I was sitting in a 50/100 NL game on Ultimate Bet with a full-stacked player against whom I felt I had a pretty good edge when who should come and sit us than poker brat Phil Hellmuth. Unfortunately, he only sat with $3000. If it weren’t for the other guy I wanted to play deep, I wouldn’t have minded, but I really didn’t want Phil’s short stack interfering with that.
So I started giving him shit for, talking trash, accusing him of being broke, etc. I was thinking this was a win-win-win. Either:
1. He puts more money on the table; and/or
2. We get into a pissing match that leads to a heads up match that leads to profit; and/or
3. He gets tilted and starts playing worse.
I hadn’t anticipated
4. He gets pissed and leaves.
I mean honestly, of all people, Phil Hellmuth gets angry about trash talk? Granted, I did start in on him as soon as he sat down, but it’s pretty ridiculous that he’s short stacking the biggest game on the site that sponsors him. The FTP pros do that too, and it annoys the hell out of me.
It’s one thing to buy in for $80 at a 2/4 table, because there are tons of those running and people can always go to another table. But this was the only 50/100 table running and there were three people sitting with full stacks. Having some clown sit with 30 BB’s completely disrupts the existing dynamic. Sponsored players shouldn’t be killing a site’s biggest games.
But anyway, here are some hands. We started off at 25/50. Villain 1 was the guy I was there to play against. I kept playing for a bit with the other guy hoping my target would sit back in.
Expensive Beat
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Seat 0: Villain 1 ($8591) Sitting Out
Seat 1: Hero ($5447) – 
– 
Seat 2: VILLAIN 2 ($4900) – 
PRE-FLOP:
Hero posts small blind $25
VILLAIN 2 posts BIG blind $50
Dealt To: Hero
FLOP:
Pot: $75
TURN:
Pot: $75 
RIVER:
Pot: $75 
VILLAIN 2 collected $9799 from main pot with full house, jacks full of sevens
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $9800 Rake: $1
Final Board:
Seat 2: Jc 7s 7c Jd Jh: full house, jacks full of sevens. – Net Gain/Loss: ($9749)
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Seat 1: Hero ($6140) –
Seat 2: VILLAIN 2 ($8398) –
Seat 4: Villain 3 ($6049) –
PRE-FLOP:
Hero posts small blind $25
VILLAIN 2 posts BIG blind $50
Dealt To: Hero
RAISE Villain 3 ($175)
RAISE Hero ($600)
FOLD VILLAIN 2
CALL Villain 3 ($600)
FLOP:
Pot: $1425
BET Hero ($950)
CALL Villain 3 ($950)
TURN:
Pot: $3325 
BET Hero ($1550)
CALL Villain 3 ($1550)
RIVER:
Pot: $6425
RAISE Hero ($3040)
CALL Villain 3 ($2949)
UNCALLED Hero ($91)
SHOWDOWN:
Hero:
Villain 3:
Villain 3 collected $12147 from main pot with flush, ace high
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $12148 Rake: $1
Final Board:
Seat 1: Ah Ks 5s Ad 5c: two pair, aces and fives. – Net Gain/Loss: ($-6049)
Seat 4: Ac 8c Qc 5c 7c: flush, ace high. – Net Gain/Loss: ($5832)
I’m not thrilled with how I played this, I think I should have just bet more/shoved the turn, because it’s unlikely he calls river with worse but I kind of have to shove anyway since I’m not going to check-fold. By this point, the mark had left the table, and I kept playing 3-handed for a bit with these guys. It was really just frustration after losing these pots, though, and I’m proud of myself for quitting even though I was stuck a lot and I really didn’t want to, but it was the right thing to do.
But major props go to Todd for alerting me that my guy was now sitting at 50/100 NLHE. Things went a little better this time around, and the stakes were higher.
