Hand Of The Day #76

Peppermill - 05.15.11 - $180 Tournament: Level 4 (100/200/50)

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I made a mistake in two separate hands. Well, here are the hands.

- I limp in Mid with QTc, and I call the 800 raise from the Button, who's an old nit. Four players see a Flop of Kd Jc 4h. I decide to take the lead, and bet 2100 with my Open-Ender. The Button quickly raises to 5000, and has 7k - 8k behind. Everyone else folds, and I give it some thought before calling the extra 2900. I'm getting some pot odds (2900 to win roughly 10500), and I'm sure he will pay me off if I hit. The Turn was [Kd Jc 4h] 9s. I check my Straight, expecting him to go All-In. Instead, he just checks. River [Kd Jc 4h 9s] Qh. Great, now I have a one-card Straight. I grab all of my 500 chips, and bet enough to put him All-In. He thinks for a little bit, and folds in disgust.

My mistake in this hand was my River bet. As I mentioned before, he's an old nit. There was very little chance he would call off all of his chips with a four card Straight on the Board. The proper bet would have been 4000 or 5000, since that's what he just put into the pot. I'm not positive that he would have called the 4000, but it's much more likely than the calling the All-In. Leaving chips on the table is just as big of a mistake as making a bad call or lousy bluff for 4000 chips. They are chips that should be in my stack, but aren't.

I could have also bet on the Turn, but I thought the 9 was much less of a scare card than the Ace would have been. Of course, if I knew the Q was coming on the River...

- A short time later, I limp in the Cutoff with 6s 5h, and call the Button raise of 600. Four players see a Flop of 6d 5s 4d. It checks around to me, and I decide to slowplay, assuming that the Button will bet. Fortunately, he obliged by betting 850. Two player called. Now I check-raised to 2850. It folds around to the Hyjack, who thinks for a bit before calling. The Turn is [6d 5s 4d] Td. Hyjack checks, and so do I. River is [6d 5s 4d Td] 7d. The Hyjack starts reaching for chips, and I fold my hand face up. He shows A8d for the Nut Flush.

My mistake in this hand was the check-raise. While the Hyjack was thinking about my check-raise, the Dealer had brought all the 850 bets into the pot. I looked at the large pile of 100's and 500's chips, and I realized that I did not raise enough. It's a common mistake for me. When I decide my raise, I just look at the bet. Raising from 850 to 2850 seems right. But if I factor the preflop action, and the two other players calling the 850, then the 2850 is just not enough.

The proper raise would have been at least 4000. But considering the Hyjack had the Nut Flush Draw and a Gutshot and an Overcard, he still may have called. He had a nice chip stack, and had me covered. So by not raising enough, I may have saved some chips, but that's result-oriented and the wrong way to look at Poker.