Ten-Twenty-Five Live

I played about two hours of 10-25 NL at the Rio yesterday. The table wasn't full of spewmonkeys but I wasn't anticipating a lot of tough decisions. Mostly it was just a boring game. I say that, but I did actually bluff my entire $5K stack on my first hand.

Let me tell you another story first though. There was this wealthy Texan at the table who, when I first sat down, was on the phone placing sports bets. That's always a good sign. I later changed seats and ended up with him on my immediate left, meaning I was privy to the next two phone calls he made.

The first was to a woman named "Becky" whom he seemed to select somewhat arbitrarily from his address book. He hadn't seen her in a few months but turns out she was available for dinner on a few hours' notice.

His next call was a voicemail that I'll attempt to transcribe to the best of my memory: "Hey Jimmy, this is Dicky. Happy 20th birthday. That's a bit one. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it for your party tonight, I'm going to be tied up. I've got a little present for you, though- it's $50- you're mother will have that for you. You're growing into a fine young man. Hope you have fun."

Anyway, that big bluff I was talking about: I opened to $75 with AKs in late middle position and got 3-bet to $300 by a familiar-looking player on the button. I couldn't place where I'd seen him before, but he was young and serious-looking, which isn't a good sign. I assumed he was an internet pro whose face I'd randomly seen in a picture or something, but now that I think about it, I may actually have played with him at Foxwoods. It makes a huge difference which he is, but at the time, I was thinking internet, so anyway...

He 3-bets to $300, and I decided to make it $800 and fold to a 4-bet (he had me covered). He thinks for a while and calls. The flop comes down rags with two of my suit. I bet $1200, planning to unhappily call a shove. My hope was that he would just call and then I could shove the turn. That's exactly what happened. He tanked for a while but folded what was probably TT-QQ. I doubt anyone else at the table would make that fold, but then I wouldn't have 4-bet anyone else either.

So I made $2000 on my first hand, but I later misplayed a hand pretty badly and cost myself most of that profit. A new player had just joined the table, an older black man who seemed to be a regular in the Tunica games. He bought in deep enough to cover my nearly $7K stack.

I got AKs UTG+1 and raised to $75. Only the new guy called out of his BB. The flop came 862 and gave me my flush draw. He checked, I bet $125, and he raised to $400. I called. The turn was an off-suit 3, he checked, I bet $525, and he raised to $2000. I folded.

My turn bet is just atrocious. With less showdown value, it might be OK, like if I had a ten-high flush draw or something. But even then, I'm primarily relying on bluffing him off of bluffs, which assumes he's capable of check-raise bluffing the flop against an unknown early position raiser. With AK, I beat his bluffs anyway, so there's little value in betting and risking getting blown off a strong draw.

I ended up nearly dead even on the session and didn't play any other interesting pots.

A Critical Bet Sizing Tell

Let me say up front that I do this whole "check and figure it out" thing entirely too often against good players, and I have to stop. That said, in this case something about his turn bet led me to conclude that I ought to call the river.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2000.30)
Hero (UTG) ($2000)
MP ($1543.50)
CO ($1734.80)
Button ($2358.50)
SB ($2077.70)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5, A
Hero bets $33, 2 folds, Button raises to $106, 2 folds, Hero raises to $266, Button calls $160

Flop: ($556) 6, A, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($556) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $290, Hero calls $290

River: ($1136) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1801 (All-In), Hero calls $1442.50 (All-In)

Total pot: $4021 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 8, 9 (high card, Ace).
Hero had 5, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $4018


Let me kick this one to you, dear readers. Can you figure out what it is about the sizing of his turn bet that led me to call his overbet shove on the river?

Nice River

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($9000.50)
UTG ($16025)
MP ($5309)
Hero (CO) ($10269)
Button ($10000)
SB ($10391)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, J
2 folds, Hero bets $175, 1 fold, SB calls $150, 1 fold

Flop: ($400) J, 8, 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($400) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $269, SB raises to $1025, Hero calls $756

River: ($2450) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1669, 1 fold

Total pot: $2450 | Rake: $3


A big part of my reason for checking the flop is that I so rarely check back a flush draw, and this is one of the best flush draws to check (ie also having top pair to go along with it, so that the fold equity of a semi-bluff isn't worth much to you). This means that when the flush comes in on the turn, my opponent is going to think I can't have it.

So, OK, I get the raise I wanted, which is probably a bluff but could be two pair or a set that's comfortable bloating the pot since I'll rarely have the flush. When I call, I don't know how often he'll continue bluffing. Rivers that pair the board are definitely going to be scary for him, though, as are diamonds, since my likely holding for calling is either set/two pair or a pair with a diamond.

Given that there are so many rivers that discourage bluffing, plus the fact that he may not continue bluffing anyway, plus the fact that his river bluff wouldn't be that big, I might be better off 3-betting the turn. I imagine he'll bluff less often, but when he does, it will have to be a far bigger amount than a river bluff would be. Plus, if he's check-raising for value, I can win a much bigger pot from him.

I Do Win the Big Ones Sometimes

I know I've whined about some big pots I've lost of late, so I figured I should reassure you all that I win some big ones too. It's actually been a pretty good month. Here's the biggest one of late:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($10916)
SB ($11889)
Hero (BB) ($11684)
UTG ($20794)
MP ($14585)
CO ($10344)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 10
3 folds, Button bets $150, 1 fold, Hero raises to $550, Button calls $400

Flop: ($1185) A, Q, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $799, Button calls $799

Turn: ($2783) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1800, Hero calls $1800

River: ($6383) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $7757 (All-In), Hero calls $7757

Total pot: $21897 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 8, J (one pair, Queens).
Hero had 10, 10 (full house, tens over Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $21894

To be honest, I actually took my time before calling, so much so that a few railbirds accused me of slowrolling. Most of the big pots I've lost this month have been cold decks where I have the smaller set/flush/quads, so I guess I'm just a little gunshy. Not only is a bluff possible, but this Villain is very capable of big, thin value bets. I wouldn't be shocked to see him show up with as little as AK, and he probably does this for value with any Q. The fact that he can do that makes a bluff like this one more effective.

I believe this is the second largest pot I've won, trailing behind this one which was actually from a 10/20 game.

FTOPS NLHE Two-Day

I was not playing very well on Saturday, and it showed through in my results. I think I'm pretty good at letting bad beats and unlucky cards roll off my back, but I have a lot more trouble getting over a session where I played badly. Obviously a few mistakes can cost me quite a good deal of money, and it can be tilting to think how much could have been saved if I'd only...

Anyway, there were three key losses in these tournaments (I played the mini-FTOPS $250 as well). Here's how I busted from the $2500. I don't know for sure, and it's not particularly relevant, but I've heard that MP2 was Dmitri Nobles. I don't think this is awful, but it's not good either:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 4,918
CO: 6,392
BTN: 2,862
SB: 6,260
Hero (BB): 4,310
UTG: 11,155
UTG+1: 2,120
UTG+2: 10,217
MP1: 11,918

Pre-Flop: (75) K A dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, MP2 raises to 150, CO calls 150, 2 folds, Hero raises to 750, MP2 folds, CO calls 600

Flop: (1,675) Q 2 T (2 Players)
Hero bets 660, CO calls 660

Turn: (2,995) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets 2,900 and is All-In, CO calls 2,900

River: (8,795) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 8,795 Pot
CO showed Q Q (three of a kind, Queens) and WON 8,795 (+4,485 NET)
Hero showed K A (Ace King high) and LOST (-4,310 NET)


This one, which cost me a big stack in the $250, may look the worst, but actually I think I would play it the same again:

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

UTG+2: 8,807
MP1: 6,110
MP2: 3,765
CO: 3,755
Hero (BTN): 10,244
SB: 3,640
BB: 6,201
UTG: 5,675
UTG+1: 13,823

Pre-Flop: (120) A Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, MP1 raises to 240, 2 folds, Hero calls 240, SB folds, BB calls 160

Flop: (760) 7 A K (3 Players)
BB checks, MP1 bets 400, Hero calls 400, BB folds

Turn: (1,560) 7 (2 Players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks

River: (1,560) J (2 Players)
MP1 bets 640, Hero raises to 9,604 and is All-In, MP1 calls 4,830 and is All-In

Results: 12,500 Pot
MP1 showed 8 9 (a flush, King high) and WON 12,500 (+6,390 NET)
Hero showed A Q (two pair, Aces and Sevens) and LOST (-6,110 NET)


It's very unlikely my hand is good on the river, but there's good reason to think Villain is on something like AJ/KJ. The river shove is a bit of an overbet, but that may be what it takes to get a bad player off of two pair. They perceive a huge difference, perhaps not wrongly, between a lot of their chips and all of their chips. It sucks that he had a flush, but there's really very little reason to think he can call a shove here.

