Villain is a pretty good regular. He also plays higher and is well above average for the stakes. We’ve tangled a fair bit in the recent past and have some aggressive history. I believe his turn raising range to be … Read more…
I usually overbet in situations where my opponent’s range consists primarily of hands that are strong but not too strong. Particularly if this is obvious to both of you, the overbet turns even the stronger part of his range into … Read more…
In short, you should do it more often and with weaker hands. The two biggest drawbacks to slowplaying are missing out on the opportunity to build a big pot against second-best hands and the reverse implied odds of letting longshots … Read more…
This is one of my favorite spots for an overbet, either with a very strong hand like this or with a draw, because Villain’s hand is so clearly defined as marginal showdown value. To be honest, given what he shows … Read more…
I wasn’t counting on being able to do this when I called the turn, but it’s a nice bonus: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (Button) ($400) SB ($191.70) BB ($1242.75) UTG … Read more…
I get a lot of questions/comments about my underbetting, which is understandable since it’s one of the more non-standard plays in my arsenal. I think this hand illustrates one of the many advantages of such a play, which is inducing … Read more…
It freaking sucks to river the second nuts and have to make a crying call with it. I’m pretty surprised the guy wasn’t more aggressive with it when I showed so much weakness on the turn, but I can’t see … Read more…
I know this isn’t the first “river semi-bluff” I’ve posted, but it never ceases to amaze me how few players do this. It’s sooooooooo unlikely anyone is checked a flush on the river, betting is a virtual freeroll. Full Tilt … Read more…
CO in this hand was unknown to me. He’d only been at the table for a few hands, but he seemed to be involved in every pot, and indeed had played 40% of his hands. PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB … Read more…
These are both from the Poker Stars weekly $500. Hand 1, I think re-raising at either opportunity pre-flop makes me look really strong, and pretty much any hand that can stack off to that pre-flop is going to lose a … Read more…
I should probably just fold pre-flop. I ran my time bank down all the way before finally deciding I’d pretty much never have a hand stronger than this and so needed to call here. When I saw his hand, I … Read more…
I played both the 250 and the 2500 but not the 25K. Go ahead, call me a nit. My first opponent in the 250 was absolutely awful. He played 63/1 over the course of the match (he open limped his … Read more…
I like PLO8 and know a bit about it, but I’m far from an expert. I also played the $100, in which I was surely a favorite, but the 1K had a surprisingly competent field (or maybe not so surprising- … Read more…
I ended up doing quite well in this one, finishing 5th out of more than 1400 runners. On the whole it was a lot of fun to play so short-handed and I felt I played well, but a monumental error … Read more…
Between the deep stacks and the very short-handed tables, I was really looking forward to this event. I’ve actually missed both Sundays of the SCOOP, but I made sure I was around for this one. Needless to say, it was … Read more…
This guy sat down across from me at one of my HU tables with an 80BB stack and lost it on the second hand of the match. In retrospect my shove might not be great. I thought he would have … Read more…
Full Tilt Poker hosted a Tournament of Champions today for everyone who won an FTOPS event in any of the last four series. The only prize was a $10,000 WSOP seat (no details whatsoever on how/whether it can be cashed … Read more…
I played the SCOOP Large Ante $150 and $1500 events yesterday, not even realizing what they were until the tournament started. What a lot of fun! I think formats like this are awesome because they separate the people who understand … Read more…
Don’t Try to Bluff a Guy Named Psycho This one’s a little embarrassing. I shoved turn here hoping to get him off a mid-pair, but here’s what happened instead: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (8 handed) … Read more…
We played for 10 hours, so obviously there were a lot of hands, but here are two that stick out in my head: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com … Read more…
Woke up at 6AM this morning, drove from Boston to Baltimore, got in just in time to fire this bitch up, and 10 hours later I am through Day 1 ranked 22/106, with 946 runners starting. I actually burst the … Read more…
Congratulations on busting durrrr in the following tournament: FTOPS Event #25 (2-Day) (147664209) Your Full Tilt Poker account has been credited with a bounty prize of $200.00. In addition to your bounty prize money, you’ve also earned a T-shirt to … Read more…
Like the $100 rebuy, this one ran with an overlay. I was only in for $900, so I had like $240 in overlay. It went down basically the way I expected it to: got some fish to clown off their … Read more…
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (SB) ($2014.50) BB ($1000) Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 4 Hero bets $20, BB calls $10 Flop: ($40) 6, 5, 10 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets $28, … Read more…
I’ve had some deep runs lately in the Saturday $300 6-max, so I was looking forward to this event. Unfortunately, it didn’t really go my way. I lost a big pot (though not my stack) with AJ vs. AQ on … Read more…
