2008 Year in Review

Having already posted an analysis of last year's resolutions (One, Two, and Three), I'll turn now to some year-end miscellany:

Largest Pot Won

Though I played as high as 50/100 last year, my biggest win was in a recent 10/20 heads up game. It's both the largest pot I've won in absolute dollars and also (I think) the largest in BB's, nearly 1200 of them.

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $16,884.50
BB: $11,606

Pre-Flop: 6 T dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $588, BB raises to $1,225, Hero calls $637

Flop: ($2,450) 6 J 6 (2 Players)
BB bets $1,425, Hero raises to $3,659, BB raises to $10,381 and is All-In, Hero calls $6,722

Turn: ($23,212) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($23,212) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $23,212 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed 6 T (a full house, Sixes full of Tens) and WON $23,211.50 (+$11,605.50 NET)
BB showed A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes) and LOST (-$11,606 NET)


A little epilogue here: I saw this guy sitting alone at a 50/100 table recently and took a seat. He played one hand and quit.

Largest Pot Lost

I wish I could say it was a bad beat or cold deck, but mostly it was just bad play:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $10,050
SB: $24,967.75

Pre-Flop: 4 A dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to $124, Hero raises to $411, SB calls $287

Flop: ($822) Q 8 Q (2 Players)
Hero bets $589, SB raises to $1,670, Hero calls $1,081

Turn: ($4,162) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $2,575, Hero raises to $7,969 and is All-In, SB calls $5,394

River: ($20,100) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $20,100 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed 4 A (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-$10,050 NET)
SB showed K Q (three of a kind, Queens) and WON $20,099.50 (+$10,049.50 NET)


Worst Bad Beat

As it happens, those are both from December. But I had to go all the way back to March and my days in the UB 25/50 heads up game to find the most annoying bad beat, defined as some combination of long odds and big pot:

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 0: GASSITT ($4297.50) -
Seat 1: Foucault ($4500) - -

PRE-FLOP:

Foucault posts small blind $25
GASSITT posts BIG blind $50
Dealt To: Foucault


RAISE Foucault ($150)
CALL GASSITT ($150)


FLOP:

Pot: $350


CHECK GASSITT
BET Foucault ($200)
CALL Foucault ($200)


TURN:

Pot: $750


BET GASSITT ($525)
RAISE Foucault ($1650)
RAISE GASSITT ($3947.50)
CALL Foucault ($3947.50)


RIVER:

Pot: $10295




SHOWDOWN:
GASSITT:

MUCK Foucault

GASSITT collected $8594.5 from main pot with full house, fives full of jacks

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $8595 Rake: $.50

Final Board:


Seat 0: 5s Js 5h 5d Jd: full house, fives full of jacks. - Net Gain/Loss: ($3772)



Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Largest Tournament Score



Yearly Profits Graph

Thanks to you all for following along this year, and best of luck at the tables (or wherever you ply your trade) in 2009.

Happy New Year!

Npnpnpnpnpasd

Absolutely murdered this guy at 10/20 heads up this afternoon. He was decent but overly loose and aggressive and did not adapt well to playing super-deep. As you'll see, we had a very aggressive pre-flop dynamic going on, but it occurred almost exclusively on my button. The deeper we got, the more I kept pots small when I was out of position, since he was so willing to play big ones when I had the button. I won't give a lot of commentary on each hand but you can get a general sense of how the game went.

