ES
Consulting opinions
I'm on the button holding A9o with limpers ahead of me , I call , pot is small due to early stages of a live tourney.Flop comes 7 , 7 , 7 .
Everyone checks and I bet 3/4 of the pot . Everyone goes " oooo , he's got the other 7 " .
All fold and one guy asks to see my 7 , I show him/all my hand. About half the guys said " good bet " and the rest seemed pissed with some commenting .My logic was that I held Ace high with a marginal kicker and pairing either card would be about 24% on the turn and approx. half that on the river.Also , another 7 on the board would have been good while holding Ace high and the kicker would have been negated if someone else held an Ace . I also thought my bet might reveal anyone holding a 7 ; they perhaps might check or be in a similar situation as my hole cards. In short , I thought it was a good play and cheap to attempt.I was surprised that some at the table critisized the play. Any thoughts ?
It won the pot - enough said. I would have done the same. The main two reasons to bet here are: (1) no one raised pre-flop, so there is no reason to expect anyone has a great hand (such as a medium to high pocket pair); (2) being on the button, any caller faces the potential of ever bigger bets on future streets (such that this is a great spot to "bluff" - which I put in quotes because I am pretty sure you had the best hand at the time.... which, I guess, is a third good reason to bet - protect your hand!). The people who were pissed were: (a) wanting to draw at their full houses, and; (b) not very good players if the don't think poker includes bluffing and protecting your hand (no matter how weak - if you are ahead, you are ahead, and consider protecting your hand.
First, you'll get more and better responses in the analysis forum. This is really about how to play a hand with trips on the flop.
Second, your math is a little off. You have 7 outs to a boat or quads on the turn. There are 47 unseen cards. Your chances of pairing one of your hole cards or catching quads on the turn is 7/47 or ~%14.9. If you don't improve on the turn, your chances of pairing one of your hole cards or catching the case 7 is 7/46 or ~15.2%. Your odds of pairing one of your hole cards or catching quads if you see both the turn and river would be .149+(.851*.152) or ~27.8%.
Finally, I don't mind the bet. You are in a tourney and you have to chip up. This is a great bluffing opportunity. If you get called, you can shut down.
Three notes.
Betting is a fine play. You may be best, but you also get hands like AT, AJ and small pairs to fold.
" oooo , he's got the other 7 " -- you're playing against idiots. Why would you bet quads here? Your most likely holding is a small pair -- not good enough to raise, flopping a full house, not wanting to see an overcard on the turn.
Showing the hand is a terrible play, especially since it's perceived as a bluff. Don't give out free information though I'm not sure these players would know what to do with it.
AdRock is right, if these guys are criticizing you for betting your hand (which was very likely best as I think with this group, most aces and all pairs call) then they are idiots who don't understand position or tournament poker. You took a small stab at a small pot, nothing wrong with that. Don't let what other people say affect your method of thinking. You won the pot without a showdown, thats what matters. I would hate to see you checking this same hand on that board next time for fear of being criticized. Just do what you believe is the right play.