Case Study 4:
Category: Poker
In the early stages of the tournament, I picked up (Qd,8d) and decided to call from late position to take a flop. The flop came down (Q,6,9) and I led out with a small bet to try and find out where my hand was. Two players folded, and the third, after some thought, flat called.
The turn brought a (7) to give me an open ended straight draw, and I bet out strongly for 800. I knew my opponent was a solid player, and so when he reraised to 2,000 I really had to feel I was beaten. After considering things for a while I decided to trust my instincts that he had hit a straight. I had made a small bet on the flop, and whilst I thought it would have been loose by his standards to call hoping to hit a 7, there was already enough in the pot for him to perhaps feel it was worth it. I couldn’t see any other hand that he would then put out a big reraise with when the 7 came down, and so I folded.
My opponent had indeed hit a straight in this hand, and part of me felt that I should have bet out bigger on the flop. The problem is of course that with three other players in the pot, I could easily be behind. I could have called the reraise on the turn too I suppose, but with my read of the situation being that my opponent had already made the straight, I would have been trying to draw to hand that would probably only tie. This was a good fold in the end I feel, despite the fact that I seemed in a relatively strong position on the turn.
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