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.

Focking Marcel Luske

Edit: As I was drifting off to sleep last night, it occurred to me that I should have titled this post "Loosey Luske". In my defense, it was 3AM and I'd been playing Stud/8 for 8 hours, so my creative juices were a bit stymied.

Early in level 7, the Flying Dutchman joins our table, upside-down sunglasses and all. Almost immediately, he takes half my stack.

Action folds to me in middle position. I've got 8(72), hardly a premium hand, but there's nothing but junk behind me: two Queens, Marcel with a Jack, and an 8 on the bring-in. I raise, Marcel calls with the J, everyone else folds.

On 4th, I catch an A, Marcel catches a 4. I bet, he calls. Odds are good he's got a pair of Jacks (though maybe I should expect him to 3-bet that more often than call?), but I've got outs to both halves of the pot plus the A is a scare card.

On 5th, I brick, and Marcel catches a 3. I bet, he calls.

On 6th, I pair my 8, he catches 2. I bet, he raises. That was unexpected. I think for a while and can't figure what he has. A5 suited with the Jack seems most likely, or maybe rolled-up Jacks that he's been slowplaying. Somewhat less likely are 65 suited with the J or a smaller pair in the hole that's since made trips. I seriously consider folding but decide to call.

Thankfully I brick the river and check-fold. The guy on my right asks Marcel to show the suited A5. Marcel shows A5, but only the 5 is suited to the J. Obviously not a standard call on 3rd, but Marcel's almost certainly a better S/8 player than I am, so I don't want to write it off as an error. Possibly he put me on a steal and had a plan to take it away later if he didn't go runner runner runner perfect.

I could have sworn that they'd said we were only playing 7 levels, but there indeed 8, and I busted about halfway through the last level. I got it in on 5th with four to a low and a pair of Aces against an open pair of 7's and what turned out to be Kings up. They both made full houses on the river, and I missed my low.

I Hate Good Players

Full Tilt Poker, $40/$80 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $34,593
Hero (BB): $22,437
UTG: $19,010
CO: $22,366
BTN: $8,180

Pre-Flop: 8 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, SB raises to $320, Hero calls $240

Flop: ($640) 5 4 5 (2 Players)
SB bets $420, Hero calls $420

Turn: ($1,480) A (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $666, SB calls $666

River: ($2,812) K (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Results: $2,812 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed 9 Q (a pair of Fives) and WON $2,809 (+$1,403 NET)
Hero showed 8 6 (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$1,406 NET)

This isn't really all that fancy or anything, and obviously my range on the turn is quite wide, but a lot of people just aren't capable of check-calling down with Q-high. I'm glad I didn't bluff the river, because I'm pretty sure he would have called.

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.

Debunking Myths About Implied Odds

My latest poker strategy articles, Debunking Myths About Implied Odds, has just been published in the June 2009 issue of 2+2 Magazine. The article explores one of the most important and misunderstood concepts in big bet poker:

"Calling a late position raise with a suited connector when you have the button is a good example [of implied odds that don't depend on making a strong hand]. Since the pre-flop raiser probably has a wide and not particularly strong range, you can’t count on winning a big pot on the rare occasions that you make two pair or better. Because his range is so wide, though, you will often be able to steal the pot when you flop a weak draw or even a scary board texture. Whether you want to call it implied odds, bluff equity, or something else, this is as much a justification for taking slightly the worst of it on an early street as is drawing at a monster hand."

Read more about this and other misunderstood aspects of implied odds in the 2+2 Magazine!

Book Review: Transitioning from NLHE to PLO by Tri Nguyen

My One Minute Recommendation: The Pot Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning from NLHE to PLO scores a 9/10. There are probably better books for all-around poker noobs, but experienced NLHE players looking to get better at “the other big bet game” would be hard-pressed to find a better resource.

The Good: Advanced tactics, high-level strategy, strong theoretical grounding, well-explained, genuinely insightful, appropriately calibrated for its target audience

The Bad: Some concepts, including but not limited to certain basic skills, not covered in great detail

The Ugly: A little unpolished, with some typos and minor grammatical errors; feels pretty much like reading a Word document, albeit a nicely laid out Word document

Tri “Slowhabit” Nguyen’s Transition from NLHE to PLO delivers just what the title promises: a strong guide to Pot-Limit Omaha, delivered at a pace and level appropriate for a poker player with a fairly sophisticated understanding of No Limit Hold ‘Em. Though there is plenty of practical advice and hand examples, this is not a soup to nuts “how to” guide offering a ready-to-play strategy. In fact, it could stand to be a bit more comprehensive in its advice for specific, common situations. Rather, it is a rigorously mathematical theoretical framework for approaching the game. It will require a thorough understanding of poker to appreciate the depth of this book, but for someone with such an understanding, it should prove an invaluable text, certainly worth its not inconsiderable $375 price tag.

Nguyen could be more explicit about his intended audience, though the title and I imagine the marketing strategy will likely make this clear enough. The introduction does promise, accurately enough, to “teach you the nuances of PLO and what variables you should consider during hands to turn yourself into a more profitable player,” with the ultimate goal of getting the reader “crushing small and mid-stakes PLO.” The text assumes a sophisticated understanding of crucial poker concepts such as equity, hand ranges, semi-bluffing, and planning ahead. None of it should be beyond an active reader of 2+2 or my blog, but this is not a mass market book. The Glossary includes only two terms and offers a superficial description even of those.

The only time this affects the quality of the discussion is with Nguyen’s use of the term “outs”. I’ve generally understood the term to mean something like “cards that could come to win you the pot when you are not currently ahead”, but Nguyen sometimes uses it to talk about cards that will improve a hand, whether or not that improvement is actually enough to win the pot. Given that it is so important in PLO to distinguish between nut and non-nut draws, it couldn’t hurt to define these terms more explicitly.

Though the book is definitely written with a NLHE player in mind, it should be useful to any serious poker player. There are a lot of helpful analogies, though, where Nguyen considers similarities and differences between how specific concepts function in the two games or explains that holding X hand in PLO is akin to holding Y hand in NLHE. Being primarily a NLHE player myself, I found these very insightful and helpful tools.

It also helps that many of the hand examples, integrated into every chapter via convenient sidebars alongside the relevant text, seem drawn from the author’s own transition from NLHE to PLO. It is both welcoming and encouraging to see him admit to misplaying a hand as a result of a misunderstanding common to NLHE players learning PLO. I found I was able to recognize specific mistakes that I had made and begin to understand why my past forays into PLO had not gone as well as I hoped- and that was before I got to the “Common Mistakes” chapter.

Such reinforcement is nice, because while Transitioning from NLHE to PLO rekindled my excitement for the game, it also made me realize how much I don’t know and how much work will be required to master hand reading and equity calculation, both of which are far more complicated than their NLHE equivalents. It’s not that the tools aren’t there. The text provides plenty of examples and in-depth analysis of advanced concepts like blockers, backdoor draws, and floating. It just makes me realized what a tall mountain there is to climb. Thankfully, Nguyen also emphasizes how many players in today’s PLO games don’t have an inkling about any of this stuff, which is reassuring.

It does beg the question of the book’s longevity, though. There’s a mix of tactics that seem fundamental to playing the game well in any context and those designed to exploit mistakes and tendencies common in contemporary PLO games. It will be interesting to see how long the latter remain viable. Since Transitioning is an e-book, Nguyen could theoretically update it, though to my knowledge he hasn’t promised anything like this.

I’m not particularly familiar with e-book technology, but I would guess that Transitioning falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum with regard to balancing the reader’s convenience with the protection of the author’s intellectual property. The book is protected by LockLizard Safeguard, meaning that you need to download and install a special PDF viewer, then register your version of the book, before you can read it. This sounds like a hassle, but the instructions were clear, and it took me less than five minutes to set up. After that, I had full rights to read and print, though not copy and paste, the document indefinitely.

The other potentially intimidating aspect of the book is the math. It isn’t actually that complicated, and the author does a great job of explaining it, but there are a lot of graphs and calculations and even some algebra. Next to The Mathematics of Poker, it’s the most math-heavy poker book I’ve seen.

Not that that’s a bad thing. In fact, these were probably the best parts of the book. I particularly liked a chart enumerating the possible hands on each street in PLO vs. NLHE, and Nguyen’s quantification of the heretofore nebulous concept of “post-flop playability” struck me as pure genius. Understanding it does require interpreting a graph of hand equity on all possible flops, though. Again, the text offers a crystal clear explanation, but I’m sure a good high school math education helps.

The other concept I found very helpful, and which seems to motivate Nguyen’s general approach to the game, is equity realization. Basically, because hand values tend to run close together in PLO, Nguyen places a premium on bluffing, fold equity, and winning pots without showdown. He argues quite convincingly for making a lot of turn and river bluffs, often deferring aggressive action on an earlier street in order to make a better, often more aggressive, decision later in the hand.

Amidst all of the more advanced theory and strategy, certain concepts do feel a bit glossed over. Although the chapter on pre-flop hand selection is one of the longest, it still offers relatively vague advice about exactly which hands to play from which position and how to play them. It’s consistent with Nguyen’s general approach of “here are the key considerations, work through the specific situation yourself”, but readers will probably be accustomed to finding more specific starting hand advice in a poker book. That’s probably as much the nature of PLO as it is a flaw in the book, though.

More disappointing is the “River Play” chapter, which covers barely three pages. As much emphasis as Nguyen places on river bluffing, it was disappointing not to get more hand examples and an extended discussion of key concepts like value betting and inducing bluffs.

Nguyen’s writing style is less professional than I’m accustomed to seeing in a poker book. Some will find the casual tone welcoming, though nits like myself will be perturbed by minor grammatical errors, none of which influenced my understanding of the text.

Overall, Transitioning From NLHE to PLO is a fantastic book for a veteran No Limit Hold ‘Em player who wants to make a serious effort at learning Pot Limit Omaha. Nguyen requires a substantial investment of time, effort, and money from his readers, but it’s hard to imagine any smart poker player not getting very good at this quite complex game if he spent enough time working with this text.

We Both Got Outplayed

I took a sort of goofy line here turning my hand into a bluff, or so I thought. He "caught" my bluff but....

