Help with a 2-5 NLH Bellagio hand please

goobla wrote:
> Hey Guys,
>
> I played this hand at the bellagio 2-5 NLH game and thought i played it
> pretty well - but would like some input from the other rgp'ers.
>
> Game Setup -
> Full table, mostly locals who are weak tight players. One novice who
> plays pocket pairs/big cards to the river when he is heads up in a
> hand. Can't bluff him off any hand he has decided to play. One
> crazy French dude who loves to gamble directly to my right (I chose to
> move to this seat after I saw his play). The person directly to my
> left seemed like a solid player who plays based on situations instead
> of cards that he has been dealt - he is also happy that he is to the
> French guy's left.
>
> A little more history on the French guy -
> He gambles but always takes a good gamble, meaning he isn't drawing
> slim too much. He is mostly chasing flush or straight draws. He takes
> about 85% of flops at pretty much any price if there are at least 2
> people in the pot. He opens the pot (always with a raise) with a huge
> variety of hands and opens about 70% of the time he is first in the
> pot.
>
> Okay so here's the way the hand goes down.
>
> FD (French Dude, playing about $275) is first in the pot (he is UTG+1)
> and raises to $25. Now this is a large raise for this game and the
> usual raise was between $15 and $20. A $15 bet was getting around 4-5
> callers and a $20 bet was getting around 2 callers. While a $25 bet
> was always getting no callers. I am dealt AdKd and start thinking how
> much I want to raise. I then start thinking that if I just call I will
> be able to play this pot against FD heads up anyway and I probably have
> the best hand (with good show down value). My flat call also disguises
> my hand somewhat. Confident that I have the best hand and that I can
> either keep the pot small or big depending on the flop - I just call (I
> am playing about $750).
>
> Then the guy to my left (playing about $650) makes it $100 to go and
> everyone folds to the FD who calls (no surprise).
>
> Now I start to think -
> 1) Can I fold? Yes, the re-raiser could have a big hand here AA-QQ or
> AK. JJ-TT is also a possibility. But after watching his play I felt
> like he was taking advantage of the situation and was trying to buy
> this pot. He knew no one else was calling, and probably felt like FD
> was going to fold his weak holding and me following suit. I decided
> that he was making a play and eliminated a fold as an option - and
> getting 3:1 on my money helped me make that decision. Now should I
> call or raise?
>
> 2) Can I call? My first instinct said no - that I should either
> re-raise or fold. However a re-raise of 250-300 on top would result in
> me playing a huge pot with the guy on my left and an automatic call
> with FD's remaining $175). If I Call here I can see where I stand on
> the flop.
>
> 3) Can I Raise? Of course - once I decided not to fold. However like
> I said that would result in me playing for all of my chips against the
> re-raiser, and my real goal was to try to eliminate him and play heads
> up against FD
>
> After evaluating I decided to Call and play the hand on the flop.
>
> [First question - what type of hand do you put me on in this spot]
>
> FLOP:
>
> Flop comes T 3 2 rainbow.
>
> The FD checks. I feel like this as an excellent flop for me and decide
> to see where I stand against dude to my left. I Bet $150 into the $300
> pot and the guy to my left folds immediately. At this point I am happy
> with my read of the situation and the read I made of the play he was
> trying to make. The other reason of my bet was because of the few
> draws that could be out there and had a strong feeling that FD would
> fold - unless he held a Ten.
>
> [Second Question - What type of hand do you put me on now?]
>
> Well - FD thinks for a while! Constantly saying that 'he wasn't
> worried about the original re-raiser - he knew he had AK or AQ'. After
> a while he decided to go all in - and I call the extra $25.
>
> Now my question is about my reasoning. Is it sound? Can I have added
> any extra thought processes into this? Was this hand played well or am
> I a donkey? Remember this is a cash game not a tourney when replying.
>
> I know I didn't put the conclusion of the hand - but in my mind it
> is inconsequential.
>
> Thanks!
> -Goob

IMO betting should have gone as follows:

Frenchy : 5xBB
You : 2.5 x his bet
Rock : Push or Fold (at least now you know where you stand)
Frenchy : Calls (of course)
You : If rock pushes you fold. Else, if Frenchy pushes, you
call, if not see the flop then push at the flop.

You must be willing to see 5 cards against Frenchy with your AK. You
don't want to see 5 cards against Rock. His little raise is rather
troubling to me.

--
ML

On Aug 25 2006 4:46 PM, goobla wrote:

> Yes i agree with you in most cases. However in this situation i felt
> like the ONLY bet preflop was an all-in while a flop bet could be only
> 1/2 the pot.

That's about right. However, not raising allows you to fold some winners, and
likely you'll fold more than he does since he has position. As well as the risk
of him out flopping you, which isn't really that hard if you have AK.

I think that you put too much emphasis on saving money against a big hand here.
You're going to lose a lot against those no matter what you do. And in trying to
doge AA/KK you might well lose money to TT, AQ T9s that you wouldn't have lost
had you pushed.

Also I think you put too much trust in your reads. If you're an experienced
player with thousands of hours of observation under your belt fine, but the way
I understand it that's not the case.

Anyway I don't think you're saving much money, or even any, if all your reads
are 100% correct by calling instead of jamming here.


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