PokerSoup Forums > Strategy > Session's First Hand: UTG 44

Session's First Hand: UTG 44

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1. • Posted by Jason M 2009-02-01 08:58:16
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   • I played a quick session at the Ocean View Card Room last night and had a pretty interesting first hand. I want to describe how I played it and see what you all might have done differently.

     The Setup

     I'm playing $1/$3 blinds with a $3-$100 betting range. Most players have somewhere between $40 and $150 in front of them. It's unlikely anybody has any reads on me and vice versa.

     The Hand

     I sit down with $100 and get dealt a hand under the gun: . I dive right in with a pot-sized raise to $10. I'm cool if you argue with this play, but my defense is Jeff told me to :) Actually, Jeff suggests it is probably not a positive expectation play alone, but helps advertise a wide range of possible starting hands, which can assist in larger pay-offs in other situations.

     In any case, it's $10 and I get a call from middle-late position and the big blind. The pot is now at $27 after the rake. The flop is and the big blind checks, so I lead out for $20, figuring (or hoping) that the player in mid-late position has some big cards and the small blind missed (or didn't the heart to bet so probably wouldn't call).

     The mid-late position player calls with little to no hesitation and the blind folds. The call seems a little weak, but I decided to proceed with caution. He could have any two broadway cards which may include a flush draw or something even stronger, like .

     The pot is at $67 and I have $70 left. I think I have the best hand. The turn is the , which gives me an open-ended straight draw. Without any hesitation I put the rest of my stack in. I had showed strength pre-flop and post-flop, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to keep the pressure on. And worst case, I was semi-bluffing.

     What do you think?

2. • Posted by FREMONTkyle 2009-02-01 19:14:19
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   • worse case scenario your up agaisnts 9T clubs i know for sure hes on a draw probablly a flush draw with overs and im pretty sure he called on the turn so what happened
     lack of hesitation when people call like that at those stakes generally mean there on some type of draw.

3. • Posted by Jason M 2009-02-03 06:54:32
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   • not a lot of action on this thread :( i guess i'll spill the beans.

     the dude called me with . he had top pair and then turned an open-ender. i'm a little (but not very) surprised he called pre-flop, more surprised he didn't raise on the flop (does he really think i'm going to stop betting if he's beat and will he really fold on the turn), but the turn call made complete sense.

     so, the river was the for the win! :p

4. • Posted by Graham 2009-02-16 20:06:29
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   • Interesting situation. I find pocket pairs with numbers hard to play, so I'm interested in your thought process. As you might guess, I would have dropped those fours faster than a shit sandwich. But then again I would have folded 87 to a pre-flop raise just as fast. That said, I like the play from an advertising perspective.

     Seems like a good flop for you. I can't imagine what the 87 was doing calling there. That's a reason to fold the fours preflop in my mind: wait a bit to figure out if this guy is a phone booth. He could have taken it down with a raise, amiright?

     The all-in doesn't sit right with me. What would a guy who calls that flop bet have? I'd have to go with FREMONTkyle and say a draw. Maybe a six... Maybe he'd call with anything.

5. • Posted by Jason M 2009-02-17 05:57:11
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   • I was out of position so I felt like a check on the turn would have resulted in a check-fold. The dude seemed like a dude who would bet that turn with anything after my check, and the stacks were too small relative to the pot to go for a check-raise. It seemed like a good semi-bluff opportunity.

6. • Posted by BayAreaBoss 2009-02-20 02:05:38
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   • Cool thread, good read. Quality feedback. Personally, this is why I find x - 100 spread limit games not the best arena to use poker skill vs luck. You often find yourself going all in early after seating down. Either you'll be up a 100 or down 100. Sort of a crap shoot game until you get that first double up. Then of course if you do get the double up, then its not as bad. Not the funnest poker for me due to the raising limitations. after a 20 dollar bet, your already down 20% of your buyin and you find yourself calling off the rest of your money just to finish off giving away your chip stack.

     Great post though.

7. • Posted by Jason M 2009-02-24 04:58:31
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   • Hmmm. I guess I wanted to bet the $20 on the flop because I felt $10 or $15 would get called by almost anything. Good point about keeping it small, and better point about check-raising the nuts to that dude later on. I probably should have bet $15 or so and then given up after he called. Who knows, he might play it snug and give me a free river card, or at least make it mathematically worth my while as far as pot odds go.

8. • Posted by Jason M 2009-02-24 04:59:08
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   • Oh, and yes, 3-100 spread limit is lame :p

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