here's a hand to contimplate

[oceansize 0]

Played at a freeroll tourniment at a local gentleman's club here in the Twin Cities called Deja Vu last night. It was sponsered by a local radio station and offered a trip to Vegas for two as the first and only prize. The tourniment was only open to 64 players and the deal was first come first serve. My roommate heard about it and registered us online Monday and we found out Wednesday that we took the #50 and 51 spot. Just so you know right now, I didn't win, (game started at 8pm I made it until 9:50) but I didn't play terrible, and the view was spectacular.I didn't play terrible, except for this one hand where as maybe I did let my mind get the better of me. Not sure, that's why I'll post it here for feed back.Now, the structure was 5000 chips for everyone to start, blinds start at 25/50 and go up every 12 minutes. Five hands into the tourney I find myself in the BB with 52 offsuit. Two folds, middle player raises to 100, called to the SB who folds, I call. Mostly because blinds were about to go up and most of the time it takes more than one bet to make me fold my blind especially early (good/ bad, working for me now as a rule of thumb).Flop comes rainbow A34.I act first and check, followed by a bet of 100, a raise to 200, and the seat behind me makes it 500. I have a gut feeling that I don't want to see a board pair and if that happens this pot is as good as mine. I call, next player folds (opening bettor), mid player (that made the initial re-raise) calls, followed by folds, and we are now 3 handed.Turn brings a 4 that completes the rainbow. I have a gut feeling that I've lost this pot right here. I check, second to act checks, last big bettor bets 1000. Now if I think he is boated now a call is stupid, I just didn't have enough information to go on. Still that feeling lingered. I call, next player folds and we are in two way action.River card is a blank. I check, mostly because I'm still sitting on the post thinking that I was beat already, but unsure. He goes all in and I think about it....I declare a fold and show my cards. Most people are looking at me like I'm an idiot but the guy who took the pot was a stone cold, dropped his cards in the muck and shook his head.I folded because in a tourniment that early, I didn't have enough info to justify going all in. I think I was beat and I acted accordingly. Might have been a mistake that cost me an early lead, and it could have been distractions from cute naked girls.... I'm not sure.What do you guys think. Did I think about it too much or did I act like those goofs who want to look "cool" by showing that they folded big hands?Los

[Pokerdad2222 0]

IN a Freeroll I go broke here 100 out of 100 times if he has a boat. Blins mover every 12 minutes, you dont have much time to rack up chips so you have to play these hands...Plus if you lose, you still have a 100 pretty naked girls around you and 3 ugly ones to make you feel better

[Booyakasha 0]

you've got to get your money in - I slow play WAY less in tournies - blinds can be a big amount. I'd push with the nuts - if he calls you with a set, you're still in a pretty big lead. Make it absurdly expensive to call, if he's stupid enough to do so, he also has to be pretty lucky - especially with only one winner, take the pot down man.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'd kinda have to agree here. A freeroll at a strip club isn't exactly the place to make a big laydown. In a $200+ buy-in tournament, you might want to try it, but I think in this situation, you have to call down.

[copernicus 0]

If you arent going to play a flopped straight when there isnt even a flush possible, why are you calling a raise with 25?

[Tateisgo 0]

If you arent going to play a flopped straight when there isnt even a flush possible, why are you calling a raise with 25?

great point.You should probably stick to playing big hands if you get gun-shy with small cards. When you flop the nut straight with an A on the board, this is a great time to push.I'd raise on the flop. If not, I'd definetly raise the turn.You say you didn't have enough information to put him on a hand, but raising on the flop will help you figure out if he's got a big hand. Raising the turn will let you know if you're beat, and make your fold on the river alot easier.With the pot around 1200 that's good enough for me to try to take it down without seeing the turn/river. I'm trying to take this down on the flop early in a tournament.

