[Robot66]

I'd appreciate thoughts on bet sizing on the turn when the pot has gotten a little larger than you would like given your hand strength.

9 handed $25 NL at Bodog (10 cent and 25 cent blinds). Everyone pretty even at $25.

I Raise to $1.25 in early position with QQ. This was slightly larger than my usual raise here because of 1 person who had just posted in this hand. I'm surprised when I get 6 callers, approximately $7.50 in the pot.

Flop comes J,5,8, with 2 clubs.

I bet out $6 to defend against the flush draw, and get one caller, immediately to my left. I haven't been at the table long, and not much of a read on this player. I've seen him be a bit aggressive with continuation bets, and he likes to bet the pot most times, I haven't noticed much else about him. On the other hand, I've seen some crazy players at Bodog, so I have a hard time figuring out what he is up to.

Turn comes a blank (something like non-club 3). Now what do I do?

There is $19.50 in the pot, I have about $17 left in front of me.

There are a lot of draws possible; I'm most worried about clubs here. I don't want to give him a free card. If I make a bet large enough give him poor odds, I feel I will be pot committed. From the level of play I've seen at the table, I think that he might have even called with JT or J9. On the other hand, he may already have me beat, and was just calling to let more people into the pot, which would seem inadvisable given the possible draws.

Any suggestions or comments about my play up to this point? I'll post the remainder of the hand after I've heard some opinions.

[tomb1]

The discussion in terms of pot sizes and bets vs. blind size is good, but you also have to remember that the actual amounts are small to many people. So getting 6 callers at 5 x BB is going to happen at those stakes, even though it may be less likely to happen at $100/$200. And $7.50 in the pot is only 2 Starbucks, not $7,500.

OK, so this is a very good flop for you. Unless there is that killer hand out there that you would not expect (AA, KK, JJ, 5-5, 8-8 ) You wouldn't expect them, but they come once in a while and then you get busted and reload.

Flop -- I think your bet is too small. At least bet the pot, though I would overbet. You could even push here.

Turn -- push here. He probably folds, but if not, then you either win or lose.

[Quads]

Originally Posted by Robot66

I'd appreciate thoughts on bet sizing on the turn when the pot has gotten a little larger than you would like given your hand strength.

9 handed $25 NL at Bodog (10 cent and 25 cent blinds). Everyone pretty even at $25.

I Raise to $1.25 in early position with QQ. This was slightly larger than my usual raise here because of 1 person who had just posted in this hand. I'm surprised when I get 6 callers, approximately $7.50 in the pot.

Flop comes J,5,8, with 2 clubs.

Push the rest of your stack in.

[Harlequin011]

You don't have $17 in left in front you, because you just pushed it into the pot.

[TheMightyJim2k]

overbet the pot on the flop. stick it in on the turn. I probably would have bet $8-9 on the flop because you know a J is calling and the that way you can prevent the waterfall of callers.

the turn is a standard shove either way. If they've flopped a set oh well, "thems the breaks" as they say.

[Robot66]

Well, I feel a little better, with everyone telling me to push. However, what I did end up doing was bet out $10. I thought that at least then, I’d be giving him improper odds to call with anything but a straight+flush draw, as well as keeping him in the pot if he had a JT.

He immediately went all in over the top and I called. Right move?

Anyone want to guess what he showed down?

[TheMightyJim2k]

you can't fold with that much money in the pot and an over pair.

he could have showed anything from a set, to AJ, to J8, some crappy 2-pair, or AA. who knows.....

[tomb1]

You did the right thing eventually, albeit the long way.

Did he have A-J or K-J clubs?

[Robot66]

That’s what I thought, basically I can’t fold at this point even though I have the feeling that I’m beat. I call and he shows 5s,8s (bonus points to Jim for his crappy 2 pair prediction).

I keep running through the way the hand was played, and the only place I think I might have done anything differently was pre-flop. That is, if I had raised more initially, there may have been fewer callers and less money in the pot. That way, I would have had a better chance at controlling the pot size post flop. Ironically, it seems like I should have bet large in order to ensure that there was less money in the pot. Once I had that many callers, things were already pretty much out of control, and there wasn’t much I could do to salvage the situation.


Oh well, the donkey giveth and the donkey taketh away.

[Quads]

You're actually giving him great odds to call with a $10 bet on the turn.