Posts Tagged ‘6-max’

A commenter on yesterday’s re-squeeze hand remarked that even at high stakes he felt like Villain would pretty much always have AK when he overcalled the first pre-flop raise and then shoved over a re-raise and a call. Having just played this hand, I couldn’t resist posting it:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($400)
BB ($400)
UTG ($385.80)
MP ($484.40)
CO ($515.90)
Hero (Button) ($421.90)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, 10
2 folds, CO bets $12, Hero calls $12, SB raises to $52, 1 fold, CO calls $40, Hero raises to $421.90 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: $160 | Rake: $0

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, 10.
Outcome: Hero won $160

Granted I wasn’t an overcaller, which means I can rep a monster more credibly, but then the pot’s also a lot smaller, meaning my risk: reward ratio is greater and I shouldn’t be light as often.

Villain, a decent reg, ridiculed my call here, but I think he was just tilted. I need less than 40% equity, and while he can maybe have QQ here, I’d say he has KK+ and AK pretty much never (note that he’s the second caller of the initial raise).

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

SB ($2000)
Hero (BB) ($2000)
UTG ($1890)
MP ($1370)
CO ($2000)
Button ($2107)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, Q
UTG bets $60, MP calls $60, CO calls $60, 2 folds, Hero raises to $300, 1 fold, MP calls $240, CO raises to $2000 (All-In), Hero calls $1700 (All-In), 1 fold

Flop: ($4370) Q, 6, 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($4370) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($4370) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4370 | Rake: $3  Read the complete post...

Just as a quick follow-up to yesterday’s review of GoGo Wireless on AirTran, I thought I’d let everyone know that the free wireless internet at Boston’s Logan Airport is also quite suitable for poker playing:

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

BB ($5680)
UTG ($20005)
Hero (MP) ($8120)
Button ($11344.55)
SB ($16116)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, Q
1 fold, Hero bets $240, 1 fold, SB raises to $880, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1888, SB raises to $16116 (All-In), Hero calls $6232 (All-In)

Flop: ($16320) A, J, 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($16320) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($16320) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $16320 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
Hero had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $16317

My range for 3-betting an UTG raiser from UTG+1 isn’t going to be all that wide, and by the river, AK is probably closer to the bottom of it than the top:

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

CO ($4925)
Button ($6246)
SB ($3023)
BB ($7794)
UTG ($5000)
Hero (MP) ($5000)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, A
UTG bets $150, Hero raises to $450, 4 folds, UTG calls $300

Flop: ($975) J, 2, A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $650, UTG calls $650

Turn: ($2275) J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($2275) Q (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $2275 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG had 10, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $2272  Read the complete post...

I was curious who ended up winning the NAPT Venetian which I played last weekend and had to google the name “Tom Marchese”. Not only did I learn that he plays online as kingsofcards, a tough regular whom I avoid at 25/50, but I also found this kind of old but interesting interview with him. It’s not very long, but it’s a nice picture of what it takes to break through the “ceiling” of the mid-stakes games and start winning at high stakes poker:

For me my biggest problem was that I was always playing 9-12 tables. Because of this, I was making a lot of money but never really working on my game and improving. I think this is a problem that many mid stakes players struggle with as to improve and move up they most likely will need to sacrifice a little bit in the short run in order to progress as a player. I also found that playing heads up greatly improved my hand reading skills along with improving my game in blind battles and when playing OOP. Most of my success at the 5/10 – 25/50 level has come when I was playing 1-5 tables and truly concentrating on every hand instead of just going through the motions.  Read the complete post...

I was playing some rush poker the other day when this hand came up against allinstevie. I recognized him from MTT’s and sit-and-go’s and quickly wrote him off as just another tourney donk. He went on to show me that he had a little tricky in him:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($221.05)
UTG ($200)
MP ($359.95)
CO ($212.55)
Hero (Button) ($200)
SB ($263.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
3 folds, Hero bets $5, 1 fold, BB raises to $20, Hero calls $15

Flop: ($41) A, K, 10 (2 players)
BB bets $25, Hero calls $25

Turn: ($91) J (2 players)
BB bets $52, Hero calls $52

River: ($195) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $103 (All-In), BB calls $103

Total pot: $401 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
BB had Q, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $398  Read the complete post...

Villain’s flop bet, representing 75% of the pot and about 15% of the effective stacks, puts me in an awkward spot with my whole range (and is therefore a good one). Actually, I can play good draws pretty easily by making a pot-committing raise, but with say one marginal pair it’s a scary board to flat call but raising requires committing a lot of stack relative to the pot against a non-favorable range. Bluff-raising is similarly awkward, but it’s a big bet to float, particularly in a spot where Villain could turn a lot of draws and fire a pot-committing semi-bluff. Even here, with a monster, I’d kind of like to raise but am afraid that shows too much strength, as I can’t really raise and leave Villain room to 3-bet with any perception of fold equity.  Read the complete post...

Many of  will have heard of this guy Leatherass, who plays just an absurd number of tables for an absurd number of hours every day. He plays pretty big stakes, mostly 5/10 and 10/20, and while he’s not one of the better regulars, he probably makes more than just about any of us because of his insane work ethic. This is the guy who offered on his blog a long explanation of the economics behind his decision to pee into a bottle while playing rather than leave the table to go to the bathroom. Not that I’m about to start doing the same, but I actually thought his reasoning made some sense.  Read the complete post...