Time for a quick poker lesson in how to represent a hand, courtesy of Rickib78.
a/s/l? We assume from the username late twenties, and probably male but using a cool or deliberately feminised form of Richard. PokerStars tells me he’s from Clayton, Victoria. G’day, Dick.
Representing a hand is simple, apparently. Just bet and raise wildly and then your opponent has to assume that you currently hold the best hand available with the community cards that are showing.
Here’s the example :-
Poker Stars – No Limit Hold’em Cash Game – $0.25/$0.50 Blinds – 9 Players – (LegoPoker HH Converter)
SB: $49.45
Hero (BB): $71.40
UTG: $39.95
UTG+1: $28.65
MP1: $16.90
MP2: $21.05
MP3: $34.10
CO: $48.00
BTN: $51.25
Preflop: Hero is dealt K
T
(9 Players)
UTG calls $0.50, 5 folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks
Flop: ($2) 9
K 8 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.50, UTG calls $1.50, 2 folds
Turn: ($5) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $2.50, UTG raises to $10.00, Hero calls $7.50
River: ($25) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, UTG bets all-in for $27.95, Hero folds
So I folded the best hand. He proudly showed QJo, thinking he’d pushed me off a big hand and not, in fact, the weak pair and busted draw that I had.
luckydonut said, "wow u misread ur hand"
Rickib78 said, "looool"
Rickib78 said, "did u have a straight?"
luckydonut said, "you think i folded a straight?"
luckydonut said, "lol"
Rickib78 said, "loool"
luckydonut said, "looooooool"
luckydonut said, "whats this, lol envy?"
Rickib78 said, "well i represented a flush !!!!"
luckydonut said, "you did?"
Rickib78 said, "3 spades on the table"
luckydonut said, "oh so you represented what on the turn, before you decided to represent the flush, exactly?"
Rickib78 said, "on the turn it was a straigh"
Rickib78 said, "looooooooooooool"
Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooool. I win.
But really, I don’t know what’s so funny. Clearly I have a lot to learn to take on a player who is good enough to represent a different hand on each and every betting round.
I think I should probably just fold every hand.
Thing is, he doesn’t have to represent a specific hand. Your failure to reraise the turn bet and (especially) the check on the river looks weak. At that point the pot is big enough to make any bet but all-in an automatic call, even with only top pair.
It doesn’t really matter what he was trying to represent: you clearly didn’t have either of them.
Of course the reraise on the turn tends to be the place where I lose all my money, so what the hell do I know? 🙂 🙂 🙂
I *do* think I would have bet higher than 75% with that flop though. Too many limping drawing hands.
Exactly, he represents strength but I can’t believe he holds a straight on the turn anything close to 100% of the time, and likewise for the flush on the river.
A hand that smooth calls the flop and then raises the river is usually better than one pair, so if it wasn’t for my straight draw it’s all over on the turn. I made a somewhat loose call only because a made straight almost always throws out a clever min-raise there, or checks to “trap”. However, if he does hold the straight, his reraise is actually the perfect size and I haven’t played many hands with him – he could be a very good player and I don’t know how powerful he is.
I also didn’t really consider how I would extract when I hit. A board showing 6789 or 789J will get a check behind from most two-pair and sets, so I needed to be sure he’d call $15 on the river 100% percent of the time, or his remaining $25 60% of the time. Also I need to be ahead every time I make the straight. Clearly this isn’t the case.
I think 3-betting the turn is spewage. He’s already told me that he’s beating TP4K and just because it was a bluff this time (albeit an overly elaborate and foolish one) doesn’t mean it will be very often. There’s no room for manouve with the stacks as they are and you end up committing yourself with a weak hand where you are only being called if you’re way behind.