In the previous post, I had KK UTG, called by the button. Flop bet was called, turn bet was called.



3 diamonds, and a paired board. I'm moderately worried about the flush. I can't imagine him calling the flop with only 2 diamonds: Ad 10d is possible. So is 6s 8s, for a straight; so is 6d 8d, turning the straight and rivering the flush. I guess 67 or 78 are possible, too, but also less likely hands: that'd be a tougher call on the flop and the turn, unless he pegged me for only AK or AQ.

When do I start getting worried about this hand? How do I figure out that I'm behind.

While I think I'm ahead, I do feel a little vulnerable, so I go into passive mode. If he puts me on AK and he's got a pair, he may think he's good. If I lead out, he may raise, putting me to a harder decision: with just one pair, I'm not interested in putting my stack in the middle. I don't really want to bet more than pot on this. If he was a habitual min-raiser, I may think about betting 1/2 pot, knowing any raise will bring it to a pot-size bet. But he's a good bettor. So I need a plan.

If I check and he:
- bets pot, I can call
- makes a min-bet (sounds silly, I know, betting $0.10 into a $4 pot, but I've even seen fuel55 bet $10 OOP into a $200 pot...not that that means much of anything, but some consider him an OK player), I can raise - probably to 1/2 pot or so (if he's got TPTK he'll call)
- overbets, I can fold. Overbetting for value is becoming more and more popular amongst good players. I won't stack off here with one pair

If I bet 1/2 pot and he:
- shoves, I have to fold
- raises more than pot, I have to fold
- min-raises, I have to call

If I bet pot and he:
- raises any, I have to fold


I think check/calling up to a pot-size bet here is correct: I have K's, but it is only one pair on a board with flush and straight possibilities. I'd love to know your opinions here (and your opinions on the posibilities listed above).

*** RIVER *** [7s 5s Td 9d] [7d] (pot ~$4.75)
gsw61515 checks
PKTaceSuited bets $2.50
gsw61515 has 15 seconds left to act
gsw61515 has requested TIME
gsw61515 calls $2.50

*** SHOW DOWN ***
PKTaceSuited shows [Js Qs] a pair of Sevens
gsw61515 shows [Ks Kd] two pair, Kings and Sevens
gsw61515 wins the pot ($8.90) with two pair, Kings and Sevens

I won a good-size pot while risking no more than I needed to. Leading out here, I would only have gotten either a fold if he had nothing, or a decision for the rest of my chips if he shoved, something I don't think would have been prudent to call. If he turned out to have the straight or the back door flush, then I believe I'd have lost the bare minimum with this.

--------------------------

Why, then, did I bother posting this? A couple reasons:
1. I had a difficult decision deciding how to handle the turn, and the river. Analyzing after the fact helps me with similar future situations
2. To see if I missed anything somewhere: a read, a clue to what my opponent is holding, etc
3. To take a look at my betting: did I miss a bet anywhere (unlikely on this hand of course), did I give away anything with my betting, could I have saved chips (not in this situation of course)
4. To see if any of the 3.2 people who read this blog have any different ideas as to how to play the hand: was this a hard decision, or do you just insta-call? Do you lead the river and insta-call a raise/shove?

Also, goes to show that KK isn't always an easy hand to play. KK out of position can be dangerous, and if unimproved by the river, you should remember that the average winning hold 'em hand is two pair.

Score!

Just got back from a 11+ hour session at Tulalip. I was playing fairly loose and very aggressive, which I know helped me win some big pots but also helped me lose more than I might have if I had played a bit more snug. My stack was bouncing from a low of $30 (I reloaded here) to $150 back to $75 to $250... it was a roller coaster, but I was playing poker, I wasn't just waiting for cards. Higher variance with this style (short-term), but in this game it really is the optimal way to play: it's so passive! Of course, I wouldn't have gotten the action I did had I played snugger. But I digress....

