Had a hand last night that I thought I played correctly but am wondering if I'm just patting myself on the back too much.
The Players:
Villain - Used to be a super loose player but was getting exploited by a few of us and has gotten rather tight pre-flop over the past few months.
Hero - Our table is quite loose in general, so I play somewhere between a nit and a TAG. I feel like this matches my rep, maybe leaning slightly towards more nitty.
The Game:
.25/.50 NLHE with 7 players
The Hand:
I'm the button with about $70 behind me, Villian is UTG+1 with about $45.
Preflop:
I get dealt A8o
Villain and CO call
I raise to $1.50
SB and Villain call
CO folds
Postflop (pot $5.50):
Flop is 8AK rainbow. I have As and 8s
Checks around to me, I raise $2, Both SB and Villain call
Turn (pot 11.50):
Turn is a 6 of the last suit, so no flush possibilities
Checks around to me, I raise $3.50, SB folds, Villain calls
River (pot 18.50)
River is a 4
Villain bets $10.25
What would you think is going on here?
Results/thoughts in the spoiler:
So thoughts on my play? I felt like I played it pretty well, but always open to feedback.
The Players:
Villain - Used to be a super loose player but was getting exploited by a few of us and has gotten rather tight pre-flop over the past few months.
Hero - Our table is quite loose in general, so I play somewhere between a nit and a TAG. I feel like this matches my rep, maybe leaning slightly towards more nitty.
The Game:
.25/.50 NLHE with 7 players
The Hand:
I'm the button with about $70 behind me, Villian is UTG+1 with about $45.
Preflop:
I get dealt A8o
Villain and CO call
I raise to $1.50
SB and Villain call
CO folds
Postflop (pot $5.50):
Flop is 8AK rainbow. I have As and 8s
Checks around to me, I raise $2, Both SB and Villain call
Turn (pot 11.50):
Turn is a 6 of the last suit, so no flush possibilities
Checks around to me, I raise $3.50, SB folds, Villain calls
River (pot 18.50)
River is a 4
Villain bets $10.25
What would you think is going on here?
Results/thoughts in the spoiler:
I call, he turns over AK for the win. I was genuinely surprised as I was pretty sure I was ahead, and definitely didn't put him on AK of all things.
So here was my thought process:
So here was my thought process:
I usually try to raise less based on my cards and more on what I think it will take to get only 1 to 2 callers. This can be hard at our table. I get what I want on this hand though.Preflop:
I get dealt A8o
Villain and CO call
I raise to $1.50
SB and Villain call
CO folds
My thinking was that if either of the other players had AA, KK, or AK, they would have raised pre-flop, especially for the Villain because he only called before my preflop raise. I also assume 88 is unlikely because I have one of the 8s. With two pair, I'm pretty sure I'm good and raise $2 to build the pot. I assume any callers caught a part of the flop, most likely A or K + a low to mid card.Postflop (pot $5.50):
Flop is 8AK rainbow. I have As and 8s
Checks around to me, I raise $2, Both SB and Villain call
The 6 doesn't change much except for an open ender if the Villain had 57s, but I can't imagine he would have called the postflop bet on a runner runner chance at a straight or a flush. Anyway, I assume I am still good and try to build the pot some more.Turn (pot 11.50):
Turn is a 6 of the last suit, so no flush possibilities
Checks around to me, I raise $3.50, SB folds, Villain calls
The 4 would complete a straight, but as I mentioned before I didn't think he would have hung around with 57s. I still think he has As + a mid or at best As and 8s like I do for a chop. I don't raise in the event he actually did have 88 and just call, only to lose to the AK I didn't see coming. I'm lucky it wasn't a huge pot, but given the way it was played, should I acutally have been betting more even though I would have ultimately lost?River (pot 18.50)
River is a 4
Villain bets $10.25
So thoughts on my play? I felt like I played it pretty well, but always open to feedback.
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