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($2000)
SB ($1669)
BB ($3229)
UTG ($2000)
UTG+1 ($3617)
MP1 ($2000)
MP2 ($9484)
MP3 ($2000)
CO ($2040)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 8
2 folds, MP1 bets $40, 3 folds, Hero calls $40, 2 folds

Flop: ($110) 2, 9, 8 (2 players)
MP1 bets $80, Hero raises to $160, MP1 calls $80

Turn: ($430) 6 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $300, MP1 calls $300

River: ($1030) Q (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $777, MP1 calls $777

Total pot: $2584 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had J, 8 (one pair, eights).
MP1 mucked 6, 7 (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $2581

FTOPS $500 Main Event

Standard tournament garbage. Congratulations, though, to my long-time reader and former student Diego, who made the final table! Diego, why oh why did you back out of our staking deal?!!?

Obviously I'm planning a check-raise here, but given his bet sizing, I actually think I might be better off just calling:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t5040)
MP1 (t8905)
MP2 (t7335)
CO (t6325)
Button (t6880)
SB (t7750)
Hero (BB) (t10280)
UTG (t2575)

Hero's M: 137.07

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 8
4 folds, CO bets t150, 1 fold, SB calls t125, Hero calls t100

Flop: (t450) 6, 8, Q (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets t200, 1 fold, Hero calls t200

Turn: (t850) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (t850) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t700, Hero raises to t1980, CO raises to t3910, Hero calls t1930

Total pot: t8670

Results:
Hero had J, 8 (flush, Queen high).
CO had A, 4 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: CO won t8670


That one was far less annoying than this:

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

UTG ($7653.50)
MP ($1972)
CO ($9506)
Button ($4900)
SB ($5025)
Hero (BB) ($5075)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, K
3 folds, Button bets $150, 1 fold, Hero calls $100

Flop: ($325) 5, Q, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($325) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $222, Button calls $222

River: ($769) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $555, Button raises to $1655, Hero raises to $4703 (All-In), Button calls $2873 (All-In)

Total pot: $9825 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had A, 9 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had 10, K (flush, King high).
Outcome: Button won $9822

Villain is usually a short-stacker, though he occasionally buys in full. He's definitely borderline scared money when he does, but I still can't see how this isn't a shove on the river (even though I had a sick feeling when he raised and had to force my fingers not to be weak-tight). The only thing is that he may be weighted towards the nuts because of the flop check, which he's far more likely to do with Ace-high than with a random suited connector. But given what he had here, it seems plausible he would play 98s or 65s the same way. I don't know though, come to think of it, he probably still has more combinations of Axs pre-flop then lower flushes. Ugh, maybe this isn't a good shove either.

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.

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.

Time to Go Shopping for Skirts

...because I am a little girl:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $50.00 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($7241)
CO ($5985)
Button ($925)
Hero (SB) ($15829)
BB ($12367)
UTG ($6770)
UTG+1 ($5322)
MP1 ($8295.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 8
3 folds, MP2 bets $100, 2 folds, Hero raises to $400, BB calls $350, MP2 calls $300

Flop: ($1200) 6, 5, 4 (3 players)
Hero bets $789, BB raises to $2000, 1 fold, Hero folds

Total pot: $2778 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $2775


I'm not sure what's best here (obviously), but I can't believe I'm supposed to fold this. MP2 is pretty aggro, so it's not impossible that the BB blatted a big pair hoping to induce a squeeze, but i kinda doubt he's showing up here with anything that really kills me, which I guess would just be a made straight. My equity against a set is nearly the same as it is against an overpair, something like 20-25%. I wonder if he's ever raise-folding a slightly better pair, like 99 or TT?

There are a ton of "worse" hands I'd rather shove than 88, but still, I think this is ridiculously weak. I'm pretty sure my fold was not unrelated to a fear of losing $12K, and thankfully I did leave the table not too long after. The game was good, but it wasn't that good.

SCOOP Main Event

I played all three tournaments: the $10K, the $1K, and the $100. Each was what I expected it to be. The $100 was monkeylicious. The 1K was soft enough for the buyin, certainly weaker play than would be found at a 5/10 cash table or a weekly 1K tournament. The 10K was fairly tough, maybe even a bit tougher than I'd expected. At least at my table, the closet thing to a soft spot was P5's donkamenteur BelowAbove.

Actually, at my first table, Ahhh Snap was making life hell from my immediate left. Thankfully, that one broke quickly. I still never got anything going, and eventually lost two coin flips plus chopped JJ to Below's AJ to bust.

I got off to a solid start in the 1K, and there were a few interesting hands. This first one was against wpr101, who I see a lot at the Stars MSNL full ring tables:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t11530)
Hero (MP1) (t10850)
MP2 (t12305)
CO (t4930)
Button (t7215)
SB (t11790)
BB (t21380)

Hero's M: 90.42

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, J
1 fold, Hero bets t200, 1 fold, CO calls t200, 3 folds

Flop: (t520) 10, 8, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t350, CO raises to t1040, Hero raises to t10650 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t2600

Results:
Hero didn't show A, J (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t2600


This was probably my favorite one, against this total spaz on my left who was calling every raise I made pre-flop and then monkeying around post-flop. Actually wait lemme show you why he pissed me off first:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12200)
Hero (CO) (t11676)
Button (t3845)
SB (t9220)
BB (t5106)
UTG (t11047)
UTG+1 (t17329)
MP1 (t13090)
MP2 (t22901)

Hero's M: 28.83

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9, A
5 folds, Hero bets t411, Button calls t411, 2 folds

Flop: (t1227) 4, A, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: (t1227) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t795, Button calls t795

River: (t2817) J (2 players)
Hero bets t10450 (All-In), Button calls t2619 (All-In)

Total pot: t8055

Results:
Button had J, 8 (two pair, Jacks and eights).
Hero had 9, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Button won t8055


Note that he's calling off more than 10% of his stack pre-flop. It's not like shoving the river here is superawesome, but given stack sizes and this guy's general spazziness, I do think it was best. So here was my revenge:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t11795)
Hero (CO) (t7485)
Button (t13288)
SB (t3124)
BB (t5505)
UTG (t13686)
UTG+1 (t21760)
MP1 (t10240)
MP2 (t19531)

Hero's M: 18.48

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, 3
5 folds, Hero bets t411, Button calls t411, 2 folds

Flop: (t1227) 4, 9, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t450, Hero calls t450

Turn: (t2127) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t995, Hero raises to t3604, 1 fold

Total pot: t4117

Results:
Hero didn't show A, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t4117


I didn't hold on to those chips for long though:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12445)
Hero (CO) (t11706)
Button (t9001)
SB (t20490)
BB (t5100)
UTG (t13031)
UTG+1 (t24034)
MP1 (t13180)
MP2 (t18127)

Hero's M: 28.90

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7, A
3 folds, MP2 bets t399, 1 fold, Hero calls t399, 2 folds, BB calls t249

Flop: (t1452) 9, J, K (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t900, Hero calls t900, BB calls t900

Turn: (t4152) 6 (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets t1888, 1 fold, MP2 raises to t3776, Hero calls t1888

River: (t11704) 3 (2 players)
MP2 bets t13032 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t11704

Results:
MP2 didn't show
Outcome: MP2 won t11704

BB was wpr101 again, I don't know who MP2 was. It's pretty obvious he has something betting into two of us on this flop, and being in position, I thought calling would be more profitable than trying to raise him off it. When wpr just calls, given his stack size, it seems very likely he has just a draw. I can't see how he wouldn't shove a made hand he wanted to go with or a strong draw.

I also didn't expect that MP2 would check a super strong hand (like KJ or better) on the turn with two of us still in the pot and a lot of draws on board. So, I went for the bluff, which admittedly probably is relying on him making something of a big fold. I really didn't expect a check-raise, but at least he gave me odds to chase. River- what can I do?

It's quite rare for me to open limp in a tournament, but I've been adding that into my full ring cash game, and this seemed like a good spot for it. Depending on who raised, I was probably going to re-raise, but this guy had been really loose passive, so I decided just to call. I was pretty shocked/pissed about what he showed down:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t12875)
Hero (UTG) (t6536)
UTG+1 (t8476)
MP1 (t20320)
MP2 (t12603)
MP3 (t13747)
CO (t27939)
Button (t12785)
SB (t24461)

Hero's M: 12.45

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9, 9
Hero calls t200, 3 folds, MP3 bets t600, 4 folds, Hero calls t400

Flop: (t1725) 5, J, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t1000, Hero calls t1000

Turn: (t3725) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

River: (t3725) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t1800, Hero calls t1800

Total pot: t7325

Results:
Hero mucked 9, 9 (flush, Queen high).
MP3 had J, 7 (flush, Queen high).
Outcome: MP3 won t7325


The same guy busted me a few hands later when I once again got 99, open shoved, and lost a flip to his AQs.

The $100 was full of terrible play, and I ran up a huge stack just playing big hands. People were strangely aggressive, doing stuff like 4-bet shoving QTo over my button re-raise (I had AK). I shouldn't talk, though, as I kind of monkeyed off my own stack after busting from the big tournies, randomly shoving JTo from the SB over a CO open from a guy who'd just called a big shove the hand before with 55. This time he had AA.

Stupid SCOOP. I am so ready to be done with tournaments for a while. Too bad FTOPS is in less than a month. I may not play that as aggressively as I have in the past.

