So I ran into a situation last night. I had some personal issues come up and I didn't make my money pack (very long story). But here was a situation where I was a little frustrated with myself because I knew better.
I get dealt Ad/Jh in the button. I think I limped in (I need to start saving those hand histories). The Sb folds, the BB Checks, and the UTG was already in for the one bet.
Flop comes Ah,10c,Jd. I'm looking at top to pair...and here is where it got a little weird. The first guy goes all in for about 4 bucks (about 10x the pot size). The guy behind him thinks...and calls.
I'm looking at this going...shit. Two sets? Straight?
I distinctly remember thinking...I should fold. And I thought for a few moments and realized that I was going to either fold or push, as it was half my stack to call and face a card that may not improve me.
So like the donk I was...I pushed instead of folding. Obviously, this was a bad move. The Bb has crap, and I guess was hoping that he would be able to make us fold with his "big bet". The UTG has K/Qo and I never improved.
It got me thinking about a few things, and I would like opinions please.
#1 Limping with A/Jo. Should I have raised? I don't really consider it a "premium hand". It's better than most, but I am not going to get in a raising war with it in a cash game. Especially at a level where my lunch costs more than this was worth.
#2 Two pair is a conundrum to me. It's a fairly decent hand, and in non-stright/flush situations, I will bet it all day. But in this case, I felt I was behind, and I was. How do most of you reccomend playing top two pair?
#3 Weakness. Mlinny has even said this. I play scared. This is something he has taken advantage of on more than one occasion. Obviously, I overplayed my two pair in this situation, but do you consider a middle hand like two pair to be a place to ever make a stand in a cash game? Obviously I should have folded, and I would have seen the cards in the end anyway...but would I have regretted that fold if I had built my full house somewhere along the way? I normally don't look at cards that way, there is no point in rabbit hunting as you have already folded, so your cards don't matter. Just not sure where the balance should have been.
#4 For Van, playing this .05-.10 NL is boring, but I see the point of the exercise. Would you say that these guys don't lie for the most part? Was it simply that I overthought it and should have gotten out of the way, not based on the quality of my hand, but on the fact that most of the players are going to not lie to you when they have a real hand? I find that my 1/2 pot bets, my lead out bets don't work the same. A .10 bet into a .30 pot is the same as a .15 or .20 bet into a .30 pot for these people. I'm not a really fancy player, but I noticed last night that they seem to play strictly on the cards and nothing else. It sounds obvious as I type it, but better to ask IMHO.
:spade:
