Sorry I haven’t had the opportunity to put together my 2009 Resolutions yet- they’ll be coming soon…
The Poker Stars Sunday Million (which now guarantees a $1.5 million prizepool and routinely clears that by a healthy margin) is comparable to the WSOP main event for its ability to entice atrocious poker players to play for far more money than their skill warrants. Even though I’d surely have a higher expected value playing cash tables, I still play it most Sundays for some combination of nostalgia, prestige, sadism, and lottery-esque gamble.
This hand from today’s tournament exemplifies a problem that I often have in the early stages. I just don’t know how to read the hands of truly awful players, and while they make enough fundamental mistakes to compensate, they can for that reason be irksome. It can be tough to tell whether they are overplaying a garbage hand or holding a monster. Then to make matters worse, they always get there:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB (t9750)
UTG (t9975)
MP1 (t8135)
Hero (MP2) (t9490)
CO (t9925)
Button (t9925)
SB (t12800)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10
, 10
UTG raises to t100, MP1 calls t100, Hero calls t100, 3 folds, BB calls t50
Flop: (t425) 4
, 4
, 6 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 bets t100, Hero calls t100, BB raises to t300, 2 folds, Hero calls t200
Turn: (t1125) 8 (2 players)
BB bets t550, Hero calls t550
River: (t2225) 7 (2 players)
BB bets t600, Hero calls t600
Total pot: t3425
Results:
BB had 6, 5 (straight, eight high).
Hero mucked 10, 10 (two pair, tens and fours).
Outcome: BB won t3425
I think the play is fine. What don’t you like about it?
It’s mostly the flop check-raise. It’s like he feels he has to raise because he has top pair but really he’s just bloating the pot with a very weak hand out of position. I’d probably just fold flop in his shoes. Turn is alright I guess it’s like a blocking bet but then he doesn’t get anywhere near the value he should on the river. He’s not thinking about anything except “OMG TOP PAIR”.
I love that line of thinking …
“OMG TP” gotta bet bet bet
What is the largest sized bet you willing to call on the river?
steeser,
Not much. Truthfully I wish I’d thought his range through a bit more before calling the 600. I think I’d definitely fold for 1000, maybe 900.