SCOOP Event 21: Heads Up NLHE

I didn't play the $25K, but the $2500 was plenty big enough for me. Emily and I even rearranged Easter brunch plans so that I could play it, which turned out to be a huge disappointment, as I lasted fewer than ten minutes against AJKHoosier1, my first round opponent. Obviously one of the most respected tournament players online was no slouch, but he also seemed to be running pretty hot. To wit:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2500+$100 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t4975)
Button (t5025)

Hero's M: 66.33

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3, K
Button bets t100, Hero calls t50

Flop: (t200) 6, 2, J (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t125, Hero calls t125

Turn: (t450) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: (t450) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets t250, Button calls t250

Total pot: t950

Results:
Button had J, 4 (two pair, Jacks and sixes).
Hero had 3, K (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Button won t950


This might not seem like "running hot", but the outcome of run-of-the-mill spots like this often determine the winner of a heads up tournament between two good players. The variance is through the room. This is just a standard spot where his range ought to be ridiculously wide, I turn my hand into a bluff on the river to knock out Ax and better Kx, and he has top pair.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2500+$100 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) (t3175)
SB (t6825)

Hero's M: 42.33

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8, 9
Hero bets t150, SB calls t100

Flop: (t300) Q, 10, 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t300) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t125, SB raises to t450, Hero calls t325

River: (t1200) 7 (2 players)
SB bets t950, Hero folds

Total pot: t1200

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won t1200


Obviously didn't get to see his hand here, so I may just have been outplayed, but based on his timing and just generally how he plays, I'm pretty sure he had it.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2500+$100 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t4525)
Button (t5475)

Hero's M: 60.33

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, Q
Button bets t100, Hero calls t50

Flop: (t200) Q, A, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t125, Hero calls t125

Turn: (t450) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t325, Hero calls t325

River: (t1100) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t750, Hero calls t750

Total pot: t2600

Results:
Button had 8, Q (flush, Ace high).
Hero mucked J, Q (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Button won t2600


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2500+$100 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) (t2925)
SB (t7075)

Hero's M: 39.00

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
Hero bets t100, SB calls t50

Flop: (t200) 2, Q, 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t200) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t125, SB raises to t440, Hero raises to t1010, SB raises to t6975 (All-In), Hero calls t1815 (All-In)

River: (t5850) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t5850

Results:
Hero had A, K (one pair, Aces).
SB had 5, 5 (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: SB won t5850


Honestly, this last one might have been a little tilty, though it's obviously a shit spot. I was trying to get him to 4-bet shove a draw on the turn, which I doubt he does.

In the $250, I draw a Round 1 Bye, which is pretty crazy considering that I'm pretty sure only one person out of the 1500+ field got one. In Round 2, I drew the curiously named Roothlus2. A quick google revealed that his last name is Levy, leading me to conclude that he is likely the brother of Adam "Roothlus" Levy. I say brother and not multi-account because he was way weaker than the real Roothlus, and I polished him off pretty handily.

My Round 3 opponent wasn't super-tough either, but he was better at making small bluffs than randoms usually are and I didn't adapt well. I never really caught the cards I wanted to play back at him, and eventually we got pretty shallow with him having a substantial chiplead. I open jammed KJs for about 12BB, he called with A5, and the flop came K52, giving me some hope of doubling back up to even, but the turn 5 drove the nail into the coffin.

SCOOP Event 17: NLHE 1R1A

This was a pretty cool event, with one of the deepest structures in the SCOOP. The buy-in sizes were a little awkward for me, though, and I ended up playing only the $200, figuring that the $20 was too small and the $2000 (effectively $6000 with the rebuy and addon) was more than I wanted to put up on a random tournament with a pretty tough field.

My opponents in the $200 were no slouches, certainly better than what I'm looking for in a $200 donkament. I was up against people like teacuppoker, ADZ, utreg, and Mattsuspect. Even though I lasted about five hours in the tournament, there really wasn't much in the way of interesting hands. It was a full ring tournament with some solid competition, so I was mostly just playing good hands and making cheap bluffs when I could. Showing pretty good discipline, considering how I usually play in these things, I guess.

I ended up limp-shoving 98s in the SB for 30BBs against MattSuspect, who (correctly) snap-called with 55. Even though I flopped a gutshot and flush draw to go with my two overs, and turned a double gutter, I couldn't get there on the river. Tournaments suck.

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 13: Razz

Unlike most players, I enjoy Razz. Yeah, it can be infuriating, but it's also kind of elegant in its simplicity. I spend most of this tournament catching well, so even though I didn't cash, it was fun. The only really interesting hand to come up was this one, where I slow-played my hand (rare to do in Razz, because it's usually very obvious when you've improved) and check-raised the river:

PokerStars Game #26871293549: Tournament #200904132, $200+$15 Razz Limit - Level V (100/200) - 2009/04/08 16:05:02 ET
Table '200904132 6' 8-max
Seat 1: dengladelaks (6761 in chips)
Seat 2: mattutaylor (3642 in chips)
Seat 4: foucault82 (6245 in chips)
Seat 5: raconteur (4232 in chips)
Seat 6: Mitchdubai (10797 in chips)
Seat 7: skootamatta (4353 in chips)
Seat 8: ImaLucSac (3970 in chips)

*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to dengladelaks [7h]
Dealt to mattutaylor [Jh]
Dealt to foucault82 [4h 3h 7s]
Dealt to raconteur [Qc]
Dealt to Mitchdubai [Ts]
Dealt to skootamatta [Ah]
Dealt to ImaLucSac [2c]

raconteur: brings in for 30
Mitchdubai: folds
skootamatta: raises 70 to 100
ImaLucSac: folds
dengladelaks: folds
mattutaylor: folds
foucault82: calls 100
raconteur: calls 70

*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4h 3h 7s] [Td]
Dealt to raconteur [Qc] [8d]
Dealt to skootamatta [Ah] [Ks]
foucault82: bets 100
raconteur: raises 100 to 200
skootamatta: calls 200
foucault82: calls 100

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4h 3h 7s Td] [6h]
Dealt to raconteur [Qc 8d] [Qd]
Dealt to skootamatta [Ah Ks] [Kc]
foucault82: bets 200
raconteur: calls 200
skootamatta: calls 200

*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4h 3h 7s Td 6h] [Jc]
Dealt to raconteur [Qc 8d Qd] [8h]
Dealt to skootamatta [Ah Ks Kc] [Tc]
foucault82: checks
raconteur: checks
skootamatta: checks

*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4h 3h 7s Td 6h Jc] [9d]
foucault82: checks
raconteur: checks
skootamatta: bets 200
foucault82: raises 200 to 400
raconteur: folds
skootamatta: folds
Uncalled bet (200) returned to foucault82
foucault82 collected 2040 from pot
foucault82: doesn't show hand

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2040 | Rake 0
Seat 1: dengladelaks folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mattutaylor folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: foucault82 collected (2040)
Seat 5: raconteur folded on the River
Seat 6: Mitchdubai folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: skootamatta folded on the River
Seat 8: ImaLucSac folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

It says something about the quality of play in this tournament that I have a lock on 5th street in a three-way pot. When we call catch bad on 6th, I was afraid I might lose them with a bet. Plus, there's the chance that skoot will decide he has the best hand and/or fold equity and bet for me anyway.

When that didn't happen, I figure they either got there or they didn't on 7th. If they didn't, they aren't calling a bet, and if they did, one of them might bet. Or, if they missed, one of them might bluff.

It's maybe a bit of a decision whether to call or check-raise 7th, but really I think check-raise is best. It's far more likely for skoot to make a crying call (the pot odds are awfully juicy) than for raconteur to overcall.

There were about 900 players, and we were down to 130 or so when I lost most of my stack:

PokerStars Game #26879162778: Tournament #200904132, $200+$15 Razz Limit - Level XV (1200/2400) - 2009/04/08 19:51:41 ET
Table '200904132 24' 8-max
Seat 1: yellowsub86 (28272 in chips)
Seat 2: turtlman (5290 in chips)
Seat 3: mapocalyps (34210 in chips)
Seat 4: ozenc (25805 in chips)
Seat 5: foucault82 (12105 in chips)
Seat 6: cRRusher (25769 in chips)
Seat 7: .dfm.dfm. (7711 in chips)
Seat 8: oldegreybehr (13385 in chips)

*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to yellowsub86 [9c]
Dealt to turtlman [Ts]
Dealt to mapocalyps [6d]
Dealt to ozenc [3c]
Dealt to foucault82 [As 7s 3h]
Dealt to cRRusher [Qs]
Dealt to .dfm.dfm. [Jh]
Dealt to oldegreybehr [4d]

cRRusher: brings in for 360
.dfm.dfm.: folds
oldegreybehr: folds
yellowsub86: folds
turtlman: folds
mapocalyps: calls 360
ozenc: folds
foucault82: raises 840 to 1200
cRRusher: folds
mapocalyps: calls 840

*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to mapocalyps [6d] [Ac]
Dealt to foucault82 [As 7s 3h] [4c]
foucault82: bets 1200
mapocalyps: calls 1200

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to mapocalyps [6d Ac] [7d]
Dealt to foucault82 [As 7s 3h 4c] [4h]
mapocalyps: bets 2400
foucault82: calls 2400

*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to mapocalyps [6d Ac 7d] [Kh]
Dealt to foucault82 [As 7s 3h 4c 4h] [3s]
mapocalyps: bets 2400
foucault82: calls 2400

*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [As 7s 3h 4c 4h 3s] [7c]
mapocalyps: checks
foucault82: checks

*** SHOW DOWN ***
mapocalyps: shows [8s 5d 6d Ac 7d Kh Ad] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,A)
foucault82: mucks hand
mapocalyps collected 16680 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 16680 | Rake 0
Seat 1: yellowsub86 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: turtlman folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mapocalyps showed [8s 5d 6d Ac 7d Kh Ad] and won (16680) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,A
Seat 4: ozenc folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 5: foucault82 mucked [As 7s 3h 4c 4h 3s 7c]
Seat 6: cRRusher folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 7: .dfm.dfm. folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: oldegreybehr folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)


I think the only close decision here is 6th. I'm getting a little better than 4:1. I'm thinking a deuce or a 5 will give me a win almost always, a 6 pretty often, and an 8 often enough to make a river call +EV. Those cards are all very live, so I take one off, but I can't get there.

I threw the last of my chips in with 234 vs an A36 on 3rd but lost that one as well to bust a few spots off the bubble. Still, a good time was had by me.

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.)

SCOOP Event 4: NLHE 2x Chance Turbo

I hate turbos, but they are quick, so I chose to play the $15 and the $150 but not the $1500. Sure enough, within an hour I was reduced to push/fold on both tables. I actually picked up a lot of big hands in the $150, but it didn't do me any good. I was either getting no action, getting sucked out on, or losing races. The only kinda interesting hand is this one, in which I got a little FPS'y and a lot of unlucky:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $150+$12 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds 15 Ante (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t6871)
UTG (t3790)
UTG+1 (t3670)
MP1 (t7084)
MP2 (t3912)
CO (t4635)
Button (t11283)
SB (t3755)

Hero's M: 22.90

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J
2 folds, MP1 bets t300, 4 folds, Hero raises to t900, MP1 calls t600

Flop: (t1980) 7, 9, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: (t1980) Q (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, MP1 calls t1111

River: (t4202) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t2845, MP1 calls t2845

Total pot: t9892

Results:
Hero had J, J (one pair, Jacks).
MP1 had K, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: MP1 won t9892


This is another one of those "good in a cash game but too fancy for a tournament" plays that I just can't help making. It's worth pointing out that I'd been 3-betting a lot (always with hands, but they never got shown down), and in a high stakes cash game people will steal very aggressively when you check flops like this to them. I'm just giving up so often when I check here. It's actually probably better to do this with QQ or KK than with JJ, since JJ actually has better equity against Villain's shoving range if I bet the flop.

