Sunday, July 5, 2009

pulled a nice one out...

I'm not 100% sure I can tell you my thought process here, but I won a hand with second pair on a fairly scary board.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 80/160 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (SB): 5,390
BB: 8,110

Pre-Flop: (240) A 9 dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to 320, BB calls 160
BB is one of those "nonbelievers" - he thinks every raise is a bluff so far. He hasn't folded to a raise headsup yet. He was also very "sticky" in the big blind when the table had more people.

Flop: (640) 9 Q 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 320, BB raises to 640, Hero calls 320
This minraise was uncharacteristic - I didn't trust it. I felt if he had a queen, he would have raised bigger (even shoved).

Turn: (1,920) T (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks
We both check as gutshots come in (KJ, J8).

River: (1,920) 7 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 960, BB raises to 7,150 and is All-In, Hero calls 3,470 and is All-In
Ok, he checkraise-shoves on the seven of diamonds. What's he have? He doesn't have a straight - he would have had no reason to minraise the flop with nothing but a gutshot. Pairs are protecting on the drawy board against the straight. I couldn't give him a straight, or a pair. I make the call.

Results: 10,780 Pot
Hero showed A 9 (a pair of Nines) and WON 10,780 (+5,390 NET)
BB showed 5 4 (Queen Ten high) and LOST (-5,390 NET)

If I think about it now, there are some logical hands that could fit his logic. Perhaps he minraised on the flop with TT to "see where he was at", and then checked when he hit his set on the turn. Same with QT- he minraised with a queen, weak kicker, then hit two pair on the turn. So maybe I was just lucky this time.

Or maybe my handreading skills, at a not-quite-conscious level, are actually improving.

3 comments:

Memphis MOJO said...

Congrats on the win.

If he had some nut-type hand, would he go all in or make a value bet? It prob felt to you (on some level) that he was trying to push you out.

Did you consider raising on the flop to avoid a nasty guess later?

Forrest Gump said...

3betting the flop with 2nd pair?

I like your decisions until the river. I don't think I'd value bet 2nd pair there even against a maniac - it put you in a really ugly spot. And judging by his play, it looks like you've a big enough edge to take it down risk free.

matt tag said...

Did not consider raising the flop - I consider that a pretty advanced play with 2nd pair.

The last thing that made me think "bluff" was the fact that he checkraised the river. If he had a strong hand, wouldn't he bet something to get value for it (in case I check behind)? If he had a medium hand (queen/middle kicker), could he confidently checkraise on a board with straight draws?

So you can rule out strong hands and medium hands right there.