I had to laugh, I SOOOOO played this wrong! Or did I?

[low dough]

I was in a NLHE freeroll at jetset, and about the 3rd hand, I am in the BB with (2 4 offsuit?)
The first 2 hands had pots of 200-400 with the blinds being 15/30.
3 limpers, and SB completes, I just check to see the flop (first mistake?)
I know I should lead out in hands I want to play to isolate the field to just a few players.

Flop brings , I checked, and It check thru ( second mistake?)
I have played some of these people before, and have seen them slow play sets and 2 pair to the turn, so I am sure I am beaten.

Turn brings , I check , one person just folds(?), and the rest check to me, (third mistake?)
I now have a pair, but I coud be beaten by any paired card, 56o has me beat.

River brings , I check, knowing I am beat.(fourth mistake?)
and 3 checks to me,
Now I am starting to giggle, thinking I might just be against people chasing straights and flushes, and they missed, but had I bet, I risk more chips with such a small hand.

Results, everyone mucks, and I take the hand with my pair of 4s.
I laugh, and then I start thinking, that If I had shown aggression, a big reraise at any street would make me fold. (mistake #5?)

Any thoughts?

[Telemachus]

Why would you want to bet in this situation on the BB with 24 off? Especially in a freeroll tourney, where, I would imagine, you will be up against loads of lunatics, you simply don't want to get involved early doors without a monster. And, in my book, 24 aint a monster.

The only time I would be raising my BB with this in this spot would be if I was absolutely convinced my opponents were sophisticated enough to fold unless they had monsters, and that they had seen enough of me to out me on a tight table image. Neither of these apply this early in a tourney or at this level. The only the reason to raise here is for value- and you get no value for raising with crap like that.

Following from that, in my opinion, it would have been madness to try and steal a relatively small pot with 4 other people in it with nothing, especially out of position. Do not bluff these people, especially when there are so many. You will get called with junk but, in this case, their junk will be better than yours. Even when you hit your 4 on the turn, there is still no way I am betting here- think how many limpable hands would have you by the nuts- any pocket pair better than 4s, any 6, any K or J- I would be most worried that someone had limped with KQ or J10 here. You were also right not to bet on the river, where that bet would only have been called by a hand that beats you.

So, in conclusion, I think what you did was right. However, your thoughts as to how you could have played it better are, in my opinion, incorrect. You can only limp, check/fold here, and wait for a far better spot, where you have position and, hopefully, a hand.

[Felonius_Monk]

I am 90% certain this has to be a troll.

[Telemachus]

Really Monk? If so, I am gutted for having given this post some thought! Now I feel stupid...

From the way the post was written, if not the rather dubious logic, I had assumed this was genuine. I guess we will see, if he responds to being called a troll!

[Felonius_Monk]

My thinking was his comment on the flop that "he has played some of these people before and seen them slow play sets and two pair so I was sure I was beaten"... Of course he was beaten, he had 24o on a flop or overcards... Also, he suggested that he made a mistake by not raising 24o out of the blinds. I honestly don't think anyone could say something like that if this was a straight post. He also somehow miraculously goes from being on the BB to the button on the turn and river, if you read it through again.

Again, I apologise if I'm not getting something here, but this seems very suspicious to me...

Monk
xxxxx

[tetsuo]

Mmmm. I've PMed him so hopefully there will be some kind of an explanation.

[low dough]

Thanks for the input Telmachus.
I am looking to increase pot size for the pots that I do win(a small leak in my game), but obviously this hand is not the time.
I was merely saying than anyone in the hand with a straight draw like A Q could have taken that pot from me with one bet at the flop, and I would have folded.
They LET me stay in the pot, and I won it.

Monk, ouch.
I may not have a lot of experience with poker, or writing the kind of well thought out, informative posts that you do, but I was just trying to share what I thought was a fun hand for me, and maybe getting some input on my play.

As for going from BB to button, thanks for pointing that out, I did make a mistake there.
Edited to make a little more sense, now.

[k3nt]

I've seen several hands like that in my micro games. Five or six people limp in and they all miss every street, and some guy who pairs a 5 on the turn wins the hand with nobody betting. If I'm in a hand like that, I'll throw out a minbet on the river with any pair or even ace high -- for all I know I'm ahead of everybody, and if not I'm just as likely as not to fold the guy who's got me beat.

[TexasKowboy]

I limped with 2,3o from the BB flopped the bike. Bet the pot only to get 3 callers and have the button go all in. I called everyone else mucked. the button showed a set of Aces which he slow played pre flop. he said way to win with trash. I just replied with ty. I wasn't going to educate him.

[Felonius_Monk]

Apologies for calling your integrity into question, low dough, I guess I failed to pick up the meaning of your post, that your opponents could've stolen the pot from you. I thought you were asking whether you should have bet/raised at any point, to which the answer is a clear no! You had no hand at any stage and could only win the pot by bluffing, which is not a good idea early in a tournament into a multi-way field. You played it quite correctly by checking down every street, and should indeed have folded if anyone raised. I really cannot think of a spot ever in a tournament, or indeed any game, where you would wish to voluntarily put any chips into the pot with 24o, unless you flop 2 pair or better.

Best of luck with the tournaments, keep it tight!

Monk
xxxxx

[low dough]

[MrOban]

Cant imagine wanting to raise in the BB with that hand preflop. You are going to be out of position on the flop and are likely going to have to make a bluff bet on the pot to take it down if you get callers. Seems like you have a lot of loose players at the table too.

You can make that move in the SB with a tighter table that generally likes to see flops cheap and will fold to a raise when limping. Anyway, you had a free flop with a hand that can make a low straight, so why not take the freebie?

On the flop, I dont like betting out of position on a pure bluff into a crowd. I just think there are much better spots. You played the hand fine and won exactly what you would have won if you raised preflop and everyone folded.

Whats the problem? If you had bet on any street and gotten called you were beat and probably would have had to give up the hand.