forget kicker trouble, re-raised when holding trips

[luckystraights]

Been in the same spot a few times now, so thought I'll ask for some advise on it.

Suppose you flop trips, but your kicker is weak, normally I'd be cautious of my kicker and play it so slower then I would if I had an ace or king kicker, but if someone comes over the top, do you just have to grin your teeth and hope he's only representing what you have ?

Most recent scenario :

Its 4 handed and actions folded to the SB, who has been very aggressive, makes lots of moves, and makes lots of plays, slow playing sets / trips, checking down top two pair, and min re-raising the river, making huge bets on the flop with nothing, a variety of all sorts that made it a little difficult to sort out what he was actually doing and why.

Anyway, I'm in the BB and check my option with Q4, I flop trips, and bet out to defend against a flush draw. I'm re-raised 3xBB, I think, though likely not enough, decide to make a stand and call, and I'm out kicked. A call would have put half my stack on the flop, with two betting rounds still to come.

I think this was a quick call, because of his aggression, the fact he has made lots of moves and expecting all my stack to go in here on the turn or river.

here's the hand

(Click to show/hide)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1810918

Dumb move, or a defensive move against an aggressive and tricky player ?

The sting was not long before, a similar situation occurred, where I read him perfectly and won the hand by getting him to fold, because of this is it likely I let myself get trapped or did I simply overlook the obvious again ?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1810869

[Martini]

You know the saying: don't go broke in an unraised pot. He is just as likely to have a Queen in his hand as you are. And chances are that his kicker is bigger than yours. If you are getting action on a paired board it's OK to give credit for the case card being out there and here you are only beating a Q3 since Q2 boated up and you will be lucky to get a chop out of it. Trips is a strong hand but you win showdowns by having the better hand, not just a high ranking hand.

If you want to play it safe, you can just drag your feet and do slow check/calls as though you maybe have a draw or just the off card on the flop and not the paired card. Your opponent won't want to scare you off and will likely just value bet small amounts and you can wait to boat up and hope that your opponent won't be able to get away from trips and that you aren't out-boated. Or you can put in a tester min-raise and if you get played back then just let it go.

[luckystraights]

If you want to play it safe, you can just drag your feet and do slow check/calls as though you maybe have a draw or just the off card on the flop and not the paired card. Your opponent won't want to scare you off and will likely just value bet small amounts and you can wait to boat up and hope that your opponent won't be able to get away from trips and that you aren't out-boated. Or you can put in a tester min-raise and if you get played back then just let it go.

As always your advise is sound. In most cases I would have played it soft, and if I got re-raised as I did here, would have dropped, looks like I was concentrating a bit too much on the player, and not the cards.

Thanks.

[Martini]

Important to play the player as well but you just got raised after leading out with a paired board. When was the last time you saw a raise on a paired board mean anything but trips or better? Could be a total bluff possibly but all too often that means they have trips as well and you're not beating much there.

[luckystraights]

Important to play the player as well but you just got raised after leading out with a paired board. When was the last time you saw a raise on a paired board mean anything but trips or better? Could be a total bluff possibly but all too often that means they have trips as well and you're not beating much there.

I saw him do similar moves, and constantly bet out and re-raise with the worst of it.

However I did forget a crucial point, last time he raised on a paired board against me, I caught him in a bluff, I should have realized he's very unlikely to try and bluff me in the exact same spot as he did before, and with my very weak kicker, I should have given him credit this time.

I screwed up big time. Thats one of the things I like about NL, you can't afford to make one mistake, here it cost me, but if I don't make the mistake again it will be worth the price.

[Martini]

If your book on him is that he is super aggressive and will raise with any scary board then you're right to call since his range includes a lot of non Queen hands. I wasn't at the table so I don't know the history. Another way to handle an aggro player is to check to him, let him bet first then check raise him. It is only a maniac that would re-raise with absolutely nothing. Your check-raise is enough to tell him you have a Queen. If he puts in that third bet then you can get the information without committing your whole stack.

[luckystraights]

If your book on him is that he is super aggressive and will raise with any scary board then you're right to call since his range includes a lot of non Queen hands. I wasn't at the table so I don't know the history. Another way to handle an aggro player is to check to him, let him bet first then check raise him. It is only a maniac that would re-raise with absolutely nothing. Your check-raise is enough to tell him you have a Queen. If he puts in that third bet then you can get the information without committing your whole stack.

I like the check-raise here, would have been a good play here, knowing he is likely to raise no matter what.

He actually was a worthy adversary, I doubt he put too much thought into his actions, but his aggressive action, and lots of bluffs on scary boards, didn't make it easy to work out whether he was bluffing or holding the nuts, and I enjoyed the experience.

Most of the table either capitalized on his repeated bluffs, especially on the river, or in similar positions waved good by to most of there stack to him, so I'm pleased I only paid him  off once, just a shame it was for my entire stack.