One Minute Mystery: The Case of the Rock and a Hard Place
We're in a six-player-max no-limit hold'em SNG, with three people left (top two cash). We're the chip leader with about 7,500.
The short-stacked button (850) folds, and the small blind (3,330) calls. We check from the big blind with Ad-Kd, trying for a bigger pot than just the blinds.
The flop: 9c-Qc-Ks.
SB bets 160, and we min-raise.
The turn: Jc.
Check, check.
The river: 3h.
SB bets 800 into the 960 pot.
What do we do?
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Christopher Cosenza is co-host of the longest running poker podcast on the planet, Ante Up! He started playing poker seriously in 2003 and his favorite players are Phil Ivey and Kenna James, though he tends to act like Phil Hellmuth if you make a bad play against him.
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This is actually a situation that comes up fairly often for me, and I usually play it the same way.
You started with a strong hand, but ended up as a middling one. It's now a bluff catcher. You can't push with it, but you do kind of want to see a showdown.
So nice check on the turn, keeping the pot small. On the river, you may have induced a bluff with your weakness, or you may have induced a bet from a flush or straight. Fine, at least you're paying them the minimum.
I call here, as it could go either way.
Oh, and you're probably not up against 2 pair, as those hands are pretty much bluff-catchers too, and I don't see people value betting with them.
Posted by: Godard | June 05, 2008 at 08:44 PM
Fold, Call, re-raise...
Top pair, top kicker, still chip leader if you lose...No fold.
Flush possibility, straight probability, only going to be called by a hand that will beat you. Do not open the betting up again...No re-raise
It's a crying call, but a call will be made.
Posted by: aces88ss | June 06, 2008 at 09:40 AM
I fold. There's no reason to call with TPTK on a stupid board like that one. I don't like not raising there, as that's what gets you into these situations in the first place. Don't make the mistake worse by calling on that board.
Posted by: pokerpeaker | June 06, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Man, you love the min-raise don't you? Do you see a pattern of how it's not helping you?
It's an easy call for me.
Posted by: bfos7215 | June 06, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Definite call. You may have induced a bluff. Looks like the SB puts you on a busted draw of some kind, and is trying to push you out.
Call made easy that you will still be chip leader if you lose this pot...
Posted by: MAB | June 07, 2008 at 07:30 PM
We minraise on a coordinated flop, then check when a scare card falls on the turn. *Of Course* he's betting out on the river. This bet seems to be sized to try and induce a fold - bigger than a value bet, but smaller than the pot just in case we do have the monster.
We have to call here, especially since we're still leading in chips regardless of the outcome - and since the real short stacked guy is getting nothing out of this.
But I also think we're going to take it down.
Posted by: Dave | June 09, 2008 at 01:24 PM
I would fold. He is the mid stack and he wants to mess with the big stack who could easily knock him out. The 160 bet on the flop looks to me as he would bet a flush draw. With checking the turn he could try to represent weakness and the large bet on the river might look like he is trying to steal but I would believe he has us beat...
Cheers
MSc
Posted by: Marcus | June 10, 2008 at 03:33 AM
I call. Looks like a desperation river bet to me. You are still in decent shape if you are wrong and pretty much lock up the SNG if you're right.
Posted by: Veener | June 11, 2008 at 11:47 PM