This one, on the other hand, is shamefully bad:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG+1: 8,687
MP1: 12,300
MP2: 3,795
CO: 2,115
Hero (BTN): 3,705
SB: 11,181
BB: 11,110
UTG: 9,127

Pre-Flop: (150) T T dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 300, 3 folds, Hero calls 300, 2 folds

Flop: (750) 8 3 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 400, Hero calls 400

Turn: (1,550) 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 1,000, Hero raises to 3,005 and is All-In, UTG+1 calls 2,005

River: (7,560) A (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 7,560 Pot
UTG+1 showed Q Q (two pair, Queens and Sevens) and WON 7,560 (+3,855 NET)
Hero showed T T (two pair, Tens and Sevens) and LOST (-3,705 NET)


I've seen Villain overvalue hands before, but that's no justification for this.

FTOPS Event 11: $200 PLO8

I always look forward to the PLO8 events, but I couldn't get anything going. The opposition was beyond awful:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12159019788: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 41 - 20/40 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 14:20:39 ET - 2009/05/11
Seat 1: babbelz (1,028)
Seat 2: Sensor (8,220)
Seat 3: dav713 (4,859)
Seat 4: ayyaahh91 (4,755)
Seat 5: nrock23 (7,886)
Seat 6: thegrizz1111 (3,986)
Seat 7: Greengoz (5,000)
Seat 8: TPackage1 (4,531)
Seat 9: Foucault (4,735)
nrock23 posts the small blind of 20
thegrizz1111 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [9s Ad 2d Ts]
TPackage1 folds
Foucault raises to 80
babbelz calls 80
Sensor folds
dav713 calls 80
ayyaahh91 folds
nrock23 folds
thegrizz1111 calls 40
*** FLOP *** [6d 6c 8d]
thegrizz1111 checks
Foucault checks
babbelz bets 170
dav713 has 15 seconds left to act
dav713 raises to 400
thegrizz1111 folds
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault calls 400
babbelz raises to 948, and is all in
dav713 calls 548
Foucault calls 548
*** TURN *** [6d 6c 8d] [9h]
Foucault checks
dav713 bets 600
Foucault calls 600
*** RIVER *** [6d 6c 8d 9h] [3h]
Foucault checks
dav713 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dav713 shows [Jc 6h Qc Jh] three of a kind, Sixes, for high
Foucault shows [9s Ad 2d Ts] two pair, Nines and Sixes, for high and 8,6,3,2,A, for low
dav713 wins the high side pot (600) with three of a kind, Sixes
Foucault wins the low side pot (600) with 8,6,3,2,A
babbelz shows [2s 3c 8c Ac] two pair, Eights and Sixes, for high and 8,6,3,2,A, for low
dav713 wins the high main pot (1,592) with three of a kind, Sixes
Foucault ties for the low main pot (796) with 8,6,3,2,A
babbelz ties for the low main pot (796) with 8,6,3,2,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,384 Main pot 3,184. Side pot 1,200. | Rake 0
Board: [6d 6c 8d 9h 3h]
Seat 1: babbelz showed [2s 3c 8c Ac] and won (796) with HI: two pair, Eights and Sixes; LO: 8,6,3,2,A
Seat 2: Sensor didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: dav713 showed [Jc 6h Qc Jh] and won (2,192) with HI: three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 4: ayyaahh91 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: nrock23 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: thegrizz1111 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Greengoz is sitting out
Seat 8: TPackage1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Foucault showed [9s Ad 2d Ts] and won (1,396) with HI: two pair, Nines and Sixes; LO: 8,6,3,2,A


The flop was a really awkward spot for me, and I'm not at all confident that I played it well. Even with my huge draws, I should probably fold with a bet and raise in front me from competent players. Since neither of these guys managed to have trips, though, it worked out OK.

Here I managed to run a bluff, which is pretty rare in PLO8. I just don't think the guy check-calls anything too strong on the turn:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12160227503: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 70 - 80/160 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 15:31:59 ET - 2009/05/11
Seat 1: NoNotReally (6,997)
Seat 2: Foucault (3,974)
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (4,982)
Seat 4: pycb (3,764)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (6,164)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (7,386)
Seat 7: clarsonx (5,030)
Seat 8: Magik4678 (3,366)
Seat 9: aabomb09 (2,405)
ColdBryan posts the small blind of 80
clarsonx posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [As 4d 3c 2h]
Magik4678 calls 160
aabomb09 folds
NoNotReally has 15 seconds left to act
NoNotReally folds
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault calls 160
Cardsharps_net folds
pycb folds
Shivalingus folds
ColdBryan folds
clarsonx checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc 5s Jc]
clarsonx checks
Magik4678 checks
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault bets 269
clarsonx folds
Magik4678 calls 269
*** TURN *** [Qc 5s Jc] [6s]
Magik4678 checks
Foucault bets 1,098
Magik4678 calls 1,098
*** RIVER *** [Qc 5s Jc 6s] [9s]
Magik4678 checks
Foucault bets 2,447, and is all in
Magik4678 folds
Uncalled bet of 2,447 returned to Foucault
Foucault mucks
Foucault wins the pot (3,294)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,294 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc 5s Jc 6s 9s]
Seat 1: NoNotReally didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Foucault collected (3,294), mucked
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: pycb didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: clarsonx (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Magik4678 folded on the River
Seat 9: aabomb09 didn't bet (folded)


This one I kinda spazzed out on. I didn't really want to fold for one pot-sized bet, and for some reason I decided it would be better to check and induce bluffs since he's not folding anything better. Stupid NLHE thinking to apply to PLO8. If I just pot the flop, I probably win it:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12160602843: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 70 - 100/200 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 15:52:05 ET - 2009/05/11
Seat 1: NoNotReally (6,489)
Seat 2: Foucault (2,673)
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (5,718)
Seat 4: pycb (4,026)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (5,999)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (6,306)
Seat 7: clarsonx (6,950)
Seat 8: Magik4678 (3,802)
Seat 9: aabomb09 (2,105)
Foucault posts the small blind of 100
Cardsharps_net posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [Ah 8h 4c Ts]
pycb folds
Shivalingus folds
ColdBryan folds
clarsonx folds
Magik4678 folds
aabomb09 folds
NoNotReally folds
Foucault raises to 600
Cardsharps_net calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Jc Jh 3d]
Foucault checks
Cardsharps_net bets 1,200
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault has requested TIME
Foucault raises to 2,073, and is all in
Cardsharps_net calls 873
Foucault shows [Ah 8h 4c Ts]
Cardsharps_net shows [5s Kc 6s Ac]
Cardsharps_net: nh
*** TURN *** [Jc Jh 3d] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Jc Jh 3d 3s] [5d]
Foucault shows a pair of Jacks, for high
Cardsharps_net shows two pair, Jacks and Fives, for high
Cardsharps_net wins the pot (5,346) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,346 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc Jh 3d 3s 5d]
Seat 1: NoNotReally (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Foucault (small blind) showed [Ah 8h 4c Ts] and lost with HI: a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (big blind) showed [5s Kc 6s Ac] and won (5,346) with HI: two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 4: pycb didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Shivalingus didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ColdBryan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: clarsonx didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Magik4678 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: aabomb09 didn't bet (folded)

Exhausting Heads Up Match

I was about halfway through last night's session, and a lot of the 6-max games I was in were kinda bad. I was at the end of a few long waiting lists, but mostly there just weren't many good games going at the time.

I'd been sitting alone, waiting for action as usual, at a few heads up tables. Really wanting to play some heads up, I got aggressive and tried to sit with a few people who were definitely going to sit out against me. They sat out. I sat with a few randoms. They mostly sat out, a few played long enough to look me up on OPR or whatever before sitting out, one played just his button and sat out (total douche move), and one played for a few minutes until I tried to sit at a second of his tables. Then he sat out on both.

I even tried sitting with a few regs who are probably better than I am, figuring I might as well challenge myself, but to my surprise even they sat out. Finally, a guy I recognized from higher stakes sat across from me at 10/20 deep. It had been over a year since we played heads up, but I've seen him as high as 50/100, and I am pretty confident he's solidly better than I am. After warning him that I not play for long, I sat in and we played one table of 10/20 and one of 5/10.

Again, I'm pretty sure he would have the edge long term. However, off the bat I think I knew more about how he was going to play than he did about me. He was extraordinarily aggressive, and I did some things to induce action that I don't think he was expecting. It takes a lot of concentration to deal with extreme aggression from a smart player, and after about 45 minutes, I was exhausted. I quit him and my other games, but I was up three buy-ins and felt I'd definitely gotten the better of him over that short match.

