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

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

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

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

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

Total pot: $600 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero didn’t show 4, 6.
Outcome: Hero won $599  Read the complete post...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total pot: $4070 | Rake: $3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total pot: $1803 | Rake: $2  Read the complete post...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total pot: $26007 | Rake: $3

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

I’m a little late in mentioning this, but my latest poker strategy article, “Thinking Ahead”, is now appearing in the February issue of 2+2 Magazine. I’m a little frustrated that I couldn’t find a way to express myself quite as clearly as I would have liked, but I believe there’s some pretty valuable information in there if you take the time to digest it:

What many players do not fully appreciate, though, is the extent to which planning ahead can inform your ranges for the current decision point. In other words, players will ask, “What is the best plan for this hand?” when they ought to ask, “Given that I will sometimes check-fold, sometimes bluff the flop and then check-fold turn, and sometimes bluff by betting flop and shoving turn, with which hands should I execute each plan?”  Read the complete post...

Yeah, a little sad that we have to ask directly, but Thinking Poker currently has a grand total of 19 friends on facebook, making us look bad in front of our close friends and family, who coincidentally, make up a good portion of that 19.

Please fan ThinkingPoker on Facebook so our friends and family don’t look at us so funny when we try to tell them how popular the site is.

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Hero (BB) ($1274.50)
UTG ($955)
UTG+1 ($824)
MP1 ($1508)
MP2 ($1042)
CO ($1015)
Button ($1230)
SB ($490)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, K
2 folds, MP1 bets $20, 4 folds, Hero calls $10

Flop: ($45) 9, 4, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: ($45) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $30, MP1 raises to $120, Hero raises to $345, 1 fold

Total pot: $285 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, K.
Outcome: Hero won $282

Basically, I think he has something but rarely a flush. I like my hand for 3-betting because it has a lot of outs against his calling range but very little against his shoving range, which I expect to be flushes only. Thus, I can make a high-equity semi-bluff without risking a situation where I’m forced to fold away a lot of equity, since I think when he shoves my hand is not worth much anyway.