The other thing that threw me off was that in the FTOPS, the Second Chance event gave every player a free rebuy that expired if you didn't use it during the rebuy period. I foolishly assumed Stars would work the same way and was actively trying to get my chips in during the last few minutes of the rebuy period, only to find that I was charged $15 when I did rebuy. Thankfully that was just on the smaller table, though I did end up rebuying on the $150 as well.

All in all, though, it was a good session. I made solid money on the cash games while wasting very little time or money on the tournaments.

The 5-card draw Event 3 would have been fun, but today was laundry day. :-(

SCOOP Events 1 and 2: 6-Max NLHE with Rebuys and PLO8

Thankfully the cash games I was playing on the side went well, because the tournaments did not. I played the $50 and $500 rebuys, but decided to skip the $5. I was thinking it might be fun to play despite the small stakes, but then I saw that there were more than 25,000 people registered for it! I have to think this is the largest non-freeroll tournament ever held.

On top of the fact that the two I did play had good structures, they were rebuys, meaning getting eliminated in the first hour wasn't in action. I was in for the "minimum" and even managed to double up in the $50 thanks to making trips two hands in a row against a loose player. Nevertheless, I dusted off my stack in both within two and half hours.

Worse, I feel like I was probably at least somewhat wrong to lose my stack in both cases. Here's my bustout hand from the $50:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $50+$5 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t3213)
Button (t18316)
Hero (SB) (t11211)
BB (t5965)
UTG (t13562)
MP (t11473)

Hero's M: 93.42

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A
3 folds, Button bets t240, Hero raises to t777, 1 fold, Button calls t537

Flop: (t1634) 6, 8, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, Button calls t1111

Turn: (t3856) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1895, Hero raises to t9323 (All-In), Button calls t7428

River: (t22502) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t22502

Results:
Button had 7, 8 (full house, sevens over eights).
Hero had Q, A (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: Button won t22502

I doubt he's betting less than two pair when I check to him on the turn, especially for this amount. As much as it sucks, check-folding might be correct here.

And in the $500:

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

Hero (BB) (t7271)
UTG (t8125)
MP (t19938)
CO (t10487)
Button (t11836)
SB (t8343)

Hero's M: 80.79

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, Q
1 fold, MP bets t180, 2 folds, SB raises to t600, Hero raises to t1555, 1 fold, SB raises to t8343 (All-In), Hero calls t5716 (All-In)

Flop: (t14722) J, J, 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t14722) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t14722) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t14722

Results:
SB had A, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
Outcome: SB won t14722


Note to self: six-max tournaments are not six-mas cash games. In my defense, this guy did seem a little loose pre-flop. He called one of my 3-bets out of position with A5s. That might justify calling his 5-bet shove, but I think flatting the 3-bet is probably best. I hate doing that against very good players because it defines your hand for them for free, but I doubt this guy was good enough to take advantage of that.

In general, though, there did seem to be a strong field in this tournament. My table at least was solid, with one player I've seen before at $25/$50.

To make matters worse, I misread the SCOOP schedule and ended up missing the PLO8 events, which my longtime readers will know I really enjoy. I thought they were tomorrow, but they were actually an event starting later in the afternoon today. Oh well, at least the cash games I was playing on the side well, netting me a handsome profit for the session despite the hefty tournament buyins.

Most Psychotic Bluff I've Ever Seen

Hmmm, 80:1 odds? I think I'll call:

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

Hero (Button) ($1802)
SB ($490)
BB ($1424)
UTG ($985)
MP ($1884)
CO ($1442.45)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 8
1 fold, MP bets $35, 1 fold, Hero calls $35, 2 folds

Flop: ($85) 5, 7, 8 (2 players)
MP bets $45, Hero raises to $122, MP raises to $320, Hero raises to $678, MP raises to $1200, Hero raises to $1722, MP raises to $1849 (All-In), Hero calls $45 (All-In)

Turn: ($3619) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($3619) Q (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $3619 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 6, 8 (one pair, eights).
MP had J, 2 (one pair, twos).
Outcome: Hero won $3616


I tried to make the flop 3-bet kinda sketchy to maximize fold equity versus overpairs. Guess I was a little off there....

Not only is this an awful board to expect me to show up with air, but when he 7-bet bluffs (wow, what an awesome thing to be able to say), I have to call $45 into a $3600 pot. The best part is that I thought my 6-bet was all in. I just hit the raise button, but apparently that left me with just enough room to give him the illusion of fold equity.

You don't know you how nervous I was when that deuce rolled off on the turn.

Deeeep Bluff

When you get to about the 2/4 or 3/6 level, an important goal to set for yourself is to make it hell for your opponents to show down marginal hands against you when they are out of position. The deeper you get, the wider the definition of marginal becomes, and here the stars really aligned nicely for me. The Villain is an occasional short stacker, and although he had a bunch of money spread out across a few 10/20 tables tonight, I still felt that he'd be a little uncomfortable with the idea of a $17K pot:

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

BB ($6735)
UTG ($2000)
MP ($11444)
Hero (CO) ($8761)
Button ($3940)
SB ($6294)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6, 9
1 fold, MP bets $70, Hero calls $70, 2 folds, BB calls $50

Flop: ($220) 10, 2, 8 (3 players)
BB checks, MP bets $160, Hero calls $160, 1 fold

Turn: ($540) Q (2 players)
MP bets $400, Hero raises to $1555, MP calls $1155

River: ($3650) 5 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $2977, 1 fold

Total pot: $3650 | Rake: $3


Honestly, my initial plan was not to bluff again on the river. I felt that the turn raise would be enough to threaten his stack and get him off of an overpair or AQ-type hand. He called so quickly, though, that I just felt he couldn't have a set. With the interest I'm showing in the pot and the draws on the board, I think he would at least consider jamming the turn with a big hand like that. So, I decided to throw a big river bluff at him to represent a set or straight.

You Could Have Been Value Betting Worse I Think?

I was playing a decent but not great player heads up, and the match had been close, with first him then me having the upper hand, until I tried to bluff him off of trips:

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

SB ($2045.50)
Hero (Button) ($2488.75)

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

Flop: ($60) J, 10, 10 (2 players)
SB bets $40, Hero calls $40

Turn: ($140) 3 (2 players)
SB bets $100, Hero raises to $333, SB calls $233

River: ($806) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2085.75 (All-In),

SB: sick... you hit the flush?

SB calls $1642.50 (All-In)

Total pot: $4091 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 8, Q (one pair, tens).
SB had K, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: SB won $4090.50

SB: i am not good enough to fold trips

Foucault: evidently not


Of course it's not generally a good idea to try to bluff someone off of trips, and if the river hadn't flushed I wouldn't have attempted it. It's not that I was trying to represent a flush but rather that the flush coming in makes it a very good time for me to make a huge shove if I have a full house, most likely JT or JJ. The huge shove is designed to polarize my range, so that it won't matter that he has trips (except for decreasing the combinations of boats I could have). Basically, I am either bluffing or have him beat.

Here's the very next hand, where he once again can't lay down trips:

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

Button ($4090.50)
Hero (SB) ($1000)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, K
Button bets $30, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($60) 10, Q, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $40, Hero raises to $120, Button calls $80

SB: also you could have been value betting worse I think?

Turn: ($300) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $200, Button calls $200

River: ($700) 4 (2 players)

SB: like any T?

Hero bets $650 (All-In), Button calls $650

Total pot: $2000 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button mucked 9, J (three of a kind, nines).
Hero had J, K (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won $1999.50


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

SB ($3353.25)
Hero (Button) ($1717.25)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
Hero bets $30, SB raises to $120, Hero calls $90

Flop: ($240) 4, 2, 7 (2 players)
SB bets $140, Hero calls $140

Turn: ($520) 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $222, SB calls $222

River: ($964) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1235.25 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $964 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn't show A, A.
Outcome: Hero won $963.50


This wasn't a good value shove by me, but it did show me that the table dynamic had shifted as a result of his snapping off that big bluff. Now, he was going to give me credit on my shoves.

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

SB ($2656.75)
Hero (Button) ($2410.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
Hero bets $30, SB calls $20

Flop: ($60) K, 4, 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $40, SB calls $40

Turn: ($140) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $90, SB calls $90

River: ($320) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $250, SB calls $250

Total pot: $820 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had K, J (three of a kind, Kings).
SB mucked 8, 8 (two pair, Kings and eights).
Outcome: Hero won $819.50


In this hand, I show him that I can value bet thinly (on the turn, here, nothing thin about the river) in a spot where he thinks I'm going to have a polarized range (hence his calldown with 88- he assumes I either hit the A or am bluffing in a common spot).

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

Button ($2261.75)
Hero (SB) ($2805.25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, K
Button bets $30, Hero raises to $111, Button calls $81

Flop: ($222) 7, 10, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $169, Button calls $169

Turn: ($560) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $425, Button calls $425

River: ($1410) A (2 players)
Hero bets $2100.25 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1410 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn't show Q, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $1409.50


This time, the big bluff works. Given the texture of the board, I think it's very likely that he raises flop or turn if he has two pair or better. Something like a pair and busted draw is more likely for him. And even if he does have two pair, I think it's now plausible for him to think I can shove Aces up, so his weaker two pair may not be good. Pretty much the only thing I'm worried about here is that he himself rivered Aces up. Otherwise, I expect this to work.

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

SB ($1889.50)
Hero (Button) ($3175.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 3
Hero bets $30, SB calls $20

Flop: ($60) 2, 6, 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $40, SB raises to $120, Hero raises to $269, SB calls $149

Turn: ($598) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $376, SB raises to $1590.50 (All-In), Hero calls $1214.50

River: ($3779) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3779 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
SB had K, 5 (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $3778.50


And that cleaned him out.