He started off with a 150BB lead but it didnt' last:

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $4,000
SB: $7,053.50

Pre-Flop: T 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to $60, Hero raises to $222, SB calls $162

Flop: ($444) 2 K 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets $333, SB calls $333

Turn: ($1,110) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: ($1,110) 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets $895, SB raises to $1,790, Hero raises to $3,445 and is All-In, SB calls $1,655

Results: $8,000 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed T 7 (a flush, King high) and WON $7,999.50 (+$3,999.50 NET)
SB mucked 5 6 (a straight, Six high) and LOST (-$4,000 NET)


Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $9,832.50
BB: $4,030

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $555, BB raises to $4,030 and is All-In, Hero calls $3,475

Flop: ($8,060) 9 T T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($8,060) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($8,060) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $8,060 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Tens) and WON $8,059.50 (+$4,029.50 NET)
BB showed A K (two pair, Tens and Nines) and LOST (-$4,030 NET)


Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $16,180
BB: $4,337.50

Pre-Flop: Q A dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $555, BB raises to $1,125, Hero calls $570

Flop: ($2,250) A 9 A (2 Players)
BB bets $1,750, Hero raises to $3,500, BB calls $1,462.50 and is All-In

Turn: ($8,675) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($8,675) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $8,675 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed Q A (a full house, Aces full of Nines) and WON $8,674.50 (+$4,337 NET)
BB showed K 4 (two pair, Aces and Nines) and LOST (-$4,337.50 NET)


Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $18,454.50
BB: $6,05

Pre-Flop: K Q dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $588, BB calls $368

Flop: ($1,176) Q 9 8 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1,176) 6 (2 Players)
BB bets $900, Hero calls $900

River: ($2,976) 7 (2 Players)
BB bets $2,750, Hero calls $2,750

Results: $8,476 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked K Q (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-$4,238 NET)
BB showed 5 4 (a straight, Nine high) and WON $8,475.50 (+$4,237.50 NET)


On the one hand that's a scary river but for precisely that reason I felt obliged to call. I was playing my hand to induce a bluff so I can't very well fold to a very aggressive opponent when the perfect bluff card hits.

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $16,308
BB: $8,195.50

Pre-Flop: A J dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $588, BB calls $368

Flop: ($1,176) Q 7 A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $777, BB calls $777

Turn: ($2,730) J (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1,643, BB raises to $6,830.50 and is All-In, Hero calls $5,187.50

River: ($16,391) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $16,391 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed A J (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and WON $16,390.50 (+$8,195 NET)
BB showed 9 8 (Ace Queen high) and LOST (-$8,195.50 NET)


This one is just fucked up:

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $16,884.50
BB: $11,606

Pre-Flop: 6 T dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $588, BB raises to $1,225, Hero calls $637

Flop: ($2,450) 6 J 6 (2 Players)
BB bets $1,425, Hero raises to $3,659, BB raises to $10,381 and is All-In, Hero calls $6,722

Turn: ($23,212) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($23,212) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $23,212 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed 6 T (a full house, Sixes full of Tens) and WON $23,211.50 (+$11,605.50 NET)
BB showed A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes) and LOST (-$11,606 NET)


Felt kinda bad for him but come on we are 600BB deep don't min-5-bet your Aces.

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $28,557
BB: $3,931.50

Pre-Flop: 7 7 dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $60, BB raises to $220, Hero calls $160

Flop: ($440) 2 6 T (2 Players)
BB bets $310, Hero calls $310

Turn: ($1,060) 9 (2 Players)
BB bets $780, Hero calls $780

River: ($2,620) 8 (2 Players)
BB bets $2,621.50 and is All-In, Hero calls $2,621.50

Results: $7,863 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed 7 7 (a straight, Ten high) and WON $7,862.50 (+$3,931 NET)
BB showed 9 T (two pair, Tens and Nines) and LOST (-$3,931.50 NET)


Villain: np i win 23k in 5 bet pots np with 6T npnpnpnpnpnppasd
Villain: f'
Villain: asgkjaf'lsdf
Villain is sitting out
Villain: sd
Villain: h


The Boston Debate League had an even bigger day than I did, though, receiving a $35,000 check from the Boston Foundation. They are hands down the most prominent philanthropic foundation in the Boston area, so a grant from them is huge not only for the amount of money involved but because of the visibility and credibility that it will lend us with other members of the philanthropic community.

Now... to celebrate!

