by Bob314 » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:09 pm
I was actually going to ask why *you* didn't re-raise preflop. There is an argument to smooth call because you are out of position, but when people see someone who is in the blinds and re-raising they are going to put you on a significantly stronger hand than 10-10. Raising to $4 seems reasonable to me because of all the limpers before the minimum raise.
As for the flop, it is very tricky. I've seen lots of play where people just go nuts with 3 of a kind on the flop, doing crazy things with holdings like A high because they think it is so unlikely that others have a pair. If someone has a 9, generally they would probably do as you did and try to slow play their big hand. Probably the same with a high pocket pair. I honestly don't think the guy who is putting in the flop raise has a hand better than 2 big cards or A-x, but the trouble is that he could be trying to be tricky and playing his strong hand fast, figuring (correctly) that the only way he is going to get much action on his hand is if someone else has a relatively strong hand as well. I think that Jeffm is on the right track recalling the raise-reraise (out of the blinds!) preflop because that could mean that you are potentially drawing very dead, but I think the other good argument for folding here is that you have the BB, the initial bettor, on your right, and the re-raiser on your left. You are sandwiched between two aggressors in the hand while not knowing how far ahead or behind you are and it is going to be very expensive to find out. I don't think folding is a terribly weak play here.