Prima 1/2

I thought I played this hand poorly.

Dealt [2c] UTG. I limp. A guy I've never played with before raises to $7. Only I call.
We both have around $200.

FLOP $17
[7s][2s]

I check. He bets $12. I check raise to $30. He calls.

TURN $77
[7s][2s][Qd]

I bet $40. He folds.

In all fairness I was playing about 3 hands on 4 tables with this hand occured. I don't like checkraising here. The way this hand was play....I think he had 99-JJ. I suppose AK is a possibilty but I doubt it.

The key is to bet out the flop so he can raise himself (while keeping my hand disguised)...

Another option would be to check the turn high card..and let him bluff it himself. I think I got too aggressive on the turn.

Another example of how bad position sucks.

"Another example of how bad position sucks."


i'm curious what ice's response is goign to be to this, because i run into this problem with sets far more frequently that i take peoples stacks with them..

Couple things.

Do you limp often UTG? I hate being first in the pot without a raise but also I am afraid that people may be able to realize after a while that whenever you limp UTG you are doing it with a pocket pair, meaning it will become easier for them to know whether you hit a set or not based on how you play the flop. Or maybe these guys don't think about any of this.

How often do you lead out after you limp preflop and then call a raise? I basically never do this (although I don't limp in bad position usually) because I want to check and see what they do first before acting, and it gives me more than one option if I take this line. If you lead fairly often with hands such as top pair or draws then leading seems fine, otherwise the check is standard. If you decide to go for the checkraise, then I would raise more than $18 when the pot is already $41. Making it around $45-50 and putting your opponent to a real test seems like a better idea. If not, I like a call and then leading the turn fairly big.

People seem to play sets exactly the way you did in this hand. It really looks like you want action and I think you could have done a better job of disguising your hand.

MG, youre giving these guys way too much credit for thinking like that. We think like that, they dont for the most part.

Its tough to know what to do here because when you lead and he folds, you wish you had at least let him make a continuation bet. If he has nothing, he has nothing though.

I had a similar hand this morning. I limped 99 and called a raise. It was heads up with a 972 flop. I led 3/4 pot and he folded. Nothing you can do if he has nothing and is decent enough to fold his overcards.