[quote:f95164a14d="i play god"]I'm playing 1/2 in fairly EP and i get dealt JJ, the guy to my right who was my atm raises to $7, i just call to trap him[/quote:f95164a14d]
couple of things: 1) i like the call preflop, but not for the reasons you did it for. in cash games where the stacks are deep the last thing you want to do is build a big pot (i.e., reraise) with a marginal hand - which jacks certainly qualify as; especially with most of the table left to act behind you. if someone puts in a third raise then you are almost certainly beat (though you'll generally call) and if someone elects to just call then unless the flop brings a jack you're pretty much in no man's land. by just calling the raise you're allowing yourself to get away from the hand for $7. 2) You can't really say that you are trapping him at this point, as the majority of the table is left to act. it would be different were you to be in late position and this scenario were to arise with everyone folding to this player, as now there would be less of a chance of someone else playing the hand with you. but as it stands, all you've done is sandwiched yourself between a raiser and an over-caller... which isn't necessarily bad, it just doesn't really accomplish what you wanted it to.
[quote:f95164a14d="i play god"]The flop comes 567 rainbow, as always he leads out for $15, once again i just call to let him fire again.[/quote:f95164a14d]
this is where i begin to not be a fan of the play. assuming the other two callers were not in the blinds, then we're looking at a pot of basically $30. how much did you expect to win with this hand? that's 15% of the stack you (presumably) sat down with. not too bad. at this point just go ahead and get the hand over with. however, you seem to be completely determined to disregard the fact that this hand is not being played heads-up. let's show a little respect for the other people in the hand. suited or not, this is a very coordinated board (obviously) that almost certainly has hit someone in some way. as over-callers generally tend to have mediocre pocket pairs and suited connectors. at this point, your "ATM," should no longer be your focus in the hand, but rather the two players to your left. remember, money moves clockwise and you're now in an excellent position to prove that principle. i still think that you should raise here, but to do so cautiously. if you are reraised then i think that you can safely let it go. remember, don't play big pots with marginal hands. a good player is more willing to build their stack with 10 $20 pots rather than go for broke in one $200 pot. if you are called, then you can re-evaluate on the turn. you could even check on the turn and risk giving a free card. i know that a lot of people would cry "heresy!" at that notion, but let's say that your opponent has a pair and is open-ended, such as with 7-8. well, okay, assuming you are still ahead then he's got - at best - 13 outs (any 4, 9, 7, or 8) and is about a 7:3 underdog with one card to come. as the player with jacks, i can think of worse situations to be in. last i checked, being nearly a 3:1 underdog classified you as dominated.
[quote:f95164a14d="i play god"]The plan goes wrong when the next person after me re-raises to $100[/quote:f95164a14d]
it's very easy for a plan to go wrong when it was rather flawed to begin with. (and i say that in my most constructive criticism voice possible.) hands very rarely play out the way you want them to, [i:f95164a14d]especially[/i:f95164a14d] when there are six or seven players left to act after you. if you're going to try and trap someone then you have to wait for the right situation moreso than the right hand. and it's debatable if jacks are, in fact, that hand. anyway, let it go to the $100 raise. you're either screwed or not a big enough of a favorite to risk your whole stack. console yourself in the fact that you "only" lost $22 with an overpair to the board.