Last hand of the session, we're 7-handed, I'm in the small blind. One fold, limpers all the way to the button who raises to $12. I look down and find Jd9d. I love these types of hands, but I loathe playing them out of position. Still, 2 other limpers and me are fairly deep ($200-$300+), so I decide to call the raise and hope the rest of the limpers also call. This is the type of hand where if I miss I don't get fancy, I check-fold. And, as expected, all 6 limpers call (one limper is actually all-in with his last $12). Pot: $72.

FLOP: Jc 4c 9s

Awesome, top 2; don't like the flush draw, but that will only get there 35% of the time. I bet $50. UTG goes all-in for less. One fold, MP min-raises to $100. Folds to me.

Top 2 on a flushing board. Thing is, the guy who raised has been very quiet - hasn't played a hand in a while, and I typically see him raising with decent hands. I ask how much he's got left: $140. While I'm affraid of a set, he'd have raised pre with JJ or 99; 44 is the only hand in his range that I think is beating me. He's looking me dead in the face. He feels very strong about his hand, I can tell.

I say I need a minute. "Tell you what," he says, "you take a minute and I'm going to put these on" (referring to his sunglasses). Something doesn't seem right, I dunno. I remember back through the night; I remember him saying that QJ and AJ are two of his favorite hands. Something just... I dunno, I watched him flop 2 sets today, and -- he's just acting different than he did then. I can't pinpoint at all what's "different," but it just is.

He's actually at this point got his back turned to the table. It's almost a Phil Laak-Unibomber move. I take another second, and then remember that I'm at $1/$2 NL, and that push-monkeys will get married to TPTK.

I then say a silent prayer that he doesn't have a set, and then announce all-in. He whips off his sunglasses, stares at me, looks at his cards and thinks. With no insta-call, I know he doesn't have a set, and he either has AcKc with the flush draw, or AJ. After about 20 seconds he says, "I can't lay this down, I call."

"Top two," I say. He says "Holy s*#t, I'm way behind," and flips over the JackAce. The other two players - one had A4o, the other had J8o. Only 2 aces left that I have to dodge.

Top two hold up. I rake in a $400+ pot. This is the biggest pot I've ever won. I simultaneously bust 3 players, and the game breaks. It was 8am; I'd been playing since 8:30pm, with every intention of leaving around 1 or 2am. The game was so damn good, though, that I couldn't leave - I just couldn't!

Yea, it's an easy game when the deck smacks you upside the head - AND your opponents are willing to go broke with one pair!.

Stop speaking f*$# Sputnik!

I got to the Tulalip early enough Friday to play $1/$2: get there anytime after 8pm and the wait is over an hour. My wait, with getting there around 7:15, was about 10 minutes.

I really, really enjoyed the $1/$2 game. While I like the $3/$5 for the bigger profit possibilities, I don't believe I have a large enough bankroll to play optimally in that game. Making big river bluffs in that game is terrifying; in the $1/$2 game it's scary, but completely doable. I was able to play much more aggressively, and make moves that I would be way too nervous to make for larger stakes.

Some interesting hands, and some team playing I called out.

First hand: I sit down UTG with my $100 buy-in (max buy-in is unfortunately this low). I have 2 black fours. Unsure of anyone's tendencies or the "standard raise" (I usually play $3/$5), I popped it to $6 and got 3 callers. Before the flop, the BB tells me it's the biggest preflop pot he's seen there in an hour. 'Wow,' I'm thinking to myself, 'are they really that passive? This table is in for a shock then.'

FLOP: 4d Kh 7c. BB checks, I look around, say "What, there four of us in there?" and bet out $20. Folds back to the BB who automatically goes all in. He counts out his chips: costs me $37 to call, which I of course do. BB has AK, he doesn't catch a miracle, and I add about $75 to my stack on my first hand. Unfortunately BB leaves the table after this hand. Oh, well,

I watched a number of pots where this blonde woman is getting bullied around by the laggy table bully. I don't think much of it at first; they do end up in a lot of pots heads-up though. It was only after she moved seats next to him, though, that I realized they were together (married, bf/gf, etc).

I then started noticing an interesting pattern where if she entered the pot for a raise, he was calling 95% of the time. In multi-way pots if she raised, he would very often re-raise - other players would fold, she would call, they would check it down. Epitome of team playing, right?

