A Hand From Last Night...You Make The Call

[Tim McKernan]

The pocket Aces laydown at the WSOP has been analyzed ad nauseum...as has the set of 4's vs. 58o.

Here's a new one...

...and I'll throw it out there without letting you know the result:

Playing in a $1/$2 NLHE cash game.

Late position player is first to act. He calls.

I'm on the button with A8s. I raise it up to $6.50.

SB folds. BB raises it up to $12.50. Late position folds. I call to see the flop with the money I have in there and A8 suited...and position...it made sense to me to see a flop.

Flop comes off AdKc8c.

BB---who, according to sharkscope.com---is a big time losing player bets the size of the pot of $25.

I have 2 pair with my A8. With $175 in my stack, I reraise it to $75.

BB comes over the top all-in.

What's the next move?

You make the call...

[haus]

I would put him on AK at that point, but I suck, so who knows? What was all-in for him?

[JW]

My guess is he has two clubs for the flush draw. Do not know how much he came over the top for but if its your remaining $100, its a tough call. Hopefully you called and filled the full house.
By the way, Tim, I have enjoyed the poker columns. As you can see from my post count, I am not a big writer, but do enjoy lurking.

[saygoodbye]

I'd have put him on AK or a flush draw. Tough to call there depending on what it would have cost you to do so. If it were a tournament, I'd lay it down. Being a cash game that you can re-fund, makes it a bit closer.

[liquid2839]

I'd put him on AK or pocket K's and would lay down the A8. I've enjoyed the poker discussions as well and was rooting for you in the WSOP. Keep up the good work. When are you getting that insidestl poker tourney going?

[Solo83]

I would put him on AK at that point, but I suck, so who knows? What was all-in for him?That's a good question. Is it the remaining $100 for you? Seems like it's gotta be at LEAST AK in this situation. Also would need to factor in how he's played previously. Have you seen him re-raise preflop with anything worse than AK before? Unless it was something like only $50 more for you, or I'd seen him make some seriously donkish moves earlier, I'd say you're beat probably.


Gotta say, I also have enjoyed the poker discussions here.

[jwneeter]

By the way, Tim, I have enjoyed the poker columns. As you can see from my post count, I am not a big writer, but do enjoy lurking.

I've enjoyed the poker discussions as well and was rooting for you in the WSOP. Keep up the good work. When are you getting that insidestl poker tourney going?

Gotta say, I also have enjoyed the poker discussions here.

Dear God:

Please make The Cat read this thread before tomorrow morning.


Thanks a lot,

Jake

[Doug Fieselman]

I think we need more information to really evaluate this (things like stack sizes, your image, his image, etc). Without more information, I think you are beat here. If he's not a complete drooler, or a really deep thinker, his re-raise out of position indicates he's got at least a reasonbly strong hand. His re-raise was minimum and a lot of times that indicates he's got a strong hand and wants you to stay involved. It could also indicate he's weak, but I tend to give villian more credit until I get a specific read (maybe wrong, but keeps me out of trouble).

On the flop, he makes a standard CB. He would do this with the majority of the range of his holdings: AA, KK, AK, 88, AQ and maybe even with JJ or AJ, and sometimes air or a random flush draw. You raise him up and he comes over the top all-in (I'm assuming he has a full stack). That just screams "I've got a hand" to me. Without specific reads that he bluffs with air (villain's bluff a lot less than people think), I'd narrow his range down to AA, KK, AK, A with good kicker (J or Q) with a flush draw. You are behind a lot of his range. Using this range, I ran pokerstove and that range gives you an equity of only 23% (meaning against that range of hands, you can expect to win only 23% of the time).

So to summarize, I would fold and wait for a better spot. Although in the heat of the moment I fist-pump-call, and then kick my dog when he turns over his AK/AA/KK.

Another line to consider is to float the flop bet for pot control, re-evaluate on the turn, and maybe try to get to showdown cheaply. Two pair isn't as strong as a hand as you might think, especially on that board.

Doug (poster formally known as niteswmer)

[Tim McKernan]

I had A8.

I was put all-in for my stack.

It turns out that villain had AK.

I laid it down.

I chose...wisely.

[Tim McKernan]

BTW, glad you guys have enjoyed the poker discussion.

As far as a tournament goes, we've found a way to do it, and I believe we're going to pursue it.

It won't be a cash prize, but I think we can put something together that'll be a good time.

[KPSumms]

BTW, glad you guys have enjoyed the poker discussion.

As far as a tournament goes, we've found a way to do it, and I believe we're going to pursue it.

It won't be a cash prize, but I think we can put something together that'll be a good time.


GREAT!! If there is space available, I want in. Will this be live or online? Tim - anyway to get private InsideSTL tournament on PokerStars?

[koll27]

The tourney sounds awesome. I'll be interested.

[saygoodbye]

BTW, glad you guys have enjoyed the poker discussion.

As far as a tournament goes, we've found a way to do it, and I believe we're going to pursue it.

It won't be a cash prize, but I think we can put something together that'll be a good time.

Very cool. I'm likely in as well depending on the date, buy-in, etc...

[Tim McKernan]

GREAT!! If there is space available, I want in. Will this be live or online? Tim - anyway to get private InsideSTL tournament on PokerStars?

Live.

It'll be completely optional to pay otherwise that'd be gambling...and that's not what this will be.

It'll be something like $75 or so for all you can eat and/or drink.

We'll collect points for the order of finishers.

And, we'll do it every couple of weeks or once a month.

The top 20 finishers will get to compete in a final tournament for a nice prize...which will not be cash.

That's the way that it must be done. It's illegal to play a tournament for cash, and that's not something we're interested in doing to risk the company's standing.

But, after some input from the Missouri Gaming Association and attorneys, we can proceed in the above manner.

Bottom line is I think a good number of people would come out to just hang out and drink some beer and eat some good food. I'll play in a few of them. I'll try and get Dennis Phillips over for one or two. It'll be good times.

Date TBA. But, I am interested in giving late July or early August a run.

[Goosie]

The pocket Aces laydown at the WSOP has been analyzed ad nauseum...as has the set of 4's vs. 58o.

Here's a new one...

...and I'll throw it out there without letting you know the result:

Playing in a $1/$2 NLHE cash game.

Late position player is first to act. He calls.

I'm on the button with A8s. I raise it up to $6.50.

SB folds. BB raises it up to $12.50. Late position folds. I call to see the flop with the money I have in there and A8 suited...and position...it made sense to me to see a flop.

Flop comes off AdKc8c.

BB---who, according to sharkscope.com---is a big time losing player bets the size of the pot of $25.

I have 2 pair with my A8. With $175 in my stack, I reraise it to $75.

BB comes over the top all-in.

What's the next move?

You make the call...

Without reading anyone else's responses, I would need to know how much more over the top he went. You've got $100 left. If his all-in was $30 or less, I would call, due to pot odds. Being that he is in the BB, reraised you before the flop, he has to have something pretty strong. I'll put him on one of three hands. AK, KK, or QQ. You have a 33% chance that you are leading at the flop.