Flopped Straight, river pairs board… check/shove?

[KelownaPokerDad (Matt)]

Just spent five days in Vegas and played about 40 hours $1/3 and $2/5. I have a few hands to post… this one was a big one from Brad and Andrew’s meetup game at the Westgate.

http://mysmp.me/vh_joW

I flopped a straight on a two tone board, out of position. River paired the board, and my initial gut said he might have flatted my check-raise on the flop with QQ or KK. While many other hands are in his range also… it did have me contemplating the low-variance (read: no stones) route.

I hummed and hawed… asked him if he had Aces (wanted some kind of read) …. he asked me if they AA was good.

I tank-shoved the river and he tanked called with two pair.

Stack sizes would seem to come into play here… if we are $2,000 effective… do I still shove / value bet the river?

Thanks!

PS great meeting you Brad, and thanks for the beer!

• This topic was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by KelownaPokerDad (Matt).
• This topic was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by KelownaPokerDad (Matt).

[Rayan]

Hi Matt !

First of all great hand and very nice pot there, congrats !
(there’s a small mistake in your title btw, you flopped a straight, a set would have made this a lot more easier lol)

Honestly I think it was really unlikely that your opponent had KK or QQ. Pocket 9s was a scarier hand in my opinion. And the reason is : when you check raise the flop, you show a loooot of strength, with probably a made hand type KK, KQ, KQ or 99s and sometimes, AJss or ATss, in semi-bluff.

Showing this much strength, I think your opponent would have directly jammed here (or re-raised) if he had set of Kings / Queens on the flop : “there’s a flush draw and I don’t wanna see a spade, my opponent seems to like his hand so he’ll probably call..” and other reasons. To me there is no point in trapping when the other guy check raises, you just go ahead if you have such a great hand.

So the only combo I fear is pocket 9s, and then it’s all about your feelings : does he have them or not ^^ Once again congrats on your hand, hope to see more answers on this interesting topic !

[John S]

I think if I’m villain, I raise any set on the flop here. You shouldn’t have KK or QQ because that should be raised pre-flop, so by that logic a set of 9s is only behind the straight. With as wet as that board is, I think villain has to 3-bet the flop with a set, so the running 55 on turn and river shouldn’t concern you. I think by the river he has a lot of two pairs or missed flush/straight draws. He really shouldn’t have any full houses here in my opinion.

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