An Afterthought

Vegas in 80 days!!

I haven't played any poker since my last post, but I'm currently irked by a hand from that last session. I've been trying to decide if I could have possibly played it any differently for a better result, and I don't really think I could've, but you be the judge.

The $2-2 NL game I played in last week at The Poker Room was pleasantly light with little pre-flop raising and a lot of limping taking place. As you may recall, I started the session playing pretty tight like I usually do. About an hour into the game, I look down at 4h5h on my BB after 4 or 5 limpers and a check from the SB. I gladly check as well, craving a flop with this holding. The dealer burns and turns J-4-2, rainbow, with six or so players in the hand. I check middle pair with not much of any draw, and someone throws a min-bet into the pot, which was becoming fairly common at this table. I think everyone called to me, and I almost just folded out of annoyance. I don't really see the point in making a min-bet at all here. I just can't think of a single argument for it that can't be countered by a better one (think about it), but since I had a small piece of the flop, I called the $2, as did most everyone else.

Dealer turns another 4. At this point I have three fours, and I'm ready to pop the hell out of somebody's bitchy min-bet with a check-raise, so I check my trips. As I expected, the donktard to my left playfully tosses two white chips into the pot with a grin on his face like it's a fucking friendly game of Tiddly Winks. After everyone insta-calls around like robots with down syndrome I donkey-punch 'em with a check-raise to $10. Now, a couple of things to note here:

1. I had been playing noticeably tight for over an hour, so I felt a 5x check-raise when the board paired 4's would scream trips, especially coming from a player in the blinds.
2. I play much more online poker than live poker, and a 5x check-raise online apparently screams louder than in a live game (which I already knew, so this was a mis-step--I should have raised more).

I get not one, but two callers, so, headed to the river, there's about $50 in the pot. At the time I suspected one of them probably had a Jack, but in hindsight it seems like someone would have raised with top pair on the flop. A few hands earlier, though, the Tiddly Winks player to my left had limped in late position with pocket aces (which, again, I don't understand at all), so he was surely capable of donkey-playing top pair on the flop. Nonetheless, I was pretty confident my hand was good at this point, though I didn't completely rule out someone else holding a 4. So, three players to the river, and dealer burns and turns one of the three possible cards that I did not want to see. Another Jack. The board reads J-4-J-4-2.

Now, this is where I lose my bearings a little. I sheepishly check the river, and the TW player shoves all in for about $80. The other guy quickly folds, and my hand doesn't seem that strong anymore. At all. I scrounge for an excuse to call but don't find one, so I tuck my tail, flash my 4, and muck my boat. Before I could ask, "You have the Jack?" the cheeky bastard turned over 6c9s--nothing.

Looking back, I guess my check-raise on the turn did scream trips after all, and he figured he could get me off the hand after the Jack came. Plus he knew I had been playing tight and that I probably wouldn't call with the low end of the boat. But if I bet the river, does he still shove all in? Or, is there any way I can call the river bet after I check? I can't think of one. It was just a bad card for me. Nice ballsy bet, sir.