![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
You have T8s in the Big Blind (15/30, Saturday morning UK time). Nutter in MP1 (64%/23%, winning, of course) raises. Called by button (reasonable but looseish 26%-30% range pre-flop, 8% raises), Small blind and you.
Flop is 567 one of your suit. Small blind bets, which you suspect is a draw of some sort. You call. Nutter calls, Button calls.
Turn is a King (not your suit. Small blind bets, you call, nutter calls, button calls.
River is a beautiful nine, giving you the nuts. Small blind bets. Do you (a) raise or (b) call?
Later That Night
I've just had one of those utterly infuriating sessions (well, actually, I am still in it) where I went up early on, then fell back to $100 down (this is $5-$10, my nerves are wrecked) and have got back to nearly even at least four times, before being crushed back down in big pots when heavy favourite on the flop each time. The net result is that you just get more and more determined to win this session. I've been in this situation before, once for 16 hours (still my record online, thank god), through tiredness and sheer bloody-mindedness. I'm only up to 228 hands at the moment, and my excuse is that there is one loose player at the table who really must go broke eventually. As soon as he leaves, I'll pack it in. Honest, I will. Really.
Flop is 567 one of your suit. Small blind bets, which you suspect is a draw of some sort. You call. Nutter calls, Button calls.
Turn is a King (not your suit. Small blind bets, you call, nutter calls, button calls.
River is a beautiful nine, giving you the nuts. Small blind bets. Do you (a) raise or (b) call?
Later That Night
I've just had one of those utterly infuriating sessions (well, actually, I am still in it) where I went up early on, then fell back to $100 down (this is $5-$10, my nerves are wrecked) and have got back to nearly even at least four times, before being crushed back down in big pots when heavy favourite on the flop each time. The net result is that you just get more and more determined to win this session. I've been in this situation before, once for 16 hours (still my record online, thank god), through tiredness and sheer bloody-mindedness. I'm only up to 228 hands at the moment, and my excuse is that there is one loose player at the table who really must go broke eventually. As soon as he leaves, I'll pack it in. Honest, I will. Really.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-13 11:33 pm (UTC)The trouble with raising it the risk that you potentially telegraph your hand to a competent player. If they're all sufficiently smart then the risk is that you get no more value. If you call, then nutter and button are being offered 11-1 and possibly 12-1, which they may feel is good enough to stay in on. And one of them may have K-something and try a raise.
But then someone may consider a raise to be an obvious bluff, because you would be calling to keep them in if you had the goods. In which case you might extract a reraise.
So to me, as usual with these agony-of-indecision problems, it depends on what you think about the players and what you think they're thinking about you at that moment in time.
If they haven't seen me in this situation before, I think I'd toss a coin and make sure, if something similar comes up again in this session, to do the other next time.
But of course that's counter-productive, as well you know. It's all one long session and the only term that matters is the long one. God, it's easy to trot this stuff out. If only I could write it to myself and actually believe it.
it's all one long game
Date: 2005-08-14 05:39 pm (UTC)Oh, and I did end up in front, to the tune of $11.50, and I only left because all bar one of the loosey-goosies either went broke or left).
And I'm sticking to that story.
raise or call?
Date: 2005-08-15 06:19 pm (UTC)Of course, it didn't happen like that. Both the players behind me folded and player (A) showed a pair of eights. So I should have raised.
Re: raise or call?
Date: 2005-08-15 10:15 pm (UTC)Re: raise or call?
Date: 2005-08-16 05:36 am (UTC)As you say, even if I raise, nutter might well reraise (although sensible player on button would probably just flat call). This is the same principle when on the river you have a very very good hand that you know beats your opponent's merely very good hand. No need to check-raise here. Just bet, because he will raise you, so you win three bets on the river instead of two.
The call is probably only best if you have two caling stations behind you who will always put in one bet but who are quite likely to fold for two.
Re: raise or call?
Date: 2005-08-16 05:52 pm (UTC)Mainly because you are right.