Not yet.

I pick up JJ in the SB. Blondie limps from UTG+1, 2 more limpers, and then I pop it to $15 from the SB. Blondie calls, all others fold. Flop is all unders. I lead out $15, blondie calls. Turn puts a straight draw out there; I bet $30, blondie insta-calls. I have her on AK, AQ, or 10's here. She plays very straight-forward, and would be raising with a set (I'm pretty sure slow-playing a set here is not in her repertoire).

River is a J. If she flopped a set, I just rivered her. I do a quick calculation and bet out $75 (3/5 pot). Blondie lifts her cards up on the table, so her boyfriend can see them. She then turns to him and whispers, "Should I call?" and he vigorously shakes his head.

?!?!?!?!

Guy 2 to my right says, "Oh my god did that just happen?"

She mucks, and, feeling like I quite possibly missed out on $75, I say to the dealer, "Could we make sure it stays one player to a hand?" to which Blondie's boyfriend replies "We didn't do anything." When I recount the turn of events Blondie says she wasn't going to call anyway. Two more of the players on my side of the table had spoken up as well when I talked to the dealer. I then said to them, "I'm tired of watching your team-playing, but this was just completely and blatantly and obviously a hideous violation of the rules." Yea, I used the word 'hideous.' I'm pissed off. They both don't say a word.

After the next hand, they start speaking Russian to each other. Someone calls them out on it, citing the English only rule. At this point, I go to the floor, and tell them I want a table change because there is team playing going on at my table. They don't seem concerned about the team playing, but I get my table change in under 5 minutes. The table was becoming unfriendly, and I would have gone on tilt if I stayed at their table. Better to just move.

If I'm at their table next time I'm there and they start speaking Russian again, I think I'll quote Rounders and tell 'em to stop speaking Sputnik!

Hand Analysis

I'm going to break this down into a couple posts. Let me know what you think of my play and my thinking here. I've played against the opponent quite a bit, so I'm fairly familiar with his play.
-------------------------

Seat 3: gsw61515 ($13.75)
Seat 9: PKTaceSuited ($7.40)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
gsw61515 raises to $0.35 with [Ks Kd] from UTG
PKTaceSuited calls $0.35 from the button

Standard button call I'd say, possibly suited connectors, possibly any pair, perhaps AK or AQ (though with AK, AQ, and QQ+ he'd be re-raising 99% of the time).



*** FLOP *** [7s 5s Td] (pot ~$0.85)
gsw61515 bets $0.60
PKTaceSuited calls $0.60

I'm OOP with a big pair, against a good button player. From my experience with him, he will raise here if he has a set, especially with two spades out there. He's capable of calling preflop with suited connectors or small or medium pair. Preflop: 55, 77, or 10 10 are possible; 57 is moderately possible but more unlikely; 7 10 and 5 10 are NOT in his range.

With his smooth-call here, I have to put him on a spade draw. 89 is possible, but if it were it would more likely than not be 8s 9s. If another spade comes I must tread carefully. The good news is I have the Ks, so AsKs is not possible (again, this would be a preflop re-raising hand for him anyway, so AK and AQ are out of the question: if an ace hits I'm not going to be too worried).

Did I bet enough? If he's committed to a showdown with a spade draw, I think I gave him good odds to call here; if he's chasing just to the turn though I didn't give him great odds, but it's close. 2/3 pot and he's got at best 14 outs: it's close I think.

Am I missing something, or does this smell like a spade draw?

-----------------------------------



*** TURN *** [7s 5s Td] [9d] (pot ~$2.05)
gsw61515 bets $1.40
PKTaceSuited calls $1.40

Again with the smooth call. Two diamonds and two spades now. It'd be unlikely he called with a diamond draw, unless it was something highly unlikely like 6d 8d. If he's there (or 6s 8s) then he just took the lead.

I made another roughly 2/3 pot bet, which I know is a bad price to chase a pure flush draw, but if he's got a straight draw to boot, he's chasing 14 outs: is 2/3 pot on the turn giving good odds here? I'm horrible with the minutia of the math here...