The thing about uber-aggressive opponents is that, at least when they're smart, you have to play very differently than you ordinarily would. You aren't going to induce bluffs just by checking and calling- you have to widen the range that you are going to check-raise, 3-bet, etc. for value and then be prepared to call down. A few examples:


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($6980)
Button ($4060)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, J
Button bets $60, Hero raises to $222, Button calls $162

Flop: ($444) 10, 3, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $333, Button raises to $827, Hero raises to $1321, Button calls $494

Turn: ($3086) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $5437 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $3086 | Rake: $0.50


In this one, the "standard" play would probably be to make a big, pot committing 4-bet. Against this guy, though, my overs and nut flush draw is a big enough monster that I'm actually trying to induce a shove from him. I actually think it was a mistake for me to shove the turn (for like $2400 in reality- I had him well covered) rather than check-call. There's a chance he's trying to showdown something like 77, though he's probably calling turn with that anyway, but most likely is that he's either floating or has a monster. Obviously the money goes in no matter what if he has a monster, so I ought to have induced another bluff from his floats, especially when I turn the gutshot.

In this next one, I check-call flop with an underpair to the board, then lead into him on the turn to induce a bluff raise. Otherwise, I don't think he barrels this card; my hand looks too much like a bluff-catcher:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($8795.50)
Button ($4057.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6, 6
Button bets $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 9, 8, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $100, Hero calls $100

Turn: ($320) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $188, Button raises to $650, Hero calls $462

River: ($1620) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Total pot: $1620 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had Q, J (two pair, eights and twos).
Hero had 6, 6 (two pair, eights and sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $1619.50


Here I check-raise the flop for value with Ace-high, then check-call to induce from his floats. Guys like this do not give up easily on dry boards:

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

Hero (SB) ($3620.50)
Button ($2378)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, A
Button bets $30, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($60) 6, 6, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $40, Hero raises to $120, Button calls $80

Turn: ($300) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $150, Hero calls $150

River: ($600) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Total pot: $600 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had Q, 8 (three of a kind, sixes).
Hero had 10, A (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $599.50


I was actually planning on checking this down on the river or turning it into a bluff and shoving if he bet again, but he didn't give me the chance:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($9195.50)
SB ($4428.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, J
Hero bets $60, SB raises to $220, Hero calls $160

Flop: ($440) 8, 5, 3 (2 players)
SB bets $288, Hero calls $288

Turn: ($1016) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $711, Hero calls $711

River: ($2438) K (2 players)
SB bets $3209.50 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $2438 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won $2437.50


I think it's very likely he's overbetting for value, because the way he's been playing he expects to get looked up light but probably not for me to raise much on the river if he makes a normal-sized bet. If this is how he's playing his monsters, then it makes my plan to shove over a smaller bet even better.

This was the closest decision I had over the course of the match:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($4747)
SB ($4020)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 9
Hero bets $60, SB raises to $220, Hero raises to $522, SB calls $302

Flop: ($1044) 6, A, 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1044) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $744, Hero calls $744

River: ($2532) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $2754 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $2532 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won $2531.50


A lot could be going on here. The thing is that when I check back the flop, it really looks like I'm planning on calling down. I could also have KK or QQ, though, so there's a chance he's trying to bluff me off those or maybe even value bet against with a worse Ace. I think as long as I also check back and then call down stuff like AK and AA, and of course if he bluffs club rivers, then this is an OK fold.

SCOOP Event 14: 6-Max NLHE ($5000)

I had some fierce competition in this one, but I guess that's to be expected in a 5K. There was dpeters17, Timex, psyduck, and Poker Savvy's very own Christian "charder30" Harder, but the player who ended up giving me the most trouble was a Pocket Fivers guy named Wretchy. I don't think this was because Wretchy was the best of these players- quite the opposite- but he did make hands at the right times against me (or pull off some very well-timed bluffs, in which case there's egg on my face, but I'm pretty sure he had it).

The first big pot he won off of me, he flopped top pair top kicker and I flopped the nut flush draw in a multi-way pot. Unfortunately, that meant he had my Ace dominated, so I was drawing to fewer outs than I expected, and I didn't get there. None of the rest were that clean. I think this line is actually OK on my part and may have saved me some money:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $5000+$200 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t7804)
SB (t6930)
BB (t15071)
UTG (t4438)
Hero (MP) (t7982)
CO (t9352)

Hero's M: 66.52

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, 10
1 fold, Hero bets t160, 1 fold, Button calls t160, SB raises to t777, 1 fold, Hero calls t617, 1 fold

Flop: (t1794) 3, 6, 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t555, SB raises to t1888, Hero calls t1333

Turn: (t5570) 5 (2 players)
SB bets t1999, Hero folds

Total pot: t5570


As long as I'm making this same flop bet-call with stuff like AA and trips, which I absolutely am, then I think this is a pretty effective way of playing TT. It has the potential to induce calls from worse and sometimes even spazzy bluffs (though hopefully not here!). It sucks, but I seriously doubt Wretchy is sophisticated enough to have a bluff here.

Then there was this smaller one where he took me off a hand. For some reason I had a feeling he was gonna 4-bet, but I sucked it up and 3-bet anyway:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $5000+$200 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t6360)
CO (t8621)
Button (t14288)
SB (t16510)
Hero (BB) (t9682)
UTG (t9064)

Hero's M: 46.10

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A
2 folds, CO bets t233, 2 folds, Hero raises to t699, CO raises to t1888, 1 fold

Total pot: t1508


For better or for worse, I probably would have shoved AQs here. I dunno, I just don't see tourney regs 4-betting without the goods very often, particularly when the 4-bet is less than all in. Then again, BelowAbove was cheering for this dude in chat, so who knows. Maybe I just don't play enough of the bigger buy-in weekly tournies to know what the regs are up to these days.

My bustout hand was another in my neverending series of "Goddammit this is not a cash game!" hands. This is maaaaybe an OK line against someone who is gonna float and bluff turns, but that's just not who I'm likely to be up against here. Even the 3-bet is pretty questionable, I think:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $5000+$200 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t8670)
CO (t18710)
Button (t14753)
SB (t10410)
Hero (BB) (t8608)
UTG (t3374)

Hero's M: 40.99

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 10
1 fold, MP bets t275, 3 folds, Hero raises to t888, MP calls t613

Flop: (t1886) 2, 7, K (2 players)
Hero bets t910, MP calls t910

Turn: (t3706) K (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets t2222, Hero raises to t6800 (All-In), MP calls t4578

River: (t17306) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t17306

Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, Kings and tens).
MP had K, A (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: MP won t17306


With a spade, it's a completely different story and an easy shove, I think.

SCOOP Event 14: 6-Max NLHE ($500)

I made a decent run in the $500 6-max on Wednesday, and though I didn't do as well in the $5K, there were interesting hands from both, so I'm going to do two different posts.

I lost about half my stack early on in the $500, but managed to recover. Then there was this hand that really gave me a boost:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $500+$30 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t11229)
BB (t7109)
UTG (t4199)
MP (t11233)
CO (t11561)
Button (t21931)

Hero's M: 24.95

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, A
3 folds, Button calls t200, Hero calls t100, BB checks

Flop: (t750) Q, A, K (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets t500, Hero calls t500, 1 fold

Turn: (t1750) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t2000, Hero calls t2000

River: (t5750) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t5200, Hero calls t5200

Total pot: t16150

Results:
Button had 9, 7 (high card, Ace).
Hero had 7, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won t16150


Not that his line makes a whole lot of sense anyway, but I'd previously seen him check the flop and lead out for half pot on the turn with a set, so I was even less inclined to believe his overbet. I doubt he's open limping AQ, AK, QQ, KK, or AA on the button, so JT is literally the only made hand I could expect him to have.

So things were going well, and I had a not-too-tough table, except for a guy some of you may know who plays under the handle teacuppoker. He's a good player who's been around for a while- I played with him in person at the 2007 WSOP, and recognized his screenname from before that. Sadly, I got into a tough spot against him and didn't play it brilliantly.

