I'm well aware that any hand is possible. I've lost to quad kings with aces full. That wasn't the point. It's that all your terminology is wrong and the hand didn't make sense. Limping in means to call the big blind and see the flop, it doesn't mean check. And you edited your post to put in that "I check" part. I don't care if you made up the hand, I mean people do it all the time lol, but yeah.

 

If the hand was real (or at least it made sense), and you limped in with 8's and then checked the flop, and he comes firing out (very strong move IMO considering he has jacks), you gotta pay it off. It's not a foldable hand. I mean there's probably 10 players in the world that could 1)call that down to avoid losing a big pot by going all in or 2)fold. Plus, I don't know how preflop was played because now you said that "limping in" means check to you. I'm guessing there may have been preflop action which coulda given his hand away. But yeah, assuming you limped in preflop and there was no action, you gotta pay that off.

 

Ok, I'll bite and give you guys a hand and see what you would do (question or agree with every move I make): (this is online btw)

I'm playing a tournament with probably 4 tables left, two places to the bubble to the next money spot. I'm in 6th position with 8 9 spades and I'm average stack. Aggressive better makes it 3X the BB with one caller.

1. I call. I figure I have position, and it's the kind of pot I can win a lot or lose a little. (let's assume the pot is at 200 with 10/20 blinds)

2. Flop comes 8 9 A with two diamonds. Aggressive player checks. Second guy makes it 130 into 200. I'm worried about either of them drawing to hearts or to an open ended straight draw with J 10, so I make it 400 straight. I figure the middle better has Ax and the first guy missed.

3. The original better comes back over the top to 1k straight, leaving himself with about 1500. So at this point he might have A K and think he's good. He also might be betting his flush draw. Or he could have flopped a set. Most likely he missed and is trying to squeeze the pot.

4. So it's about 900 to the middle guy and he folds. It's 600 to me. Right now the pot's at about 1700 and it's 600 to call so I'm getting about 3 to 1. If he has a set, I'm drawing dead. But chances are he doesn't have Aces since he made it 3X in early position. Plus he's aggressive. He could have flopped a set of 8s or 9s but that would be highly unlikely since the case 8 or 9 would have flopped. If I call and see a turn, either way I'm gonna lose or not make as much. Plus I figure if he is as loose and aggressive as I think he is, he's gonna call with A K, hoping I have A Q or something.

5. I come back at him and stack him after thinking for a second. He insta folds. I take it down.

6. In the chat, he says AK which I don't believe. The middle guy says he had A 10 which I do believe. I'm not sure if I made the right play but I took it down. ( There's times when I win a hand but realize it wasn't the right play statistically or strategically).

What do you think and what would you have done?

 

Great play. Not sure I would have done it. The check by the aggressive guy would have felt like a trap to me... especially when check/raises. I'm fairly conservative and probably would have folded... or I would have spazzed, and went all in like you, but that would have been a play I was making out of emotion and got lucky (maybe).

I think you played it well. Given your position a call wouldn't have been bad either to see what happened on the turn, but all in all, you probably made the best play.

 

Thanks Scott. I think it was probably the only move I had other than fold. I could have called but I'd probably have gotten myself in a bad spot if the turn wasn't good you know? I'd be stupid and try and make a play or lose a big pot some other way.

I don't play cards anymore, but I still love analyzing hands. I always respected poker in that sense. It's such an intelligent game.

 

I think that's the best and safest play.

I think I would've gone all in at that point also. It'll be hard to bet or call if the turn was another diamond or another A. If he in fact had AK. or nut flush draw, I don't think he would've folded given the pot size, 1k in chip left and tournament environment.

My guess is he had a medium flush draw and was testing the water before he hit.

 

I once got five aces and got kicked out. Totally unfair.

Only played online or with friends, with very little (if any) money involved, so it makes losing that much easier.
I just hate it when dorks go all in as soon as they get their cards. Turn after turn. Only way to deal with that is I fold and wait for them to lose! Pretty sure that stuff doesn't happen when money is involved.

 

Yeah I agree. I think he probably had KdJd or something and didn't wanna risk his chips. I can't see what else he'd have to come at me preflop and check/raise like that. And yeah if he had AK or nut flush draw, he's not folding there. But if he calls, I'm not in a bad spot.