should I stick to tiddly winks?

So, I am baby sitting, screwing around playing NL/50 ring. I bump a $20 buy in up to about $45... and play the following two hands that leave me questioning my sanity:

JJ in the BB, 7xBB raise from MP - pretty passive table - I call, flop is AXX 2 spades. I check/fold to a smallish (1/3rd pot) bet.

I think I should have bet out here, but I didn't want to bet small and throw chips away, so I just checked.

Later (last hand), I get QQ UTG, I raise 6x to isolate and get reraised all-in by a pretty tight player. This is the first "real" (i.e., not a guy with $4.00) all-in pre-flop, so I have to respect it. I put him on AA/KK/AK, went into the tank, and figured that the best I can hope for is a coinflip, and if I want to gamble I should play craps. So I folded.

He turned over AKs... which means technically I was +EV to call. I gotta figure that SOMETIMES he is pushing with AA/KK in which case I am way behind. There are very few hands I am going to be ahead on... a very aggressive player might push with JJ or TT, but this guy has not shown any such aggressiveness.

I should emphasize that I play very llttle NL ring online (a rare home game), so I am colored by tournament play. It's this a no brainer?

If you're just calling with JJ in the BB then you're playing for set potential. Dump them when it doesn't come - good fold in my books.

For QQ ... probably good fold - if the stacks are deep enough then calling the re-raise and playing for the set is a good line.

There are times where you will get re-raised when you're holding AA/KK ... that's the time to trap or re-raise them back. Not when you're holding QQ. That said, Party has some stupid fish (like prehistoric uber dinosaur sized fish). Two days ago I raised AA UTG 4xBB and got re-raised all-in by 44.

Leave the tiddly winks alone.

mj

What was the potsize on the JJ flop?

-'rilla

Originally Posted by zenbitz

He turned over AKs... which means technically I was +EV to call. I gotta figure that SOMETIMES he is pushing with AA/KK in which case I am way behind.

I think that the fact that he is holding A-A or K-K a certain percentage of the time actually makes this a negative expectation call, so you made the correct decision. You are only getting coinflip odds a fraction of the time, and the rest of the time you're a large underdog for all his money (except in the very rare cases where he's moving in with a pair below queens, is bluffing, etc).

Well, I guess I won't have to call Dr. Soupie's Testicle Transplant Service anytime soon...

The JJ hand...

*********** # 8 **************
PokerStars Game #1480680351: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2005/04/06 - 16:44:49 (ET)
Table 'Numerowia' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: sawseech ($58.65 in chips)
Seat 2: ITman ($67.20 in chips)
Seat 3: zenbitz ($43.55 in chips)
Seat 4: Pr3ttyBoi ($17.65 in chips)
Seat 5: kokica ($25.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Kiraly ($22.90 in chips)
Seat 7: w15eguy ($42.75 in chips)
Seat 8: oxford311 ($17.55 in chips)
Seat 9: Fessor13 ($40.85 in chips)
ITman: posts small blind $0.25
zenbitz: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zenbitz [Jc Js]
Pr3ttyBoi: folds
kokica: calls $0.50
Kiraly: raises $3 to $3.50
w15eguy: folds
oxford311: folds
Fessor13: folds
sawseech: folds
ITman: folds
zenbitz: calls $3
kokica: folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 7s As]
zenbitz: checks
Kiraly: bets $3
zenbitz: folds
Kiraly collected $7.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.75 | Rake $0.35
Board [6h 7s As]
Seat 1: sawseech (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ITman (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: zenbitz (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Pr3ttyBoi folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: kokica folded before Flop
Seat 6: Kiraly collected ($7.40)
Seat 7: w15eguy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: oxford311 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Fessor13 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I think I played the QQ hand right... but I think I have to bet here.
There are a fair number of hands he's betting that are not AK/AQ. He has to be afraid of the straight and the flush draw, or maybe even afraid of AK.

It's a cash game, you're probably beat. He'll probably fold to a raise or bet.

-'rilla

I like both plays. No problems with them at all.