Posts Tagged ‘no-limit hold ‘em’

Villain on my right is kind of a fish, his turn lead is definitely strong. The guy on my left is a pretty decent reg, a bit on the TAGgish side in general but has a propensity to play back at me. I think he dislikes me, I probably said something to him at some point. I don’t expect him to slowplay much preflop or on the flop, but I also didn’t think he would jam too aggressively on the turn since the fish usually has two pair or better.

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

SB ($1005)
BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($1164)
MP ($1499)
CO ($1015)
Button ($1356)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, 10
Hero bets $35, MP calls $35, 3 folds, BB calls $25

Flop: ($110) 8, Q, K (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $77, MP calls $77, BB calls $77  Read the complete post...

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

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($400)
UTG ($400)
MP ($300)
Button ($414)
SB ($425)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, A
2 folds, Button bets $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($26) 6, J, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $20, Hero calls $20

Turn: ($66) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($66) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button raises to $116, Hero raises to $368 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $298 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero didn’t show 10, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $296

I called the flop thinking A-high would be good often enough, but by the river I felt like there was more value in turning my hand into a bluff by leading out.  Read the complete post...

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...

My latest poker strategy article, now appearing in the March 2010 issue of Two Plus Two Magazine, explores the many nuances of continuation betting against tough opponents. Here’s an excerpt from Continuation Betting for Advanced Players:

Poker is also a math game and the best way to resolve those “But what if he knows that I know that he knows that I know…” paradoxes is to look for some mathematical grounding for your strategy. In this case, if you can make an educated guess about your opponent’s pre-flop calling range, and if you can honestly identify your own pre-flop range, then you can determine which of you a particular flop is more likely to help.

Please let me know what you think of it!

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...