Poker hand I played today:
Playing 9 handed, I raise to 70p in MP with 89d, with a call to my direct left, and a three bet to 300p by a tighter player on the button. I call, and the player to my left calls, making the pot around 1000p going to the flop. I already think the player on the button is quite strong, putting him on AK, or a big pair (10s plus).
The flop comes 7d9h10d. This is a fantastic flop for me obviously, flopping an open-ended straight flush draw with middle pair. Middle pair is most likely ahead of the player to my direct left’s range, although almost certainly behind the range of the button. However, with the equity from my monster draw, I expect to be a favourite to win this hand the vast majority of the time. I check the flop, being first to act, expecting a bet from either of the other two players. The player to my left bets around 200p, the button calls, and I check raise to 450p. The player to my left folds, and the button calls quickly. At this point, from what I’ve seen him show down with, I’m positive he has a big pair.
The turn comes a fantastic card, the 5d, making the board 7d9h10d5d. I obviously bring in the flush, and I now lead into a very substantial pot (~2100p). I bet around 700p into the button, and he calls after thinking for a while. I haven’t played with this player much, so I don’t really know his calling range here, but I know he’s seen me lose a few pots as I hadn’t been running too well on the night. I’ve also folded quite a few river bets at this point, as I had quite a few drawing hands that night that missed, so he could well be calling with an over pair kind of hand. I expect to be able to value bet the river and get a call from the over pair he is most certainly holding. However, the river is not so good.
The river is the Ad, making the board 7d9h10d5dAd. 4 diamonds on board. Not great for a low flush. This card is obviously not great for me, and so I check, as I can’t really bet for value here? He bets after my check, betting around 1500p into a pot of ~3500p. This is a weird spot. I check raised the flop, something I rarely do. At that point he should be putting me on a two pair/set kind of hand (910suited or pocket 10s for example). I could also be doing this with an over pair, so he can’t fold the flop with pretty much any of his range. However, another hand that is likely for me to have after I check raise the flop is a flush draw, or a pair with flush draw (the exact hand I have). Therefore, I expect him to at least have in his mind that I likely have a flush when I lead the turn. If I was in his position with an over pair, I would almost definitely fold to my bet on the turn, unless I also had a diamond in my hand. I remember at the time having KK with a diamond stuck in my head. The problem with his call on the turn is that there are very few good river cards for him if he doesn’t have a diamond in his hand. If he has me on a set then he’s drawing to 2 outs, and he’s drawing thin if he has me on two pair, also. However, his call makes much more sense with a diamond in his hand, as he probably thinks that any diamond will give him the winning hand. When the river hits, and it’s a fourth diamond, I think I am almost definitely behind, because it wouldn’t be smart of him to call the turn bet without a diamond in his hand. I end up folding to him, and he indeed shows an over pair, kings, but with no diamond. In my opinion, this was very strangely played by him. If any non-diamond card came on the river, I would have value bet around ~2000p and either taken the pot down with the bet, or won a lot more money from him. With his hand, he basically has to hope for a diamond, so he can try a bluff against me, or if he has me on a set, hope for one of his two outs to beat me. I’m not saying his bluff on the end was bad, as it got me to fold, and my hand was basically just a bluff catcher at the end anyway, but in my opinion his turn decision is just plain bad, and it will result in him losing a lot of money in the long run. I’m pretty new to poker – only been playing a few months – so I’m not quite sure if my logic is correct here. Should I be calling off any bet on the river no matter what, as I know a fourth diamond makes his hand a decent bluffing candidate? Should I have bet bigger on the turn? Should it have been a snap call on the end due to the small sizing of the bet in relation to the pot? Or was my play fine in general, and did I just get unlucky? I think I would normally have called that, but as I was down money on the night, but had managed to get a lot of it back, I folded. I feel like I folded just to minimize further losses as I wasn’t particularly comfortable with how much I’d lost. I know that’s bad to keep in mind, and I should treat each hand as though it was detached from previous losses, but like I said, I’m new to poker. Any insights would be great!! Thanks.