It just goes to show you how much it sucks to be out of position against a good player, when you can flop top pair top kicker and your first thought is "Shit, what am I going to do?" It's not that I was worried about getting beat, but just that I didn't know what line to take to get paid off without getting bluff out or paying off to much to the occasional better hand myself. I ultimately went for three streets of value, which in a cash game would be fine but is probably too optimistic in a tournament, even against a guy who does play MSNL and HSNL:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $500+$30 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) (t19208)
MP (t26465)
CO (t23634)
Button (t9160)
SB (t5430)
BB (t11357)

Hero's M: 27.84

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, A
Hero bets t777, 1 fold, CO calls t777, 3 folds

Flop: (t2244) 10, 4, K (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, CO calls t1111

Turn: (t4466) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t2888, CO calls t2888

River: (t10242) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t6666, CO calls t6666

Total pot: t23574

Results:
Hero had K, A (one pair, Kings).
CO had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: CO won t23574


Of course, I was destined to lose a big pot here. But check-folding the river might actually have been better. The most obvious draw got there, and although I'm sure he's capable, he doesn't have much reason to turn a pair into a bluff here.

Then I fought around for a while and eventually got sort of coolered in a blind battle, though based on how passive this guy had been on his big blind, I maybe could have just called flop. Even if I do, though, I don't see how we don't get it on this turn:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $500+$30 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t13506)
BB (t19033)
UTG (t40954)
MP (t8136)
CO (t5030)
Button (t8595)

Hero's M: 12.17

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, J
4 folds, Hero calls t250, BB checks

Flop: (t1360) 7, 10, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t897, Hero raises to t2444, BB raises to t18473 (All-In), Hero calls t10502 (All-In)

Turn: (t27252) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t27252) K (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t27252

Results:
Hero had 9, J (one pair, nines).
BB had 9, 10 (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: BB won t27252

SCOOP Event 8: NLHE Two-Day

I was going to play the HORSE event, but the buyins just didn't line up right for me. The 10K was out of the question, even the 1K was a touch high, and the $100 was too small for me to add two hours onto what was already a potentially long session (the day's second event was scheduled to run for 12 hours before stopping for the night).

I played the $300 and the $3000 two-days, but they ended up being one-day tournaments for me. The $3000 got nearly 1000 players, and my table was about what I was expecting: a lot of solid players, no one phenomenally good, and a soft spot or two. Unfortunately, the soft spot became a problem for me. Here, my attempt to isolate him got me into to trouble:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $3000+$150 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t10875)
Button (t11839)
Hero (SB) (t8611)
BB (t10850)
UTG (t9775)
UTG+1 (t9900)
MP1 (t8075)
MP2 (t10075)

Hero's M: 114.81

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
3 folds, MP2 calls t50, 2 folds, Hero bets t250, BB calls t200, MP2 calls t200

Flop: (t750) 6, K, 5 (3 players)
Hero bets t567, BB calls t567, MP2 calls t567

Turn: (t2451) 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t1450, 1 fold, Hero calls t1450

River: (t5351) A (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t8583 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t5351

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won t5351


The BB was possibly my most skilled opponent- unfortunate to have him on my left. The turn is a good spot for him to bluff with a draw, but the problem with calling is that it sets him up to shove the river. I guess I could call that, too, but I dunno. I guess folding turn is probably correct. You could argue for checking flop as well, but I was still looking at as an isolation play, hoping to get BB out, and if fishy calls, I'm comfortable playing out of position against him. Too bad it backfired.

The same fish took me out a bit later:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $3000+$150 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t10245)
Button (t11004)
Hero (SB) (t3982)
BB (t11770)
UTG (t8571)
UTG+1 (t10015)
MP1 (t4040)
MP2 (t8516)
MP3 (t21223)

Hero's M: 16.59

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
2 folds, MP1 bets t300, 1 fold, MP3 calls t300, 2 folds, Hero raises to t1111, 2 folds, MP3 calls t811

Flop: (t2712) 5, 4, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t2861 (All-In), MP3 calls t2861

Turn: (t8434) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t8434) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t8434

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and fours).
MP3 had A, 7 (straight, seven high).
Outcome: MP3 won t8434


I lasted a while longer in the $300, but eventually bluffed off my stack:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $300+$20 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t26848)
MP3 (t24581)
CO (t3799)
Hero (Button) (t16360)
SB (t17599)
BB (t8725)
UTG (t24137)
UTG+1 (t4450)
MP1 (t16052)

Hero's M: 15.58

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, K
4 folds, MP3 bets t1000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2666, 2 folds, MP3 calls t1666

Flop: (t6382) 5, 2, 9 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t2444, MP3 calls t2444

Turn: (t11270) 10 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t11200 (All-In), MP3 calls t11200

River: (t33670) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t33670

Results:
Hero had J, K (high card, King).
MP3 had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: MP3 won t33670


Villain raised a fair bit from late position. This was the first time I'd 3-bet him, but I was fairly confident that even if he flatted a 3-bet with a big pair pre-flop, he wouldn't continue to slowplay the flop, especially not when I bet so small. I do think he'll fold some better (ie Ax) hands and also sometimes peel kinda light, making the turn shove more profitable. I wasn't going to shove just any turn, but I wanted to give myself the option. When I picked up the gutshot, it felt like a good spot.

He had the kind of hand I wanted him to have, he just happened to "suck out" on the turn. I'm inclined to say he would have folded unimproved on the turn, but then again you know tournament players and their overpairs! (Insert snarky comment about cash game LAGdonks and their crazy bluffs.)

Back in Black

For the second time this year, I've dug myself out of a big old hole. Let's hope it's the last (that I need to). Here's the hand that did it:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($9411)
SB ($5550)
BB ($20776)
UTG ($5000)
Hero (MP) ($5444)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, K
1 fold, Hero bets $150, 2 folds, BB calls $100

Flop: ($325) 5, 6, Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $222, BB raises to $950, Hero raises to $5294 (All-In), BB calls $4344

Turn: ($10913) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($10913) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $10913 | Rake: $2

Results:
BB had K, 5 (two pair, tens and fives).
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and tens).
Outcome: Hero won $10911


I actually thought for a bit on the flop about whether I wanted to ship it in or just call and look for a non-club turn. I think based on his bet-sizing he has clubs pretty much always, and most of the time he'll have other outs that will make him basically a coin flip with me (either a 5, an A, or a straight draw). That would seem to argue for a call, since I have position and this information about his hand.

Truthfully, though, I think a call gives him the advantage even though he's out of position. He knows his hand looks like a flush draw, and if I just call, he'll know that I'm looking for a non-club turn. So he has pretty much the same information that I do, but he also knows which other cards help his hand, which I do not.

Take this case, for instance. Say I just call. What if an Ace turns and he shoves? I could end up getting bluffed off the best hand. Better to suck it up, get it in, and hope I've got his kicker covered!

It was one of those nights where things were just going well. I was getting a lot of decisions right, even those I usually get wrong:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (4 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($1880)
Hero (SB) ($2047)
BB ($1005)
UTG ($5521)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
UTG bets $35, 1 fold, Hero raises to $123, 1 fold, UTG calls $88

Flop: ($256) J, J, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $188, UTG calls $188

Turn: ($632) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $410, Hero calls $410

River: ($1452) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $4800 (All-In), Hero calls $1326 (All-In)

Total pot: $4104 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
UTG had A, K (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $4102


Actually, I wasn't getting everything right. I made some big, questionable river bluffs in a heads up match. But, even that crazy image paid off eventually:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($2983.75)
Button ($2026.25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
Button bets $15, Hero raises to $55, Button raises to $149, Hero raises to $444, Button raises to $852, Hero raises to $2983.75 (All-In), Button calls $1174.25 (All-In)

Flop: ($4052.50) 2, Q, 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($4052.50) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($4052.50) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4052.50 | Rake: $0.50

Results:

Button had K, A (one pair, twos).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and twos).
Outcome: Hero won $4052


This was really the first time we'd gone to war pre-flop, too. I mean, there are times when it might be reasonable to stack off 340 BBs to me with AK pre-flop, but this wasn't one of them.

Sexy River Value Raise

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

SB ($1836.25)
Hero (Button) ($2411.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8, A
Hero bets $30, SB calls $20

Flop: ($60) A, 10, 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44, SB calls $44

Turn: ($148) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($148) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $100, Hero raises to $333, SB calls $233

Total pot: $814 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 8, A (two pair, Aces and eights).
SB had Q, 10 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $813.50


This was a great spot because the Villain made pretty thin value bets and I knew he would expect me to double barrel a flush draw on the turn if I had one. Honestly, as much as I'm a fan of thin value bets, I think his river bet is too thin.

More on the durrrr/Greenstein Hand

OK, this has sparked a lot of interest among commenters, so I think I will offer a few of my own thoughts on the hand after all. In terms of what durrrr may have been thinking and why he was successful, I don't have a lot to add to the very good analysis I already linked. Instead, I'll focus on what I think Greenstein and Eastgate could have done differently.

