One of my criticisms of Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, which I generally liked, was that the authors neglected opportunities to play Ace-high for showdown value and turned such hands into a bluff too frequently. Today I had the misfortune of having one of the authors to my immediate left in the $200 FTOPS 6-Max, but I did catch him turning Ace-high into a bluff:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP (t3970)
CO (t6725)
Button (t5075)
SB (t2240)
Hero (BB) (t6789)
UTG (t10726)
Hero’s M: 75.43
Preflop: Hero is BB with 2
, 2
UTG bets t180, 4 folds, Hero calls t120
Flop: (t390) 7
, 6, 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks
Turn: (t390) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t246, UTG raises to t645, Hero calls t399
River: (t1680) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks
Total pot: t1680
Results:
Hero had 2, 2 (two pair, sevens and twos).
UTG had Q, A (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: Hero won t1680
Brilliant hand reading. I’m a little surprised you didn’t try to bluff the river as JJ-AA are in villains range but most 8s are not. Also, playing from BB, faced with a raise to 180, you could easily be playing a lot of mid ranged suited connectors. Were you fairly confident he did not have an over pair or were you checking for pot control?
I don’t think this would be a good hand to bet out on the flop, if that’s what you’re asking. I guess you could call it pot control. I’m not ahead of his calling range, I can’t continue if called or raised, and I have virtually no equity.
I seriously doubt overpairs are in Villain’s range. I’d expect him to bet the flop almost always. If he did get here with an overpair, I don’t think he’d fold it, either.
Thanks for the comments.
I was referring more to the river play when 4 to the straight were on the board
Gotcha. My first paragraph was about flop play, but my second was re: bluffing the river.
AHHH!!!! I just had my “eurekah” moment on this hand. I understood why most mid-ranged cards were not in the villains range but it took me a while to understand why over pairs weren’t. Very well played, Mr. Brokos, and thank you for the explanation.
What was your thinking when you called the turn raise?
Villain opened from early position.
Ok. The call you make on the turn is definitely lacking in my game. How do you make that call. Was it the size of his bet or is a raise on the turn signal a steal. He could have had bottom or middle pair or nut flush draw and trying to induce a fold from top pair. The made straight is also out there. I just don’t see making a call in this spot. If you had to do it over again, do you make the same play?
It was very opponent-specific, so I wouldn’t say it’s lacking in your game. I expect that he would bet a draw on the flop and also most hands that would be considered monsters in this spot. It’s possible that he plays bottom or middle pair like this, more for protection than as a bluff I would think, but given what I know about him, I think he also plays an AQ-type hand this way for the same reason. I also didn’t expect him to fire another barrel on the river, which is a very important consideration.