Recent Publications

This month I've got two publications to report. First, my latest article for 2+2 Magazine, titled Float On, is now appearing in the March issue. It's an analysis of when, whom, and how to bluff-call, including an in-depth example:

Suppose that when your opponent bets, you think there is a 30% chance that he has a hand strong enough to continue and a 70% chance that his hand is too weak to stand a raise. If you raise his bet, you will win the pot 70% of the time and lose the amount of your bluff 30% of the time. As long as you choose an appropriate raise size, that’s a very profitable proposition for you.

If your opponent will play predictably on the turn, though, and many will, then it may be even more profitable just to call his bet and see what he does on the turn. The 70% of the time that he does not have anything, he will check, and you can now wager the same amount that you would have with a raise, or maybe even a little less, but steal the pot 100% of the time. The 30% of the time that he does have a hand, he’ll bet again and you can fold, saving yourself the amount that a bluff-raise would have cost you.

I'm also featured in Kristy Arnett's new Run It Twice series on Cardplayer:

People want to be able to play a lot of hands from late position, which makes sense because that’s where you make most of your money. If you are getting three-bet a whole lot from the blinds, you have to fold some of the weaker hands that you are raising with, so some people have started making these small raises so that they can call more three-bets preflop and also lose less money if they fold when they get three-bet. It’s an adaptation some people have made to enable themselves to play more hands from late position.

Deep Run in the FTP 750K

The first few levels of this tournament were pretty uneventful, but eventually I won a coin flip to get up to an average stack. Then I floated for a few hours, through the bubble, on twenty big blinds or so.

This was maybe the most interesting hand I played, fairly standard but important example of structuring the betting so that you induce bluffs/bad value bets and get in the last bet:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t12150)
UTG+1 (t13040)
Hero (MP1) (t12835)
MP2 (t7320)
MP3 (t4812)
CO (t13968)
Button (t12210)
SB (t24562)
BB (t9137)

Hero's M: 12.22

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, J
2 folds, Hero bets t800, MP2 calls t800, 5 folds

Flop: (t2650) Q, 3, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t800, Hero raises to t2985, 1 fold

Total pot: t4250

Results:
Hero didn't show K, J (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t4250


I picked up some hands, ran up a stack, and managed to get this nit off of what he claimed (and I'm inclined to believe) was AJ:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 150 Ante (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t65491)
UTG (t26612)
UTG+1 (t13580)
MP1 (t14358)
Hero (MP2) (t42063)
CO (t25154)
Button (t69958)
SB (t41386)

Hero's M: 14.02

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, 6
3 folds, Hero bets t2400, 3 folds, BB calls t1200

Flop: (t6600) 10, J, 3 (2 players)
BB bets t4800, Hero raises to t21000, 1 fold

Total pot: t16200

Results:
Hero didn't show K, 6 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t16200


With my big stack, I stole blinds for a while then got about 1/3 of my chips in with 99 vs 44 and lost that to get kinda short. Sitting on less than 10BB's, I got 99 in the BB and joked to my girlfriend, who was watching at the time, than I wouldn't be folding this "unless that guy goes all in then that guy goes all in, then that guy goes all in..." which of course is pretty much happened:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 1200/2400 Blinds 300 Ante (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t44934)
SB (t69419)
Hero (BB) (t20218)
UTG (t108206)
UTG+1 (t76830)
MP1 (t95893)
MP2 (t23256)
CO (t68860)

Hero's M: 3.37

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 9
2 folds, MP1 bets t6000, MP2 raises to t22956 (All-In), 2 folds, SB raises to t69119 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: (t56712) 2, 8, 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t56712) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t56712) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t56712

Results:
SB had A, J (one pair, sevens).
MP2 had K, A (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: MP2 won t56712

Sadly, SB's atrocious call chased me off of the winning hand.

Another simple but important thing I was doing when short was raising less than all in even when I had a hand that I wanted to shove pre-flop. By raising 25-33% of my stack, I was occasionally able to get people to make some awful post-flop folds:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 1200/2400 Blinds 300 Ante (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t77968)
CO (t4029)
Hero (Button) (t26818)
SB (t105506)
BB (t76230)
UTG (t83293)
UTG+1 (t56640)
MP1 (t66412)
MP2 (t74410)

Hero's M: 4.26

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, A
6 folds, Hero bets t7200, SB calls t6000, 1 fold

Flop: (t19500) 4, 10, 6 (2 players)
SB bets t7200, Hero raises to t19318 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t33900

Results:
Hero didn't show J, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t33900

This outcome is so much better than getting either a call or a fold pre-flop. People are very willing to suck if you just give them the chance.

My short stack ninja'ing accumulated a good deal of chips for me, despite getting a walk with QQ in the BB, and eventually I got JJ in against A8s to double. Sadly, it wasn't too last. A few orbits later, I lost a coin flip with AQs to 99, bustin in 118th place. This marks the third time this year that I've run well into the top 1% of one of these huge field Sunday tournaments, but I still don't have anything to show for it.

Fourth time's the charm?

Don't Make It So Obvious

Also, don't raise 52s in middle position.

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

BB ($1033)
UTG ($1233.55)
MP ($3131.75)
CO ($1000)
Hero (Button) ($1150)
SB ($2026)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
1 fold, MP bets $30, 1 fold, Hero calls $30, SB calls $25, 1 fold

Flop: ($100) K, 6, 9 (3 players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $44, 1 fold, MP raises to $3060, Hero calls $1076 (All-In)

Turn: ($2340) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2340) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2340 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, A (one pair, Aces).
MP had 5, 2 (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $2337

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.

FTOPS #14: $500 HORSE

I almost didn't play this because my experience with limit tournaments has always been that even if I am not doing well they take forever. At least in NLHE if it isn't going well you don't waste a lot of time on it. Well, I managed to eliminate myself in less than three hours, so I guess that's something.

There was a key Stud/8 hand I wanted to talk about, but somehow the HH file seems to have disappeared from my computer. Basically, I was the bring-in with 5(48) a player in middle position open raised with a K in the door, a loose player called with a Q, and I 2-bet. In a cash game this would be a very standard raise since I appear to have the only low hand in a 3-way pot. Arguably in a tournament one ought to be more conservative about pushing small edges early in a hand when stacks are shallow, but I was looking to go balls to the wall. They both called.

On fourth, they both caught non-threatening cards, and I caught a 7. Now I really had a monster, with a gutshot and four to a low against two players going high. The K bet, the Q called, I raised, and they both called.

On fifth, I paired my 4, the K blanked again, and the Q caught a 3. They checked around to me, I bet, the K folded, and the Q called.

Sixth brought a blank for me and an open pair of 3's for my opponent. He checked, and I bet, which I think is probably a mistake. He almost certainly has Q's and 3's, meaning that he isn't folding while I have only 6 outs for the high and am still drawing at the low as well.

What's really bad though is that I made two pair on seventh and bet again, without even thinking, into what was clearly two pair. Pretty shitty play on my part that cost me 2 BBs.

Heads Up With a Maniac

This guy was decent in some ways but pretty insanely loose and aggressive. I don't think he ever folded to a 3-bet pre-flop (I probably should have made my raise size bigger), and there was a lot of 4-betting going on. For the most part, I just hung back, made some thin call downs, and pushed my big hands hard. He was tough to bluff because he wouldn't fold anything and would re-bluff with ridiculous frequency. I was trying to bluff just enough to ensure that he knew I hadn't given up completely.

Faster!

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

SB ($1092.25)
Hero (Button) ($2109.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $110, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($220) K, K, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($220) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $85, Hero calls $85

River: ($390) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $285, Hero raises to $1914.50 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $960 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn't show K, J
Outcome: Hero won $959.50

This was early in the match- I probably would have bet the flop based on the dynamic we later established. I guarantee he wasn't folding, whatever he had.



A Little Too Thin

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

Hero (Button) ($3549.50)
SB ($3023.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 8
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $110, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($220) 2, Q, 8 (2 players)
SB bets $145, Hero calls $145

Turn: ($510) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $345, Hero calls $345

River: ($1200) 10 (2 players)
SB bets $455, Hero calls $455

Total pot: $2110 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 9, 8 (two pair, nines and eights).
SB had 10, A (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $2109.50



One of His Better Value Bets

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

Button ($2320.50)
Hero (SB) ($4791)

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

Flop: ($60) Q, 2, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $40, Hero raises to $111, Button calls $71

Turn: ($282) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($282) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $245, Hero calls $245

Total pot: $772 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
Button had 8, 8 (two pair, Queens and eights).
Hero had A, 10 (two pair, Queens and twos).
Outcome: Button won $771.50


A lot of busted draws here, though maybe he bets those on the turn? Whatever, folding too often to this guy was not a good idea.



Lucky Turn

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

SB ($1794)
Hero (Button) ($3150.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 8
Hero raises to $30, SB calls $20

Flop: ($60) 2, 8, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44, SB raises to $118, Hero calls $74

Turn: ($296) 10 (2 players)
SB bets $235, Hero raises to $1002, SB raises to $1646 (All-In), Hero calls $644

River: ($3588) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3588 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 10, 8 (full house, tens over eights).
SB had 7, 8 (two pair, tens and eights).
Outcome: Hero won $3587.50



Psycho Call

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

Button ($2736)
Hero (SB) ($4375)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 10
Button raises to $20, Hero raises to $80, Button calls $60

Flop: ($160) 9, K, A (2 players)
Hero bets $120, Button raises to $260, Hero raises to $795, Button calls $535

Turn: ($1750) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $3500 (All-In), Button calls $1861 (All-In)

River: ($5472) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $5472 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had 7, Q (high card, Ace).
Hero had A, 10 (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $5471.50


I was expecting calls from worse Aces and maybe Kings. I don't know how he talked himself into this one. Maybe he decided I could be on a worse flush draw?



Tough Fold

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

SB ($2000)
Hero (Button) ($7110.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, A
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $110, Hero raises to $222, SB calls $112

Flop: ($444) Q, J, A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($444) J (2 players)
SB bets $225, Hero calls $225

River: ($894) 10 (2 players)
SB bets $665, Hero folds

Total pot: $894 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won $893.50


I'm far from certain this was correct. It's obviously a scary card, but that also makes it a good bluff card. I don't think he has a K too often on the turn, but trips and clubs are both very possible. Ultimately the turn bet sizing is what swayed me.