(If you don't know the details of the hand, Geoff recently shared a link to a YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SKwhb_nJVQ)

I'll start with Eastgate, because my advice for him is easiest: fold pre-flop. By my count, the pot is $16,200 when it gets to Eastgate, who must call $2100 more with his 42o in the Small Blind. The 8:1 pot odds are nice, but he will be very deep out of position against 6-7 good to world-class players with a hand that virtually never makes the nuts or anything close to it. Even suited, this should probably be a fold, since with so many in the pot he's looking at reverse implied odds even when he makes a flush. Post-flop, his play is fine, and this is just a spot where he's going to lose money against a very good player. Hence why he should not be playing 24o.

For Greenstein to combat a bluff like this, he needs a strategy that will not turn his hand face-up. The deeper you get, the more you need to mix up your UTG range so that savvy opponents like Dwan can't take you off pots on "bad" flops. Barry needs to be capable of showing up with hands like A2s here. He might also benefit from limping in with AA UTG occasionally, along with a variety of other hands. This will enable him to limp-re-raise in a spot like this (again, sometimes with other hands as well as a bluff) to narrow the field and make stacks more shallow post-flop so that his Aces will be more resilient unimproved.

Post-flop, he needs to either check the Aces or be leading such a wide range here that AA will be at the top of it and he can more comfortably stack off to Dwan with it. The latter, bluffing frequently into seven players, is very hard to do, so I like checking better.

I also think he's got an easy fold when Eastgate cold calls out of the Small Blind. But the central thing is that, especially when very deep, he needs to play all of his hands in a way that Dwan can't put him on exactly an overpair or the VERY occasional (given the T in Dwan's own hand) quads/full house.

Elaboration

On my recent post, "Defining His Range Into Oblivion", tce left a comment that I felt warranted a new post:

This is a tantalizing post with some really interesting ideas that need more meat. Can you say more? In my experience, trying to blow someone off an Ax hand is just too disruptive to my bankroll. Many players are just too stubborn and will chk-call all three streets. I finally learned that my best counter-strategy is to simply bet the hell out of my hand when I can beat Ax. Turning 2nd pair into a bluff in the hopes of blowing someone off Ax? I dunno, I need to hear more.

It's a good question. This concept isn't just a neat way to bluff. The point is that when you have position and a good sense of your opponent's range, you have a generous edge because of your ability to make better decisions on the river. You want to have a big pot and also enough money behind for a big river bet, ideally with nothing left over in the effective stacks, to maximize that edge. Then, it's just a matter of actually making that river decision.

Against this opponent, I'm confident that in a 4-bet pot, a bluff in that spot would be very profitable. Against a looser opponent who will not fold Ax, then you will value shove more hands and bluff less.

Before I could even get around to posting that, I found myself in another heads up match against the same opponent where several exemplary hands arose. Here's one where I employ the same line for value with AA:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $2,937.50
BB: $2,044.50

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $120, Hero raises to $270, BB calls $150

Flop: ($540) 3 T 9 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $222, BB calls $222

Turn: ($984) 9 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $444, BB folds

Results: $984 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked A A and WON $983.50 (+$491.50 NET)


And an example of how one might defend against such a line:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $3,578
Hero (BB): $3,958.50

Pre-Flop: J J dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to $30, Hero raises to $111, SB raises to $265, Hero calls $154

Flop: ($530) 5 5 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $285, Hero calls $285

Turn: ($1,100) J (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $865, Hero calls $865

River: ($2,830) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $2,163 and is All-In, Hero calls $2,163

Results: $7,156 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
SB showed 3 5 (three of a kind, Fives) and LOST (-$3,578 NET)
Hero showed J J (a full house, Jacks full of Fives) and WON $7,155.50 (+$3,577.50 NET)


The point here isn't just that I coolered him. I put him on either a big hand (which would probably include KK and AA) or a bluff. No matter which he has, I can just check-call my boat and let him stick the money in by the river, since that's what he'll do with either type of hand. Not only do I induce bluffs, but I also make it tougher for him to bluff and value bet me with a line like this in the future.

Before you start feeling too bad for this guy, realize that this was payback for the last time he re-raised me with garbage:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $3,829
BB: $2,000

Pre-Flop: J J dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $120, Hero calls $90

Flop: ($240) 3 2 T (2 Players)
BB bets $125, Hero calls $125

Turn: ($490) 5 (2 Players)
BB bets $365, Hero raises to $3,584 and is All-In, BB calls $1,390 and is All-In

River: ($4,000) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $4,000 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed J J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$2,000 NET)
BB showed 6 4 (a straight, Six high) and WON $3,999.50 (+$1,999.50 NET)


Honestly, this is a bad turn shove by me. Against a lot of people, it would be fine, but this guy really wasn't aggressive enough to warrant it. JJ is good often enough, but my equity is so bad that I can't profitably shove. Mayyyyybe I could get away with calling and then folding the river unimproved, but folding is probably the best option.

Defining His Range Into Oblivion

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $2,434.50
BB: $3,954.50

Pre-Flop: T K dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $100, Hero raises to $255, BB calls $155

Flop: ($510) 3 A 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $199, BB calls $199

Turn: ($908) K (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $480, BB folds

Results: $908 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked T K and WON $907.50 (+$453.50 NET)


If he called the turn, I was shoving the river. Position, deep stacks, and judiciously employed small bets are a lethal combination. It's exceedingly difficult for him to show up with enough big hands to prevent me from exploiting him with river shoves.

If both players employ game theoretically optimal strategy, the advantage will obviously go to the player in position. His EV in the game will be a function of the pot size and the number of betting rounds, meaning that it behooves him to structure the betting so that there is roughly a pot-sized bet remaining on the river. He can then maximize his edge by making better decisions than his opponent about when he wants that last bet to go into the pot.

The player out of position is fighting an uphill battle. To balance his range, he needs to slowplay big hands quite frequently, make some heroic call downs, and float the flop out of position with the intention of check-raising the turn on a bluff. Most players can't do any of those things, let alone all three.

Calling for Information

My latest poker article, Calling for Information, is now appearing in the February issue of 2+2 Magazine. It's a relatively low-level strategy article, compared to some of the stuff I've published, but even more advanced players may find parts of it useful.

My central argument is that if you balance your ranges well, so that you are not revealing too much information about your own hand, then you will not generally need to raise for information. You will be able to determine from your opponent’s actions whether your hand is good enough to continue. Underlying this claim is the often-misunderstood premise that your opponent’s actual hand does not matter.

Please let me know if you find it useful or thought-provoking (or, I guess, if you find it otherwise- but be gentle!).

Right Line, Wrong Guy

I like this line a lot in this spot, but not against the table fish:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($2000)
CO ($1850)
Button ($1329)
SB ($8366)
Hero (BB) ($2197)
UTG ($2274)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, K
3 folds, Button raises to $40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $144, Button calls $104

Flop: ($298) J, A, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($298) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $203, Button calls $203

River: ($704) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $550, Button calls $550

Total pot: $1804 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had A, 10 (one pair, Aces).
Hero had Q, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Button won $1801


Most of the time that I check this flop after 3-betting pre-flop, I'm going to have something with some showdown value. And if I then bet hard at the turn and river, it will be because I was slowplaying a monster or at least pot controlling something pretty good like AK.

So, I like a similar line with a big draw, as compared to just betting the flop and then making a pot-committing turn bet. Maybe I'll get to check-raise the flop if Villain throws out a feeler bet/bluff, or make a concealed flush (since he probably wouldn't expect me to check a flush draw on the flop)- with all my outs, I certainly don't mind seeing a free turn card.

AT is exactly the kind of hand I'd expect a better player to drop on the river. But this was not a better player, and I should have known better.

Oh You Wanna Get Stubborn?

I'll get you off of it eventually...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($4886.05)
BB ($300)
UTG ($600)
Hero (MP) ($1311.80)
CO ($1318.60)
Button ($1711.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, A
1 fold, Hero raises to $21, CO calls $21, 1 fold, SB raises to $84, 1 fold, Hero raises to $190, 1 fold, SB calls $106

Flop: ($407) 7, 3, Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $166, SB calls $166

Turn: ($739) 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $255, SB calls $255

River: ($1249) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $700.80 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1249 | Rake: $3


I like this because the value of my opponent's hand is so clearly capped (if he had a QQ+ or AK, he'd have shoved pre-flop, if he had a set he'd have shoved before the river) while I've shown strength at every opportunity. The river K is icing on the cake, connecting with AK, the single most plausible hand he was still beating on the turn with whatever pocket pair he had.

I imagine he realized all of this as well, because he tanked for a really long time but eventually gave it up.

