Controlling the size of the pot

[lowraise]

OK, I'm trying to get to grip with controlling the size of the pot with marginal hands. The following hand is a typical situation where I find I end up betting all the streets when there is a possible draw on the board. I have no stats worth anything on the villian. Will explain my thinking afterwards.

PokerStars Game #20835899406:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2008/10/01 4:17:46 ET
Table 'Trinculo' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Stratenmaker ($10 in chips)
Seat 2: lowraise ($9.35 in chips)
Seat 3: Avgurt ($7.60 in chips)
Seat 4: AZAHRARN ($7.90 in chips)
Seat 5: TheDirtyMick ($9.80 in chips)
Seat 6: breno-fish ($7.40 in chips)
breno-fish: posts small blind $0.05
Stratenmaker: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lowraise [ ]
lowraise: raises $0.30 to $0.40
Avgurt: calls $0.40
AZAHRARN: folds
TheDirtyMick: folds
breno-fish: folds
Stratenmaker: calls $0.30
*** FLOP *** [ ]
Stratenmaker: checks
lowraise: bets $1
Avgurt: calls $1
Stratenmaker: folds
*** TURN *** [ ] []
lowraise: bets $1.80
Avgurt: calls $1.80
*** RIVER *** [ ] []
lowraise: bets $2
Avgurt: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lowraise: shows [ ] (a pair of Jacks)
Avgurt: shows [ ] (a pair of Queens)
Avgurt collected $10.35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.85 | Rake $0.50
Board [ ]
Seat 1: Stratenmaker (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: lowraise showed [ ] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: Avgurt showed [ ] and won ($10.35) with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: AZAHRARN folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: TheDirtyMick (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: breno-fish (small blind) folded before Flop

[Coughy_boy]

When the river card hits the board, there is $6.85 in the pot and $6.15 in your stack.  You're completely commited.

You did make a blocking bet on the river.

[Deadmoney]

TBH,

I probably getting stacked here especially at these limits........ 88/99/A7  you did well

Regards David

[SlowJoe]

You can not keep the pot small if you keep betting.  Check on the turn when the draw hits.  If he bets, you can decide what to do then.  It is as if you are making blocking bets on the turn and the river.  This builds the pot.

[poskid]

You can not keep the pot small if you keep betting.  Check on the turn when the draw hits.  If he bets, you can decide what to do then.  It is as if you are making blocking bets on the turn and the river.  This builds the pot.

You can make a smallish bet to control the pot.  Checking isnt the only way.

Chris...I like your river bet.  Opp is likely to hav hands like A7 or 76 or 78.  If we make a small bet here we can take value off him while getting away if he raises.  And yes I think folding to a river raise here would be a good laydown.

PK

[Coughy_boy]

You can make a smallish bet to control the pot.  Checking isnt the only way.

I agree.  I hate to check there because it's like handing him my johnson.  I rather like a 90 cent bet.  Are you blocking or is it post oak?  I like it.

[lowraise]

River is a blocking bet and a fold to a raise. It is a typical WA/WB situation in my mind and the bet could of induced a bluff but I would need more info on villian to make this move.

My worry is the turn and like SlowJoe says whether the draw hits then evaluate. I like the description of similar hands by Harrington on cash where he evaluates the odds of the draw hitting on the river but also the odds of whether the villian would hold the cards to hit it. I guess this is where I am trying to do my work in hand reading but at these limits it is hard to gauge unless you observe them for a good many hands. I think I need to trust the concept of either "checking the flop and betting the turn" or "betting the flop checking the river" with mediocre hands.

I think that this is a leak that I build such pots and therefore loose too much which means I am fighting to get back to normal and when I do win with hands like JJ then the pots are a lot smaller.