[shpaget 0]

Let me get this straight.You made a terrible call with one of the worst hands in poker, preflop.And then when you make the perfect flop for it, you get scared of it?!?!?!?!? Were you playing solely to flop 555?After the guy raised to 500, if you're truly scared of trips or two pair, then find out if he has them - raise him to about 1800 (bet the pot)....Hell, I might even just put all my chips in the middle and be happy to take down the 1300 chip pot right then and there.If someone stays in and hits the boat, oh well...if you're gonna play a garbage hand, out of position, in hopes of hitting a miracle flop, then play the miracle flop when you hit it.You're more likely facing A2, A3, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, and maybe even 45 or 56...if you're up against A4, 33, AA or 44, oh well...just understand it's less likely. I think you're more likely to have chopped the pot than lost it.If you're gonna play bingo, play bingo all the way.

[Tateisgo 0]

You made a terrible call with one of the worst hands in poker, preflop.You're more likely facing A2, A3, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, and maybe even 45 or 56...if you're up against A4, 33, AA or 44, oh well...just understand it's less likely.  I think you're more likely to have chopped the pot than lost it.

It's not that horrible of a call. At the least it seems like he's 6 to 1 on his money (probably more like 8 to 1). Maybe a loose call, but not terrible.I think you can rule out AT-AK and AA here, because they probably would've raised pre-flop to eliminate players. 22-99 is a possibility but I think 66-99 might have called the second raise rather than raise to 500.A2-A5 is a strong possibility. I doubt he's got A6-A9, again because of his reraise after a bet and a raise. These might have been information bets to find real strength, but it's unlikely.If he's a really loose player, he could have 3-4 or 2-5, but without being on the small blind I doubt this is the case.

[shpaget 0]

It's not that horrible of a call. At the least it seems like he's 6 to 1 on his money (probably more like 8 to 1). Maybe a loose call, but not terrible.I think you can rule out AT-AK and AA here, because they probably would've raised pre-flop to eliminate players.  22-99 is a possibility but I think 66-99 might have called the second raise rather than raise to 500.A2-A5 is a strong possibility. I doubt he's got A6-A9, again because of his reraise after a bet and a raise. These might have been information bets to find real strength, but it's unlikely.If he's a really loose player, he could have 3-4 or 2-5, but without being on the small blind I doubt this is the case.

Against 5 random hands, 52o will win about 1 in 10, so even if he's getting 8:1, it's pretty bad.First, he's not against random hands, he's against at least a couple of playable hands. Second, he's out of position.Third, if he's scared of A34, then he'd probably be scared of 559 as well, being afraid of being outkicked by A5. Fourth, even if he catches a piece of the flop and is winning, he probably folds to any decent sized bet - with 52, would you call a bet on a board of 5QA....so you've reduced your chances of winning because you really need a huge flop - (two 5's, two 2's, or the straight). In other words, he's behind with about a 2% chance of winning.In a freeroll, it's hard to rule most anything out - those Ace hands are all possible - AK raises, and then AT and A2 call after him, for example. The button could have something like 45s.In one respect, the OP made the correct move - in No Limit Hold'em there is only one relevant question - "Am I beat?" He answered it, and acted accordingly.I just don't think he made enough moves to gather enough information to effectively answer the question, and I don't think he should have had to answer the question in the first place, because a pf fold was prudent....I'd call two bets from the button with that hand long before I call one bet from the BB.

[Tateisgo 0]

I just don't think he made enough moves to gather enough information to effectively answer the question, and I don't think he should have had to answer the question in the first place, because a pf fold was prudent....I'd call two bets from the button with that hand long before I call one bet from the BB.

I forgot this was a freeroll. You're probably right in your analysis.

[oceansize 0]

thank you for your feedback. on one end, I think the concensus agrees that given the venue and situation, there would have been no point in not calling. double up or belly up to the rail...on the other hand, I think I lasted longer because of my decision (i did beat out 34 other players including two I took off my table), and I don't care if it's a freeroll or a cash game, my goal always is to consistantly play as well as I can. playing those hands that odds aren't liking...like small that don't work together well in a bad position...blinds were small. that's all i can think to say about that. sometimes hole cards don't matter. how many hands have we all played where first bet wins?at least you know, that's what I think.thanks for your input everyone.los