When to push

Stage #253425300 Tourney ID 53236 Holdem Single Tournament No Limit $15 - 2005-11-30 15:12:46 (ET)
Table: 4410474 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 1 - HARRYB007 ($1290 in chips)
Seat 2 - ANTS777 ($1500 in chips)
Seat 3 - F22RAPTOR ($1440 in chips)
Seat 4 - BATTFIVE ($1290 in chips)
Seat 5 - STEPHENAR ($2220 in chips)
Seat 6 - TIMBERS ($1110 in chips)
Seat 7 - KICKINACE22 ($1455 in chips)
Seat 8 - FORTUNE500 ($1440 in chips)
Seat 9 - TTAMM10 ($1755 in chips)
HARRYB007 - Posts small blind $15
ANTS777 - Posts big blind $30
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to FORTUNE500 [Ad Kc]
F22RAPTOR - Calls $30
BATTFIVE - Folds
STEPHENAR - Folds
TIMBERS - Folds
KICKINACE22 - Folds
FORTUNE500 - Raises $120 to $120
TTAMM10 - Folds
HARRYB007 - Calls $105
ANTS777 - Folds
F22RAPTOR - Folds
*** FLOP *** [8s 8d Ah]
HARRYB007 - Checks
FORTUNE500 - Bets $270
HARRYB007 - Raises $540 to $540
FORTUNE500 - ???

I'm 99 percent certain he's either got a smaller Ace. or a decent PP. It's the first round, so no read to speak of. If he's got a sneaky AA or some goofy X8, then it just sucks to be me.

Do I push him here, or wait for the turn? Given that he check raised me, I think Push is the play...

It's a tough call. I think I would have a hard time laying down AK here. Me personally I push and pay him off if he called a raise with an 8.

Im betting he has QQ or KK though.

I have very little chance to be behind here. If he's got an 8, he's probably getting all my chips here. If he doesn't, when is my best chance to get all of his?

With the nice chunk of a raise pre-flop its hard to put him on x8... Chances are hes got Ax which the worst it could be if not an 8 is less then you or split... so your chances are good to push here and try and take down that nice pot

He has an ace with a worse kicker. I'm guessing AQ. PUSH

Originally Posted by Rondavu

He has an ace with a worse kicker. I'm guessing AQ. PUSH

You, my friend, are totally f'n psychic... but what suits?

What about a pair of 8's? Would he call the preflop raise with that? Seems possible. He may not have re-raised AA figuring the raise-reraise-reraise war tends to get old. His re-raise seems aggressive with just a PP...he must be putting YOU on QQ, KK...

He put on a good show with the check-raise line...would anyone consider folding? An unlikely choice...just curious.

EDIT - ah, nm I see it was AQ

88 is POSSIBLE preflop... Highly unlikely postflop, of course.

I'm definitely not folding to the checkraise here... that thought only crossed my mind for the briefest of seconds...

If you have him on a PP, I'd just cold call and see if he puts more in for ya.

If you think he has an ace, you could reraise here and he probably doesnt want to lay his down either.

I push, I think you are ahead
If he has AA, 88 or A8 I am paying him

call it and check behind on the turn, he will push the river.

He likes his hand. You're likely ahead.

Push.

If his check-raise is a bluff, you should just call and play the turn. Risk is that he spikes his kicker or hits a set (2-3 outs)

I think he folds a pp to a re-raise, and a good player could fold AQ/AJ here to an all-in.

Long story short, I think I push is fine, because you are probably getting called. I think a call is fine to, although an A is going to get you a split or kill your action. Q/J no good either. Although - if he is playing for stacks, may as well see the turn before you put your chips in!

Push the flop. Don't get cute by playing with him.

Originally Posted by Sprayed

Push the flop. Don't get cute by playing with him.

I pushed. It worked.

And Dammit, I'm already cute, like a barrel full of kittens.

Originally Posted by Aces

He likes his hand. You're likely ahead.

Push.

Absolutely, but the key is he doesn't like his hand enough to resist seeking information.

Originally Posted by Fortune 500

Originally Posted by Sprayed

Push the flop. Don't get cute by playing with him.

I pushed. It worked.

And Dammit, I'm already cute, like a barrel full of kittens.

I love kittens. My grandmother has a good recipe.

You know you're ahead here, since there are almost no hands including an 8 that people will call raises with pre-flop. The only one is 88, and that's almost impossible, since there's only one permutation of 88 left with two on the board. Not to mention that if he has 88, he's not going to check-raise; he's going to slow-play you. Why blow your opponent out of the pot with the absolute nuts?

The trick in a case like this is to figure out what your opponent is thinking. I really like his check-raise, actually. If he just bets out and you call him, he still has no idea if he's ahead with AQ of AJ. Remember, you didn't call a raise, so you may very well have AK, A8 or 98s or you just have been bluffing with 84o. Then he's stuck out of position on the turn where he has to bet again or get knocked out of the pot. He may as well check-raise. It lets him know exactly where he stands, costs the same as and is scarier than betting again on the turn. Plus, you might check the flop too, which lets him know almost for sure that he's ahead for no cost.

Originally Posted by brian1175

Im betting he has QQ or KK though.

I would think he would raise his raise preflop with that shit rather than a meek call. This is a common way of playing AQ preflop.

Nevertheless I am always terrified of those idiots who come in with K8 or something.