

I expect the BB to turn over a weak K-x type hand or a 9-x type hand most of the time. He might also have a weird drawing hand from time to time. And, he might just have Ace-high and be calling down because he hates folding.

I don't expect to win here often at all. Unless he's holding something like J-T, which is possible but not likely even with as loose as this guy has been.

SPOILER:


The BB turns over A 9 and wins the pot with his pair of 9s. This was an even uglier spot that I expected. I was drawing to 9 outs and 6 of them were not the outs I expected. I thought I had 12 outs... maybe slightly more but I don't like counting outs to second pair.

Oh well, a $5 lesson for me.