What would you do? Poker hand of the Week.

[colonel1]

       Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I'm sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. You can check out my blog here http://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

The blinds are 25/50 and I limp in with             in mid position, getting one caller and the BB who checks. The flop comes:

                    

I bet $150 and get one caller. The turn card is:
                  
At this point I\'m thinking the caller is chasing the flush, I bet $300 on the turn, the river card comes:
                  
I lead out on the river with a bet of $300 as a
"stopper bet" used to prevent the other player from attempting a river bluff. I get re-raised to $800 chips.

What would you do?
Have I miss-played this hand?
What do you think the other player has?

[dirkemans]

i would guess that he hade either  a made flush from the start, or maybe something in the  range of A2, the ace maybe spades..
and either slowplaying you, in the hope  you had hit top pair or middle pair, or indeed fishing for the nut flush, to hit trips on the turn, and then float you..

i would already be pot comitted and at the current level of poker players, i would be inclined to call anyway, for the likelyhood of another bluffing fool:)
its always hard to say though, cause he could just as well be having  A 10 from the start, or K 10, and i think your play wasnt exactly good, as in  a tourney start fase, where the blinds are this small, i wouldnt play as agressive ever with that hand, on that flop..
but since you did, like i said i would probably call, although the likelihood is present that he at least holds an ace and beats you

[blueday]

What was your opponent's previous play like?

Everyone limped on the hand - no pre-flop raise which probably means someone is either "slow playing" their Ace or they have nothing at all.

I would not have called mid position with your hand for a start off but being as this is your hand.   One of them (and you don't say which one stays in) has probably hit trips with the 2.  However, the size of your stack is relevant as to whether I would say call or not.  So without knowing that information, I'm going to say fold.

blue

[blueday]

Can I ask where you got those little card pictures from colonel1.  I was thinking of asking about card pics for the poker section.

blue

[dirkemans]

http://www.jfitz.com/cards/

the botom one is for windows, should download and be useable

or here you have to download every single playcard(right click save as)

http://holdemhandanalysis.tripod.com/imagesindex.html

[Imagin.ation]

This is fabulous thread, though i am inexperienced and want to learn, i'll truely enjoy reading these gettting the understanding on how to play, also getting a feel of the excitement, with my inexperienced words and guess, i'd say he is bluffing on a flush, i guess because i would!

[lipstick_xoxos]

Great post i love this idea! Keep them coming colonel!

I don't think he had the flush. And i don't think he believed you did. Being that you limped in the hand, im going to assume he had you at a decent hand but not Ace.

I think he played it to the river hoping to draw out the ace and nailed it. Since he didnt raise preflop i am gonna guess he had a low kicker maybe the 2 that kept him in the game.

Lips

[big_deanus]

I feel like I've played this hand out many times. And 95% of the time the end result when its played out like that is that they flopped the flush.

Even though your pretty priced in, i would throw this away in a second. It's possible that someone has missed the flush and is trying to steal on the river but that will only happen in the 5% of the cases.

Hard hand not to get a little trapped in.

[colonel1]

Hi all,

Needless to say, yes I miss-played this hand. It's nice to see some interest, maybe next week I will post a hand in which I played well, lol.

Hi Blue, the sites dirkeman mentions above seem fine if you want to download the cards,
I on the other hand am lazy and used http://www.stevedawson.com/poker-hands.php, where all you do is put in the text you want and creates a code, the cards are linked from that site.

I will post why I played this hand incorrectly tommorrow,

Cheers,
Rob

[LhasaLover]

I play tournys all the time, but I'm not an aggressive player - more passive/aggressive & I LOVE flopping the flush, sitting back & catching players like you.    With that flop, I feel you misplayed the hand.  But, then, I'm not the best player.

(posted this while you were posting your answer)  I'll be interested to see your reasoning tomorrow. 

[dirkemans]

im also interested, and congrats on your sponsorship, and im even more interested in well played hands ^^

[blueday]

im also interested, and congrats on your sponsorship, and im even more interested in well played hands ^^

I'm looking forward to the results too Rob.

Although, it's good to learn from mistakes and as all poker players know, you are learning all the time, adjusting your play and changing tactics depending on who is at the table and how the game is going.

I'll take the good and the bad hands please....

blue

[wnanhee]

Another great thread which can only be seen at our forum!!!
Thank you LPB/LCB and colonel for this great chance for many of us to  see and learn!!!
I am finally all ready to learn especially for my Blue... that I can understand her games and blogs...

[colonel1]

HI y\'all

To begin with the blinds at 30/15 and limping with Q-10 suited is an ok thing to do, especially when you have a deeper starting stack i.e 3K. If someone with a big hand like AA or KK were to raise to say 120chips that\'s less then 5% of my stack, I can call and hope to out flop him.

With the flop of        my Q-10 is usually the best hand, so I lead out. After getting a call, I immediatly narrow my opponents hand range. There are 2 hands he/she is most likely to have, that is a flopped flush, or a ace or king high flush draw. Less likely but still possible is a small pair with a spade, or a similar hand to mine A-10, K-10, etc..

The turn brings  , a fairly nothing card that doesnt change anything. I lead out again with a 2/3 pot bet believing that my opponent has an A high or K high flush draw.

Up until now, all my actions are ok, perhaps overplaying my hand a little, but nothing particularly wrong.

The river hits , this is my main mistake I lead out with $300 as a stopper bet, stopper bets are useful in some instances when you want to prevent your opponent from betting the river, and to get people with missed drawing hands to fold. But in this instance I have put my opponent on an A high or K high flush draw, in which case there is a good chance I have been rivered. If my opponent has flopped a flush, which is the other possible hand I\'ve put him on then I\'m also beat.

The best thing to do in this situation would be to check-fold, or check-call.

My opponent then raises me to $800 chips. The only hand I can beat now is a small pair, or a king high flush draw, which seem very unlikely now. If my opponent had A high he has now hit, but it is most likely he would\'nt raise me on the river, I would just get a flat call. The only hand really left is a flopped flush, and I had been milked all the way.

If I had check called, it would have cost me about the same as the stopper bet, and at least I get to see my opponents cards. Convinced my opponent has the flush, having eliminated all other possibilities, I fold.

Cheers everyone, I\'ll be posting a new hand every Monday.

Rob (aka colonel1)

[alexforth]

I think the only real mistake you maid was the betsize on the flop: 110-120 is enough.

I personally don't like block bets, they are an obvious sign of weekness and with that board and the preflop game it is obv. that you dont have top two or a flush by yourself. It is pretty easy to put you on what you actually had and figure out how to outplay your blockbet on the river with a busted flushdraw and the scarry ace on the river. However, I am pretty sure that he had you. The raise to only 800 made it look like begging for a call. Actually if you decide to make the blockbet, you can even make it smaller: sth. like 15% of the pot. 150-200 would have been enough, I think. And then you fold to a raise.

Good luck next time!

PS: I think the turn can e played in different ways, the way you did it is ok. Again - a smaller bet is often a intersting alternative. What do you think about < 1/2 pot size bets on the first 2 streets?