The Third Barrel is the Value Barrel

Not my best double barrel ever, but the A is a good bluff card on the river. That makes it a good time for him to call down light, which makes it a good time for me to value bet light, which makes it a better bluff card in the future....

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1958.75)
Hero (Button) ($1000)
SB ($1273)
BB ($1000)
UTG ($287)
UTG+1 ($1000)
MP1 ($2117.50)
MP2 ($215)
MP3 ($1187)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 8
6 folds, Hero raises to $35, SB calls $30, BB calls $25

Flop: ($105) J, 4, 9 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $66, 1 fold, BB calls $66

Turn: ($237) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $177, BB calls $177

River: ($591) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $377, BB calls $377

Total pot: $1345 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, 8 (one pair, Aces).
BB had 10, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $1342

I Got One Right

Since I just posted a bunch of whines, here's a brag. The SB was the table fish, the BB is a very tough and aggressive opponent. I could just 4-bet pre-flop but I think he'd find a way to own me. I decided I was just going to play my position and go with the assumption that he didn't have much:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($2753)
MP ($1837)
CO ($4028.25)
Hero (Button) ($2697)
SB ($2045.70)
BB ($2032)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
3 folds, Hero raises to $35, SB calls $30, BB raises to $170, Hero calls $135, 1 fold

Flop: ($375) 4, 2, Q (2 players)
BB bets $210, Hero calls $210

Turn: ($795) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $333, BB calls $333

River: ($1461) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1984 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1461 | Rake: $3


I like floating the flop because even if he fires a second barrel there's a lot of ways I can continue. If I turn a pair, I'll call him down, and if I turn a draw, I'll shove. The turn bet was calculated to set up a roughly pot-sized river shove (Villain had like $1300 left) and/or win the pot immediately. It doesn't give him a great price to check-raise, so I think he's mostly going to raise only when he has a legit hand. The small bet also works as a feeler to show me that he probably doesn't have a legit hand, which means it'll be tough for him to call a river shove. He tanked forever, which was pretty nerve-racking, but eventually went away.

Some Shit Spots

These are all from tonight. Fair warning: this is pretty much a whine post, but I'm trying to include at least some insight into how precisely running bad can lead to playing bad (aside from the obvious straight-up frustration/tilt). This is the worst one of the night, one of two gin cards falls on the river:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($4229)
MP ($2197)
CO ($4117.25)
Button ($3109)
SB ($5835)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, 10
Hero raises to $70, 2 folds, Button calls $70, 2 folds

Flop: ($170) A, 2, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($170) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $111, Button calls $111

River: ($392) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $288, Button raises to $1000, Hero calls $712

Total pot: $2392 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 8, 9 (straight, ten high).
Hero had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: Button won $2389


Honestly I was pretty unhappy about the river raise but in this case my hand is so under-repped and this opponent is generally an aggro monkey, though I didn't think it was too likely he was bluffing here. Pretty much just shit luck and a spot where he's going to get paid. Rightly or wrongly, it probably did contribute to my folding here (different opponent, I just mean that it may have made me a little gunshy):


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($1723.05)
MP2 ($175)
CO ($154.25)
SB ($1060.50)
Hero (BB) ($2340.50)
UTG ($1010)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3
1 fold, MP1 raises to $22, 3 folds, Hero calls $12

Flop: ($49) 3, 7, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $18, Hero raises to $88, MP1 calls $70

Turn: ($225) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $188, MP1 calls $188

River: ($601) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $477, MP1 raises to $1425.05 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $1555 | Rake: $3

Results:
MP1 didn't show
Outcome: MP1 won $1552


To be honest, though, I think this is actually a very good and disciplined fold, not a bad play. I can't imagine he's shoving anything worse for value, and I just don't think a bluff like this is in his repertoire. My range is pretty polarized to either a busted draw or a boat, and I don't he'd try to bluff me off of either.

Trying to bluff your opponent off of quads is generally not a good idea:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1114.75)
Hero (Button) ($1000)
BB ($1092)
UTG ($1394)
UTG+1 ($516)
MP1 ($2003)
MP2 ($176.35)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 6
4 folds, CO raises to $30, Hero raises to $100, 1 fold, CO calls $70

Flop: ($210) A, J, 3 (2 players
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($210) 8 (2 players)
CO bets $120, Hero calls $120

River: ($450) J (2 players)
CO bets $250, Hero raises to $780 (All-In), CO calls $530

Total pot: $2010 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, 6 (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
CO had J, J (four of a kind, Jacks).
Outcome: CO won $2007


I thought this would be a good spot for me to bluff my opponent off of a better Ace. There are far more Jacks in my range than in his, because I don't think he's betting a bare pair of Jacks on the turn. That means he has to have AJ or JJ to call the river.

This is the kind of thing I have in mind when I say that run bad leads to play bad. This probably is a good spot to bluff, but when you're just constantly running into the nuts, it's hard to keep pulling the trigger on thin plays. Of course, that can save you money, when your opponents really do always have fucking quads:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (3 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($5702)
Hero (Button) ($5197)
SB ($4411)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, 4
BB raises to $60, Hero calls $60, 1 fold

Flop: ($140) 5, 3, 2 (2 players)
BB bets $120, Hero raises to $322, BB calls $202

Turn: ($784) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $615, BB calls $615

River: ($2014) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $2014 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had 5, 4 (two pair, Kings and fives).
BB had K, K (four of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: BB won $2013


I really think I should have bluffed this river, since my opponent will often have something like a big pocket pair with one diamond that isn't going to call. Obviously in this case I'm glad I chickened out though.

Last but not least, here's another thin play, this time a value bet, where I got burned:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($985)
SB ($3062.75)
Hero (BB) ($2029)
UTG ($1516)
MP ($1089.50)
CO ($1136.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, Q
1 fold, MP calls $10, 2 folds, SB calls $5, Hero raises to $50, MP calls $40, SB calls $40

Flop: ($150) K, 9, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $99, MP calls $99, 1 fold

Turn: ($348) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $100, Hero calls $100

River: ($548) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $330, MP calls $330

Total pot: $1208 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, Q (one pair, Kings).
MP had K, 2 (two pair, Kings and twos).
Outcome: MP won $1205

The guy, obviously, was a total fish. I wouldn't take such a transparent line against a good player, but I'm sure that he pays off with way worse on the river. It's really tough to keep plugging away and to maintain confidence in your decisions when you're just constantly getting raised, re-raised, called down, and shown monster hands. I think maybe I'm going to go play some PLO.

Dealing With an Aggressive 3-Better

Both of these hands are against a real 3-betting fiend. He's ridiculously loose and aggressive pre-flop, especially when he has position. Even though I think he's taken it to the point of exploitability, it's still a tough and high-variance playstyle to combat. There are a lot of adjustments you need to make against a player like this, but one is just to call down with more medium-strength hands than you ordinarily would. Basically you are going to make money off of his bluffs, so you need to set him up to bluff and then be prepared to catch bluffs with weaker hands than your ordinarily would. Two examples:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($1000)
Hero (MP2) ($1000)
MP3 ($1316)
CO ($1035)
Button ($1000)
SB ($1069)
BB ($440)
UTG+1 ($160)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9, 9
2 folds, Hero raises to $35, 1 fold, CO raises to $95, 3 folds, Hero calls $60

Flop: ($205) K, 10, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $135, Hero calls $135

Turn: ($475) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $365, Hero raises to $770 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1205 | Rake: $3


I didn't necessarily expect a fold here, but I did think my 9's would have enough equity against his range, which probably includes a TON of semi-bluffs, to get it in.


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1018.50)
BB ($1088.50)
UTG ($440)
UTG+1 ($104.50)
MP1 ($953.75)
Hero (MP2) ($1177)
CO ($1417)
Button ($760)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, J
3 folds, Hero raises to $35, 2 folds, SB raises to $115, 1 fold, Hero raises to $250, SB raises to $1018.50 (All-In), Hero calls $768.50

Flop: ($2047) 7, 3, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($2047) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2047) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2047 | Rake: $3

He had Jacks here, so I lost. I'm less confident about this one, as it was my first 4-bet of the night, but I think that could also increase his bluff frequency because he knows I know he's been running me over. With a suited AJ, I'd definitely just call pre-flop. Even here, it might have been better to flat and then jam a lot of flops or something just to induce an additional bluff. But this is the kind of thing you need to do against overly aggressive opponents.

