I made a pretty bad fold last night. I’m more than a bit embarrassed to post it, and I’ll just ask that those of you not familiar with the sort of game/player described here hold your judgment. I promise you … Read more…
Villain joined the game around 5PM and immediately ordered a beer and a double shot of Petron, which made me happy to have him on my immediate right. He was a typical splashy recreational player, limping into a lot of … Read more…
A few people asked about this pot after I bragged about it on Twitter, so here it is, pretty sure it’s the largest pot I’ve won at $5/$10 (not counting straddled pots). I’ll talk about some of the more unconventional … Read more…
This isn’t my proudest hand ever, but I do think it’s interesting. I never had much of a plan beyond the current street, which is why I say it isn’t my proudest moment, but I do think that each street … Read more…
I haven’t played poker since the end of the SCOOP. This morning I had a little time and played about an hour of Rush. The hotel internet left something to be desired, so I just played two tables. The combination … Read more…
Finally took a break from gallivanting around Prague to try out the new Zoom poker. It’s a lot of fun, pretty much identical to Rush though if anything a touch slower, but still pretty great. Unfortunately I didn’t adapt well … Read more…
I tanked for a bit before calling this pre-flop, because it is a little light given our positions, but the dynamic was right. It wasn’t what I was going for, but when he checked the flop I realized that the … Read more…
Sorry for the recent lack of posts; it’s been a busy week. I don’t have a lot to say about this one, it’s just a fun hand that I played today: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com BB ($819.50) Hero (SB) ($1000) Preflop: Hero is SB with 6♥, J♣ Hero bets $9.60, BB calls $5.60 Flop: ($20.80) 2♠, 5♣, 5♦ (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: ($20.80) K♦ … Read more…
I’m confident putting Villain on a very tight range pre-flop, maybe even just AA and KK but possibly AK and QQ as well. Obviously this is a good flop for many of those hands but not for KK. Once he … Read more…
I didn’t expect Villain to much Kx in his flatting range. Then again, I wouldn’t have expected him to flat the hand he showed up with, either, so maybe that’s a bad read. In any event, I felt I was … Read more…
I expected my American coaching business to dry up after Black Friday. Of course I did lose some US online players, but I also got some new students who were mostly live players. Interestingly, these haven’t generally been online players … Read more…
Unfortunately I was the victim of this one. Honestly I don’t think his river call is too good. If diamonds miss, he can snap-call, but a huge chunk of my range just got there. It’s possible he didn’t think I … Read more…
One of the cooler hands from my time splashing around in the small stakes: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1.00 BB (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (SB) ($100.50) BB ($51) Preflop: Hero is SB with K♦, Q♠ Hero bets … Read more…
Here’s an archived hand that illustrates a key point from my Betting for Protection article. The idea is that you don’t have to worry about protecting against a draw if you expect your opponent to bluff very often when he … Read more…
Here’s an interesting hand that one of my students shared with me. We’d been working on bet-sizing, and his assignment for the week was to find spots to under- and over-bet the pot. His reads here were that the BTN … Read more…
Found this sort of interesting hand while randomly perusing the database. I don’t know for sure that I would have folded to a turn barrel, but I think Villain definitely ought to bet, and if I know that he isn’t … Read more…
Dipping into the archives to bring you some poker content… Villain and I were starting a game. He’s pretty solid and not someone I’d ordinarily go out of my way to play heads up, especially not at 2/4 where there’s … Read more…
I think Villain’s turn range consists of bluffs, flushes, AQ, sets, and perhaps the occasional 43 or AJ no spade that is raise-folding. I think it’s unlikely that he’s raising a singleton spade, as without a pair he’s setting himself … Read more…
Yesterday, I posted a few hands where I exploited Early Position raisers with transparent ranges. Here’s an example of of the kind of play you can make to combat players who try to exploit you in this way: PokerStars No-Limit … Read more…
Many Tight-Aggressive players do a poor job of mixing up their ranges for raising from Early Position. This means that you can often identify boards on which your perceived range is stronger than theirs and bluff relentlessly: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, … Read more…
In my recent poker strategy article, Slowplaying, I emphasize how much a failure to build the pot can cost you when you slowplay a huge hand in NLHE. One of the exceptions I discuss is when you have an aggressive … Read more…
