Hey mates,

My names Rick and I'm from Australia. I'm 40, happily married and have 2 kids. I am in Cebu, Philippines on Vacation and decided to go to the casino and play some poker.

I've played poker at the crown a couple times a month for the last 2 years. I really like the game, its fun. To let you know a bit more about me, I tend to call heeps preflop. Gemme any suited or connected and I'll see a flop. I aint calling with trash like 73o. I may not be pro, but I know when to fold'em.

Also, I like to call a lot post flop. Especially if I have a decent hand and I'm playing a younger player. Those kids are always bluffing. Hell, I'll check call'em to the river with just one pair. Also, I ain't like an old grampa either. If I have a good hand, I'm raising the pot.

So I'm playing poker at the casino and I get involved with this young Canadian lad. Says hes in internet marketing and banging a bunch of broads in the Philippines. The guy seems cool enough, but he doesn't play a lot of hands. Actually, he keeps folding his SB, isn't that whack?

Anyways, my session is going good so far. I doubled up when this young kid with a hoodie had pocket kings and I had pocket aces. I bought in for $200 and I have almost $400 now.

So the Canadian lad raises to $10 on the button when I'm in the BB. I look down at 10d8d. I call to see a flop.

The flop comes Jd 4d 4h

I got the flush draw I check, Canadian bet $20, I call.

Turn comes Ac

Nothing yet, still got the flush draw. I check. Canadian guy bets $40, I call.

River comes 3d

YES! I hit my flush. Okay okay, I'll check because he bet twice and maybe he'll bet again.

The Canadian guy fell for it! He bet $40. I quickly take $100 and put a big bet in because I have a flush. Then he thinks for a little bit and Re-RAISES to $300!! It's $200 more to me.

Should I call? ITS $200! If I call this I lose all the money I made with the pocket aces.
This Canadian lad never plays any hands either, he probably has pocket aces, pocket jacks or ACE KING of diamonds. Actually, its very likely he has Ace king of diamonds. Everyone always has the Ace King.
I have a flush though!! ****!
The young guy in the hoodie keeps rolling his eyes and mumbling under his breath when I make a call on the river. I think he thinks I'm stupid. But the bets before were only $30 or $40. This one is $200.

I dont know, what do you guys think? Will I call?

Fold.

you need to have a plan on what to do when you make a bet in poker.

you should begin making plans as soon as preflop.

for example, you should have an idea what boards you will c bet and how you will react to a raise or a call, and when called on a given board, what turns you will bet as well.

in this case you should not raise the river because you have a flush, you should raise the river because his range consists of XYZ which you beat a majority of the time. you should also have an idea that if you raise here is he going to call with a worse hand. just because you beat some of his possible range does not mean that by raising you get anything worse to call. if he never calls with a worse hand then it doesnt matter that you have a flush, even if every single time he ALWAYS has a worse hand then you. the EV of raising the river is $0 if he never calls with worse.

so in this spot you need to figure out if he ever has worse. my guess would be no. you do not find many people in these games who bet and reraise the river without the nuts or close to it.

pretty easy fold here

but the real question here should be is raising the river ever getting called by a hand you beat. look at the action hes bet 3 streets and raised you on the river when the flush hit and you check raised. this is going to be a hand that beats you 95% of the time.

fold preflop, fold flop, fold turn, check call river. drawing to non nut flushes on paired boards OOP is lighting money on fire

I don't know how to say the following without sounding like a condescending prick (which is my super power), but you sound like an aggro fish who only wins because villains are just terribad at this level and luckily worse than you.

The problem arises whenever you run up against a thinking player who will just own you like a $20 Tijuana whore.

I get the sense that you aren't properly thinking in terms of ranges, equity, villain profiling, tendencies, etc. You're playing more or less Level I poker.

For instance, why are you calling heads up out of position pre with T8dd? Sure, if there were 2 or 3 other villains who already called then a call is fine, but heads up, this is seriously -EV.

Second, why are you chasing a flush on a paired board?

Third, you realize you are chasing a non-nut flush right?

Fourth, V didn't give you pot odds, each bet you are calling is mathematically incorrect (this is what fish do)

Fifth, you are drawing on an ugly board (i.e. a paired board) another thing that fish do, draw to inferior hands

Sixth, you are heads up out of position to an opponent that has the aggression and initiative-- another thing fish do

Seventh, you are drawing to an obvious draw that even Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles can see--another thing that fish do

Eighth, fish commit to a course of action with absolutely no incorporation of new information or data. In this case, you c/r river and V shoves over the top of your awesome c/r for an additional $200 and you are still going to call? What, if anything could V have done to make you fold this hand? What do you think V has? Do you think you are beat? If so, why are you calling?

This is just a horrible situation the whole way round, from every street including preflop.

The reason I'm being such a prick here is because we often don't see our own fishiness. Our egos let us delude ourselves into thinking that our awesome poker skills enable us to be an exception to the rules and thus we mistakenly believe that we can take a fishy line and turn it into an awesome line because we are just so awesome...

No.

A fishy line is a fishy line.

Don't call heads up out of position with drawing hands without a plan other than to flop, turn, or river Gin.

Don't call bets that deny pot odds

Don't draw to inferior hands on troubled boards, (i.e. a flush draw on a paired board)

If you go for the awesome c/r when an obvious draw hits and then are re-raised, you seriously need to be folding unless you have serious history with villain bluffing in spots like this...

about once every other session I do something this donkaliscious and then berate myself for being an ubber donk.

Now the problem becomes if this is not just a one time occurrence, but rather your normal style of play. I seriously pray it isn't for all the reasons I listed above.

Fold pre, fold turn, as played, fold river...

Does anyone else notice op said this is from villains point of view?

I just noticed the title.

If OP tried to bluff shove vs a fish fishy enough to call down on a flush draw then OP deserves a KITN.

Fish don't fold when their draws hit. They don't. Not ever. They paid for it, they drew it, and gosh darn it they are stacking off...

So if OP thought he could get a fish to fold a babyflush here, then he learned a $200 lesson here....

99.99999% of the time, a fish is never folding a baby flush in this spot. They will say, "Damn, you got JJ huh? Or you got AK .... okay I call "

^^ THIS lol.

Your bluff is massively +EV if you thought that your opponent could find his way to the river with a holding like T8s, but then fold it when he's obviously beaten.

In other words, you would have been a lot nicer to your new Australian friend had you bet more on the river. Maybe then he could buy nicer souvenirs for his kids. I hear they're really well behaved and they deserve it.

In before lock.

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