Check my play.

I'd appreciate some input on my play this hand.
We just went ITM in one of those $4+.4 180 seat SNG on PS.

My opponent had been consistently building his chips, playing alot of hands though, with a wide variety of cards.

for this, I feared a higher full house. maybe 10's and 9's.

Should I have bet harder on the river?
bet the flop? (im figuring its a made hand, so give him some rope)
should i have been thinking he's got power cards since he met my PF raise? like A 10s or something?
should I consider my table image?

should i take a break, have a coffee, quit freakin thinking about it so much and just play some poker?



PokerStars Game #4582070826: Tournament #22838637, Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2006/04/10 - 11:36:54 (ET)
Table '22838637 12' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: LittleMan03 (6984 in chips)
Seat 2: B4s73rd (36249 in chips)
Seat 3: oldwhisky (6625 in chips)
Seat 4: lam2lar (12749 in chips)
Seat 5: kriegs (9413 in chips)
Seat 7: papu12 (20405 in chips)
Seat 8: Skintz (18925 in chips)
LittleMan03: posts the ante 50
B4s73rd: posts the ante 50
oldwhisky: posts the ante 50
lam2lar: posts the ante 50
kriegs: posts the ante 50
papu12: posts the ante 50
Skintz: posts the ante 50
LittleMan03: posts small blind 400
B4s73rd: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to B4s73rd [4h 4s]
oldwhisky: folds
lam2lar: folds
kriegs: folds
papu12: folds
Skintz: calls 800
LittleMan03: calls 400
B4s73rd: raises 1600 to 2400
Skintz: calls 1600
LittleMan03: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts Tc 4c]
B4s73rd: checks
Skintz: checks
*** TURN *** [Ts Tc 4c] [9h]
B4s73rd: bets 1600
Skintz: calls 1600
*** RIVER *** [Ts Tc 4c 9h] [7h]
B4s73rd: bets 2400
Skintz: raises 4000 to 6400
B4s73rd: calls 4000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Skintz: shows [Th Ks] (three of a kind, Tens)
B4s73rd: shows [4h 4s] (a full house, Fours full of Tens)
B4s73rd collected 21950 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21950 | Rake 0
Board [Ts Tc 4c 9h 7h]
Seat 1: LittleMan03 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: B4s73rd (big blind) showed [4h 4s] and won (21950) with a full house, Fours full of Tens
Seat 3: oldwhisky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: lam2lar folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: kriegs folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: papu12 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Skintz (button) showed [Th Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Tens

You ABSOLUTELY have to push all-in on the river, for sure. Was your initial river bet to feign weakness, or were you actually worried? I don't mind the former, but would probably have made a bigger raise or even pushed.

should i have been thinking he's got power cards since he met my PF raise? like A 10s or something?

As I am seeing it, (and I also play on PS ) You right there. Alot of the SnG's I have played in alot esp at lower buy in, are playing tight poker. If he had be agressive on the Flop I would have thought Missed Ax, or Straight maybe. The Turn bet is "safe" as I see it. 2xBB is pretty small and a straight chaser I could see going after it. I think it was safe not to reraise on river for the simple fact that since there was no straight flush out, he might be slow playing the set.

My little 2 cents worth

Put your opp on a range of hands here. I think you can safely rule out T4, so the only hands you are worried about are T7 and T9 (I guess TT is possible but doubtful). TJ-TA seem just as likely to me tho, and the possibility that he has an overpair (JJ-AA) also makes it less likely that he has you beat here. Combine that with the fact that even if you double him up, you are still sitting in fine shape and if he (most likely) doubles you up, you are in killer shape to do well at the FT where all the real money is at, and I think you have to push that river.

Originally Posted by B4s73rd

I'd appreciate some input on my play this hand.
We just went ITM in one of those $4+.4 180 seat SNG on PS.

My opponent had been consistently building his chips, playing alot of hands though, with a wide variety of cards.

for this, I feared a higher full house. maybe 10's and 9's.

Should I have bet harder on the river?
bet the flop? (im figuring its a made hand, so give him some rope)
should i have been thinking he's got power cards since he met my PF raise? like A 10s or something?
should I consider my table image?

I'd have bet the flop a little here. If he's not gonna pay, he's probably not gonna pay ever. You think he might get a "good card" on the turn to bet, but he might also get a scarecard there which causes him to fold. I'd just build a pot there, with say 1/2 pot bet. And push all-in on the river. There are a lot of hands that will give him confidence on that board and you have most of them beat, so fire away.

Originally Posted by jackvance

I'd have bet the flop a little here. If he's not gonna pay, he's probably not gonna pay ever. You think he might get a "good card" on the turn to bet, but he might also get a scarecard there which causes him to fold. I'd just build a pot there, with say 1/2 pot bet. And push all-in on the river. There are a lot of hands that will give him confidence on that board and you have most of them beat, so fire away.

Meh - checking that flop is fine - unless it is a total fish he is unlikely to get any action by betting. If the guy happens to have a T, you will get that action on the turn anyways. But if he has a hand like QK, A8, etc. and hits one of those on the turn, you are more inclined to get something rather than nothing out of him.

