How Would You Play It?

[Terminator]

Normaly, when I pick up a good hand playing poker, I can work out how best to get chips into the pot, and maximise my profit. This is obviously an important part of the game, especially when playing tournament poker, as you don't play many hands, so the ones you do play, need to be as profitable as possible!
I was playing a tournament the other day, the blinds were 150/300 and I was SB with A-Q off suit. 2 players called before me, I raised, the BB called and the other 2 folded, so I was heads up. The flop was A-5-10. The turn was a Queen, and the river was another Ace.
For some reason, I really played this wrong, (or I thought I did). I checked the flop and the turn, and bet the river. I didn't get called.
How would you have played this hand?

[John Holmes' Stunt C**K]

It sounds like the other player was holding a low pair, or possibly held a King, in which case you gave him 2 cards to catch trips or a straight. At the end of the day I don't think he was going to call, or steal unless he hit, so there was nothing you could really have done.

I was dealt AA when in BB of a multi-player tournament earlier today. I was short stacked, and called all in when my turn came (my raise was less than my BB). I Thought at least someone would have called thinking i was holding a high card at most, but still no one called me.

At the end of the day, sometimes there is nothing you can do to get another player to call

[cuyber]

Personally i would have made a small bet on the flop.

[Terminator]

Yes Cuyber, as soon as I checked the flop, I thought I should have bet it, and if he called I could have checked the turn to try and give the impression that I didn't like him calling me with an ace on the board (try and suggest that I wasn't holding one). This would have worked out well, as I hit my 2nd pair on the turn, and he might have made a stab at it after my check, and I might have got a few chips out of him!
Just a bit more info.... blinds were 150/300, I made the minimum raise to 600, and I had about 3400 chips to his 6500 chips. My bet on the river which he didn't call, was 750 chips (1800 in the pot), I thought with checking it twice, and him checking back, he might think I was trying to steal, or I was perhaps holding a Queen, or a lower pocket pair. I thought he might re-raise representing the ace.... but no such luck, I played it wrong from the start.

[trustme]

i think if i had checked the flop and the other player also checked the flop i would have bet on the turn no matter what card came up. If they are going to call any bet it will be will they still have a draw possibility or another card that could give the winning hand.

Its going to be hard for someone to call a bet on the river, from an initial pot raiser, when the community cards show two aces. I dont think you played the hand wrong, your opponent probably called in the first place in the hope of a low flop with no aces and when the first came in they decided that they were behind.

[PokerWoody]

Hi Terminator,

Sorry to say that I really hate the way you played this hand. The min raise preflop with AQ OOP is not nice. God knows what hands the initial limpers had that were strong enough to call the BB but fold to a min raise when they are getting 6-1 for there money! I think you got very lucky there. I really think you need to bet this flop, it is a good flop for you but i'd still want to define my hand a bit here. Not only that but thanks to the folding limpers there is a lot of dead money out there. I'd be quite happy picking up the pot with a one pair...this is not a time to be getting tricky IMO.

How often do you CB? Were you consciously mixing it up here or did the flop worry you? What sort of read did you have on your opponent?

If you check the flop then you have got to bet the turn.

[Terminator]

I whole heartedly agree with you Woody, I played the hand terribley from the moment I looked at it! And from that point onwards, it was just a farcicle way to play it. I didn't raise too much bercause I didn't think I'd get called, and because I'd been playing hands pretty strongly up until then. When the flop came down, I knew I should have bet it, but my first instinct was to check raise, (don't ask me why, because I wasn't sure they would bet it anyway). The turn came, and I could have bet here too, but thought he might have caught something and might bet it this time, but he didn't, and when the river came..... well, I was at a total loss with what to do because because of the checking all the way to it. Basicaly, I completely ballsed it up from the start, and ballsed it up even more every time another card was turned! Embarressing really, and I hang my head in shame.......

[resigner]

In your position, first to act, and having checked the flop and turn, Id probably of checked the river as well to try to get him thinking he can steal the pot. In my book, preflop reraise followed by check check bet on the river is a definite trap and Id run a mile from it in his position.

Trap Checking the river isnt seen to much online and can be really vicious. The only way a bet on the river is getting called is if he is trapping as well, so you may as well check in the hope hes got a minor hand which looks good for a steal.....

res

[PokerWoody]

I whole heartedly agree with you Woody, I played the hand terribley from the moment I looked at it! And from that point onwards, it was just a farcicle way to play it. I didn't raise too much bercause I didn't think I'd get called, and because I'd been playing hands pretty strongly up until then. When the flop came down, I knew I should have bet it, but my first instinct was to check raise, (don't ask me why, because I wasn't sure they would bet it anyway). The turn came, and I could have bet here too, but thought he might have caught something and might bet it this time, but he didn't, and when the river came..... well, I was at a total loss with what to do because because of the checking all the way to it. Basicaly, I completely ballsed it up from the start, and ballsed it up even more every time another card was turned! Embarressing really, and I hang my head in shame.......

I wouldn't go that far mate. Sometimes it's just a case of one mistake leading to another. I acutally did something fairly similar last night. I checked the flop where I would normally bet as I play with this paricualr guy a lot and wanted to mix it up a bit. I was suprised when he checked behind and figured he wouldn't possibly check behind on the turn again. He did. I bet the river and he folded. Not the best way to get value from a hand fooshaw.

Trap Checking the river isnt seen to much online and can be really vicious.

I don't know where you play resigner but checking the river when think your opponent has missed his draw is pretty standard where I play online.

I think in this situation you will get more money from betting the river than you will from checking...I see your reasoning tho.

[resigner]

I generally only play tournies on ladbrokes or gaming club, I play for fun, not profit, though I will make money every week so I tend to play on $5, $10 and a few $20, always 5 player tables though

Ladbrokes players are either very good, or very very bad, never seem to be 'decent' players.....