It's crucial for poker players to avoid making a big play--whether a call, raise, or fold--for the sake of proving that they're capable of making such plays and/or looking cool. However, if one can make such a play AND have a good reason for doing so, every now and then it's ok to pat yourself on the back about it. For example, I felt pretty good about the following hand from a few days ago (please note I moved up in stakes to $0.25/$0.50):
Seat 2: Dealer ($50 in chips)
Seat 3: Small Blind ($49.55 in chips)
Seat 4: Donzo ($50.10 in chips)
Seat 5: UTG ($15.60 in chips)
Seat 6: UTGplus1 ($18.44 in chips)
Small Blind: posts small blind $0.25
Donzo: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Donzo [2s 2c]
UTG: raises $1 to $1
UTGplus1: folds
Dealer: folds
Small Blind: folds
Donzo: calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [3c 7c 6h]
Donzo: checks
UTG: bets $2.25
We're playing 5-handed and the villain min raises from UTG, which doesn't tell us a lot about their range except they don't have complete trash like Q4 or 93. As it only costs us $.50 to see the flop and we're holding a pair, a call is perfectly appropriate. The flop hits a low-mid range pretty hard, but also misses a ton of hands. I check and the villain bets the pot. At this point the villain could have everything from a straight to complete air, but remember that they are figuring that this flop missed most of my hands as well. Importantly, I also have a note on this player (based on a few dozen hands) that he/she may make pot size bets in spots where other players have indicated weakness. I call with the intention of re-evaluating on the turn.
Donzo: calls $2.25
*** TURN *** [3c 7c 6h] [9h]
Donzo: checks
UTG: checks
We check and the villain checks behind, which is important because it removes a TON of possible hands from his/her range. There are now two potential flush draws on the board and if we were drawing to the straight with 89, we've picked up top pair as well. As a result, if the villain had a strong hand like 45 (for the flopped straight), 67, a set, or a pocket pair larger than 99, he/she would want to bet for value on the turn as well. The check also reduces the likelihood of a 7, which might still want to go for value with only one overcard.
*** RIVER *** [3c 7c 6h 9h] [7d]
Donzo: checks
UTG: bets $6.75
The river pairs the 7 and we check, as the only reason to bet would be to get the villain to fold a 6, 3, 44, or 55, which is unlikely to work. The villain again bets the size of the pot, same as on the flop. At this point the villain's range is polarized between a strong hand or a bluff. They likely either have a 7 that they checked behind on the turn because they were scared of the 9 or a straight, or they don't have anything. Up to this point in the hand, our actions have indicated that we have a weak pair, ace high, or a missed draw. As a result, the villain has a reasonable expectation that we will fold many of those hands to a large bet. There is a small chance that the villain is value betting extremely thin with a 6 or 3, but in all likelihood those hands would be checked behind as well.
I put all of the above together and make the call. The villain shows A4 for ace high and a missed gutshot.
Donzo: calls $6.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
UTG: shows [Ah 4d] (a pair of Sevens)
Donzo: shows [2s 2c] (two pair, Sevens and Twos)
Donzo collected $19.25 from pot
While it's tempting to say "forget it, there's too much out there that beats me," if we take some time to logically construct our opponent's range based on their actions, we can make a call that looks ridiculous at first glance, but is actually supported by good logic. Only then do we get to brush that dirt off our shoulders and feel like a badass mofo. ;)
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