Stuck in the middle with Top Pair, No Kicker, facing an extreme short-stack jam
Game is $2-$100 spread-limit. Blinds are $1-$2. I have $600.
HAND: Fish (stack $65) limps in EP, folds to me, I raise to $12 with Qs7s in the CO. Button calls, blinds call, Limper calls.
FLOP: QcTh4s (pot: $60, 5-ways). Everyone checks to me, I bet $15 to clear out some equities, Button (stack $600) calls, Blinds fold, EP jams all-in to $38.
Do we call or raise to the $138 maximum?
10 Replies
Call
I would check through flop 100%
Game is $2-$100 spread-limit. Blinds are $1-$2. I have $600.
HAND: Fish (stack $65) limps in EP, folds to me, I raise to $12 with Qs7s in the CO. Button calls, blinds call, Limper calls.
FLOP: QcTh4s (pot: $60, 5-ways). Everyone checks to me, I bet $15 to clear out some equities, Button (stack $600) calls, Blinds fold, EP jams all-in to $38.
Do we call or raise to the $138 maximum?
UPDATE: we did decide to raise to $138 to get heads-up versus the short-stack. Butttt……the Button calls.
TURN: QcTh4s 2d (main pot: $375, $200 on side). This is now a $50-$100 limit game. Do I bet-call, check-call, check-fold, or check-raise?
Check fold turn. He’s not gonna bluff his oesd.
Don’t iso short stack fish with hands worse than their limping range.
UPDATE: we did decide to raise to $138 to get heads-up versus the short-stack. Butttt……the Button calls.
TURN: QcTh4s 2d (main pot: $375, $200 on side). This is now a $50-$100 limit game. Do I bet-call, check-call, check-fold, or check-raise?
FINAL RESULT: We check. V bets $100. We call. I really thought the only hand he could have called the Flop with was an OESD, and while I didn’t expect him to bet that, I think he must have ONE of those OESDs enough for me to call for this price.
RIVER: QcTh4s 2d 9c (pot: $575, $400 on side). Well that really sucks. I check. He bets $100. I’m now really only beating a J9 or AJ that’s suicide-bluffing the River, but it is LLSNL and people can do stupid things in big pots and I really hate laying down top pair getting almost 7:1, so I flick in the call and see
Spoiler
KJ for the rivered straight
because that’s poker for ya.
I fold pre but that's just me (especially in a spread limit game).
I'm checking the flop 5 ways, and folding to the c/r. If we were closing the action I might call because it's only 18 dollars more, but for me it's a fold. All his queens have us smoked (he limp/called from EP preflop).
Call the fire brigade because that acrid stench is the pile of money you've set alight from the start of this hand to the finish
In all seriousness, preflop is where you dump this hand and avoid the compounding errors that follow from difficult/lose-lose postflop decisions
Building the side pot makes it more difficult to protect your hand on a blank turn or get away from top pair if need be
