Forgot to comeback here and write it down my results, but, no sucess... Hahahah. Lost in 3hrs.
ATs x 77.
I raise 3bb
Dude calls.
Flop: A, J, 7.
I check, dude check
Turn: T
I check, dude pot, I 3bet, dude calls.
River: 4.
I check, bro shove. I thought I had him on 2 pairs, call.
RIP, bad play by myself, but... It was a fun ride hahahah
In these types of games, a shove is not usually a desperate attempt to steal a pot, but usually a show of significant strenth...typically a hidden set, a high-straight or a nut flush...
You didn't indicate your stack size or the effective stack size. That's pretty significant in this example.
If you were down to < 10BB, I wouldn't hate the call. If you had 50BB left, you through away the game on a pair with several better kickers.
Range on Range, this was a fold.
RAise. CAll. He could have anything (non-polarised range).
Flop checks: he could still have anything (non-polarised range)
Turn: Dude pots. (Could be a steal, or strong hand). You three-bet to test this. He calls. Yes. he has a strong hand. 77, JJ, TT, AJ, AT, A7...
River: Your Raise. Check. Raise. Check pattern appears to villain as opportunistic...but also potentially trappy.
He's probably put you on top pair, and is hoping you've hit two pairs....so he goes for the shove, hoping you'll call.
So, obviously, the final play should have been a fold...but sghould you have played the others differently?
Pre-flop raise was fine, though you didn't indicate your position or stack size....
Flop check. Yeah that's fine... you don't want to reveal hand polarity.
Turn check. I think this is the first problem. You were the aggressor and then gave up pot control, playing trappy.
If you had bet, you'd be the one calling a three bet here (getting early warning of their strength.)
In any case, you didn't -- he pots. You indicated you thought he had two pair... if so...which two pair? He called the preflop...so he has *something*.
He bets the turn and calls the 3 bet? If the board is A J T 7 what two pair makes sense with the previous betting? AJ, AT ot JT. (i don't think it is reasonable to say he has two pairs with one pair being sevens. It just doesn't follow. So you've got a win, a loss and a chop if your gut is right.
On the river, you check. I'm ok with the check if you're preapred to fold. But if you're not folding, the check doesn't really do much for you. (I don't see the suits so cannot tell how wet the board is... )... so it is pretty clear that this guy, who will call raise twice already -- blind and turn is going to be around for the showdown...but he doesn't really want your two par to turn into a boat or your broadways to turn into a straight. If it wasn't a rainbow board, there is potentially also a flush draw threatening the villain. His set is hidden...so he shoves. A perfectly acceptable play.
You call... which at that point, the fold was the action to take.
And here is another perspective.
There are times when two pair is strong and where two pair is weak.
Chances are, you like to play broadways, made hands and suited connectors. (Your ATs falls into two of those categories)
The problem with playing suited connectors and hitting two pair is this: You will not have a strong flush opportunity (as you've paired up)...but your opponent may. Worse still (although it did not impact this hand), is that if you are playing connectors and they hit, that means there is a straight sraw on the board too. And there is ALWAYS the risk of villain having a hidden set, no matter what your hole cards are.
this is why I have the followiung saying:
"
poker stars....The place where 'two-pair' comes to die".
So -- with two pairs, and a vollain who won't be pushed out, and a risk of a straight draw, and (maybe also a flush draw), the everlating set risk and most important the betting strategy... THIS WAS A FOLD ALL DAY.
In
freerolls and micros, you might be forgiven for the call, as lots of inexperienced players will call widely and shove top pair. In higher stakes tourney play, I tend to reel back in those hero calls, keeping the shoves for sets or better.
That said, I haven't played them lately. I've been a bit afraid / less confident as of late... so I'm keeping my 2x $109 tickets until I'm ready and will continue with the $11 power path/storm tickets (x3), trying to win a few more one-oh-nines.
(Power path is a pretty good promotional series IMO)
Cheers,
JT
