Archive for February, 2010

I played this guy bawaa heads up on a couple of tables the other day. He played well and it was a wild match, with me taking an early lead, then getting stuck 6-7 buy-ins, then clawing my way back to even. After more than 1000 hands, I was up just $350 even though I ran several thousands dollars above EV. Remember though that that only counts all-in EV, and as you’ll see here, he had a couple of lucky catches himself.

When we were done playing we talked for a minute or two and he was really gracious. Even when his luck turned and he lost back all his winnings to, among other things, a few bad beats, he never complained or said anything but “nh”, and he was perfectly friendly when all was said and done. I invited him to come check out the blog, so bawaa, if you see this, leave me a comment!

Strangely Played Aces

Notice we’re 400 BB’s deep. I don’t want to play for stacks post-flop, so I convince him to value town himself instead:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($4304)
SB ($4484.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A
SB bets $30, Hero raises to $111, SB calls $81  Read the complete post...

I can’t say that I expected great things from the memoirs of a man who divided his life between the ranch, the pool table, and the poker table, and while it can’t be called great, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People is a surprisingly enjoyable diversion.

From his early days as a pool hustler and USO performer to his days on the road with Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts and his eventual victory in the World Series of Poker, Amarillo Slim surely led a memoir-worthy life. With the help of co-author Greg Dinkin, he shares his tales of daring hustles, outrageous proposition bets, and near-death experiences with both humor and humility.

Even accounting for Dinkin’s likely contributions, there’s no doubt that Slim is a great storyteller and an all-around smart guy. As one would expect from a professional hustler, he’s particularly sharp when it comes to human psychology. The book is full of advice about gambling and astute observations about human behavior, usually in the form of a moral to one of Slim’s countless gambling stories. As he puts it, “Gambling is a reflection of life. A man’s true character comes out when he’s sitting at the poker table- his strengths and weaknesses, his good traits and his faults. Whenever money is involved, you see the worst in people.” Slim even makes a few apt references to Freud, whom he calls “Ol’ Siggy.”  Read the complete post...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $8.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($816.20)
Hero (SB) ($2062.85)
BB ($2710)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 6
1 fold, Hero bets $32, BB calls $24

Flop: ($64) 5, 6, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, BB calls $44

Turn: ($152) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $96, Hero raises to $266, BB calls $170

River: ($684) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Total pot: $684 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had A, 6 (two pair, sixes and fives).
BB had 7, 8 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: BB won $683

In a blind battle, I expect to be way ahead here even after getting called on the flop. It’s such a rare spot for me to check-raise that I expect Villain to bet not just floats but also any pair (which will be mostly 4′s and 6′s, rarely anything I’m behind) and maybe even Ace-high. If he 3-bets, I’m comfortable folding as he’ll have trips or better the vast majority of the time.  Read the complete post...

The thing about these professional short stackers is that they suck at playing post-flop. That’s why they buy-in short in the first place, after all. So my strategy is to make small pre-flop raises against their blinds. They win less when they shove on me, and if they really want to exploit me, they have to call and try to play post-flop against me out of position. This is the kind of stuff that usually results:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($547)
Hero (SB) ($5450)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4, 6
Hero bets $100, BB calls $50

Flop: ($200) A, K, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB raises to $200, Hero raises to $5350 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $600 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero didn’t show 4, 6.
Outcome: Hero won $599

With just 11 BB’s, he’s shoving probably all of his Aces, good Kings, and pocket pairs pre-flop. He could have a weak K or 6, but I pretty much flopped the nuts. I bet small to induce a check-raise, and since he’s not check-raising less than an Ace for value, I know I’m good when he raises. I don’t think he bluffs the turn if I just call flop, though, so best to stick it in now.

This is a blatant example of a guy who is thinking about my hand and what he wants me to do but not about what I will be thinking or what his hand will look like to me:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($670)
Hero (Button) ($5377)
SB ($2000)
BB ($2030)
UTG ($1813.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
2 folds, Hero bets $50, 1 fold, BB raises to $185, Hero calls $135

Flop: ($380) 6, Q, 7 (2 players)
BB bets $240, Hero calls $240

Turn: ($860) 9 (2 players)
BB bets $480, Hero raises to $4952 (All-In), BB calls $1125 (All-In)

River: ($4070) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4070 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).
BB had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $4067

This isn’t a spot where he’s likely to fire a second barrel on a pure bluff, so his range for betting turn is going to be semi-bluffs and value hands. With a value hand here, he chooses a bet size that presumably gives me room to shove draws of my own. Trouble is, it’s pretty obvious here that that’s what he’s trying to do, and therefore I should not shove my draws but rather just call with them and hope either to get there or river a good card to bluff. With his draws, I imagine he bets a lot more, making clear that he is pot committed so that I don’t have room to rebluff him with a draw when he’d rather I fold.

Edit: Sorry I didn’t have time to do commentary for this one when I posted it. I’ve added some discussion below.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($685)
BB ($768.15)
UTG ($2340.05)
MP ($673)
Button ($1457.95)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
UTG bets $18, MP calls $18, Button calls $18, Hero calls $15, BB calls $12

Flop: ($90) K, 5, 9 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $12, UTG raises to $60, MP calls $60, Button calls $60, Hero calls $60, BB calls $48

Turn: ($390) J (5 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $199, 2 folds, Hero calls $199, BB calls $199

River: ($987) 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $2063.05 (All-In), Hero calls $408 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1803 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
UTG had 5, 5 (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: Hero won $1801

This one is actually kind of similar to the other hand I posted about bottom set on a very dry board getting multiway action. The twist here is that the BB is a mega-fish and expresses interest in the pot by leading into the pre-flop raiser on the flop. UTG’s range for raising the flop is potentially wide, since he could be semi-bluffing/isolation the fish. Getting cold-called by three other players ought to give him pause, though. How many Kings are there in this deck?  Read the complete post...

The player that I ended up sucking out on yesterday was the reason I was sitting in this 40/80 game. I didn’t recognize his name, so I sat in and started playing a bit. It quickly became apparent that he was one of the most loose and aggressive players I’d ever played with. My HUD showed him running at something like 45/32/9, which was telling even over a small sample size. I had never seen him fold to a continuation bet, either.

Not that he was terrible. He actually seemed to play reasonably well post-flop, but against good players, I just don’t think it’s going to be possible to show a profit playing 45% of your hands at a 5-handed table. Still, figuring out how to adapt to such aggression was tricky. Here’s a hand I’m still not sure about:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($12588)
SB ($16658)
BB ($16438)
UTG ($24125)
Hero (MP) ($10647)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 9, A
1 fold, Hero bets $240, Button calls $240, 2 folds

Flop: ($600) J, 2, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $444, Button calls $444

Turn: ($1488) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1200, Hero calls $1200

River: ($3888) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2800, Hero calls $2800  Read the complete post...

At a cash table, anyway. I’m sure I’ve sucked out a few times at the WSOP in pots that were worth a lot more than this in equity.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($10690)
Hero (SB) ($14549)
BB ($25279)
UTG ($12963.50)
MP ($53395.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
UTG bets $240, 2 folds, Hero raises to $960, 1 fold, UTG raises to $2400, Hero raises to $14549 (All-In), UTG calls $10563.50 (All-In)

Flop: ($26007) K, 4, 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($26007) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($26007) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $26007 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
UTG had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $26004

Guy was a crazy aggressive Russian, playing like 45/32 at a 5-handed table with 22% 3-bet. In other words, I can’t fault myself for getting it in pre-flop against him with KK.  Read the complete post...