4 High is Good

Sorry at the airport on laptop so no easy access to HH but playing 10/20 HU guy opens for 60 on the button, I make it 211 with AKo, he makes it 533, I shove for a little over 2K, he CALLS with 42s. Naturally I am drawing dead when the flop comes 653.

The guy's definitely on the LAG side but not awful or a maniac, so I think it was probably a mis-click or an image play.

Really regretting the $7.95 I forked over for internet access....

When in Doubt, Pull the Trigger

Here's a fun hand against a smart and very aggressive player who was playing pretty strangely tonight:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $1,643
BB: $1,399
UTG: $2,084.75
Hero (MP): $2,363
CO: $2,040
BTN: $1,000

Pre-Flop: 7 A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG raises to $20, Hero raises to $75, CO folds, BTN calls $75, SB folds, BB calls $65, UTG raises to $255, Hero raises to $2,363 and is All-In, 3 folds

Results: $665 Pot
Hero mucked 7 A and WON $665 (+$410 NET)


He was minraising a ton pre-flop and making a lot of small flop bets. I'd been playing back at him quite a bit, and he'd been playing back at my play backs, etc. So there's a lot of interesting stuff going on here:

1. His UTG range is way wider than your average UTG raising range.

2. This means I can profitably 3-bet a wider range for value and make more bluff 3-bets.

3. But, I've been 3-betting him a lot and I know he knows that and he knows I know he knows so there is the whole leveling thing going on.

4. BTN is kind of a LAGtard and is probaby calling more hands than he should here but also is probably not cold calling with KK or AA.

5. BB is getting a decent price and also probably not playing KK or AA like this.

6. There's a lot of money in the pot now, and UTG can be pretty sure that two of his three opponents are going to fold to a 4-bet. I'm the only x-factor, but given the price he's getting and the fact that there is at least some reason to think I am going to go away, it's a great spot for him to squeeze.

7. Naturally he is playing JJ+ and AK like this for value. Nothing I can do about that. But recognizing (7), and that there's a lot of money in the pot and that I have 30% equity against his calling range, I'm sticking it in.

I also tend towards a maxim of "when in doubt, pull the trigger". Not only does this encourage you to experiment and grow as a player, but it also gives you a good image. When my opponents are contemplating a 4-bet, they have to fear not only that I will actually have a hand but also that I will re-bluff them. Even if a play turns out to be -EV in a vaccuum, it can make future hands easier to play by forcing opponents to play more straight-forwardly against you. And that's worth a lot.

FTOPS Event 22: $2500 NLHE Two-Day Event

It's so rare to find a tournament with a structure as good as this one. Level increases were gradual and staggered every thirty minutes, and stacks started deep. There were a couple of good tournament players at my table, most notably SCTrojans and mattyv (AKA Plattsburgh). They both probably play better 25 BB poker than I do. But in a deep-stacked, high buy-in tournament, they are welcome at my table. There was no one particularly good at the start and a few downright awful players.

Trojans is famous for being a nit, so I made a kind of big fold to him early in the tournament. Turns out I was good, but I still think it was a good fold, because I imagine he plays KK and AA the same way:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: 4,990
BTN: 4,960
SB: 4,980
BB: 5,060
UTG: 5,000
UTG+1: 4,980
Hero (MP): 5,030

Pre-Flop: (30) Q Q dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 60, Hero calls 60, CO folds, BTN raises to 260, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls 200, Hero calls 200

Flop: (810) 8 7 6 (3 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 500, UTG+1 calls 500, Hero folds

Turn: (1,810) A (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, BTN checks

River: (1,810) 2 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 320, BTN calls 320

Results: 2,450 Pot
BTN mucked J J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-1,080 NET)
UTG+1 showed Q Q (a pair of Queens) and WON 2,450 (+1,370 NET)


There was another interesting spot early on where I turned middle pair, check-called for value, and then decided to turn my hand into a bluff on the river:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 6,051
CO: 7,820
BTN: 4,970
SB: 4,890
BB: 1,641
UTG: 4,555
UTG+1: 5,444
Hero (MP1): 4,629