Bluff It Off

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

Hero (SB) ($4110)
Button ($2462)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 10
Button raises to $30, Hero raises to $111, Button calls $81

Flop: ($222) 8, 10, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $145, Hero calls $145

Turn: ($512) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $345, Hero calls $345

River: ($1202) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $875, Hero calls $875

Total pot: $2952 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had K, 4 (one pair, Queens).
Hero had A, 10 (two pair, Queens and tens).
Outcome: Hero won $2951.50



Turning Second Pair Into a River Check-Raise Bluff

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

Hero (Button) ($6043)
SB ($3207)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
Hero raises to $30, SB calls $20

Flop: ($60) A, 8, K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($60) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44, SB calls $44

River: ($148) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $111, SB raises to $345, Hero calls $234

Total pot: $838 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had K, J (one pair, Kings).
SB had 5, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $837.50

I'm pretty sure he expects me to call the river almost always but not to bet very often. So it doesn't really make sense for him to check a big hand to me.



Lucky Turn

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

Hero (SB) ($5693)
Button ($2275)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A
Button raises to $30, Hero raises to $111, Button calls $81

Flop: ($222) J, 8, K (2 players)
Hero bets $166, Button calls $166

Turn: ($554) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $345, Hero raises to $5416 (All-In), Button calls $1653 (All-In)

River: ($4550) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4550 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had J, 9 (two pair, Jacks and nines).
Hero had Q, A (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Button won $4549.50



Not This Time

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

Button ($2478)
Hero (SB) ($2468)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 9
Button raises to $30, Hero raises to $111, Button calls $81

Flop: ($222) J, 7, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $166, Button calls $166

Turn: ($554) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $345, Hero raises to $2191 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1244 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn't show A, 9 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $1243.50


This one actually happened simultaneously with the above (we were playing on two tables).



Insane

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

Hero (Button) ($3943)
SB ($4021)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $110, Hero raises to $222, SB calls $112

Flop: ($444) 6, K, 7 (2 players)
SB bets $325, Hero raises to $966, SB raises to $2445, Hero raises to $3721 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $5334 | Rake: $0.50


There are so many good semi-bluff hands on this board that there's no reason to ever be 3-betting the flop with air, but that seems to be what he was doing here. Best example of his over-aggressiveness.



Bluffing With the Best

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

Hero (SB) ($6885)
Button ($2370)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 7
Button raises to $30, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($60) 7, 7, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($60) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button calls $44

River: ($148) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $111, Button raises to $445, Hero calls $334

Total pot: $1038 | Rake: $0.50

He had Ace-high on this one, which makes it that much crazier of a bluff, since he had some showdown value.



Lucky River

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

Hero (Button) ($6066.50)
SB ($3180.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 10
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $110, Hero raises to $266, SB calls $156

Flop: ($532) 7, 5, 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $222, SB raises to $655, Hero calls $433

Turn: ($1842) 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $666, SB calls $666

River: ($3174) A (2 players)
SB bets $1593.50 (All-In), Hero calls $1593.50

Total pot: $6361 | Rake: $0.50

Never mind bluffs, he's value shoving worse on this river. He called me a lucky retard and quit immediately after this hand. Later he was nice though- he sat at another of my tables as I was getting ready to quit but didn't give me a hard time about it and even returned a blind that I didn't mean to post.

Just so I don't look like a total luckbox, remember that the above were hands selected to show how aggressive he was, and hence generally hands that I won. He did win a few big pots that I didn't post here. Also, there was this, against a different opponent:

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

Hero (Button) ($2323.50)
SB ($1692.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, A
Hero raises to $30, SB raises to $90, Hero raises to $222, SB calls $132

Flop: ($444) 3, 10, Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $166, SB raises to $1470.50 (All-In), Hero calls $1304.50

Turn: ($3385) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($3385) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3385 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had K, A (one pair, Kings).
SB had J, 9 (straight, King high).
Outcome: SB won $3384.50

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.

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.

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.

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!

Misclicking for Fun and Profit

It never ceases to amuse me when my mistakes make me money. Here I meant to bet $99 on the river and accidentally bet $9. The result was inducing a huge check-raise bluff from a hand that almost certainly would have folded to my intended bet:

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

BTN: $705
SB: $1,359.35
Hero (BB): $1,230
UTG: $1,336.25
MP: $600
CO: $1,828

Pre-Flop: A 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, SB calls $3, Hero raises to $18, SB calls $12

Flop: ($36) 3 9 4 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($36) 8 (2 Players)
SB bets $13, Hero raises to $42, SB calls $29

River: ($120) 3 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB raises to $234, Hero calls $225

Results: $588 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed T Q (a pair of Threes) and LOST (-$294 NET)
Hero showed A 7 (a flush, Ace high) and WON $585 (+$291 NET)


Unfortunately, I decided to flush the profits and then some on an ill-conceived river check-raise bluff of my own:

Full Tilt Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: $998
BTN: $597
Hero (SB): $1,713.20
BB: $352.10
UTG: $1,896.60

Pre-Flop: 8 8 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, CO raises to $21, BTN folds, Hero calls $18, BB folds

Flop: ($48) 2 J 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $35, Hero calls $35

Turn: ($118) 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $111, Hero calls $111

River: ($340) 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $200, Hero raises to $1,546.20 and is All-In, CO calls $631 and is All-In

Results: $2,002 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed J J (a full house, Jacks full of Fives) and WON $1,999 (+$1,001 NET)
Hero showed 8 8 (two pair, Eights and Fives) and LOST (-$998 NET)


First off, I hate the turn call. My thinking was that his range when he near-pots it is polarized to bluffs and boats, but it's probably so waited towards boats that I don't belong in the hand anyway. Then I disregard that read on the river and decide based on his bet-sizing that he has an overpair after all and maybe I can take him off of it. Pure sloppiness on my part.

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.

River 3-Bet Bluff

I think the river 3-bet bluff is one of the sexiest plays in poker. Precisely because it's so hard to pull off, it's something I rarely attempt. But today I managed a good one:

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

SB: $2,829.95
BB: $2,542.50
UTG: $1,143.95
Hero (MP): $2,087
CO: $2,000
BTN: $1,032

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $35, CO calls $35, 3 folds

Flop: ($85) 3 8 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $66, CO raises to $150, Hero calls $84

Turn: ($385) 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($385) 5 (2 Players)
Hero bets $277, CO raises to $710, Hero raises to $1,902 and is All-In, CO folds

Results: $1,805 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A K and WON $1,802 (+$907 NET)


Let's start with the flop. In a 100BB game, I'm happily 3-betting the flop and getting the money. But with these stacks, his flop raising range is different and when the money goes in I'm usually going to be facing a set, not one pair. AK-high beats most of his bluffs anyway, so I just called.

The turn puts a ton of draws on the board, so when my opponent doesn't bet it, I ruled strong hands out of his range. I'd expect him to check two pair or better almost never on the turn. When I bet the river, it's to represent an overpair and try to bluff him off of one pair.

Because I'd previously ruled out two pair or better on the turn, the river raise is more than a little suspicious. Could the 5 have improved his hand? I doubt he's playing 64 like this pre-flop or on the flop, and if he is, I'd expect him to bluff the turn. 96 seems pretty unlikely for the flop raise. So I conclude that he's almost certainly bluffing.

Frankly, calling with AK would not be bad here, even though initially I was bluffing. But I also think it's very likely that he may be turning a pair into a bluff to get me off of the overpair I'm representing. So I decided that I'd be better off shoving to knock him off better bluffs and maybe even a 53 or something that he was raising for thin value.

Deep Sunday Million Run

I put in one of my longest online poker sessions ever yesterday, starting at 2PM to play the $256 FTOPS 6-max knockout event (ran like ass but as you'll see I've got no room to complain), then making a deep run in the Stars Sunday Million that kept me up until 12:30 AM. I finished a disappointing 30th after losing AKs < KQ, 66 < AQ, and KT < 44. But again, I've got no room to complain. Here's a little taste of how I made it so far:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $200+$15 Tournament, 4000/8000 Blinds 800 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t336390)
BB (t147060)
UTG (t377187)
UTG+1 (t251925)
MP1 (t104582)
Hero (MP2) (t97048)
MP3 (t131592)
CO (t389095)
Button (t35424)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8, 8

UTG raises to t21600, 2 folds, Hero raises to t96248 (All-In), 4 folds, BB raises to t146260 (All-In), UTG calls t124660

Flop: (t399968) Q, 2, 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t399968) 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t399968) 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t399968



Results in white below:

BB had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and fives).

UTG had J, J (two pair, Jacks and fives).

Hero had 8, 8 (full house, eights over fives).

Outcome: UTG won t100024, Hero won t299944



Poker Tracker missed one of the dirtier ones because I was moved immediately afterwards, but I made a small raise UTG+1 with Jh 9h and was called by a guy in late position. The flop came QJ7 with one heart. I checked, he min-bet, and I called. The turn was the Th, giving me an open-ender and a flush draw. I checked, he bet small again, and I shoved. I was thinking he wouldn't have AK, QQ, JJ, or TT, or K9, but he snapped me off with QQ. No sweat though- the river was an 8 to give me the straight.

This tournament has a really shallow structure, so while there were interesting spots, they had more to do with blind stealing than anything that would translate to a good blog hand. But here's a big laydown I made with like 75 remaining:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $200+$15 Tournament, 30000/60000 Blinds 6000 Ante (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t1380264)
Hero (CO) (t1552219)
Button (t494600)
SB (t571314)
BB (t985490)
UTG (t923860)
MP1 (t2234517)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
1 fold, MP1 raises to t133000, 1 fold, Hero calls t133000, 2 folds, BB calls t73000

Flop: (t471000) 8, J, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t271000, Hero folds, 1 fold

Total pot: t471000

Results in white below:

MP1 didn't show

Outcome: MP1 won t471000

This player had been quite snug. Pre-flop, I felt I was only going to get it in with AK and JJ+, so I elected to call for less than 10% of the effective stacks. If a short stack shoved, I was going to call unless the raiser came in as well, in which case I'd probably have folded.

As it stands, I just couldn't see this player betting into two people on this flop, especially given my very strong call, with less than AJ or maybe TT. But I'm crushed by AA, KK, and JJ. Guess I'll never know if this was correct, but it felt right at the time.

