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.
In the second hand, he just calls your check raise on that flop. To me that tells me that by the time you get to the river you have the best hand. The flop was simply too draw-heavy for him to flat with a hand better than yours.
Second time you’ve folded a FH in one week! The other one you were beat, but I think you had this one.
A good point and one I wish I’d considered. All the same, though, I’m still not sure what he is shoving on the river. Question is really whether he’s more likely to slowplay a better set or to bluff a shove busted draw when all signs point to my having a monster. Neither seems particularly likely….
yeah, some whining. But not terrible. Maybe running bad leads to analyzing bad? 🙂
ThTs hand … hard fold on the river. I think you are ahead of his range ( since only 2 hands AA and 98 beat you ) probably 90% of the time when you get it in. I hate myself on these hands … could have taken the pot, albeit a small one, on the flop with a c-bet, but you play a little slow for once, and it bites your ass. Ugh.
3s3h hand … no way you lose here. Feels like a bluff, a busted club draw, maybe with a duece. You win this for sure, and you talked yourself out of it due to running bad. Sorry.
Ah6h hand … you are right. Good play, unlucky results.
5c4c hand … when he calls the turn, there is nothing you can beat. You can rep a hand, but it is a pure bluff, and a bad spot to try. You have polarized your range here … a pair like JJ or a set. He knows what you have and he’s ahead. I think his mistake was to not bet here and try to induce a raise. However, it is a good spot to bluff. When you bet $1222 and he raises then you can fold. But yeah, a good spot to try. Maybe your radar isn’t as fuzzy as you think!