Tag Archives: river

At an Online Tournament

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Hello,

Just the other night, I joined an online tournament with $10 buy in. Earlier, I was moved to a new table with approximately $7500, this was in chips. By the way, I started with $5000 and the blinds back then were at $100/200 and were moving almost twice just within 30 minutes.

I believe the room was filled with loose players as well as tight players. At some point, I was able to have pocket fives in the BB. Few minutes and middle position player, player in cutoff, and on the button limped in. SB folded and I just checked. Flop came and brought 765 rainbow, thus giving me a set of 5s. I then placed $800 bet while middle position player folded. For approximately $2200 player in cutoff moved all-in. Player on button followed for approximately $7000, that eventually had me covered. I then called though there was much risk as I was hoping the board would be a pair.

Later, player in cutoff turned over J7 unsuited while player on button had 43 unsuited. Turn and river came but were blanks and so I was busted out.

Now as I look back, I know I’ve committed couple of mistakes. I believe I should have raised pre-flop. It was an honest mistake as I believe there are too many loose and strange calls in small buy-in tournaments that actually make effective reading and bluffing not possible. I also believe that I should have considered the idea that the button had the straight or at least had a hand that had me beat. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Gifford
Gifford,

I think you played correctly preflop. Pocket fives are really not a raising hand. Raising may have thinned the field, but you said the field was a mixed bag. A raise may or may not have worked. Pocket fives are limping hand, in the hopes to flop a set.

Beyond that, I think you played the hand find. You flopped a set, bet and then the cutoff moved all in. The button flopped a near miracle hand and moved all in. You were correct to call the bets. Also remember that you had 8 outs to still win after the flop.

I would have played it the same way and probably went broke too.

Have I played the Game Properly?

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Hi,

In a recent home game I was into, a hand came up. Back then, players were divided, some were good but some were not. Blinds were 100/200, about to move to 200/400.

There was one guy who had almost the same amount of money as I do. And under the gun, I saw pocket aces and so I then made it 600 to go. Afterwards, I got three callers. Flop came and brought A-10-6 rainbow. Blinds then folded so it was again my turn to act first. I checked and so the pot then was $2400.

A player just near me then placed a min raise of $200. Eventually, player 2 called when it came to me. I then raised to $700. Player 1 called while 2 folded. Pot then was $4200. Turn came and was Q. Thinking of all the possibilities, I then opened for $1700.

Eventually, he called the bet. I then thought that draws and 2nd pair were not already possible. River then came and was a non-flush Jack. Afterwards, I placed another $2000 as my bet while he called. At showdown, he flipped over K-10 and so wins the pot because of his straight.

Now, do you think I played properly? If not, maybe you could me even a piece of advice then?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Johnston
Johnston,

I would have raised more on the flop. You didn’t raise enough to push people out of the pot. On the turn, if I bet, I’m going to bet close to the size of the pot to chase out any potential draws.

On the river, I am going to have to check there since it is clear that someone may have a straight. I am surprised you didn’t get raised.

About My Mistake

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Hey there!

In a tourney with a thousand of players, I had 12K in chips and blinds were up at 200/400. Being the first one to act, I called. By the way I had AQ then. Quite disturbing, nobody raised. There were four players keenly observing who saw the flop actually.

Flop then came and was Jd Kd Kc. Other two players checked while the other one placed 800 bet. Except from me, everyone else’s folded. Because I felt like gambling more, I called and then hit the 10 of spades thus giving me a straight. One of the other players then placed 1600 bet and then I raised to 4K. Later, he called.

River then came and was 9. He then opted to check. Afterwards, I decided to bet 1600 and so he went all in. Then I called, but I discovered he had a full house, Kings over nines and so I was busted out.

Now, I’m curious if after the turn I should have decided to go all in, considering he might not actually call pre flop with K J, and he may have with K 10. What do you think? Also, I think it was so foolish of me, though I knew he had a K, I still gave him another card that may complete his full house. However, I also thought that maybe it was not foolishness, I was just unlucky perhaps. The result would have been the same if he called all in on the turn with K9 back then.

But still I was thinking, where did I went wrong? At what point? At not raising pre flop? Or else calling his 800 bet after the flop and drawing to a hand against a tall stack?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you very much!

Lockett Zubak
Lockett,

You were in early position with A-Q. That is not necessarily a raising hand. Some do, I tend not to unless I haven’t played in a bit. On the flop, you had a gutshot straight. You really did not have proper odds to draw to the straight, but you did and hit.

After the flop, I don’t think you opponent is going to fold. He flopped a set. Since you didn’t raise, he has no reason to put you on a king, and even if he did, I still doubt he would fold.

I think that after the flop, you just got unlucky. You sucked out on the turn, and he resucked out on the river.

At a Small Tournament

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Hello,

I joined a small tournament the other night. I admit it, I was actually out first hand. I believe we started with $4,000 in chips.

At some point, there was moderate betting pre-flop that trimmed us down to three. Just an information, I sat on snowmen -pocket 8s. Flop came and was K-8-A. Then I started making trips as well as placing bets. I remember there was a guy who has been raising significantly big amount of money while the next to him re-raised all in.

Later part, I called and so as the other guy. He then showed pocket king. I followed then with my 8s. Guy had pocket rockets. All of us flopped trips back then. By the way, the turn and river were J-3.

Any thoughts with regards to the tournament?