This One Wasn’t Even Against That Guy
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Seat 0: Villain 1 ($14001)
Seat 1: Hero ($15677) –
Seat 3: VILLAIN 2 ($11048) –
Seat 4: dannyred99 ($3662) –
PRE-FLOP:
VILLAIN 2 posts small blind $50
dannyred99 posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: Hero
FOLD Villain 1
RAISE Hero ($300)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($300)
CALL dannyred99 ($300)
FLOP:
Pot: $1050
CHECK VILLAIN 2
CHECK dannyred99
BET Hero ($650)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($650)
FOLD dannyred99
TURN:
Pot: $2350 
CHECK VILLAIN 2
BET Hero ($1750)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($1750)
RIVER:
Pot: $5850 
CHECK VILLAIN 2
BET Hero ($4500)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($4500)
SHOWDOWN:
Hero:
MUCK VILLAIN 2
Hero collected $14698 from main pot with straight, king high
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $14700 Rake: $2
Final Board:
Seat 1: Ts Qd Kh Jd 9h: straight, king high. – Net Gain/Loss: ($7498)
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Seat 0: Villain 1 ($9788.50) –
Seat 1: Hero ($36319.50) –
Seat 3: VILLAIN 2 ($9900) –
PRE-FLOP:
VILLAIN 2 posts small blind $50
Villain 1 posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: Hero
RAISE Hero ($350)
FOLD VILLAIN 2
CALL Villain 1 ($350)
FLOP:
Pot: $850
CHECK Villain 1
BET Hero ($550)
CALL Villain 1 ($550)
TURN:
Pot: $1950 
CHECK Villain 1
BET Hero ($1400)
RAISE Villain 1 ($8888.50)
CALL Hero ($8888.50)
RIVER:
Pot: $21127 
SHOWDOWN:
Villain 1:
Hero:
Hero collected $19626 from main pot with straight, nine high
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $19627 Rake: $1
Final Board:
Seat 0: 8d 9d 8s 6s 9c: two pair, nines and eights. – Net Gain/Loss: ($-9788.5)
Seat 1: 7d 5d 8s 6s 9c: straight, nine high. – Net Gain/Loss: ($9837.5)
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Seat 0: Villain 1 ($20172) –
Seat 1: Hero ($38334) –
Seat 3: VILLAIN 2 ($9250) –
PRE-FLOP:
Villain 1 posts small blind $50
Hero posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: Hero
RAISE VILLAIN 2 ($350)
CALL Villain 1 ($350)
CALL Hero ($350)
FLOP:
Pot: $1200 
CHECK Villain 1
BET Hero ($800)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($800)
FOLD Villain 1
TURN:
Pot: $2800
BET Hero ($1700)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($1700)
RIVER:
Pot: $6200 
BET Hero ($2500)
RAISE VILLAIN 2 ($6400)
FOLD Hero
UNCALLED VILLAIN 2 ($3900)
VILLAIN 2 collected $11049 from main pot
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $11050 Rake: $1
Rockets!
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Seat 0: Villain 1 ($24268) –
Seat 1: Hero ($28229) –
Seat 3: VILLAIN 2 ($15248) –
PRE-FLOP:
Villain 1 posts small blind $50
Hero posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: Hero
RAISE VILLAIN 2 ($350)
FOLD Villain 1
RAISE Hero ($1400)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($1400)
FLOP:
Pot: $3200
BET Hero ($2200)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($2200)
TURN:
Pot: $7600 
CHECK Hero
CHECK VILLAIN 2
RIVER:
Pot: $7600 
BET Hero ($4600)
CALL VILLAIN 2 ($4600)
SHOWDOWN:
Hero:
MUCK VILLAIN 2
Hero collected $16449 from main pot with a pair of aces
SUMMARY:
Total pot: $16450 Rake: $1
Final Board:
Seat 1: Ah Ac 9s 6c Jc: a pair of aces. – Net Gain/Loss: ($8249)
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Thanks again, Todd! I owe you.
Nice session.
I don’t really understand the J9 hand. What do you put him on after his raise?
The first hand is not visible
Good questions. In the first hand, I lost to KJ.
I am not at all certain that my river play was good in the J9 hand. Even before I bet, I figured him for an overpair that counterfeited my flopped two pair on the river. AJ is the only hand I could see him playing like this that I beat, but check-call or check-fold may have been a better option than bet-fold given the size of the remaining stacks.
When did my college roommate become such a baller? I still remember the $1 dollar heads up matches.
On the J9 hand, you don’t think a busted draw is in his range? I know raise on flop or turn is more standard but still seems plausible. Maybe a good reason to check-call given stacks.