Ax Mp 6-handed

[Dhall901 0]

Playing in a 6-handed tourney. I don't remember all the details, but for numbers sake I'll make something up. Blinds 200/400 I've got 20,000 in MP. Raise 3x the big with As7s, button (18,000 chips) flat calls. SB folds, BB folds. Pot: 3000Flop comes Jh 7d 2c, I bet (1200), button calls. Pot: 5400Turn Ks, I check, button bets (4500), I call. Pot: 14400River 7h, I bet (4500), button pushes, I call. He shows 7c9c and begins to ream me from the rail. "you're terrible, blah blah, how can you raise in MP with that, yada yada". My question is...was there anything wrong with my play? With a big stack I'm raising here with A7 to steal the blinds. In a six-handed tourney I'm playing more aggressive, and I feel that A7 is a fine hand to raise here with.Possibly the key part was the play on the turn. I've got a solid read on the villian. He's a good player who I've watched aggressively take down pots without many showdowns. I feel I have the best of it on the flop, and on the turn his bet seemed like a steal attempt. When the river tripped I bet out, he pushes, I call. The only place I can see where one might have a problem is my call on the turn with two overs to my pair. I justify this by saying that basically, I felt I had the best hand with a pair of sevens; and he was trying to push me off the pot. Obviously when the river hit I was certain I had the best hand, and bet for value.Verdict?

[Tencents71 0]

The only place I can see where one might have a problem is my call on the turn with two overs to my pair. I justify this by saying that basically, I felt I had the best hand with a pair of sevens; and he was trying to push me off the pot. Obviously when the river hit I was certain I had the best hand, and bet for value.Verdict?

Did you really think you had the best hand after the turn, or are you justifying it to yourself now that you won? The reason I ask this is that we often try to justify our correct plays (to ourselves) when we're right. When we're wrong we tend to think 'that was a stupid play'. If you truly thought he was making a steal attempt and you made a great call, then I don't see any reason for you to be questioning yourself - it was a great play if that's what you were honestly thinking (that's what makes great players great). The fact that you're here asking about it though makes me think that maybe you made the call because you were 'hoping' you had the best hand rather than truly 'believing' you had the best hand.You're right though, if there is a problem with how you played the hand (forgetting that we now know the results) it would be the way you played the turn. You called a sizeable bet with two overs on the board and no quality redraw. I would be more inclined to make that same call if I was also open ended or 4 to the flush.Here's the other thing I don't like about that call. You were out of position after the river, meaning that you're pretty much committed to betting the river. If you weren't already beat, any 8,9,10,q (and possibly a deuce if he held something like A2) is a scare card for you. So when you call the turn, you commit yourself to betting at the river into a pot you might easily lose. Your opponent was already pot committed at this point, so you can't expect him to fold if he hits any of that, so your river bet is more often than not going to get shipped to your opponent.

[Dhall901 0]

Thanks for the reply. The play on the turn was indeed a "gut" play. Had I not hit the 7 on the river, I'm probably checking, and folding to my opponent's push. I'm not sure I'd have had the stones to push on the river oop with just the pair, or make the call for basically my tournament. It's hands like these that interest me, especially during online play. Playing live, it's a easier to judge the feel of the hand while your looking at the guy. Online I don't know how anyone can get reads..I simply look at the betting styles, history of shows, action level, etc.. but even then it's hard to tell, for me anyway.

[Yahkin 0]

I don't mind the PF raise, and the cbet make sense, but the turn baffles me. Did you check the turn hoping to induce a bet? If you were, then you have to believe you're ahead at that point in which case you should be reraising all in after his bet rather than flatting and giving him a free card. There's a lot we don't want to see on the river. Check raising gives us two ways to win the hand, calling only gives us one. Just calling here with a marginal hand seems a bit like spewing.

[AimHigher 0]

If you were ahead on the flop you're still ahead on the turn. A7s is a little looser than I open from MP at 6max but it's not that bad.

[potatoman 0]

I don't hate it and I've played hands like this before - but with a solid read and usually slightly deeper stacks. Regardless, when a play is very much read dependent, it's hard to get too much advice from the gallery. We don't know this opponent as well as you do, or what your table image may be. The best you can hope for is "how you should normally play this out."Some plays are so bone-headed it's hard to justify them with "I had a read" But here, I think you can.BTW - preflop is fine.