Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A hand to ponder and playing the rakebrain freeroll

I think I made a bad play on the .50/$1 NL cash tables early this morning and would like some feedback.

I have 5,5 in early position. I limp in. A player with a full stack ($100) completes and the big blind, who has $65, checks.
The flop comes 3,4,5 rainbow.
It's a fairly scary flop, but I am prepared to bet it.

The small blind bets $5, $2 over the pot. The big blind raises to $15.
Wow.
I have top set. I decide to call. I would like to see what he does on the turn and I would also like to see what the small blind does. He just calls.
This table, like all the others this morning, have been really tight. It's hard these days to get paid off on the weekdays, but that's another issue.
The turn is a 10 of clubs. That puts two clubs on the board. The small blind checks. I put him on a small overpair, maybe 7-7 or 6-6 would make sense as well. I'm pretty sure I have him beat.
The big blind bets nearly the pot, $40.

What do you do here? I'll tell you what I did later, as well as my (probably flawed) thoughts on the hand.




Let's hope I don't face a situation like this one at the Rakebrain blogger challenge on Full Tilt. LeCheese has been replaced by LeTune, but I'm more worried about the slew of bloggers I'll face in this Thursday at 7 p.m. (mountain time).

Prize pool will be $1000 and the game is Pot Limit HA as usual.


I also know he was looking to fill a couple spots so if you're interested you might leave a comment in the blog session.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Open limping - Mistake #1

Looking for monsters under the bed on flop - Mistake #2

The question you should ask yourself is: If you flopped a straight there, would you bet or raise?

RaisingCayne said...

Admitted cash game donkey here, so take my input with a grain of salt...

The open limp with presto does seem pretty weak. Even a small raise would've eliminated hands like 62 or 67 from villains' possible holdings. I suppose I understand the smooth call on the flop, given the heavy action in front, but there's still lots of reasons to believe you're ahead. The turn is a completely safe card for all intents & purposes, and laying down your set to the $40 bet seems a little too weak to me. I would definitely shove here. While A2, 26, and 67 are indeed possibilities, it is hard to imagine the flopped straight being willing to play the hand so aggressively as he has. and I believe villain's range contains a lot more holdings that you beat.(I.E, A5, 66, 45, 53, 34, 65, 52, 33, 44, etc.) PLUS, even in the worst case scenario, where one of the villains does have a straight here, you have a number of outs to catch up on the river as well. I shove and hope.

Curious of how it played it out, and your thoughts on the hand. Look forward to your follow up.

SirFWALGMan said...

Here is the big problem with this hand. You are in position with a pair and limp like a big pussy. It is now impossible to put anyone on any hand and you easily could be beat by a straight. If your in position with that w/ the blinds left to act RAISE. Pussy.

As for what you should do I am ok with calling or jamming. If he has a straight so be it you have 10 outs. I think your ahead enough of the time to commit your stack there.. wow though if you had just raised pre-flop you might not be facing such a hard decision.. Hmm..

Jordan said...

I think some of your commentors are a bit off.

Preflop, in EP, I don't mind the limp with 55. I'm assuming you are at a full table, so Woffle's comment that you are in position is nonsense.

Postflop, if this really is a tight table, I'd be damn concerned with the re-raiser. A small is possible, but so is 67 suited. After the re-raise, I might call, but I'd be doing so very hesitantly with the expectation that I need to hit a full house.

SirFWALGMan said...

oops sorry missed you being in EP.. lol. Actually though since you did limp maybe you do fold because your opponent could have absolutely anything. You can also gamble if you want. 10 outs on the turn is not horrible. hehe. In Late Position I do raise there though.