I am one of the villains this time around, let's try and figure what Hero is thinking.
We are playing $1/$1 no limit Texas hold'em. The game is eight handed. We are late in the session. Tonight's game is dominated by a contest to feast on a player spewing chips - he is down 800bb at the time of this hand and in free fall. Everyone seems to have noticed.
Cast of characters (brief thumbnails for now, more details once the field is shortened):
In general - - - Everyone at the table knows everyone well. We have thousands of hours of play time together. Table talk is common and greatly exceeds the notion of "one player to a hand", though for big pots there will be a little bit more discretion. Many of the players are quite sticky.
The SB is a TAG player who has drifted to TAP due to a poor run of luck tonight. He is playing $75 and isn't much of a factor. He has 0% air in his aggressive range at the moment.
The BB is the chip spewing LAGtard of the evening. He has $80 and is almost certainly going to lose it in the next few hands if not this hand.
UTG, aka known as the Hawk, is playing $400. He is tricky-trappy, loose and passive.
UTG+1 is folding ( for no good reason, he calls himself Mr. Cup Cake. )
MP1 is playing $150. Her night has been up and down, more down. She plays a semi-loose / semi aggressive game but not really well.
MP2 is the Cougar with $550 in chips. Tricky-trappy, loose, sticky. Bets his draws and medium to weak hands but traps with better hands. Always means business when check/raising.
Our Hero is in the CO with $350 in chips. Hero is normally TAG trending towards rockish in casino play but in these home games has widened his range and become looser and more passive in preflop play.
DrStrange holds the button with $400. Tagish, though has a significant limping range preflop.
The hand:
We get limps from UTG, MP1 and MP2. That brings us to Hero holding A
7
.
Action is on Hero, should he fold, limp for a buck or raise? If raising, how much?
Hero normally raises larger than anyone else at the table. A $12 to $15 raise is normal for him. Even so, he is likely to get several callers. There is little chance to take down the dead money or even get the hand heads-up.