I've been playing full ring lately b/c I had to withdraw a lot of money to pay for tuition, plus it's a nice change of pace. It seems like a lot more interesting hands have come up at FR as oppossed to playing 6-max. Below is one of them. Good or Bad, correct or not, my thoughts follow.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP2 ($432.40)
MP3 ($470)
Hero ($400)
Button ($720.95)
SB ($199.05)
BB ($119.50)
UTG ($176.60)
UTG+1 ($598.75)
MP1 ($740.15)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7, 7.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $4, MP1 calls $4, MP2 raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero calls $8, 2 folds, BB calls $4, UTG+1 calls $4, MP1 raises to $42, MP2 calls $34, Hero calls $34, BB folds, UTG+1 folds.

Flop: ($144) 5, 2, Q (3 players)
MP1 bets $95, MP2 folds, Hero calls $95.

Turn: ($334) 4 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $170, MP1 folds.


I had been playing for almost an hour, but hadn't gotten anything going on this table. If I was practicing good table selection I should have left, but I have a complex where I think I'm better than everyone I sit down with regardless if I actually am or not.

Anyways... MP1 is a TAG, and seems pretty good at spotting weakness and exploiting it. It's obvious he is one of the few thinking players at this level. If anyone has been paying attention I've been playing fairly TAG and haven't yet shown down anything in a meaningful pot.

His limp from his position after another limper itself isn't unusual. My call with 7's is standard. What's wacky is his limp re-raise after all the other action behind him. I didn't see him limping a big PP, especially not from MP and after a limper. I really felt he was making a play trying to pick up all the dead money, as that wouldn't be all that suprising coming from him. I felt he might have a small-medium PP, but if he's indeed making a play his range is obviously much wider. I was going to call with position regardless if MP2 called or not, but the extra money in the pot made it more attractive after he did though.

The flop comes pretty dry. With my read, I had actually hoped to see more paint come, but the presence of few draws was good. Up until this point he had been consistent with following through on the flop when he had taken the lead PF, so his lead out didn't particularly scare me as I expected him to come out firing. If the same bet was made by a weaker player I'd fold with little thought. I should also add that he bet pretty quickly as if he had already made up his mind to do so. MP2 folds which is good for me. If he calls their I'm folding because I don't know how you can justify overcalling there.

So it's to me and I have 3 options. Fold: Folding is certainly a viable option, but it defeats my purpose of calling PF. I didn't hit my set, but I was barely getting the odds to do so in calling in the first place. I felt like he was making a play and his flop line is still consistent with that.

Raise: I didn't but him on a big hand, so raising could very well take down the pot. The problem is though that if he indeed has a monster I obviously have to fold if he then puts me AI.

Call: If he has a marginal hand like I suspect though, he probably won't fire again on the turn unless he happens to make his hand then. Given the flop texture, there is little chance of him making a hand if he didn't already have one. If I call and he bets big again on the turn I'm in the same position if he 3-bets a raise by me on the flop, but this way I get to see another card. A call by me also shows considerable strength. Given that I only originally just called a min-raise PF and then his re-raise he likely (and correctly) puts me on a marginal hand. Most people with marginal hands aren't going to call a large bet like this on the flop unless they improved considerably. In his eyes my line is most consistent with a small PP that hit a set.

I opted to just call and see how he reacted on the turn. I got the check I wanted from him and it opened up the door for me to try and take the pot. I thought there was a good chance I was ahead at this point, and even if I wasnt there are still hands in his range that may have me beat but still not strong enough to call a sizeable bet by me. Obviously I bet the turn and took it down. He folded pretty quickly making me think he didn't have a tough decision. After the hand he said "nice bet" and I asked him what he had, but he didn't respond.


In retrospect I probably could have bet a little less on the turn. If he doesn't have a hand or has a marginal one he's still going to be hard pressed to call even a bet that's a little smaller. It also saves me a little more if he pushed over me. A little bit smaller bet still basically commits me in his eyes and since I only started the hand with 100 BB he still wouldn't have any implied odds either.

I don't know how +EV this play was, if at all. That was my read though, and for what it's worth, I went with it.