The completion of my difficult hand: Red Queens in early position
[This is the final stage of my analysis hand. I’ll restate the action.]
I wake up with red queens in early position and I raise it
immediately to $7. For this table that’s a notable raise. $11 is the
high end. Seats 4 and 5 fold. Seat 6 makes it $15 to go with about
$275 left. He’s slightly unhappy with the fact that he’s only about
$30 up for the night. He’s sober and has been stealing small pots with
$10 bets on raggedy flops all night. Something about this raise seems
unusual. He’s likely to get callers, but with what is he holding that
makes a min raise correct?
Seat 8 cold calls the raise. Seat 8 is a talented and very drunk
player. His tight aggressive game while drunk is better than mine
sober. I’ve been watching him steal small pots all night, as well as
smelling traps and folding. He has about $270 after calling the
raise. I think this is a loose call on his part, as his MO is about
stealing the pot when the flop misses everyone. He has position on the
raiser (me).
Seat 9 folds, and Seat 10 (the button) looks down at his cards at a
pair of red fours. His stack is about $250. He is a generally tight
player who is terrifying in that he’ll pay big to draw, which means
it’s dangerous to give him free cards. I do not think this is a good
habit. He also plays his good hands strongly, forcing you to pay
heavily to draw against him, which is a good habit. He’s not
drinking. Everything about him suggests he’s a talented player, very
comfortable thinking through his decisions before acting. He’s not a
young aggro, but about 35 or 40, accomplished, and completely in
control of his game.
Seat 10 cold calls the raise with his red fours. The blinds both
fold. There is $55 in the pot and it’s $8 more to me. I can fold,
call, or re-open the betting with a raise.
Question #2: The pot stands at $55, offering me about 7 to 1 as I
consider seeing a flop with three other players. I have $330 more and
every player covered. What should I do?
I push my entire stack. The re-raiser folds immediately. Seat 8 folds quickly, and seat 10 holds his red 4’s for a full minute. He really want to call, but he eventually folds. I take down the pot.