this hand came up in a 50nl game two days ago. my river play was based on numerous past experiences in which i thought a hand was a split pot and end up not pushing in more money.
50 nl. i just sat down and posted a blind two off the button. i have a full stack. my opponent has me covered on the button.
[4h].
few limpers to me, plus button and a blind or two. 6 way pot.
$3.00 pot.
flop -
[8c][4s]. yum.
checks to me and i bet $2.50 with only the button left to act. he smooth calls. two others call. sheesh.
4 way turn.
$13 pot.
turn -
. not yum. checks to the button who bets $1. other two fold. if that's not odd i don't know what is. i call the baby bet.
heads up. $15 pot.
river
. ok, i'll take it. i lead out with an $8 bet. he raises it up to $20. i figure it's probably a split pot, but i push in. he calls instantly with
[3s].
I drag a nice $100 pot and double through on my first hand at the table.
There's been plenty of times where iv'e had a hand that seemed likely to be a split pot, and plenty of times where i've just called a river bet thinking there was no point in raising. usualy (probably 80% of the itme at limits as low as 100nl), it is a split. if i had raised in those pots, i would have just fed the rake and lost an extra buck or two. however, that 20% of the time against idiots like this, i get paid off.
For that reason alone, i've made it a standard play to keep raising on hands like this - where the only thing i can lose to is 88. for the amount of times i'll lose this pot to 88, compared to the amount of times i'll win it to 73s, i'll take my chances.
~Dustin