Daily Hand Quiz

could someone please explain why there isn’t a check-raise option?

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Check raise isn’t even an option in the quiz. lol.

Leading is my preference since this board has some potential for drawing hands to come along and pay out your two pair. Our TAG image and the ace may be scary enough to hinder us here however which means check-call / check-raise could turn out to be more profitable.

Personally I would’ve raised pre-flop and lead here which is so standard for a loose-aggressive style it would be likely to get at least one call on a board like this.

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I lead 400. I think a C/R would shut down the action.

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I’d lead to protect. The two players in the pot beside hero just makes the risk of giving a free card higher. XYc and a few better Aces are all possible limping hands. A free card to two of them is bad.

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There’s no raise pre flop so no indication anyone will bet this so I’m leading 400 too to price out draws and build a pot.

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I picked lead because there was no check-raise option, but even if there had been I still lead here.
The limps before the flop make it more likely that the MPP will merely check behind if he’s on a drawing hand, especially because keeping 2 players in will better his/her odds if the MPP hits a draw. If he/she is the aggressive type, then a semi-bluff raise is just as likely as a semi-bluff bet.
Finally, I like a lead because someone might play back at you with a limped AJ, AT, A9, and A2-A5 or even something like a 98s.
If you bet and they both fold, they probably had nothing anyway.

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I assume the check-fold is meant to be c-r, so I opt for that. Agree with the staff that this is the probably the best way to create a mistake on the part of the opponents. If it is checked around, I’d lead for $350 on the turn, assuming SB checks.

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@ loki

Spot on.

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check raise. (i pressed the check-call option because c-r isnt there)

you limped and flopped a monster, let the mp player bluff at this pot. he is the only one who was not in the blinds and the ace on board means he will feel confident representing strength against the blinds going check check. at that point, a raise will shut down the action if he has nothing, or make for a big pot if he actually does have an ace. if he has nothing, you werent getting much out of this anyway, he’d probably fold against a lead. plus, like staff said, maybe the sb gets frisky, thinking he can take this away from mp if hes stealing.

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Guys, take a look at the last hand quiz. I have a follow up question:

If you throw out a lead bluff when the 2 turns and get a caller behind, what’s your plan for the river?

Thanks

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Lead,

This is where an aggressive image pays off. Since we are in the BB, we could have hit the 6, the 8, have a draw, or the A… or flopped 2 pair (with that being the least likely of the possibilities). It will look like a typical steal attempt from an aggressive, but since we didn’t raise preflop and our check was in position, the A will be less intimidating as many A combinations are cut out due to our not raising preflop vs the limpers.

Conversely, we need to define ourselves as the aggressor now to look on the steal as opposed to trappy so we get paid if D limped in with AJ or AQ or either of them have a draw.

I lead 50% to 75% pot here.

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I voted lead here. If you check and limper checks behind, you can’t build a pot. If they didn’t catch a piece, at this level in this stage, I don’t think you’re going to have a bluff run enough times to make the check more profitable.

Of course, I almost always lead, and sometimes get floated, sometimes get folds. I like to lead so that I can learn when people will play back at me. Nice to lead the monsters so when they do play back, and you 3-bet people see you’re betting the near-nuts. Makes those steals easier down the road…

Check raise folds out bluffs after one bet, and check-calls shut down bluffers most times anyway.

If limper is playing AT suited or even A2 suited, he’s looking you up. Even if he’s on KQ, he might float a small bet thinking that if you had an ace in the BB you would have raised, so he counts his paint as outs.

He’s not holding AK or AQ here, unless he’s a total donk. You don’t limp those hands in middle position. He might have a small-mid pocket pair, in which case he might bet if we check, but when we call, he has to shut down and play for pot control. If he raises, he suddenly need to be concerned about him having 88, or sicker yet, A8 (a situation I had just last night in a 27-man that busted me – I had A4 in the BB, and checked with UTG limping and SB completing, and when I hit the two pair A45 flop, I got raised, and I shoved and got called, only to see UTG had A5off – sick)

Yet I digress…

Bottom line, you can argue for a check-call, but you aren’t likely to induce much of a bluff on an ace-high board on a limped pot, IMHO. But you would get action from small/medium pockets, other small aces, and even suited broadway as long as the price is low enough. I lead for 1/3 – 1/2 pot and see what happens.

The good news is that if they both fold to a 40%-pot bet, then I know I can lead out in the future.

If KQs calls me on the flop, and pairs the turn or river to get to showdown, I know NOT to lead dry flops to steal, but rather to play for value.

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@ McCowish

You’re spot on and i agree 100% w/ your reasoning, but your original justification is a bit off. We do not have an aggressive image, we’re TAG…which simply means we’re good…its not like we’re LAG.

But aside from that, great analysis.

PS. I adhere to the simple theory that you can’t win a big pot if you’re not building it. That is, you need to put chips in the middle before u can take down a monster. Checking (in hopes for a raise) allows the MPP to check behind and keeps the pot very small, in addition to allowing several draws to turn.

Keep it simple. Bet your hands to build a pot

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I like leading here, but staff has a point about the benefits of checking. MP betting for steal and SB shoving would of course be a wet dream, but not very likely to happen. The trouble with CR, as already mentioned above, is that it will very likely shut down all the action. So I bet 400 here and CR turn if this gets floated.

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@ catcher

I usually like the lead and check-raise on the turn to occasionally mix things up and discourage people from betting into you thinking you’ve given up… however…in this spot its hard to see what turn card you could do that with. Any opponent’s hand here that is willing to float will just check behind if they have not yet hit their draw on the turn, and if they have hit their draw you are beat. If you let them check behind on the turn then when the river comes they are only putting money in if they have you beat.

Maybe A9 would float and then play back at you without improving their hand, butI can’t think of a single other hand opponent could be holding that fits this scenario.

Leading here is good. If called and no danger card comes on the turn I’d be looking to price out further draws and take the pot on the turn.

Agree with Don on the merits of leading in general. Always lead. Getting tricky with check-raises is for changing gears and working against an established table image in my opinion.

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