After playing this tournament for 8 hours (and overall, putting in a 10.5 hour session) I finished 30th and won like 13 buyins. Meh.

ur running so hot dude

I was feeling so on top of my game the other day. I was just really alert and creative, picking up on a ton of spots where I could steal pots if I applied enough pressure in the right way. This was the best one. Unless they have exactly Khxh, most people aren't going to check call a flush draw on the flop. I bet the flop just to set up an opportunity to steal the pot later. When the flush came in, it was just a matter of pouring on the pressure:

Full Tilt Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $2,697.85
CO: $937
BTN: $2,296.05
SB: $2,240.30
BB: $344.80

Pre-Flop: 7 9 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $21, 2 folds, SB raises to $72, BB folds, Hero calls $51

Flop: ($150) T K 6 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $88, SB calls $88

Turn: ($326) 2 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $377, SB calls $377

River: ($1,080) J (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2,160.85 and is All-In, SB folds

Results: $1,080 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked 7 9 and WON $1,077 (+$540 NET)


The best part of the hand was what my opponent said after he folded:

Villain: aa ur running so hot dude

Poker Vortices

I spent the better part of last week in Sedona, Arizona, which is a beautiful part of the American Southwest featuring tremendous red rock structures. Unfortunately, someone decided that these red rock formations have somehow created spiritual vortexes (and yes that is the correct pluralization, not vortices, I checked):

"In Sedona vortexes are created, not by wind or water, but from spiraling spiritual energy. The vortexes of Sedona are named because they are believed to be spiritual locations where the energy is right to facilitate prayer, mediation and healing. Vortex sites are believed to be locations having energy flow that exists on multiple dimensions. The energy of the vortexes interacts with a person’s inner self."

Consequently, Sedona is a hotbed of new age spiritualism, home to dozens of fortune tellers, spirit healers, mystical book stores, and all-around crazy people. I'm mad that I lost the exact language, but the visitor's guide provided by the National Parks Service specifically prohibits the rearranging of sticks and stones to create "medicine wheels" in the park and asks guests to "pray, chant, sign, drum, or meditate quietly" so as not to disturb others.

I spent about an hour playing poker and watching the sun rise from the porch of our hotel room while waiting for my girlfriend to wake up one day, though, and I must admit that maybe there is something to those vortexes after all (ugh apparently I don't FTP set to save hand histories on my laptop- sorry for botching the hell out of this post).

I was playing 10/20 heads up with a relatively weak regular. She was ridiculously over-aggressive, and I didn't respond to it quite as well as I should have. Still, I four-bet bluffed her twice pre-flop and flopped huge both times.

The first time, I had 54o, put $440 in pre-flop, and flopped the nuts on a 236 board. Since I knew my opponent could have a wide range pre-flop and it was my first time four-betting, I checked it back. The turn brought a J, she potted, and I shoved. She tanked and called with 95o for a gutshot which did not get there.

The second time, I 4-bet with Q7 and flopped Q77 for the second nuts. This time we were 4K deep, so I bet like 1/3 pot on the flop. In retrospect I probably should have just checked but I feared it would look too strong given how I played last time and the fact that my opponent knew I knew she could have almost anything.

The best one was when I called one of her 3-bets with T9o (again, 4K stacks) and flopped Q83. She bet, and I called. The turn brought another Q, and she bet smallish. I was pretty sure she didn't have a Queen, so decided to execute one of my new favorite moves where I make a raise I know my opponent will call and set myself up to bluff shove a future street when I am almost sure she will fold. I raised like 2.5x, enough to leave slightly less than a pot-sized bet in the effective stacks. Sure enough, she called and check-folded to a shove on a river 8. Sadly, she also quit after that.

Eight High is Good

OK I paired the river but 8-high would have been good anyway:

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

MP: $600
CO: $1,712.40
Hero (BTN): $1,495
SB: $1,992.90
BB: $318
UTG: $1,206

Pre-Flop: 7 8 dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP raises to $21, CO folds, Hero calls $21, SB folds, BB calls $15

Flop: ($66) 6 Q 5 (3 Players)
BB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $44, BB calls $44, MP folds

Turn: ($154) K (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1,430 and is All-In, BB calls $253 and is All-In

River: ($660) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $660 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 7 8 (a pair of Eights) and WON $657 (+$339 NET)
BB showed 3 4 (King Queen high) and LOST (-$318 NET)

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.

Mike Matusow Gets the Best of Me Again

It's been a while since we've played together, but Matusow was at two tables of 25/50 full ring today, so I took a seat as well. The game was pretty good, but once again Matusow "got the best of me" (scare quotes cuz really it was just a coin flip and not much either of us could/should have done differently):

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

MP1: $6,863
MP2: $11,052
CO: $4,925
BTN: $3,604
SB: $1,550
BB: $1,330
Hero (UTG): $9,105
UTG+1: $930

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $150, 4 folds, BTN calls $150, SB folds, BB calls $100

Flop: ($475) K 3 5 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $350, BB folds, Hero raises to $955, BTN calls $605

Turn: ($2,385) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8,000 and is All-In, BTN calls $2,499 and is All-In
River: ($7,383) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $7,383 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed 7 6 (a flush, Nine high) and WON $7,380 (+$3,776 NET)
Hero showed K A (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$3,604 NET)


If you're wondering about the flop check-raise, it's because I initially timed out and auto-checked. I was distracted by this river decision:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $1,000
SB: $1,670
Hero (BB): $3,614
UTG: $535.80

Pre-Flop: 8 A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN raises to $30, SB folds, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($65) 2 2 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $50, Hero calls $50

Turn: ($165) 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $130, Hero calls $130

River: ($425) A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $790 and is All-In, Hero calls $790

Results: $2,005 Pot ($2 Rake)
BTN showed J 9 (two pair, Nines and Twos) and LOST (-$1,000 NET)
Hero showed 8 A (two pair, Aces and Twos) and LOST (-$1,000 NET)


I'm really surprised he showed up with a 9 here. I don't get why he wouldn't just check that back, and I'm not sure if he was trying to value bet or bluff here (actually it was almost certainly a bluff but it's not inconceivable I could call with worse if I were in the right mood).

Here are two more not very interesting 25/50 hands:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $4,175
MP: $5,000
CO: $6,394
BTN: $6,474
SB: $5,532.10
BB: $5,000
Hero (UTG): $7,851.50

Pre-Flop: T T dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $175, UTG+1 calls $175, 4 folds, BB calls $125

Flop: ($550) T T 9 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $376, UTG+1 folds, BB raises to $1,125, Hero calls $749

Turn: ($2,800) 3 (2 Players)
BB bets $1,700, Hero calls $1,700

River: ($6,200) Q (2 Players)
BB bets $2,000 and is All-In, Hero calls $2,000

Results: $10,200 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB showed Q K (two pair, Queens and Tens) and LOST (-$5,000 NET)
Hero showed T T (four of a kind, Tens) and WON $10,197 (+$5,197 NET)


Even when he "gets there" on the river, I still think check-folding is BB's best option here. It's so likely that KQ is no good and so unlikely that I will call with worse even if he is best.

And the last one:

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

MP1: $5,322
MP2: $9,947
CO: $5,444
BTN: $8,147
SB: $5,622
BB: $6,851.10
UTG: $5,000
UTG+1: $5,694
Hero (UTG+2): $15,381.50

Pre-Flop: 7 7 dealt to Hero (UTG+2)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $150, Hero calls $150, 6 folds

Flop: ($375) K 4 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $234, UTG+1 calls $234

Turn: ($843) K (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $666, UTG+1 calls $666

River: ($2,175) K (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

Results: $2,175 Pot ($3 Rake)
UTG+1 showed A A (a full house, Kings full of Aces) and WON $2,172 (+$1,122 NET)
Hero showed 7 7 (a full house, Kings full of Sevens) and LOST (-$1,050 NET)


I'm pretty sure a puppy died when the river came a third K.

Watch Me Get Owned

This one was against a not-very-good player:

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

Hero (UTG): $1,454.70
MP: $1,323.15
CO: $546.65
BTN: $318
SB: $621.75
BB: $590.95

Pre-Flop: A T dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $21, 4 folds, BB calls $15

Flop: ($45) J 7 A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $33, BB calls $33

Turn: ($111) 5 (2 Players)
BB bets $50, Hero calls $50

River: ($211) A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $150, BB raises to $486.95 and is All-In, Hero calls $336.95

Results: $1,184.90 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A T (three of a kind, Aces) and LOST (-$590.95 NET)
BB showed A K (three of a kind, Aces) and WON $1,181.90 (+$590.95 NET)


I usually fold in this spot, but it just seemed so unlikely that he would take the lead on the turn with two pair or a set and then check the river. Frankly I expected to see either a boat or a bluff, not that I don't like the way he played it. He probably does get a bet out of a Jack this way that would have folded if he led the river. Plus he got my donk ass to call with AT.

This one was against a very good player:

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

CO: $1,660.35
BTN: $426
SB: $1,005
BB: $1,077
Hero (UTG): $2,099

Pre-Flop: T K dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $35, 2 folds, SB calls $30, BB folds

Flop: ($80) 6 3 T (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44, SB raises to $158, Hero calls $114

Turn: ($396) A (2 Players)
SB bets $300, Hero raises to $1,906 and is All-In, SB calls $512 and is All-In

River: ($2,020) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $2,020 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed Q Q (a pair of Queens) and WON $2,017 (+$1,012 NET)
Hero showed T K (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$1,005 NET)


He did a really nice job of depolarizing his range here. I was putting him on either a draw or a set. While it's possible he had the nut flush draw and got there on the turn, I wasn't sure he would bet that. Plus, the A is a good scary card for him to follow up if he is semi-bluffing.


Pwned.

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.

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.

WCOOP Event 29: $500 NLHE Rebuy 6-Max

I'm skipping past some of the other WCOOP events I played because I've fallen behind on them and don't remember much of what happened, which is because there really wasn't much of interest anyway. The $500 rebuy 6-max did produce some neat hands, though. My table wasn't soft, but that's to be expected in a big event like this. There were a few good tournament players, most notably Timex, who weren't making huge mistakes but weren't necessarily going to play great deep stack 6-max poker either.