…so overbet-overbet it is: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $2 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com UTG ($518.95) MP ($500) Button ($538.90) SB ($211.55) Hero ($1162.75) Preflop: Hero is BB with 7s, 7d. 2 folds, Button raises to $6, … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com Hero ($1078.40) BB ($2126.95) Preflop: Hero is Button with 7s, 9c. Hero raises to $18, BB calls $12. Flop: ($36) 2c, 2d, 6h (2 players) BB checks, … Read more…
Villain’s hand looks so much like a busted draw that I was afraid I was getting leveled. I had to double-check the board to confirm that it really made no sense for him to play any value hand this way … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com Hero ($1000) BB ($3855.15) Preflop: Hero is Button with 8s, Ts. Hero raises to $30, BB calls $20. Flop: ($60) 8c, 5d, Qd (2 players) BB checks, … Read more…
First hand is a very relevant bit of recent history: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com Hero ($1153.70) Button ($752.10) Preflop: Hero is BB with Th, Jh. Button raises to $12, Hero raises … Read more…
I have no idea what to make of his flop min-check-raise as the pre-flop raiser, but I seriously doubt he can stand a turn raise. I just don’t see him doing this with either 2 pair+ or a good draw. … Read more…
This was the first and only hand I played with Villain, he just sat with a random amount that was probably all he had in his account: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com … Read more…
I’m posting three hands tonight, all of them against the same Villain. I’d just stacked him for the second time, and after that he bought in for just 30 BB’s, won a sizable pot, and then started donking a lot … Read more…
I’ve never really been a grinder, one of those online poker players who plays 10+ tables at once, cursor and attention whizzing from monitor to monitor so quickly that they have only seconds to think about they want to play … Read more…
Villain was pretty disbelieving of me and wasn’t making a lot of what I call “disciplined folds”, meaning that in small- to medium-sized pots he usually called any time his hand was defined as medium-strength rather than trying to figure … Read more…
I’ve posted a lot lately about overbetting, so here’s a spot where overbetting with (functionally) the nuts would be a bad idea: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (8 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com SB ($696) BB ($645) UTG … Read more…
I folded the second nuts to a raise like this a few days ago, because there was no chance he didn’t have it, and got me thinking how cool it would be to do that as a bluff. Based on … Read more…
Sucks to check-fold rockets getting 3.5:1 but there’s just nothing I beat. Any worse hand has showdown value and checks back river, methinks PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com BB ($142) UTG ($268) … Read more…
Villain was unknown to me and had pretty crazy stats for a 6-max game, like 57/32 or something. He floated a lot of flops and would fire the turn when in position, so I was originally looking to check-raise. The … Read more…
Sorry that I was slow in posting results and lax about responding to comments. Not only was I moving over the weekend (got a place in Boston for a few months- more on this soon), but I also took ill. … Read more…
This hand is a good example of being aware of your own range and what your hand will look like to Villain. I had recently folded to a triple barrel from this same Villain, who generally exhibits very aggressive tendencies. … Read more…
Today I’ve got another variation on the “What’s Your Play?” theme. I’m going to give you the play, and you have to give me the range with which you would make it. Of course for the sake of discussion, please … Read more…
I think my line looks pretty damn strong here. Obviously it’s not going to work when Villain has trips himself, but I feel like he has a lot of TT-AA here as well (not to mention AK before he calls … Read more…
First introduced in Harrington on Hold ‘Em, this play is an oldie but a goodie: Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com BB (t3000) UTG (t840) Hero (t3359) CO … Read more…
I was looking to check-raise flop. When he checked it back and the turn is a brick, he’s got a wide range but a narrow value range so it’s check-call, check-call. PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (2 handed) Hand History … Read more…
Villain is clearly bluffing on the river- his line makes no sense with any strong hand except 44, and even that may not call a river shove (it’s a lot more plausible for me to check a set on the … Read more…
My post from last night flubbed a simple equation badly enough that I felt the need to scrap it and start over from scratch. I’ve left the old post up for posterity’s sake and so people can see what not … Read more…
Edit: As several commenters pointed out, I screwed this up in multiple ways. I’m getting ready to start up a session, but I’ll be making a new post with a corrected equation soon. In the meantime, you can disregard this … Read more…
