Hey everyone! I made a hero call at my local casino the other day, and at first I thought it’s a terrible call long-term; but after thinking it over, I think it might’ve been the correct play. Let me know what you all think!

Anyway, here’s the action:

We’re playing $1/2 live, guy to my right straddles to $4, I double straddle to $8. (I know I know… but just bare with me.) We’re playing 9-handed. The main villain in the straddle is a good friend of mine who I spend a lot of time talking poker strategy with, and who I’ve played with probably more than any other player.

Folds to MP
MP ($800 stack) limps for $8
BB ($300) limps for $6 more
Straddler/Villain ($250) limps for $4 more
I have JsJh. I started the hand with $200. I raise to $40. MP limper calls, BB folds, villain calls. 3 ways to the flop.


Flop ($130 in the pot)
KcQc3s. Villain checks to me.

I don’t see much of a point in C-betting, since I’m only getting called by flush draws or hands that have me beat, and since just about any bet commits my stack to the pot. So I check.

MP also checks. 3 ways to the turn

Turn ($130 in the pot)
Ad

Now, the villain bets $50. I’m in a strange spot. To a lot of players, I’d just fold right here. However, this particular player is very capable of making a move - he might’ve sensed weakness on the flop and is trying to take it down with a middling hand or a FD. He was also constantly raising pre-flop when limped to him in one of the blinds or straddle with hands like KQ, QJ and A5s. So, I know that he can’t have any 2 pair combos on this board unless he decided to limp with A3s - again, unlikely considering the way he’s played so far, and there’s only 2 combos of that.

At this point I believe he either has JT, which is his “favourite hand," a flush draw, or very small chance he has complete air like 78d and is just trying to take it down. MP looked like he’d given up on the hand, which made me not worried about him. Anyway, I end up making the call, and MP quickly folds as expected.

River ($230 in the pot; $110 effective stack size)
Ks

Villain shoves and has me covered, putting me at the test for my remaining $110. All draws missed, and that king really doesn’t change anything; if he had a hand like KT, he would’ve probably raised preflop, and definitely would’ve checked the turn after the ace hit. So I know he doesn’t have just a lone king. My plan on the turn was to call a shove to brick rivers, because if I was going to fold to this river card I’d have been better off just folding the turn.

In the end, I make the call, and Villain had Tc8c for the missed flush/straight draw, and I won with my JJ. Obviously I won in this particular spot, but I’m still wondering; was my logic sound? Does it make sense to hero call in this spot, or is this just way too far towards the bottom of my range to call profitably?


Thanks in advance to anyone who replies, any and all feedback is welcome! I have a feeling like some of you have been face-palming throughout this entire hand

Preflop is too small. Would you only make it 5BB against 3 limpers in an unstraddled pot?

Postflop there are so many “ifs” that I doubt we can get to a real answer. The biggest one the read that MP is (almost) always going to fold the turn. Without that, we can’t call the turn even if we think that the other guy stabs with a fairly wide range here. The one thing we can probably agree on is that the river is a great card for us.

Hmm interesting, thanks for the feedback! How big do you think I should make it preflop? $50-$55 range? Bigger?

If the guy in MP doesn't get involved at all - then is it more reasonable to call the turn bet?

Mathematically and theory and etc etc it was a bad call but you knew the player. That is more valuable than any blockers, card removal, equity etc etc IMO. I wouldn’t make a poker career out of hero calls like that. In theory his play could be interpreted as correct. Flush draws should be in your bluff range, especially when you are controlling the hand.

That’s awesome you made that call. I was in a similar spot in a session a couple weeks ago where I made the correct hero call. Tried talking myself out of it but when you know, you know.

I agree, your call was successful, I have no doubt that you have successfully played in this game. But I would also advise you to watch and read a lot of poker educational literature. The hands game plays an important role, here you need skill and mathematics, premonition, logic, bluff and others.