Do I start to worry about the monster under the bed at this point? Do I start to include 6s 8s in this range? I think I still have to stick with 8s 9s as his most likely holding. Any other 2 spades is also possible; however calling my flop bet with a pure spade draw is unlikely.

Am I giving this guy way too much credit? Do I need to not worry about this and just bang away with KK to extract maximum value?

------------------------

Presto is Platinum (part 1)

(a lá fuel55 :) )

6-man STT; I'm 2nd short stack and need to shove ASAP:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
jcn75 folds
Daniel80 raises to 280
gsw61515 raises to 783, and is all in with [5h 5d]
BIAHH1025 folds
smonsss calls 72, and is all in
Daniel80 calls 503

*** FLOP *** [5s 6h 3h]

*** TURN *** [5s 6h 3h] [5c]

*** RIVER *** [5s 6h 3h 5c] [9h]

gsw61515 shows four of a kind, Fives
Daniel80 shows [Ah Ad] for two pair, Aces and Fives
gsw61515 wins the side pot (1,262) with four of a kind, Fives
smonsss shows [As Ts] for a pair of Fives
gsw61515 wins the main pot (496) with four of a kind, Fives

Hand of the day

at the table for 15 hands, played 1. 2 limpers, I'm on the button with KK, raise to $0.50, UTG calls. FLOP: 7 9 3 rainbow.

UTG bets pot, I min-raise, UTG calls.
TURN: 6
UTG shoves.

Yea, I'm dreading a set, but there are 2 spades now, so this could be 2 spades shoving. I make a crying call. Look at this hand:


How do you call the preflop raise? And how the flop re-raise?

Again - please, call me every single time there, please!

Fold of the day

Lost 1 buy-in today; at the same time I played about as good as I can. How's that possible? Variance. I was correct in most all of my reads, yet was cold decked too often.

Playing well isn't all about winning pots, but has to be combined with not losing too much when vulnerable.

I'm UTG, and get JJ. Not the best position for jacks, I pot raise and hope it folds around. MP calls, LP calls, button re-pots it (~$2). It feels kinda pinchy, given the two limpers could easily be dead money. He had to give some thought to the raising from UTG (right?), so while I'm tempted to get stubborn and shove, I fold. MP and LP both call, which puts them all in. Look at this board:

I obviously correctly read the situation. The amazing thing to me, though, is the other two in the pot. Called all-in with KQo and 89s!! Wow.

Dream situation for AA.


Here's a great cold-deck example. AA in the SB, 1 limper, folds around and I raise to $0.35, BB folds, limper calls. I bet the flop, limper raises, I raise enough to put him all in, and he calls:


Well played, sir: never mind the limp/call a raise preflop, but top pair / 2nd kicker all in? Brilliant move. Call me like that every time, please!!!

Creative call of the night

I'm UTG+1. UTG raises to $0.35, I re-pop to $1 with QQ. Folds to UTG who calls.

Now, UTG is kind of short-stacked: only started with $2.35 or so (and I'm around $17), so I had decided before the flop that I'd insta-call a shove preflop, so I'm committed to a showdown here. If he had a bigger stack, I'd have played postflop much more carefully. But since I would've called a shove pre, I figure there's not gonna be many flops I'll fold to.

Flop comes J6K rainbow. I don't like the K out there, but again - I'm calling the extra $1.5 or whatever anyway. UTG shoves as I expected, and I call. I figured maybe he out-flopped me with AK, but he could have AJ, AQ, and I could still be very good here. But I lose the pot. NOT AK. Not JJ. Not 66. Nope. See for yourself:


I was a;ready resigned to losing the hand anyway. But it wouldn't have sucked so much if the dude didn't call with king freaking jack offsuit!!!

Hand of the night:

I'm UTG, pot-raise to $0.35 with AKs, sb calls, bb calls.

FLOP: 8 2 4 rainbow
SB: bets $0.20
BB: calls $0.20
I raise to $1.20 (no way that flop gave anyone a monster)
SB folds (good boy)
BB calls (huh?)

