The Hand
Well, I’m back from Las Vegas and played a lot of poker and have many new hands to present to you all.

This hand is from the Venetian Deep Stack Tournament Series that I played in. We started with 6000 in chips and were in level 1 with blinds of 25/50. This was about the 5th hand and I already knew I liked this table. The players were passive, but not crazy loose or tight from what I could tell.

In this hand, I was in middle position with two limpers already in. I was next to act with a Jh/10h and decided to raise and made it 200 straight. Two players behind me called as did the SB and one of the limpers. There were five of us in and the pot was 1100.

The flop was Ah/Jc/9h. Not bad. The two players ahead of me checked. It’s up to me. What would you do?

Winner: Scott A., Newark, Ohio
Since you initially raised the pot, you need to continue to show strength and follow with a continuation bet. With four other people in the pot, I would suggest a bet of 550, or half the pot. That should clear out any mediocre hands and still allow you to call a small raise without risking the majority of your stack.

Any Ace has you beat at this point, but you still have 9 outs to make your flush, 3 outs to make two pair and 2 outs to make a set. To sum up – make a continuation bet, and feel satisfied if you take the pot down now, or very satisfied if you set the trap and hit your flush.

Robin’s Response:
I did bet out 600, Scott, roughly half of the pot. The next player behind me folded and the next raised to 1200 straight. The other two players that had checked before me both folded. I didn’t like this raise, it was just odd. He was either clueless or was setting a trap for me to fall into.

The turn was an 8d. I decided to check and my opponent checked as well! The river was the perfect 7s. I just made the 2nd nut straight. I bet out 2000 expecting him to fold and he pushed all-in.

I just did not put him on a Q/10 and I did call. He showed me pocket Aces which gave him a set on the flop. He never raised pre-flop, made a too small raise on the flop and checked the turn. This allowed me to kick his butt on the river and kick it I did. I doubled up and he was out.