Luckbox Hand # 1

Culchie

On the bubble yesterday's 6 handed tourney in the fitz.

Blinds 750/1500, 4 people at our table.

Unknown (to me) Player A & B, I am SB, Rounders123 BB

Haven't been too long at the table, maybe 20 mins, but not too much messing going on, genuine hands shown on any showdown.

Rough Chip stack sizes A 30000, B 15000, me 40000, Rounders123 25000

I'm dealt Qc9c on the button.

A and B limp, I'm thinking of stealing, have a glance at Rounders123, and I think better of it, I think he has a hand, so just make up the BB, half expecting a raise, it didn't happen.... so 6000 in pot

Flop comes Kc 5c Qs ... so second pair with a nice flush draw, not too bad.

I'm now first to act, I bet 5000, hopefully as it's bubble time, no-one has the King, if they do, I can expect a re-raise and that will be the end of that, no-one is going to get too jiggy now.

Rounders123 calls my bet, the other two fold .... pot 16000. I put Rounders on a King, maybe with a 10 or J kicker, or maybe 10 J

Turn is Kh ... oh oh. I check, and would like to hear Rounders123 say "check", but he bets out 5000 into the 16000 pot. I'm now as sure as I can be he does have that K, so I'm behind, I'm getting the odds to draw to the flush, but why would Rounders give me those odds, or is he taking a chance my check was a sign of weakness?

So 5000 to call into a 21000 pot now, it will mean I'll still have a decent stack of approx 28K left, and I figure it's worth a call...... now a 26K pot

River is another K ! Hmmm.

Board now reads Kc 5c Qs Kh Ks .. I have a full house Kings over Queens.

I'm alot happier seeing that river K obviously, but still happy to just check it down because of the missing King, so I check.

Edit - Aidan checks

Aidan has Pocket 5's


Lucky Culchie, that really hurt Aidan's stack, and he bubbled 5 minutes later.

Thoughts?

califano

We both checked the river there Culchie, i bet the turn but not the river as i knew i was outdrawn at that stage.

Culchie

rounders123 wrote:

We both checked the river there Culchie, i bet the turn but not the river as i knew i was outdrawn at that stage.

sound. I wasn't 100% sure aidan, will edit

ollyk1

Rounders probably should have pushed all-in preflop or at least raised to 10k to isolate. Limpers and a decent hand says push to me.

I'd have raised you on the flop to 15k. Rounders hand is good but anyone with a flush draw is getting a good price and he's close to pot committed and out of positon.

As it played out the turn bet was a bit light too. You've called 5k on the flop so I'd make you pay 10k now. Plus it might make you think your flush draw is good. It's a scary board but you've obviously got some of it. You'd probably still call and rounders still goes broke.


P.S. I was going to say the river bet is very bad but that didn't happen.

ionapaul

I would have played that hand very similarly I think, Culchie. Hate that feeling of being milked, but I have learned to only really fear milking when playing in bigger tournaments...I've often suspected the worst when playing lower buy-ins, only to discover I was ahead the whole time and my opponents just weren't betting enough to push me off holding with middle or bottom pair.

I had a semi-interesting one yesterday, simply because I had to have a good long think about what my oppenent was holding before making a decision. I had made a mistake during the 150/300 level and was back down to the starting stack of 4,000. I was then dealt Qd Qs on the button, one limper, I raised to 900, SB folded, BB (big stack) called, limper folded. The flop was A 10 3 all diamonds, BB checks, I bet 1000, he pushes. He was a good player and I didn't suspect a bluff, I was certain I was behind. With about 2.2k left, I was getting odds of around 3/1 to call. What exactly did he have? A made flush? A 10? Ax Kd? AJ or worse? or 10 10 / 3 3? A made flush with Kd or Ax Kd and I was really in trouble, almost drawing dead. I had the odds to call based on what I thought his holding was, he actually had 3 3 and with an A on the turn my flush draw was useless, I needed a Q on the river, which never came.

Lex

rounders123 wrote:

We both checked the river there Culchie, i bet the turn but not the river as i knew i was outdrawn at that stage.

What were you holding rounders123? Or did I miss it?

Culchie

Lex wrote:

What were you holding rounders123? Or did I miss it?

I'm a dumbwit, I deleted that when editing.

Edited again now!

Lex

I reckon you got off lightly there Culchie and got to see some cheap cards after the flop. With pocket 55s there I couldnt ask for a much better flop and I'm raising your 5k bet. The K on the turn is a scare card for the 5's all right but you put on the brakes with the check so it looks like it scared you too and I wouldnt have you on a K. Catching a set 4 handed like that is a great way to get some chips but I don't want to let you draw out on me cheaply.

Culchie

Lex wrote:

I reckon you got off lightly there Culchie and got to see some cheap cards after the flop. With pocket 55s there I couldnt ask for a much better flop and I'm raising your 5k bet. The K on the turn is a scare card for the 5's all right but you put on the brakes with the check so it looks like it scared you too and I wouldnt have you on a K. Catching a set 4 handed like that is a great way to get some chips but I don't want to let you draw out on me cheaply.

I know I got off lightly Lex, I don't think I played the hand badly, I'm just sharing my story of yesterday's tourney, that had 2 very lucky results for me, that was one of them.

My second hand, I did play badly, and I did get lucky, but will share my thought process, and am bracing myself for a backlash.

Might go for a brandy at lunchtime first.

Lex

Not saying you played the hand badly at all Culchie!!

The C Kid

I like the way that Rounders played the hand. I like the smooth call and like the turn bet.

He wants Culchie in that pot, but also wants to increase the pot if Culchie is flushing. There are only four cards that scare Rounders in that situation.

One thing that I have become obsessed with lately is trying to value my strong hands and not playing in the semi-scared defending of big hands manner which is common at the moment.

Culchie

The C Kid wrote:

I like the way that Rounders played the hand. I like the smooth call and like the turn bet.

He wants Culchie in that pot, but also wants to increase the pot as Culchie if Culchie is flushing. There are only four cards that scare Rounders in that situation.

One thing that I have become obsessed with lately is trying to value my strong hands and not playing in the semi-scared defending of big hands manner which is common at the moment.

For what it's worth, if I were Rounders123 with pocket 5's and limpers in, I would have been trying to finish this hand preflop (that's not a criticism, it's just what I would have tried to do, bearing in mind the action beforehand and the players involved, and the stage of the tournament). I think he was thinking of making such a move, but I might have changed his mind, when he seen me checking him out....so I understand his predicament.

However .... once the flop came, I think he played the hand beautifully, and although the alarm bells were going off all over the place, I just couldn't drop that hand...and pocket 5's never crossed my mind, I'd be a liar if I said they did.
He knew the price I was willing to pay, and the river was a bummer for him.

califano

Yeah i sensed you contemplating a bet from the sb and think better of it as much as you sensed i had a bit of a hand!. I rarely get excited with a pair like that so i wasnt thinking of raising especially since you completed.
People say 'should have re-raised' but i like to take a chance in the pursuit of winning more chips especially as i know because i hit a set i'll likely have the whip hand in giving the other guy headaches on the turn etc.
Like The C Kid says people in my position so often defend their big hands too protectively. Playing throughout the streets like this i get more comfortable with post flop play which is probably the hardest part of peoples game.
Even though i lost the hand i have no real regrets.
I appreciated the handshake and telling me at the time i played it well, my brain was still fuzzy at the time!.