Pre-Flop: (30) T A dealt to Hero (MP1)
2 folds, Hero raises to 70, MP2 calls 70, 4 folds

Flop: (170) K 2 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets 134, MP2 calls 134

Turn: (438) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets 300, Hero calls 300

River: (1,038) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets 625, MP2 folds

Results: 1,038 Pot
Hero mucked T A and WON 1,038 (+534 NET)


My thinking here was that I could fold out better pairs and random low flushes, since it looks quite a bit like I have Ac and a pair. Then I enticed this guy to shove on me drawing to a gutshot and a running flush:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP1: 4,864
MP2: 7,515
CO: 6,621
BTN: 5,746
SB: 2,519
BB: 6,099
UTG: 6,412
Hero (UTG+1): 4,719

Pre-Flop: (75) A A dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 134, 4 folds, SB calls 109, BB folds

Flop: (318) J J T (2 Players)
SB bets 212, Hero raises to 555, SB raises to 2,385 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,830

Turn: (5,088) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: (5,088) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 5,088 Pot
SB showed Q A (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-2,519 NET)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and WON 5,088 (+2,569 NET)


I actually put on a smaller pair and was trying to induce the same play, but this works, too. Probably my favorite hand of the tournament was this triple barrel:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG+2: 4,104
MP1: 12,670
MP2: 7,820
CO: 7,226
BTN: 6,465
SB: 20,698
BB: 10,625
UTG: 10,166
Hero (UTG+1): 7,758

Pre-Flop: (120) 5 5 dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 218, 2 folds, MP2 calls 218, CO calls 218, 3 folds

Flop: (774) T A 8 (3 Players)
Hero bets 540, MP2 calls 540, CO folds

Turn: (1,854) 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets 1,250, MP2 calls 1,250

River: (4,354) K (2 Players)
Hero bets 3,250, MP2 folds

Results: 4,354 Pot
Hero mucked 5 5 and WON 4,354 (+2,346 NET)


There's actually not a lot to say about this one. It was some combination of the board texture and his timing that convinced me to pull the trigger on the river- he called the turn super-quickly, which I don't think he'd ever do with a monster given how many draws were out there. So I'm putting him on either a bare A or a pair and a flush draw. When the draws missed on the river, I figured he was folding nearly 100% of his range.

Plattsburgh was really the perfect guy for this next play. He's pretty aggressive pre-flop, and since I had position on him and stacks were deep, I'd already 3-bet him several times. I know that he's capable of 4-betting light, and I doubt he knows anything about me to think that I could 5-bet light. Plus, since he plays tournaments exclusively, he's rarely going to be playing with stack depths and opponents where light 5-betting is a consideration. So I think his 4-betting range here is going to be way too wide, since he probably doesn't expect me to move on him without Ace-King.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: 2,088
BB: 6,720
UTG: 21,908
UTG+1: 16,737
UTG+2: 16,462
MP1: 13,120
MP2: 7,129
CO: 15,744
Hero (BTN): 11,316

Pre-Flop: (240) Q A dealt to Hero (BTN)
5 folds, CO raises to 420, Hero raises to 1,111, 2 folds, CO raises to 3,124, Hero raises to 11,316 and is All-In, CO folds

Results: 6,488 Pot
Hero mucked Q A and WON 6,488 (+3,364 NET)


For what it's worth, it doesn't matter that I have AQs here, because I think his calling range is QQ+ and AK. The Ace is important, though, because it gives me equity against KK and more importantly because of card removal effects; with an A in my hand, he is that much less likely to hold AA or AK in the first place.

