I was playing $10/$10 at Parx last week when an interesting hand came up. My opponent was aggressive, playing well, could read hands and wasn’t afraid to put money in the pot. He had $3200 and I covered him.
Villain is on my immediate left and straddled to $20 when I was in the big blind. All folded to the passive SB and he calls. I make it $100 to go out of the blind with Th9c , expecting to win it outright a lot, and take initiative if I was called.
The villain called and the flop came down 8c7s2h. I bet $160 into the $220 pot and he called. Villain didn’t like to fold much so I thought I might have to bet the turn and river to possibly win pot.
The turn was the 6d, making the board 8c7s2h6d and giving me the nuts. Against an opponent like this who didn’t like to fold and could bluffraise or semibluff against what looked like an overpair from me(I usually have a tight image), it was an especially good spot to be in. I bet $440 into the $540 pot praying for a raise, but he just called and the hand got interesting.
The river was the 5d making the board 8c7s2h6d5d. I stopped to think for a second. If my opponent had 2 pair or better, he would sometimes raise the turn and when he didn’t, it didn’t look like he could call a lot on the river. If he had a 1 pair hand, he also couldn’t call much, so there wasn’t a lot of value in betting a lot. Betting a small amount had 3 benefits: 1)it was an amount he could call with a weakish hand 2)it is an amount he might raise a 9 with and feel compelled to call an allin 3)he might turn 1 pair into a bluff and raise the river, which is exactly what happened.
I bet $450 on the river and he raised it to $1600. I shoved allin and he folded after some thought. I am sure that the size of my bet on the river is what made him think I was blocking, betting weakly when I couldn’t call a raise or a big bet, and is what caused him to raise. I wound up winning a good amount for the session and that hand kept me feared at the table and allowed me to win a few more pots uncontested.
