Mid Pocket Pair Post flop

[puckhead23]

This hand was a huge problem for me. The range of hands he would call my preflop raise with would either mean I was way ahead or way behind on the flop, so I bet to find out where I was. When he flat called my flop bet, I was concerned. This is why I checked the turn. When he checked behind me, I started to think his hand was weak, and his flop bet was made to keep me honest. This is why I believed I was ahead on the river. When I was raised, my heart sunk. But I felt I had to call $300 into a $1700 pot, because of pot odds based on the probability he was taking my turn check as a sign of weakness and was trying to buy the pot. Any thoughts?

Truth be told, I never saw the overpair coming. I wouldn't think slowplaying KK with this board would be very prudent at all.

***** Hand History for Game 3196783354 *****
50/100 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 18256804) - Tue Dec 13 21:46:24 EST 2005
Table Table 67260 (Real Money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 1: pinay_ako (1615)
Seat 3: Hairy123 (695)
Seat 5: hawkizeus (510)
Seat 6: razzmoney (1345)
Seat 7: puckhead23 (2385)
Seat 8: Don_bond (440)
Seat 10: cigarsasap (1010)
pinay_ako posts small blind (25)
Hairy123 posts big blind (50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to puckhead23 [ 8c, 8d ]
hawkizeus folds.
razzmoney folds.
puckhead23 raises (200) to 200
Don_bond folds.
cigarsasap calls (200)
pinay_ako folds.
Hairy123 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9s, 2h, 4s ]
puckhead23 bets (250)
cigarsasap calls (250)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9h ]
puckhead23 checks.
cigarsasap checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 6c ]
puckhead23 bets (250)
cigarsasap raises (560) to 560
cigarsasap is all-In.
puckhead23 calls (310)
Creating Main Pot with $2095 with cigarsasap
** Summary **
Main Pot: 2095 |
Board: [ 9s 2h 4s 9h 6c ]
pinay_ako balance 1590, lost 25 (folded)
Hairy123 balance 645, lost 50 (folded)
hawkizeus balance 510, didn't bet (folded)
razzmoney balance 1345, didn't bet (folded)
puckhead23 balance 1375, lost 1010 [ 8c 8d ] [ two pairs, nines and eights -- 9s,9h,8c,8d,6c ]
Don_bond balance 440, didn't bet (folded)
cigarsasap balance 2095, bet 1010, collected 2095, net +1085 [ Kc Kd ] [ two pairs, kings and nines -- Kc,Kd,9s,9h,6c ]

[bobcorn]

I wouldve limped preflop but i think raising is fine too. Your preflop raise is too big, 150 is better because it keeps the pot smaller. Your bet on the flop is fine. Once he calls your flop bet, unless he is a complete fish, i think you should be done with the hand. If you think hes the type to call your flop bet w/ overcards or a straight draw then i would push the turn. I'm probably check-folding the river though. So any reads would be helpful here.

[puckhead23]

I thought that he might call the flop with either a hand that has me beat or with a spade draw. At that point, I thought I was more than likely beat. In terms of my read, I observed his play as passive; was more apt to call a bet than to raise.

I took his turn check as weakness. Had he bet anything on the turn, I would most definitely have dropped the hand since I was beat. It was the checked turn that made me continue the hand. I wasn't betting my strength on the river, I was betting on his weakness (or so I thought). The checked turn convinced me that I was ahead, not behind. I really think I missed something here because I was stunned when he showed me KK. I did not see that coming.

I appreciate your comment on the size of my preflop bet. It's an important point you make. Not only could I have saved $50 there, but my postflop raise could have been $50 smaller so it wouldn't totally smell of continuation. That's two more big blinds in my stack.

In retrospect, I should also have considered that my river bet committed him to going all in, as my bet was almost 1/2 of his entire stack. Too bad I thought of that one just now .

[scotty1139]

I think you played it well. I definitely play 88 for an open raise with your stack and 7-handed. Flop bet was good, and nice slowdown on the turn. I would have payed off the river as well, barring any kind of bizzare read.