Thanks,
Powell
Powell,

You ran into a rare situation. Sometimes you have a situation where two players flop a set, but three is pretty rare. It does happen. You saw a flop with a pair and hoped to hit a set. In most cases, this hand would have won you a lot of money. Unfortunately you were against two better hands.

The only thing that I can comment on beyond this is whether you should have been in the hand. When you say that there was moderate betting, what do you mean? Do you mean there was a raise and two callers, or were there multiple raises. If there were multiple raises, you should have gotten out the hand as you were probably behind. You were hoping to get lucky. You did, but your opponents got lucky too.

Not Sure On How They’ve Played the Game

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Monday night, I played in a multi-tourney. I believe I played a really bad hand back then. At the start, well, I was playing just right. Maybe I got a little carried away that’s why the ending was not so great for me. Just an information, the tourney started with 791 total players and I was on 149th place when it ended.

To start off, player A had 54004, player B had 35460, and player C 18562. Player E had 29195, player F 16515, and player G had 9210. Player H had 35430 and player I had 40893. The numbers are all in chips by the way.

At some point, player B was dealt Td Jh and player C folded. Players E, F, G followed and also folded. Player H then raised 1000 to 2000. Player I called 2000. Later, player A folded and player B called for 1000. Flop came and was 7h Th 3c. Player B then placed 1000 as his bet. Player H raised 5999 to 6999 while player I folded. Player B then called. Turn came and was 7h Th 3c Tc.

Eventually, player B placed 12000 as his bet. Player H then called. River came and was 7h Th 3c Tc 4d. With 4000, player B opted to bet. Player H then raised 10331 to 14331 and was actually all-in. Player B then called.

When showdown came, player H had Ts 7s, a full house, Tens full of Sevens while player B had Td Jh, three of a kind, Tens. Later, player H started collecting the winnings.

Any thoughts about how players have played the game?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks!

Regards,
Nick
Nick,

Player H did a great job of extracting maximum value for his fortunate flop and turn. Player B flopped top pair and was being aggressive. Player H had flopped two pair. He raised, but when player B hit a set on the turn, all the money was going to go in. I think that if the board would not have paired the 10 on the turn, player B would have probably been bet out of the pot on the turn or river by player H. As it turned out, B bet out on the turn and H smooth called. On the river, H’s trap was sprung, and B couldn’t get away.

Showing and Seeing Hands

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Hello,

I would like to clarify some stuff.

  1. Is it true that you only have to show your hand to someone that has called or raised? I remember you once stated in one of your sections that specifically in holdem any player can see another player’s pocket cards once they’ve been mucked, but of course the requesting player has called or raised the last bet made.

  2. Yes, I remember you said that folded hand can only be seen by a player as long as he has called or raised the last bet made. However, I can remember vaguely as well that you stated that the player could see the hand as long as he called the river or even bet or raised it. Sorry, but I’m confused.

    Maybe, to make things clear, consider this:

    River was turned and eventually it was time to show. There were five players left. Player A placed a bet, player B folded, while player C haven’t acted as he was already out since the flop. Player D called and so as player E. Player A then revealed the winner. Players D and E have folded.

    Now, who gets the chance to take a look at the cards of player D? How about player E’s?

Please, I need your expertise.

Thanks!

Warm regards,
Lemire
Lemire,

  1. If the river was bet and called, then the player has the rights to see each other’s cards. If one of the players mucks their hands, then the other player may request to see the hand.
  2. Both players can see player D’s hands. The same applies to player E’s. When a bet has been called on the river, the remaining players in the hand have the rights to see each others hands.

Revealing the Losing Cards

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Hi,

At a certain tourney I was in, two players went heads-up. Later, player A decided to raise. Player B then re-raised and consequently player A called and then flipped his hand over. Though quite upset, player B accepted he lost however he didn’t revealed his hand. Player A insisted then that he’d like to see the hand as he paid for it actually, through his re-raise. As the host, I should be the one to solve the dispute. Well, personally, I believe that whenever no one went all in, it would be the obligation of the caller alone to reveal what he had. Am I correct?

Thanks!

Regards,
Knickelbein
Knickelbein,

Player A was correct. When a player calls a bet at the river, the player has the right to see their opponent’s cards, even if the opponent mucked.

Turn Card Out of Turn

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Together with some close colleagues, I play home game of no limit holdem without a house dealer; quite surprising I guess.

Well, just the other day, a problem appeared. At some point, the table was down to four players, by which included me. There were three players then in the present hand. Flop came as expected and was A-4-K. Afterwards, small and big blind checked. A raise on the button came up then. Later on, there was another Ace right before the small and big blind could actually act the dealer.

Before the game ended, we have actually confessed that we would have folded as we had the crap you typically obtain in the blinds therefore we flipped our cards over and pretty sure the bettor had K.

Any comment about what happened?

Thanks!

Best regards,
Breckeridge
Breckeridge,

What happens in this case pull back the turn and burn and turn a new turn. Then you take the old turn card, put it back in the deck, shuffle it, and then burn and turn the river.

About the Remaining Cards

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Hello,

There’s one thing I notice, in a couple of games, the remaining cards of the player are turned over and revealed by the dealer after the flop while in other games the cards are kept safe till the final betting round on the river is finished. I don’t understand why this is so? Can you please explain to me? I’m really troubled.

Hope to hear from you.

Thanks,
Voellinger
Voellinger,

In the first example, someone is all-in and only has a single caller. Both players expose their cards and the hand is dealt to the river. In the other case, there is more than one player still in the hand besides the all in player. In this case, the all-in does not show until all action is complete between the other two players.