Turn: [8 2 4] 2h
BB checks, I'm confused so I check

River: [8 2 4 2] 7h
BB checks, I'm still confused so I check.

look at this showdown:


Nice preflop and flop calls, dude.

Card rack

Easy game when you catch everything under the sun. Can't sleep, played about 30 hands:
- Aces 3 times (never went to showdown)
- QQ once (though I lost: AK4s flop, folded to raise / re-raise by LP & button)
- AKo twice (won one pre, one on the turn)

That's 20% of my hands. Biggest winner, though: 79o:

Button: gsw61515 ($11)
SB: down2raise ($4.55)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
(limpers)
gsw61515 calls $0.10 with 9h 7d <-- obvious limp on the button
down2raise calls $0.05

FLOP: 8d 5h 6h <-- uh, that'd be the nuts!
down2raise checks
gsw61515 bets $0.30 <-- charge for flush draws
down2raise raises to $1.30
gsw61515 raises to $5 <-- 2 pair or sets will call 100% of the time here
down2raise calls $3.15, and is all in
gsw61515 shows [9h 7d]
down2raise shows [Tc 8c] <-- bwah hahaha!
Uncalled bet of $0.55 returned to gsw61515
hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
TURN: [8d 5h 6h] Jc
RIVER: [8d 5h 6h Jc] 8s
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
gsw61515 shows a straight, Nine high
down2raise shows three of a kind, Eights

Top pair / ten kicker?! I'm still laughing!!

Root cause

While it's true that I have been getting a bit cold-decked, I think I know the root of my downswing as of late: lack of patience. Add being card dead to that, and it can be a deadly combination. I started to play way too many speculative hands for way more than they were worth, just to try to "make something happen."

I tightened up a lot, and was much more careful about calling people down with 2nd or 3rd pair. I basically went back to playing a smaller variance brand of poker.

I also got some decent cards, too... a cooler or two of course, but that'll always happen.

I have AA in the SB. Folds around to me. Awesome, right? Well, I figure I might as well try to get an over-call preflop from the guy if he's got something decent. I raise 5x's the BB to $0.50. He instantly shoves for $9 & change:


I guess he was bound to go broke on that hand no matter what.

I didn't screen-cap this next one, so here's the reduced HH:

gsw61515, MP, $7.50
techcharlie, UTG, $9.35

techcharlie calls $0.10
gsw61515 raises to $0.45 with [Ks As]
(folds around)
techcharlie calls $0.35

FLOP: 8h Kh Kd
techcharlie has 15 seconds left to act
techcharlie checks
gsw61515 checks <-- set the trap

TURN:[8h Kh Kd] Ad
techcharlie bets $0.80 <-- took the bait!
gsw61515 calls $0.80

RIVER: [8h Kh Kd Ad] 7d
techcharlie checks
gsw61515 bets $4 <-- overbet for value
techcharlie INSTAcalls $4

gsw61515 shows [Ks As] a full house, Kings full of Aces
techcharlie shows [Qh Ac] two pair, Aces and Kings
gsw61515 wins the pot ($9.60) with a full house, Kings full of Aces


He called so fast I almost wondered if they had AA! I'm sorry, but definitely do NOT make that call there if I'm him. I doubt I lead the turn either, except perhaps as a potential block. But - come ON! - how do you call $4 on the river when the pot is $1.70 with that board?!


Last one was a cooler: first hand at a new table, 77 in the BB, I check my option. I pot bet the flop, SB check-called. SB Check-raised all-in on the turn, I was happy to call:


Ooops... didn't see the potential straight, was hoping to get value out of flush draws and TPTK / 2 pair type hands. Oh, well. I lost $8 on that hand, and moments later FTP released $7.50 bonus money, so it all evened out in the end :)

Feed the rake!

First, this one:


What are the chances, anyway? It all got in pre-flop, so I lost $$ on this hand!


Then, the very next hand:


2 chops in a row; apparently FTP thinks I'm not paying enough rake.