Some background before we get to the hand. I am having a quiet night playing $1/$2 10 handed. I have won several pots, not huge ones but in the $60-$70 range. I have lost some in the same range and overall I am down about $40 from my $300 buyin. I have been playing tight and it has been noticed. An orbit before this hand I raised to $8, an amount that I expected at least one caller for, holding KK. Everyone insta folded! I was in EP2 and did not expect this. EP1 did not surprise me :)
9 hands have come and gone and I have folded them all much like most of the hands I was dealt in the session. I am now back in EP2 holding QQ. EP1 limps and I decide to try $7. I get MP1 and SB to come along. I know both of the players as they are regulars. Small pot, $25 pre rake. The flop comes Q7K rainbow. SB checks and I think about what will happen if I bet here. Probably I win what is in the middle right now. I decide that because my image is very tight a check behind will not look suspicious. I am inclined to do this because the villain in MP1 will bet if he sees any weakness in front of him. I also know that villain in SB will come along if he has any broadway cards in his hands. MP1 obliges with a bet of $25. SB calls. This call rules out KK in SBs hand as he would have check raised if he held it. He may have two pair or either a K, 7 or other broadway cards, AJ, AT, JT etc. I decide to smooth call as I believe I am way ahead and I can get a bigger pot by slow playing here because my tight image gives me cover. I still do not have a good read on MP1 yet. He has about $90 left in his stack. Pot now $95 after rake and drop.
Turn brings an 8 of the fourth suit. SB checks again. This does not change my thinking about his hand. I check behind again thinking I should get another bet from MP1 by continuing my slow play. He thinks about it and finally puts in a bet of $45. I now believe he is holding a Kx hand as this fits his pattern for the evening. SB calls after thinking about it. At this point I decide that I do not want to see the river because that way lies possible/probable disaster. I go all-in for my last $210. MP1 has $45 and SB has me covered but I am certain I am ahead and will prevail.
I know that aggression is the best way to go but given my image for the evening and pots that I have shown down I was convinced this was the best way to go in this hand and that my reads were on target. I am going to break the rules a little because my question is not about how I played the hand but about my overall thinking about the hand. Both villains folded and I picked up a nice $185 pot because of how I played the hand which was based on that thinking. When the hand first started and I saw the QQ I was sure that if I got aggressive to any large degree everyone would be gone just like the KK hand earlier where I picked up the monster $3 pot. Even the $7 raise was a risk. As soon as I saw the Qs I knew I would play it small until the first sign I could be in trouble. The flop made this much easier but I did think about it at every step. I used what I knew of the villains play based on my history with them to inform my decisions.
My question is, given my explanation of the evening and how I knew the players and their responses to different situations, would you have played in the more standard aggressive fashion or more like how I played it? In the past I went further afield from the regular teachings of learnWPT than I did in this hand and am trying to understand where the limits should be. I try to have a plan for hands that can turn out to be big ones. The little ones too but more so the big ones. Please do not fear hurting my feelings as it is my thinking that if I want to hear only good things about my play I will never learn anything.
I hope this made at least some sense.
Edit: I would like to see comments from others here on the site before Eric gets to it. Even the other pros because I would think that their thought process may differ some from Eric's. In other words, please everyone get involved it will help us all learn!
Bob