Thanks to everyone who sounded off on the special HUD edition of “What’s Your Play?”. As always your comments were thought-provoking, and I was actually led to conclude that the answer isn’t as open-and-shut as I thought. I’ll start by … Read more…
I think this is one of the worst hands I’ve played in a while: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Button ($646.60) SB ($1000) Hero (BB) ($1000) UTG ($458) MP ($2288.55) CO ($1148) … Read more…
The first video in my new four-part series about HUD-based decision making and using statistics to exploit opponents has just gone live at Poker Savvy Plus. In conjunction with that, I’ve got a twist on the old “What’s Your Play?” … Read more…
Even with a double-gutter, I’m not getting the right immediate odds to call. I’m counting on implied odds both from value betting (or calling, as the case may be) an 8 and from bluffing 9’s and Q’s. No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 … Read more…
As played, Villain pretty much never has a straight, and he probably realizes that I know that. This means that I can just abuse him on the river with overbets, and the best he can do is try to guess … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com UTG+1 ($600) MP1 ($600.10) MP2 ($309.35) MP3 ($1521.45) CO ($1167.20) Hero (Button) ($618) SB ($663) BB ($600) UTG ($444) Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 10 5 folds, … Read more…
Might as well. I mean, I had blockers. PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Button ($1546.80) SB ($3819.10) BB ($1477.80) Hero (UTG) ($1844.50) MP ($1745.95) CO ($2134.80) Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8 … Read more…
Villain’s flop call out of position with a gutshot may look bad, but it actually illustrates an important point about deep-stacked NLHE: you must play in such a way that your opponent can never exclude nutted hands from your range. … Read more…
I had a bit of a read on Villain that he bet big with his monster hands and small when going for thin value. In deciding to turn my hand into a bluff, I didn’t give sufficient consideration to the … Read more…
I recently asked for reader opinions regarding a hand where I had top pair until the river, which brought an Ace but also missed a possible flush draw. Here I’m posting the results and my thoughts. If you haven’t already … Read more…
Sometimes Villains just spaz out and throw crazy bluff raises at you: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (BB) ($2289.50) SB ($2098.50) Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 4 SB bets $60, Hero … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (BB) ($3307.50) SB ($2010) Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3 SB bets $60, Hero calls $40 Flop: ($120) 5, 4, 2 (2 players) Hero checks, SB bets $100, Hero … Read more…
We had some fun rivering quads, so let’s play this game again. Villain views me as aggressive but not crazy. It is extremely unlikely that he is checking behind either a strong made hand or a strong draw on the … Read more…
Villain tells me had 6d 4d, which seems plausible: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com MP ($7477) CO ($2314) Hero (Button) ($6720) SB ($6379) BB ($2207) UTG ($9558.50) Preflop: Hero is Button … Read more…
This wasn’t anything that I planned from the get-go. It was just that on each street, I kept feeling like he could be weak enough for an underbet to show a profit. I almost shoved the turn, and then I … Read more…
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com MP3 ($126.70) CO ($508.10) Button ($470.80) SB ($443.50) Hero (BB) ($823) UTG ($469.40) UTG+1 ($793.10) MP1 ($400) MP2 ($376.90) Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 10 1 … Read more…
FWIW I shouldn’t have 3-bet this guy pre-flop because he rarely calls but often 4-bets and KQs isn’t quite so good that I’m happy about 3-bet-calling it (although I did after remembering who this guy was). Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, … Read more…
Following hot on the heels of last week’s “What’s Your Play?”, here’s another hand where there’s a full house on the board and I beat it. This time I did go for the overbet just because in this case my … Read more…
This hand generated some really interesting comments and discussion both at Thinking Poker and at Cardplayer. Thanks to everyone who participated. Some of you have seen the results already, but for those who haven’t, here’s what happened: Full Tilt No-Limit … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (CO) ($2068) Button ($1200) SB ($1140) BB ($2034) UTG ($1082) MP ($872) Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q 2 folds, Hero bets $30, Button calls $30, … Read more…
You guys put me in my place earlier this week, so let’s see what you think of this one. All of the Villains, but especially the big blind, are among the tighter and more straight-forward regulars who play in this … Read more…