Aces Suck

As of today, I am in the red for the year. Obviously not a big deal just two weeks in, but it's annoying. It has a lot to do with my pocket Aces never winning the damn pot. In fact, I am in the red for the year with specifically that hand as well:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($16395.35)
MP ($5000)
CO ($11776)
Button ($5609)
Hero (SB) ($6300)
BB ($3437)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
3 folds, Button raises to $150, Hero raises to $555, 1 fold, Button raises to $1400, Hero raises to $6300 (All-In), Button calls $4209 (All-In)

Flop: ($11268) Q, 4, 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($11268) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($11268) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $11268 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Button won $11265


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($12792)
SB ($5000)
BB ($5000)
Hero (UTG) ($6736)
MP ($12400)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero raises to $175, MP calls $175, 1 fold, SB raises to $700, 1 fold, Hero calls $525, MP calls $525

Flop: ($2150) 2, 8, J (3 players)
SB bets $1350, Hero calls $1350, 1 fold

Turn: ($4850) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $2950 (All-In), Hero calls $2950

River: ($10750) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $10750 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).

Outcome: SB won $10747


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($2292)
CO ($2000)
Button ($2000)
SB ($828.85)
BB ($2773)
Hero (UTG) ($1904)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero raises to $60, MP raises to $200, 4 folds, Hero raises to $555, MP calls $355

Flop: ($1140) J, Q, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $500, Hero raises to $1349 (All-In), MP calls $849

Turn: ($3838) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($3838) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3838 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
MP had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: MP won $3835


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($925)
SB ($13384)
BB ($15243)
UTG ($5000)
Hero (MP) ($5797)
CO ($9200)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, A
1 fold, Hero raises to $175, 2 folds, SB calls $150, 1 fold

Flop: ($400) 8, 10, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $288, SB calls $288

Turn: ($976) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $678, SB calls $678

River: ($2332) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $1488, Hero folds

Total pot: $2332 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won $2329


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

Hero (BB) ($4000)
UTG ($2101)
MP ($2000)
Button ($2612)
SB ($6337)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A
3 folds, SB raises to $60, Hero raises to $180, SB calls $120

Flop: ($360) 3, Q, 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $270, SB raises to $700, Hero raises to $3820 (All-In), SB calls $3120

Turn: ($8000) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($8000) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $8000 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had Q, Q (four of a kind, Queens).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and Queens).

You Got Potrippered!

Of course I couldn't actually see my opponent's hold cards, but it sure looks like I could when you see the results:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($3706.55)
MP ($1875)
Hero (CO) ($3852)
Button ($4474)
SB ($1325)
BB ($2872.95)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 10, J
1 fold, MP raises to $35, Hero calls $35, Button raises to $140, 3 folds, Hero calls $105

Flop: ($330) K, 2, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $225, Hero raises to $777, Button calls $552

Turn: ($1884) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($1884) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Total pot: $1884 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 8, 10 (one pair, tens).
Hero had 10, J (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $1881


This is the sort of hand that I think just looks crazy to people who aren't very adept at reading poker situations. I'll try to translate. First off, we're really deep. It's a decent spot for the Button to squeeze pre-flop, and I make a light call with a big implied odds/semi-bluffing hand given how much money is still behind.

Villain's pre-flop range is fairly wide, and I think he bets nearly all of it (excluding some of his good but not great hands, which is actually good for me because it means more air in his range) on this flop. I check-raise, knowing that he probably has nothing.

I'm also aware that my line doesn't make a lot of sense, but I've got a plan for that. He may well call me light, both with a lot of marginal hands that he thinks are best and also, as here, with air hoping to take it away on a later street. But there are a lot of ways for me to turn a draw. I'm going to fire another barrel at most turns, and if I do pick up a draw, we're going to get the money in.

As it happens, I turned a pair. That changed my plans completely, and I checked. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was going to do if he bet, but I do think we'll often check it through. Whether he has a better or a worse hand, I don't expect him to bet many hands that have showdown value since I represented either a monster or air on the flop.

Thankfully, the turn card not only made my hand but also convinced my opponent to give up on his bluff. We checked it down, and I looked like a psychic when the hands were revealed. Sweet value check-raise on the flop huh? A river value bet would have really been sick....

Note-Taking Pays Off

Until recently, I didn't play HSNL very often on Poker Stars and consequently did not remember anything about this player. However, I had a note on him indicating that I had previously observed him fail to make a thin value bet. Thus, I felt comfortable calling him down here:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($2613)
MP ($5724)
Button ($3810)
SB ($1980)
Hero (BB) ($2506)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, 4
3 folds, SB raises to $70, Hero calls $50

Flop: ($140) 4, 8, 8 (2 players)
SB bets $80, Hero calls $80

Turn: ($300) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $230, Hero calls $230

River: ($760) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $560, Hero calls $560

Total pot: $1880 | Rake: $2


Whereas a better, or at least more tricky, player might try to get multiple streets of value from hands as weak as A6, that would definitely fall into the thin category. It's almost past the point of value to range merging, or trying to nullify the value of my position by playing as much of his range as possible in an identical fashion so that I couldn't get a read on him.

In any event, that's not the sort of thing I was expecting based on my note. From the type of opponent I believed this one to be, I'm usually going to see either trips or air here. Maybe he can show up with some of the bigger overpairs, but given how wide his pre-flop range is, his three-barreling range will probably be weighted towards air regardless.

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!

Big Triple Barrel

I guess this is fairly standard and notable mostly for the sum of money involved:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: $12,483
BTN: $16,645
Hero (SB): $10,000
BB: $17,688
UTG: $5,000
MP: $9,875

Pre-Flop: 9 8 dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, BTN raises to $150, Hero raises to $555, BB folds, BTN calls $405

Flop: ($1,160) 7 4 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $777, BTN calls $777

Turn: ($2,714) J (2 Players)
Hero bets $1,888, BTN calls $1,888

River: ($6,490) 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $6,780 and is All-In, BTN folds

Results: $6,490 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked 9 8 and WON $6,487 (+$3,267 NET)


Naturally I double barrel when I turn the gut shot and a potential overcard to whatever pair my opponent may have. I do wish I had bet a hair more so that river would be a slightly less than pot shove rather than slightly more. Basically I think without history and at stakes that are higher than either of us usually play, I am getting called only by AQ or better (and even AQ is close). Given that the deuce on the river makes sets less likely and Villain is probably 4-betting QQ-AA a decent amount of the time pre-flop, I think this is a highly profitable shove in a vaccuum. Of course, a reputation for stuff like this will get you called down by 66- which then again is not bad at all as long as you can adjust.

Creative Bet Sizing

My latest poker strategy article, Creative Bet Sizing, is now appearing in the December edition of 2+2 Internet Magazine. The article examines underbetting and overbetting as examples of how to add unconventional plays into your arsenal. Here's an excerpt from the section on overbetting the pot:

Big bets are simply harder to play against than smaller bets. Any edge that you have over an opponent, whether it is position, better cards, or superior skill, is magnified by pot and bet size. This doesn't mean that every bet you make should be all in. But if you believe that an opponent will make comparable mistakes whether you bet 70% of pot or 125% of pot, the latter option will be far more profitable.

A good rule of thumb about overbetting is that the larger your bet, the more likely it is to induce a raise-or-fold response from your opponent and the less likely it is to be simply called. How exactly you use that information will depend on factors like your hand, your opponent, and the size of the effective stacks.

50K Day Ship It!

Had a decent morning at the tables but the real brag is for the Boston Debate League, which was awarded today a $50,000 grant from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Foundation. The grant will support the BDL's work with debate programs in the Boston Public Schools over the next two years, most especially that of the League's new director (who's probably reading this- congratulations, Steve!).

Here's another random brag, this one from the Stars weekly $500. Sorry was having trouble with the converter, basically I had an open-ended draw on the turn and overbet shoved when a flush card came on the river:

PokerStars Game #21709641365: Tournament #116152197, $500+$30 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (100/200) - 2008/11/02 18:23:05 ET
Table '116152197 23' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: nofingclue11 (11900 in chips)
Seat 2: tiger76 (9370 in chips)
Seat 3: jesseluke82 (5480 in chips)
Seat 4: berra86 (13699 in chips)
Seat 5: lowlife039 (13250 in chips)
Seat 6: Mia_121 (9276 in chips)
Seat 7: Joao M. (10835 in chips)
Seat 8: foucault82 (8390 in chips)
Seat 9: Psychout (8600 in chips)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to foucault82 [Tc 9s]
nofingclue11: folds
tiger76: folds
jesseluke82: folds
berra86: folds
lowlife039: folds
Mia_121: folds
Joao M.: folds
foucault82: calls 100
Psychout: checks

*** FLOP *** [Qc 8s 7c]
foucault82: bets 299
Psychout: calls 299

*** TURN *** [Qc 8s 7c] [5d]
foucault82: bets 666
Psychout: raises 666 to 1332
foucault82: calls 666

*** RIVER *** [Qc 8s 7c 5d] [2c]
foucault82: bets 6559 and is all-in
Psychout: folds
Uncalled bet (6559) returned to foucault82
foucault82 collected 3662 from pot
foucault82: doesn't show hand


He pretty much can't have a flush because he's not min-raising a flush draw on the turn. It just doesn't make sense to minimize his fold equity and re-open the betting, giving me the opportunity to blow him off his draw. So it's a great bluffing opportunity when the flush comes in. The only problem is that people are stubborn, especially when they have pretty hands (which the min-raise suggests he does), so I made the only bet that I thought I could force a tough lay down. I expected it to work damn near 100% of the time, though, which is why I found it interesting.

