What would you do in this situation?

In a deep-stacked cash game with blinds of $5-$10, you pick up 4-4 in late position and call a small raise after two other callers.
The flop comes 4, 6, 10, the raiser bets, one player calls and so do you.
The turn is another 10 and the action is repeated. the river is a Queen, the first players checks and the second player makes a substantial bet.
You all have ample funds left.

Do you:

a) Fold
b) Call
c) (Re)Raise
d) Go all-in?

c) (Re)Raise

1 Like

I’d call…

The most important thing is for you to NOT put yourself in the position of holding the bottom full house at the showdown or you will no longer have “ample funds.” The initial small raiser likely holds a good A (suited or with a broadway card, perhaps A-T) or a medium-high pair (TT, JJ, or QQ). You were very likely the best hand before the turn, but must now consider the possible full houses that could be against you. Also, the implication is the raiser is the first bettor of this round, who is now checking, possibly for a check-raise. The second bettor (who has just made the substantial bet) has strength, but of an unknown rank. Could be only trips, but if so, it’s Ts (this would be good, as you can beat that). The situation is too blurry for you to raise on what is surely the lowest possible full house, but it’s also too strong to fold. I’d call the bet and see what happens. If the first bettor reraises all in and the second bettor calls–or worse, reraises–I’d have to consider making a tough fold. And grit my teeth for the roller-coaster ride I’d be taking. It would help a lot if you “knew” the players habits; against some folks I would instantly fold, others, I’d instantly call; these two unknowns are a coin flip.

7 Likes

I’d re-raise.

2/3 pot size bet on flop

You don’t mention any pre-flop action so it’s hard to fully evaluate the hand. With no pre-flop action I’d lean toward a re-raise but feel that a nudge pre-flop was in order as a test of strength,

2 Likes

As I read and envision this, “the raiser” is raising preflop. THEN the flop comes4-6-10. “The raiser” bets and is called twice. We know the last player holds trip 4s; but what does the caller in the middle hold? Doesn’t it almost have to be a 10 with a kicker (or a higher pair, like Qs) the caller isn’t proud of? So, when the turn shows another 10, the 4s are already at risk. The river brings a Q, the original raiser then checks and the 2nd caller makes “a substantial bet.” Has he/she just caught TTTQQ? Assuming you call, and the FIRST raiser now goes all in, isn’t there a reasonable chance she/he holds QQQTT or matches the 2nd bettor’s TTTQQ? That’s why I’d only be a caller instead of a raiser when there’s a real chance I’d be the ham in the sandwich. Realistically, I’d probably still call, but I certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

1 Like

We don’t know if the first player is looking to check-raise or is just limping. We don’t know how strong the second player’s hand is. It could be a higher full house but also just trips or 2 pair. All we know is that we have a full house, and we all still have big stacks. Calling is a wise and prudent move, but also a big waste if the first player just calls or folds, and we end up winning the pot. A re-raise is not gonna break us because we still have a big stack, but will help us test the waters. If the first player is planning on folding or just calling, now they have to call our raise. If they’re planning on re-raising or going all-in, we still have the option to fold. If the second player has QQ or TT or QT, they will also re-raise or go all in, at which point we can still fold as well. But if we have 2 calls from them and we win the pot, at least we wouldn’t have sold our full house short. So a re-raise at this point doesn’t break our bank, tests the strength of the 2 other hands, still gives us a chance to fold if we get re-raised with all ins, and gives us a bigger pot to win. I know that calling is the safest way, but this is poker, I would gamble a bit and re-raise with my full house if the gamble doesn’t break my bank. :wink:

2 Likes

Valid reasoning. You’re more aggressive than I am, I guess.

1 Like

By the way, the Hold’em Poker Odds Calculator is giving a 95.76% chance for the pocket 4’s to win in this situation.

2 Likes

Re- Raise … I would !

1 Like

I would certainly re-raise, hoping that won’t be next day one of the “funny hands”. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

it may sound strange but i hestitate between A and B.

first of all, since this is 5/10 deep stack it means you play at least NL2000 maybe even more, in other words, you play against very strong pro’s.

there are no reads mentioned, or anything they might have picked up from you, so i assume there aren’t any yet.

i am defenitely not worried about the raiser, but i am about the caller who bets the river. since it’s high stake poker the raiser could have anything, including missed AX hands, teh flop is low enough to make a Cbet bluff since most people miss here anyway, the turn is also great to double barrel since it makes it even less likely someone has the T.
but the slowplayer almost sure has a monster, the raiser clearly has shown his teeth even after checking now, from his point of view 2 people called all bets until now, in low stake poker people could just be a calling station, the probablity that happens to two people here is just almost impossible, so even TX hands would checked by the raiser, the caller most likely know this and still decide to bet here. and i know that he knows that i could have a monster as well for the same reason. and still he likes to bet out here, even if he has a T with a good kicker i would probably check because of all the danger signs here, which are an aggressive raiser that could easily have a T as well and you could easily be slowplaying which means you clearly have the T and above in your range. i know he knows most Tx hands should be check-calling here. and since there are no reads from either side yet he should play it like this. meaning he maybe has AT, but QT, or 66 is way more likely here (not QQ or TT since they would have 3bet pre). if the slowplayer is a very strong lv4 thinker (meaning he expects the thought process i just explains from us) he could be bluffing here, but that would still require a hand that works to call the way here, which could only be 35s or 57s, and since it also requires a very powerful read from both players it seems even way less likely then the other hands.

if it was real (and i don’t have all the time to think this one out) i would most likely be unable to resist and call.

it probably will not be the answer that shall be picked, but i think the right thing here is the most unlogical seeming one:
A: make the big laydown and fold the full house

May I enquire on what or whose judgement the “right answer” is based?

2 Likes

nice question, i’m also curious of the source.
especcialy on an extremely complicated question like this one

1 Like

I also agree. It would be helpful to know what we are testing our answers against.

1 Like

I wouldn’t re-raise but I would definitely call :slight_smile:

I guess the answer, deep stacks or not, is how much can you afford to loose?
Every time I work through the scenario, without knowing anything about any player except the bets made on this hand, it comes out the same.
Raiser has the TQ and I lose.
If I can afford to gamble, I call. If not, I fold.
I admit it. It can be nearly impossible to fold a full boat, but you can’t fall in love with your cards.

lol @ this thread. literally every street is butchered