A Lesson In Blinds Management
PokerStars Game #15555461553: Tournament #78735596, 310+20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/02/25 - 22:19:32 (ET)
Table '78735596 1' 10-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: imwilder22 (4770 in chips)
Seat 3: mrshmllw (6165 in chips)
Seat 4: banksshadow (2050 in chips)
Seat 9: mackdav (2015 in chips)
banksshadow: posts small blind 15
mackdav: posts big blind 30
So it has been a long day, and even though it is getting late I decide to pull up a sit-n-go. I've been keeping out of the way of the turbo double-dog ding dong donkey bliff poker (3-6o calls all-in behind three other all-in bets; the other three are all face cards; 3-6o flops a pair of threes, which win. Ding!) and picking my spots. This looks to be a very routine big blind for this tournament: either fold pre-flop, or check and fold post-flop.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mackdav [7c 2c]
Looks like it will be the former.
imwilder22: calls 30
mrshmllw: folds
banksshadow: folds
One caller gives me the option; very well, let's see the flop. I'm out of position here, so I'll probably be folding post-flop.
mackdav: checks
*** FLOP *** [8h 2s 2h]
Ding!
How much will you pay me for my set of twos?
mackdav: checks
imwilder22: bets 30
I see that 1 BB is 1 BB more than I had at the start of the hand; I'll take it. Let's see the turn.
mackdav: calls 30
*** TURN *** [8h 2s 2h] [Js]
Let's confuse him.
mackdav: bets 30
imwilder22: raises 120 to 150
The insta-call makes me think he's confused or he has a spade draw. I discount the overpair because he didn't play aggressively post-flop, and so far in this game he doesn't slow play. He is playing as if he is dominating a random hand. My set is almost definitely still ahead.
mackdav: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [8h 2s 2h Js] [2d]
Ding! Ding! Ding!
You never bet quads, so I don't.
mackdav: checks
imwilder22: bets 210
It doesn't matter what he is thinking here; maybe I've successfully confused him. Maybe he missed his spade draw and he's trying to pick up the pot with a bet on the end. Maybe he had a set that's been boated, but again I discount this because of the slow-play after the flop, a set of jacks would have been played more aggressively after the flop. Maybe he has a small pair and he is betting the two-pair, but that's not wise since I have one of the same pairs; if I have an overpair he's dead; if I have a set he's dead. As it happens, I have the quads, and he's dead.
mackdav: raises 390 to 600
imwilder22: folds
He declines to pay me; maybe I over-bet.
mackdav collected 855 from pot
I can't help it, I show him what happened.
mackdav: shows [7c 2c] (four of a kind, Deuces)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 855 | Rake 0
Board [8h 2s 2h Js 2d]
Seat 2: imwilder22 folded on the River
Seat 3: mrshmllw (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: banksshadow (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: mackdav (big blind) collected (855)
And the moral of our story?
Never let the big blind limp.
On Reflection
After thinking about this a little more, I've decided that my opponent was slow-playing a pair of Jacks. The weak bet after the flop fits with trying to push me off a random hand, since I had shown to be more than willing to throw a hand away if I had nothing; I should have raised with a overpair, or folded with no pair. The raise post-turn after the Jack hit was 5BB into a 5BB pot, which counts as an aggressive raise in my book. I was distracted by the relatively large sizes of our stacks at the time. My call of his raise on the turn, plus a raise of his river bet, tells him that I'm either on a double-dog donkey bliff (and I've gone out of my way to stay out of plays like that), or I have a major hand (ie a Deuce). Given my play thus far, he had no choice but to lay the Jacks down.