I didn't have much time to enjoy the nice stack, though, because two orbits later I had to make an excruciating fold:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: 2,488
BTN: 5,840
SB: 22,248
BB: 15,317
UTG: 16,222
UTG+1: 16,680
UTG+2: 5,609
MP1: 12,460
Hero (MP2): 14,360

Pre-Flop: (240) J A dealt to Hero (MP2)
2 folds, UTG+2 calls 160, MP1 folds, Hero raises to 666, 2 folds, SB calls 586, BB folds, UTG+2 calls 506

Flop: (2,158) 8 4 J (3 Players)
SB checks, UTG+2 checks, Hero bets 1,194, SB raises to 2,500, UTG+2 folds, Hero calls 1,306

Turn: (7,158) 6 (2 Players)
SB bets 3,000, Hero calls 3,000

River: (13,158) T (2 Players)
SB bets 5,000, Hero folds

Results: 13,158 Pot
SB mucked and WON 13,158 (+6,992 NET)


I very nearly folded the turn. For as little as 500 chips more, I would have. It took discipline, but between the T falling on the river to put me behind JT and the fact that the guy kept betting, I just couldn't justify a river call. With every bet, it becomes that much less likely that he's overvaluing QJ or KJ, which is all I can beat at this point. Without a read, it's a fold, though an annoying one.

I won a few more medium-sized pots, mostly by open shoving, but the blinds and later the antes were eating into me. Eventually I shoved over an early positio raise with AKs and lost a flip to 99 to bust out. That's the bad thing about well-structure tournaments: I played for seven hours and didn't even come close to winning anything.

FTOPS Event 12: $1000 NLHE 6-Max

I knew Monday night's FTOPS was a 1K NLHE, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was "seated" to find only five other players at my table. I had no idea it was a 6-max! I was less pleasantly surprised to find two other regulars in the FTP 10/20 games at my table. Dammit, I play tournaments because I want to play with fish! Not only were these guys ten times better than the average player in the tournament, but I knew they were also going to be much more aggressive when stacks were deep. That meant I would have to play high variance poker, which I'd much prefer to avoid in such a well-structured event.

Thankfully, my table broke pretty quickly and I was moved to a softer one. This time, I got to be the undisputed aggressor. For a while, I was getting no respect:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 8,010
Hero (MP): 6,890
CO: 7,410
BTN: 7,380
SB: 4,930
BB: 4,130

Pre-Flop: (60) J A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 120, CO calls 120, BTN calls 120, SB folds, BB raises to 520, Hero raises to 1,240, 2 folds, BB raises to 4,130 and is All-In, Hero folds

Results: 2,740 Pot
BB mucked and WON 2,740 (+1,500 NET)


Eventually, that reputation got me a big payday, though:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: 4,820
Hero (BB): 5,841
UTG: 7,055
MP: 9,651
CO: 6,488
BTN: 4,895

Pre-Flop: (180) A 4 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to 240, MP calls 240, 3 folds, Hero calls 120

Flop: (780) 8 9 T (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP checks

Turn: (780) K (3 Players)
Hero bets 601, UTG raises to 1,920, MP folds, Hero raises to 5,601 and is All-In, UTG calls 3,681

River: (11,982) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 11,982 Pot
Hero showed A 4 (a flush, Ace high) and WON 11,982 (+6,141 NET)
UTG showed J K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-5,841 NET)


But it wasn't to last. I lost two medium-sized pots on bad beats to short stacks, then Valuetowned myself against a guy who I still think may have been loose enough to show up with worse Aces here:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 140/280 Blinds, 25 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 54,174
Hero (MP): 11,705
CO: 11,010
BTN: 10,714
SB: 19,723
BB: 5,384

Pre-Flop: (570) A J dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 780, CO calls 780, 3 folds

Flop: (2,130) T 5 A (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets 1,320, Hero calls 1,320

Turn: (4,770) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (4,770) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets 2,580, CO calls 2,580

Results: 9,930 Pot
Hero showed A J (two pair, Aces and Tens) and LOST (-4,705 NET)
CO showed A Q (two pair, Aces and Tens) and WON 9,930 (+5,225 NET)


Finally, I shoved A9 on the button over a raise from the chipleader in the CO, but he had AQ and it was lights out for me.

