Texas Hold’em Poker: Did I just out think myself in this hand?
Posted by: Travis Johnston / Category: Card Club, Cash Game, StrategyFirst let me set up why I played this hand in such a non standard manner that it got me into a really confusing spot where I started second guessing myself and did not know what to do.
- I was playing against the big stack at the table, big stacks almost always bluff more than they normally would. If you take a fairly tight player like this guy was and give them a big stack they will start throwing in a some bluffs.
- He was paying perfect attention to the table and I knew he had seen me make 2 laydowns recently.
- He had seen me pick off the a sick river bluff recently.
2-5 NL game at Snoqualmie Casino, I have 300$ and BB has 1000$.
I am UTG +1 position and pick up K
Q, I min raise to 10$ and get 1 caller in late position and the BB. KQ suited kind of plays well against many or few so I mix it up and play it for different raise amounts.
Flop: Q
9
7
BB checks, I bet 20$, late position folds and BB calls.
Turn: 7
BB checks, I bet 20$ trying to make it look weak so he will put in a bluff. BB re-raises to 80$, this is perfect so I think for awhile and then make what looks like a crying call.
River: T
BB bets 100$. This is not what I was expecting at all, given the pot was $230 I was expecting him to bet between 200 – 140$. His small bet of only $100 suddenly looks like a value bet that he wants to be sure I will called. This starts me thinking.
What can I beat at this point:
- QJ
- Some 9 hands like A9, J 9, 98 suited
- A total bluff or small under pair
None of these hands seem likely except the 98 suited, I had seen him fold from the BB before so he started with a hand that had some potential.
What am I now behind:
- AQ, Q T
- Any 7 hand like 78, 67 suited
- 9 T, 99
- 6 8 or J 8 suited
Give that I had just called $80 I can not put him on making a $100 bluff at the pot as that would not be enough to get me off it. Plus given that the river was such a bad card there is now even more hands I can not beat. Since it seemed about a 40-60 situation I decided to fold. If nothing else I can use my now even weaker table image to pick off some bluffs later in the game.
Given I really wanted to know were I was in that hand I started talking to a friend at the table about how bad I had just played that and hope he would join the conversation. It takes awhile but the BB finally chimes in that he only had a 9 and was bluffing me. This makes me feel a little better as I am think he is good enough to lie to me and try to mess with my self confidence.
To me the line seems very consistent with someone that had a set or made their flush. If you have any other idea’s on what it could have been leave me a comment.
♣♥♦
Tags: Big Stack, Bluff, Poker, Snoqualmie Casino, Texas Holdem
September 15th, 2009 at 8:12 am
[...] Paradenitis wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptFirst let me set up why I played this hand in such a non standard manner that it got me into a really confusing spot where I started second guessing myself and did not know what to do.I was playing against the big stack at the table, big stacks almost always bluff more than they normally would. If you take a fairly tight player like this guy was and give them a big stack they will start throwing in a some bluffs.He was paying perfect attention to the table and I knew he had seen me make 2 laydo [...]
September 15th, 2009 at 8:57 am
what is a T card? if that’s a 10, then he could have made the straight
with this guy, i would have assumed he had the flush, and folded on his raise.. maybe he doesn’t, but he could, and that’s just another 100$ gone
he could have also had a seven giving him three of a kind
September 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I would guess JK suited (if this was the case i think he just made the straight)or 89 clubs. He takes your weak bet as a bluff and trys to get you off your hand representing a 7 hoping for the straight/flush. The flush is a more likely scenario as JK suited is a weak hand vs a raise as opposed to 89 suited. The value bet he made also makes me think 89c.