The Ol' Triple Barrel Turn Float

Villain was decent but way too aggressive. His strategy would have been decent for a 100BB game but we were playing 200+BB stacks and he was stacking off too light and risking too much on his bluffs.

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $6,988.50
BB: $2,443.50

Pre-Flop: 6 4 dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB calls $20

Flop: ($60) 5 2 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $44, BB calls $44

Turn: ($148) J (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $111, BB raises to $360, Hero calls $249

River: ($868) T (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $555, BB folds

Results: $868 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked 6 4 and WON $867.50 (+$433.50 NET)


This is a pretty standard double barrel semi-bluff on the turn. His flop calling range is quite wide and includes many hands better than 6-high (duh) that can't stand a lot of heat. I didn't have a plan for a check-raise because it seemed so unlikely. He probably needs trips or better to do it for value, and there aren't many deuces in his pre-flop calling range. Then again, he might be check-raising something like Ace-high or a small pair thinking he is best but wanting to fold out live cards and avoid a tough river decision.

Not everyone is capable of check-raise bluffing, but this guy definitely is. On the other hand, 6-high can't beat many bluffs. So all in all it seemed like a good spot to float him, since a call here looks so strong. My value range on the river is probably KJ+, and I don't think he's expecting me to bluff-call, so he's going to have to check-fold a huge portion of his range even if a bluffing hand makes a pair on the river.

I wish I could tell you that he shoved the river and I called to beat his 43, because that would have been the greatest moment of my poker career and quite possibly my life. But this was still pretty cool.

Building a Pot to Bluff

Generally when we think of manipulating pot size, we think of playing pot control when we have a hand that we want to showdown cheaply or trying to inflate the pot when we have a monster. But there are times when you might want to build the pot in anticipation of a bluff on a later street.

For example, let's say you raise 76 on the button and the BB calls. The flop comes AKx, and you decide that unless he check-raises the flop, it would be a good time to double barrel him. He'll fold a lot of better hands on the flop and even more on the turn. What's the correct bet size for the flop?

Strange as it may seem, even though you are bluffing, you want to minimize your fold equity on the flop. This is because you know you are going to fire a second barrel on the turn. Thus, any time your opponent calls the flop with a hand that will check-fold the turn, even if that hand is better than yours (which it pretty much always will be), then you gain. You should choose the bet size that will get the most money out of your opponent's range for check-calling the flop and check-folding the turn.

Here's another example from a hand I played at a 3/6 deep table today:

I opened to $21 with 5s 4s on the button, and the SB raised to $66. We were $1200 deep, and he'd been 3-betting me a lot, so I called with intention of messing with him on a lot of flops.

The flop was Js 9s 9c, which was pretty good for my purposes. It was tough for my opponent to hit, and even if he did call me, I had outs. With $138 in the pot, stacks were a little awkward for me to shove over a flop bet, but that was my play. Then my opponent made a small bet of just $78. It was now out of the question for me to shove, the risk/reward just wasn't right, but I wanted to get the money in on the flop, with me making the last bet, of course.

So I decided to min-raise to $156. If my opponent did choose to call with a pair, there was a decent chance that I could take the pot away later or hit my flush. But if he had nothing, which I figured he would most of the time, then I thought he would either fold or 3-bet bluff me. Sure enough, he clicked it back to $234. Now, the pot was plenty juicy, and I moved all in with my flush draw. He folded, and I took down a nicer pot than I would have gotten if I'd just tried to maximize my fold equity on my first bluff raise.

Strange Play in a Four-Bet Pot

Here's a pretty interesting spot where I made what might be called a pre-emptive blocking bet:

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

SB: $2,184
BB: $2,000
UTG: $1,000
MP: $1,000
CO: $2,413
Hero (BTN): $4,150

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, CO raises to $35, Hero raises to $120, 2 folds, CO raises to $320, Hero calls $200

Flop: ($655) A T 6 (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero bets $333, CO folds

Results: $655 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked K K and WON $652 (+$332 NET)


First off, let me cover the pre-flop. CO was a decent regular, definitely capable of 4-betting light. However, we didn't have a sufficiently aggressive history that I could expect to get action if I 5-bet him. Calling is very clearly best, then, to maintain some deception about my range.

When he checks the flop as the pre-flop aggressor, I'm putting him on one of three things, from least to most likely:

1) A slowplayed monster- With AA, this is definitely a good time to check; however, that's a small part of his range, checking with TT is a lot less good (because I could well have top pair), and it's not a guarantee he would do it;

2) Air that is giving up- I'd expect him to fire once when an Ace flops if he has nothing, but then again people do tend to play pretty straight-forwardly in 4-bet pots;

3) An underpair playing for pot control- With QQ or JJ, he's definitely checking this flop to show down cheaply and induce bluffs.

4) Top pair playing for pot control/value- With something like AJ, he has a very strong hand that still probably does not want to play for stacks. By checking the flop, he can try to keep the pot smaller, induce bluffs, and get value on a later street from hands that might fold to a flop bet.


This may seem like a bad bet, then. After all, I'm only expecting a narrow category of worse hands to call, and overall I'm expecting to be behind his calling range. I do think I should have bet a little less, but in all likelihood, I'm going to have to pay off at least one bet to hands that are beating me anyway. Unless he does something crazy like overbet shove, I'm going to call at least one street. I think that betting now is the best way to get value from the occasional underpair, as a bet on a later street is going to look stronger than a flop stab.

Plus, this lets me control the size of the bet that I pay off to his Ax and deter the occasional double barrel bluff that I can't pay off. If he check-calls the flop, I'll be very comfortable folding if he leads out on the turn, or if he leads out on the river after the turn checks through. However, if I check now, I'd probably call the turn and fold the river. That means I'd pay off a turn bet of like $450-$500, often to Ax, and then fold to a river bet, which might occasionally be a bluff.

In looking over this now, I think I could accomplish all of this with a slightly smaller bet, probably in the $250-$300 range. But nevertheless, I think it's an interesting spot where position and narrowly defined ranges in a 4-bet pot greatly influence my play.

WCOOP Event 17: $530 PLHE

I continued my poor luck with table draws and got Steve Paul-Ambrose on my left in a tournament where the field in general was a giant donkfest. Steve didn't get too out of line, but his presence alone deterred me from a few hands I otherwise would have played. You just can't play as many hands from any position with a good player still to act behind you.

Anyway, I don't think anything too interesting happened. Eventually I ran AK into AA for the last of my chips.

I was also playing the weekly FTP $300 6-max, where I fired a second barrel in a spot where I would ordinarily never attempt such a thing.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 17,658
MP: 6,912
CO: 5,030
Hero (BTN): 8,630
SB: 14,724
BB: 1,078

Pre-Flop: (300) 2 A dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 530, SB calls 430, BB folds

Flop: (1,260) T 9 7 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 750, SB calls 750

Turn: (2,760) K (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 1,850, SB calls 1,850

River: (6,460) 3 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Results: 6,460 Pot
Hero showed 2 A (Ace King high) and LOST (-3,130 NET)
SB showed K J (a pair of Kings) and WON 6,460 (+3,330 NET)


Ordinarily, I would put SB on like a small-mid pair or a suited connector. However, because the BB was short and fairly likely to shove, re-opening the betting, I didn't think SB would call here with such an "implied odds" hand. Instead, I put him on big cards that could take a little more heat. There was some chance he was trapping with a big pair- it was a good spot for it- but I thought his range would be much wider than that.

When he didn't check-raise the flop, I eliminated the big pairs from his range as well as two pair, sets, and big draws. That didn't leave much except for one pair hands and weak draws. In addition, the K is a good scare card for me to bet again.

Although the bluff didn't work, the results really don't contradict my read at all. He did have a broadway hand as I suspected. It just happened to be one that could call the flop. And I was right that he had only a weak draw on the flop- it just happened to be the only one that could be improved by a K on the turn. So in conclusion, I am never wrong. I am not always right, I admit it, but I am never wrong.