Ramping Up the Aggression

With deeper stacks (these hands are all from deep tables), you need to be, not necessarily more aggressive, but aggressive in more situations. With 100 BBs's, a 4-bet squeeze will almost always commit your stack, which means there's only a narrow range of hands with which you can make this play. Showdown equity is always important.

But as stacks get deeper, there is more room to maneuver. You can put in more bets in more spots and still have room to fold. That doesn't mean you can go crazy against just anyone. Reads are important, as you need to know that your opponents are capable of letting go of a hand and/or having a less-than-stellar hand in the first place.

In this first one, MP and CO were both very aggressive pre-flop. I was certain they'd fold often enough to make this profitable. The only x-factor was the Button. I wasn't sure what would be his standards for cold calling a 3-bet. But he was also deep, and I figured that coming in cold for the fourth bet would get him off of even some pretty strong holdings:

Full Tilt Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $458
UTG: $400
MP: $1,303.30
CO: $1,099
BTN: $827.40
Hero (SB): $915

Pre-Flop: T 8 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $14, CO raises to $48, BTN calls $48, Hero raises to $210, 4 folds

Results: $162 Pot
Hero mucked T 8 and WON $162 (+$114 NET)


In this second one, the SB and I had both been aggressive, and this was the second time I'd seen the BB put in a cold 4-bet. This is definitely a riskier play to make, but for that reason I think it will also have better fold equity. BB and I have some history together, but I still think this is a tough spot for him if he holds QQ.

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $1,033.75
Hero (MP): $3,620
CO: $2,026
BTN: $1,010
SB: $2,005
BB: $4,111

Pre-Flop: J 9 dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $35, 2 folds, SB raises to $125, BB raises to $350, Hero raises to $1,000, SB folds, BB calls $650

Flop: ($2,125) 3 A K (2 Players)
BB bets $700, Hero folds

Results: $2,125 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB mucked and WON $2,122 (+$1,122 NET)


While waiting for BB to act, I regretted raising quite so much. I wished I had made it 900 instead of 1000. I felt it would have put him to essentially the same decision, as I really didn't think he would ever flat call this raise. When he did, that confused me. I think he definitely would have shoved or folded AK pre-flop, and probably would have shoved in with AA and KK as well.

At the same time, this is a really bad board for him to lead out on as a bluff, and it's hard to put him on a hand that would need to bluff pre-flop. Maybe he was doing this as a probe with QQ? I don't know, it was tempting to shove in, and maybe with second pair or a gut shot or something with even a little equity against his calling range, I would have. In retrospect, floating seems like a good option, looking to bet the turn if he checks. I really don't think he could fire a second bluff if I called the flop. Meh, folding can't be that bad.

Reads didn't play as big of a role in this one, I think my hand pretty much plays itself here:

Full Tilt Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $692.70
CO: $1,659
BTN: $1,142.25
Hero (SB): $1,725.25
BB: $691.60
UTG: $813

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG raises to $21, MP calls $21, CO folds, BTN raises to $72, Hero raises to $225, 4 folds

Results: $192 Pot
Hero mucked A K and WON $192 (+$120 NET)


If the Button shoves in, it's a crappy spot, but with AK and 20% of the effective stacks in pre-flop against an aggressive opponent (I've seen him shove in some dumb spots before), I think I've got to call it off. The more important thing is that that won't happen that often, and there really isn't a better option than re-raising with AK. Flat calling and playing out of position isn't appealing, nor is folding.


That doesn't mean I'm incapable of 4-bet/folding AK pre-flop- it just depends on the opponent:

Full Tilt Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $800
BB: $523.30
UTG: $974.30
MP: $936.40
CO: $150.50
BTN: $1,771.40

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to $12, BTN raises to $44, Hero raises to $155, 2 folds, BTN raises to $1,771.40 and is All-In, Hero folds

Results: $326 Pot
BTN mucked and WON $326 (+$171 NET)


My only regret here is that if I'm going to fold, I ought to raise a little less. $125 would probably do the trick.