If, however, you have a very loose/pot stealing image - then betting the flop is a great play.

Thanks very much for your input and insight.
I guesss it comes down to how much of a read I can rely on vs an awesome hand.

I'll throw up one more, please, and then I wont bug for a while.

PokerStars Game #4582346764: Tournament #22838637, Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (1000/2000) - 2006/04/10 - 12:30:16 (ET)
Table '22838637 4' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Summerbreese (18552 in chips)
Seat 2: relee64 (16414 in chips)
Seat 3: kriegs (5128 in chips)
Seat 4: Fluffy Orr (22788 in chips)
Seat 5: B4s73rd (49740 in chips)
Seat 6: lechatboté (62573 in chips)
Seat 7: Reebee (27741 in chips)
Seat 8: lam2lar (32350 in chips)
Seat 9: tightisright (34714 in chips)
Summerbreese: posts the ante 100
relee64: posts the ante 100
kriegs: posts the ante 100
Fluffy Orr: posts the ante 100
B4s73rd: posts the ante 100
lechatboté: posts the ante 100
Reebee: posts the ante 100
lam2lar: posts the ante 100
tightisright: posts the ante 100
B4s73rd: posts small blind 1000
lechatboté: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to B4s73rd [As Kh]
Reebee: folds
lam2lar: raises 4000 to 6000
tightisright: folds
Summerbreese: folds
relee64: folds
kriegs: folds
Fluffy Orr: folds
B4s73rd: calls 5000
lechatboté: folds
*** FLOP *** [3h Td Jd]
B4s73rd: checks
lam2lar: bets 4000
B4s73rd: calls 4000
*** TURN *** [3h Td Jd] [Qh]
B4s73rd: checks
lam2lar: bets 4000
B4s73rd: raises 8000 to 12000
lam2lar: calls 8000
*** RIVER *** [3h Td Jd Qh] [Kd]
B4s73rd: checks
lam2lar: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
B4s73rd: shows [As Kh] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
lam2lar: mucks hand
B4s73rd collected 46900 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 46900 | Rake 0
Board [3h Td Jd Qh Kd]
Seat 1: Summerbreese folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: relee64 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: kriegs folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Fluffy Orr (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: B4s73rd (small blind) showed [As Kh] and won (46900) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 6: lechatboté (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Reebee folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: lam2lar mucked [9h 9s]
Seat 9: tightisright folded before Flop (didn't bet)


1. Should i have not called, since I missed the flop?
2. My play on river. I figured he had an ace for sure. Since I assumed we were splitting the pot, should I have gone AI?

Again, your input is appreciated. Thanks.

The one time I bet the flop with full house (Kh8s, flop came,88K) two limpers folded. NO cash for me. Since then, I never bet a monster after the flop. I let them catch a card or two and think they got it. If they can beat me good but I'm not losing callers again when flopping the nuts. i'll let them think two pair or a set has me. But again only if I get the monster flop. they'll pay just never that early after a bad flop.

Hand # 2

Couple of approaches you can take - 1) Raise him preflop.
2) As played - you did fine - the only hand that beats you on the river is the flush... but here that looks possible. Few hands will call your river bet here (he might have - but that's rare), and any other hand will raise you forcing you into a crying call (hoping they just have the str8 as well and not the flush).

Originally Posted by chardrian

If, however, you have a very loose/pot stealing image - then betting the flop is a great play.

Yeah that's how I play. Sometimes you can steal pots, sometimes it backfires, and when you have something, you can build pots b/c people will be inclined to think you might just be stealing again, and wait for their few outs.

Originally Posted by jackvance

Originally Posted by chardrian

If, however, you have a very loose/pot stealing image - then betting the flop is a great play.

Yeah that's how I play. Sometimes you can steal pots, sometimes it backfires, and when you have something, you can build pots b/c people will be inclined to think you might just be stealing again, and wait for their few outs.

Just a reminder that this is a MTT not a NL ring game. You need to have a deep bankroll and a good knowledge of when to shift down in gears for the LAGG style to be successful in most online MTTs because often when you get caught you get your stack decimated.

My bad, was my 6max ring thinking. In MTTs I play like a tight prude at all times when M>5.

Yeah, thanks again for the opinions, Im not sure if Im advanced enough to worry about changing up my play too much. i think Im still working on the basics.

When it was down to four of use left, a friend of mine showed up and distracted me heavily. I donked out in third, which is shameful cause the money gets good at that point. Third was $87.

In the first hand I think its a real bad idea to raise preflop. You are out of position with a highly vulnerable hand. Just check and go for your set.

I kinda wanted to hammer back, and take the pot right there. I sensed they made weak calls. I figured if I got reraises, I'd drop it. Is there any merit with those thoughts added Renton?

Originally Posted by B4s73rd

I kinda wanted to hammer back, and take the pot right there. I sensed they made weak calls. I figured if I got reraises, I'd drop it. Is there any merit with those thoughts added Renton?

Sure there is some, but it still sucks being in a raise pot out of position.

I don't mind the preflop raise at all - I jsut would have raised more.