$100 NL $1/2 Blinds Party/Empire
Stacks
Me: $107.30
SB $81.85
Button: $150
I do not have good reads on either of my opponents.

Couple of limpers to me, I limp as well in LP (one off the button) with the of hearts. The button limps, SB raises the min. to $4...everyone calls.

FLOP pot:$22


Not much of a flop for me here. Everyone checks to button (including sb raiser). Button bets $5 into the $22 pot. The sb calls. Folded to me. I have some backdoor draws but not much else. I decide I can probably take this hand on the turn (I do it often on Party/Empire) and call.

TURN pot: $37


Great card for me. I'm now open-ended and have the nuts if the queen hits the river. Sb checks, I bet $25 in the $37 pot believing I will take it down as both players seem weak to me. (it's great to have a bankroll.)

Button min. raises my $25 to $50.... much to my chagrin.... and then the sb thinks and calls. yikes! Apparently I was wrong in my assesment of the situation. I go into deep-thought mode. The pot is now a total of $162. It's $25 for me to call with the nut straight draw, giving me a lil better then 5 to 1, not including the rest of our stacks. I decide that the button has two pair of trips...a straight is very unlikely since he bet the flop..and I doubt he was betting 710 or a gutshot with Q10. I'm pretty sure the intial prefop raiser has AA or KK. What else could it be?

So I call the $25 bet after a long thinking pause.

RIVER pot: $187


BOOM! I have the nuts. SB checks, I move all-in for $48.30....Button calls instantly. Sb folds.

Results-
Kennyg takes down the $280.60 pot.. $173.30 net profit.
The button shows . He had a little piece of the flop then hit the Jack on the turn for two pair. He says "that was lucky" and leaves.

Indeed, it was lucky as I hit a runner runner straight for the nuts. But I'll take it.

Question to you guys. Anyone fold the turn here? Play it differently? Any intelligent comments, negative or postive, are welcome! I just thought this was a great hand for anaylsis.

Kenny,

Now we know how you achieve those $40 an hour results!!!! RUNNER RUNNERS!

Just kidding man, nice hand. I like the way you played it except for the flat call on the flop for $5. If you thought they were weak why not take it down right then and there with a sizable raise? If you were trying to get a cheap card to improve ok, but it sounds like you were planning on a bluff on the turn if it looked like you could take it down.

I was having the same thoughts boomer when I wrote this hand. Why didn't I just raise it to $15 or $20 on the flop if I thought they were so weak? Normally that is my play.

I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I called the flop bet. It was so small it just yearned to be call and reraised on the turn lol. then when my big draw card hit...I felt like leading out was the better play. the things we do at a flip of the card!

I guess deep-down I just really wanted to suck out with a runner-runner I'm sure you've had the yearning from time to time!

I'm just waiting for Iceman's dressing down of my play on this hand lol.

Kenny, I have to admit that if you did that to me, I would be steaming and would be targeting your stack. Of course, I wouldnt have [8c] in the first place.

I never make plays like that at Party because the stacks arent big enough to make the implied odds big enough for me. At another site, maybe, but still it would a very rare occassion. I like it much better if the turn was the giving you the str8 AND flush draw.

By the way, I love the way you layed out your post. Very very easy to read.

I really don't like that play because it's not ABC poker and it scares me. You and your stupid bankroll.

But seriously, I've had a good track record at lower stakes making the call and leading at the turn -- people are psychologically too proud to fold after their bet is raised sometimes, but that factor is gone when the chips are swept into the middle and another card is dealt.

Iceman,

Are you saying you wouldn't call the turn raise here? My implied odds weren't very good because if my card hit I couldn't count on a call (even though the guy did call). However the pot was laying me 6 to 1 on a 5 to 1 draw.

You would be steaming if you were this guy with the J8.....but i'm also sure you would have moved all-in on the turn distorting any odds for the draw. I know I would have if I were him. By only raising the min. and having the the sb call.. he killed himself. Not saying my play throughout the hand was any good though

kenny --

When you are talking about the odds for your draw, are you counting the possibility that there could be a flush draw out there? You could hit a card that gives you the straight and someone else the flush, which I think actually gives you negative implied odds as well as hurting your odds to hit.

Kenny, I have my share of tricky plays up my sleeve, but this one that you made is not one of them. Calling the flop bet with the intention of taking it away at the turn is more of a tounament play. Its an advanced play for sure though. I just dont particulary like it in a cash game (with short stacks)
I wouldve folded to the turn raise and yes, I wouldve raised much more with the [8c]

Nash, I had considered the possibilty of a flush draw and could not fathom anyone holding it, the way the hand was played.

Iceman,
These kind of plays work well for me on Party/Empire. The higher blinds give them some scary moments for their $100 stacks and most of the time are not willing to call.