The X-factor was Poker Stars pro William Thorson, who's been a long-time cash player on that site. I've never seen him sitting in the bigger NLHE games, so I wasn't sure what to make of or expect from him. He was definitely too loose and aggressive at times, but overall he was pretty decent, especially when we were deep. In particular, he was doing a good job of betting big, as is often called for in deep stack poker. He won a huge pot againt the table fish because he overbet the pot all the way with a flopped set.

But he was only and always betting big when he had big hands, which made him a little too easy to read sometimes. For example, he once made a small 3-bet out of the SB against my CO raise. Even though we weren't all that deep, he had priced me in to call with 98o, since I was pretty sure he didn't have a big pair. Then he bet out small on a QJx flop, and I decided to float him. Sure enough, he check-folded to a small turn bet.

My next float didn't work out so well. We were down to the last 25% or so of the field, and I was rolling along in pretty good shape. There was another of those tournament specialists on my right, and he was opening a lot of pots. Effective stacks were good for me to 3-bet him occasionally, which I'd been doing. So at 200/400, he opened to 1100, and I made it 3000 with A9s on the button. He called for something like 8% of the effective stacks. Giving him too much credit, I assumed he would pretty much only do this with a decent pair: maybe a slow-played AA/KK, or maybe something lik 88, but I didn't think he'd call out of positon with a suited connector or Ax.

The flop came QQ5, and we both checked. Remember, I was putting him on a pair, which I didn't think he would fold. The turn was a King and put a diamond draw on the board. He bet out something weird like a third of the pot. I called, putting him squarely on a pair lower than Kings that he would have to check-fold on the river. The river was a third diamond, and he requested time before finally betting one-half the pot, or about 25% of the remaining stacks. Still stuck in this mindset of moving him off a pair, I shoved all in, and he called pretty quickly with Ad 4d for the nut flush.

I'm not a fan of his pre-flop call, but I really hate myself for shoving that river. I didn't do enough to re-evaluate his range when he bet out there. I seriously doubt he's doing that with something like 88, and he's probably calling pretty much always. Thankfully I was having a pretty huge cash session, so I was still well up on the day, despite another failed bluff shove that occurred almost simultaneously at a Stars 5/10 full-ring table:

UTG+1 raised to $40, and I called in early middle position with Ac Kc. The flop came 844 with two clubs, and I called his bet. He bet again on a 5 turn, and I shoved in my stack drawing dead to his 88. I actually like this shove though, because usually he has a pair when he bets again here and even with AA he can't be thrilled when I shove into him, and of course if he does decide to call with a smaller pair I'll have 15 outs. So I don't hate this shove, even though it didn't work out here.

FTOPS Event 17: $300 Rebuy NLHE 6-Max

Once again I had some rough table draws, ending up with a lot of high-stakes cash players. As I previously explained, this is bad in an FTOPS tournament for a number of reasons. One of them took me to valuetown on the first hand of the tournament:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: 1,500
BB: 3,000
Hero (UTG): 3,000
CO: 3,000
BTN: 3,000

Pre-Flop: (45) 9 9 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 90, CO folds, BTN raises to 315, 2 folds, Hero calls 225

Flop: (675) 8 T Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (675) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 450, Hero calls 450

River: (1,575) Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 1,250, Hero calls 1,250

Results: 4,075 Pot
Hero mucked 9 9 (two pair, Queens and Nines) and LOST (-2,015 NET)
BTN showed A T (two pair, Queens and Tens) and WON 4,075 (+2,060 NET)


I got him back a bit by stealing this pot from him:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: 2,835
SB: 3,150
Hero (BB): 3,065
UTG: 2,845
CO: 4,605

Pre-Flop: (45) 7 5 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls 30, CO raises to 135, BTN folds, SB calls 120, Hero calls 105, UTG calls 105

Flop: (540) 9 T 8 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, CO checks

Turn: (540) K (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, CO bets 360, SB folds, Hero raises to 980, 2 folds

Results: 1,260 Pot
Hero mucked 7 5 and WON 1,260 (+765 NET)


He virtually never has more than one pair here, and I think he has nothing at all a fair amount of the time. Most importantly, I don't think he ever expects me to be bluffing here. Plus I do have some outs if called.

I briefly got up a decent stack, but then another 25/50 NL player got seated on my immediate right. He raised from the SB, I re-raised 88 from the BB, and called his shove. He had AK and got there.

FTOPS Event 9

I went pretty deep in the $500 heads up matches, finishing in the top 64. Here's a blow-by-blow:

Round 1

My first two opponents were ridiculously soft. I polished the first off in minutes, then waited over an hour for round two.

Round 2

I was so busy playing other tables that I didn't even notice we had started up again. My opponent was happily stealing my blinds. But I got there before too long, and he was so terrible it didn't matter. He never bluffed and always revealed exactly what he had with the size of his bets. Somehow, the match still lasted forever. It had a lot with his 87s beating my ATo all-in pre-flop, then his QJ beat my KK, then he flopped a higher flush than I did. I still came back and eventually pulled off a little suckout to win with K5 > A8s.

Round 3

This was the toughest match of the day. My opponent was very aggressive, and I found myself on the defensive, which is not a good place to be heads up. It was tough to play back at him without cards, but I managed my image well and pulled off some well-timed check-raise and 3-bet bluffs. Eventually we got it all in pre-flop on a flip and my 99 held vs his AJ.

Round 4

Initially, this guy was solid but overly tight. I grinded him down and got in some good value bets. My favorite one was when I raised 43s on the button, and he called in the BB. The flop came K32, and he checked and called a bet. The turn was a K, and we both checked. The river came a Q, he checked, and I bet like 65% of the pot. He called with A5. Ship it!

I think that tilted him a bit, which actually led him to play better in some sense because he got more aggressive. I called a raise with KJ on my BB and checked and called a K64 flop. I was planning to check-call down, but then a 5 came on the turn. Not wanting to see the board check through and turn ugly, I led out for half the pot. My opponent shoved, and I called him instantly. His T8 was much weaker than I expected to see, and I knocked him out on that one.

Round 5

This guy was not good. I googled his name and one of the hits was literally for a ranking of "Most Passive Online Players". I swear I am not making that up.

Unfortunately, he was calling everything pre-flop and hitting every flop. He also wasn't that passive. He raised his button a lot and tended to bet or raise whenever he got a piece of the flop. Eventually I raised JTo on the button and he called. The flop was 983 with two diamonds (I had Jd). He checked, I bet, and he min-check-raised. He'd been doing that a fair bit, and while it meant he had something, it didn't necessarily signify a monster. I shoved, but he tanked and eventually called with K9, which held up.

The fact that he had to think with K9 was a good sign. I'm sure he would have played T9 or K8 the same way, so K9 was very much the top of his range. If he was thinking of folding that, it means my shove was definitely good. Sucks to keep getting so close, but the FTOPS has always been like that for me.

FTOPS Event 7

Event 7 was the $100 rebuy. On the first hand I raised AQ on the button, called a shove for half a stack (ie the guy didn't double rebuy), and got shown AA. I reloaded $100 more and that's all I was in for. It's practically the only hand I played during the rebuy period. 6-max rebuy periods are so much better because you can profitably play a lot of hands even though everone is loose as hell. That's tougher to do at full ring because you so rarely have good position.

The tournament itself was pretty uneventful, too, even though it down to the top 5% or so. Pretty much every key hand was decided pre-flop. There was one early on where I raised KJs UTG for nearly 10% of my stack. The CO called and so did the BB.

The flop was like Ac 9d 7c or something. I bet, and the CO min-raised. Given how much of stack went in pre-flop, I thought he would have re-raised with a good Ace. Plus I had a flush draw, so I shoved on him. He called me with A9s for top two pair, but I drilled the flush on the river to double up.

After that I got away with a lot of blind stealing, especially around the bubble. Even after we were in the money, there were some guys playing ridiculously tight.

Eventually my luck couldn't hold. Everyone was pretty shallow, and my AKs lost to AQ. After 5 hours, I got twice my money back. Thankfully I was doing pretty well in cash games at the same time, so I was still up pretty substantially on the day. Here's a nice little series of hands from that match:


Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $2,156
Hero (BB): $4,281
UTG: $4,287
MP: $4,625.50
CO: $2,186
BTN: $1,436

Pre-Flop: 7 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $20, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($50) 8 5 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets $60, UTG calls $60

Turn: ($170) 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets $200, UTG calls $200

River: ($570) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $750, UTG calls $750

Results: $2,070 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 7 6 (a straight, Five to Nine) and WON $2,067 (+$1,037 NET)
UTG mucked 6 A and LOST (-$1,030 NET)


Note that I overbet every street with the flopped nuts. And he called down with a gutshot that rivered a weak pair. Naturally I was salivating to flop a set against him:

Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $2,173
Hero (BB): $5,385
UTG: $3,591
MP: $4,365.50
CO: $2,116
BTN: $1,990

Pre-Flop: 2 2 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $20, MP calls $20, 2 folds, SB calls $10, Hero checks

Flop: ($80) 4 K 2 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $80, UTG calls $80, MP folds, SB calls $80

Turn: ($320) A (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $285, UTG raises to $800, SB folds, Hero raises to $5,285 and is All-In, UTG calls $2,691 and is All-In

River: ($7,302) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $7,302 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 2 2 (three of a kind, Deuces) and WON $7,299 (+$3,708 NET)
UTG mucked 4 A and LOST (-$3,591 NET)

I was afraid overbetting again might be a give-away, since he was probably feeling dumb from before. At this point I was praying he would reload, which he did. Sadly, that proved to be bad for me:

Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $2,013
Hero (MP): $9,083
CO: $2,000
BTN: $3,763.50
SB: $2,056
BB: $2,708

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $88, CO calls $68, 3 folds

Flop: ($166) T Q 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $180, CO raises to $360, Hero raises to $8,995, CO calls $1,542

Turn: ($3,970) 6 (2 Players)

River: ($3,970) 9 (2 Players)

Results: $3,970 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$1,970 NET)
CO showed J A (a straight, Eight to Queen) and WON $4,017 (+$2,047 NET)


I wasn't thrilled to see him min-raise this flop, but obviously I am not folding AA to this clown. Oh well, can't win them all. It was still a sweet day, despite this, a few other beats/coolers, and the close-but-so-far finish in the 100r.