OK I did play it ;-). It didn’t end up taking up much time at all. I’m still not sure about this fold. He certainly ought to have more than AA to do this, but you never know with these … Read more…
I finished 12th in this, out of 1024, meaning I made it to the Sweet 16. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about hands here because I’ll probably make a video of this for Poker Savvy … Read more…
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com SB ($2000) Hero (BB) ($2108) UTG ($2060) MP ($3164) Button ($2916) Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 5 2 folds, Button bets $60, 1 fold, Hero raises … Read more…
We’re just inside of 100 people left in the monthly FTP $500, down from a little over 2000 who started. UTG is a random who definitely does not play these stakes with any regularity. Googling his name reveals a few … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (Button) ($3084) SB ($1000) BB ($1759) UTG ($2449) UTG+1 ($3007) MP1 ($2512.20) MP2 ($2498) CO ($2469) Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 5 UTG bets $20, 3 … Read more…
For 250BB’s, no less. My flop call isn’t great, but only because people’s ranges are nowhere near what they should be in these spots. PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com BB ($1023) UTG … Read more…
I made it down to 300 or so in the Sunday Million today, thanks in no small part to a gamble relatively early on: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 75 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Hand Converter from … Read more…
I ran deep in the $300 6-max on Full Tilt today. For much of the end-game, I had a player on my right who I recognized from the 2+2 forums but whom I’d never played for. To the best of … Read more…
This isn’t something I do often, just because you’re basically announcing strength without charging your opponents anything, plus by spotting them position you put them in control of the betting as well. Against good players I almost always 4-bet or … Read more…
From the same HU match: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Hand Converter from HandHistoryConverter.com Hero (BB) ($1875) SB ($2356.50) Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 6 SB bets $20, Hero calls $10 Flop: ($40) 2, 5, 9 (2 players) … Read more…
Not that it affected the outcome of this hand, but I think Villain’s river check is pretty interesting, given that he’s got a monster hand and only a pot-sized bet left in his stack: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (9 … Read more…
I don’t necessarily call here vs. randoms, but these two were both red pros and knowledgeable tournament players (Jon Turner and Mandy B). Against the, it’s a mandatory snap-call. Jon isn’t the wildest player in the world, but he has … Read more…
Yesterday, I posted a hand where I paid a price for not blatantly jamming a big draw and discussed some of the pros and cons of playing big draws this way. Another reason not to go for the last bet … Read more…
A lot of players make too much of the idea that when you have a draw that you’re willing to get all in with, you’d prefer to make the final bet yourself. This is true when better hands will fold, … Read more…
Hopefully these new suit characters will solve the problem of people not being able to see suits at work (pun): Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com BB ($1799.75) Hero (SB) ($2339) Preflop: … Read more…
I was betting any river, because he’s an excellent hand reader and I think it’s very hard for him to put me on anything but a big pair, but this was a particularly good card: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 … Read more…
After betting big on the turn, my range is polarized (ie I’m not doing it with KQ, 77, or 54) and weighted towards the strong side (43, KJ, 33, 44). I think Villain’s range is exactly hands that beat my … Read more…
A good player is never check-calling this river. Weaker players will, though, and they rarely check better. This guy was new to me but seemed decent and had an aggression factor of 7 over a small sample. Good reason, in … Read more…
It’s not really fair to call the Villain in this hand a nit, but he’s one of the tightest winning 5/10 regulars anyway. That’s part of the reason I bet the turn against him, rather than just check-calling the turn … Read more…
I should be shoving the turn (for value), but this was still fun: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (4 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com BB ($1296.75) UTG ($1000) Hero (Button) ($2015) SB ($4327) Preflop: Hero is Button … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Hero (Button) ($609) SB ($1129.65) BB ($190) UTG ($636) MP ($387) CO ($782) Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 4 2 folds, CO bets $13.80, Hero raises to … Read more…
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 … Read more…
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 … Read more…
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 … Read more…
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 … Read more…
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) – … Read more…
Versus a Scandi, no less! Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (7 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com SB ($1507.85) Hero (BB) ($1405.25) UTG ($1047) MP1 ($1395) MP2 ($1000) CO ($808) Button ($1741.25) Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 5 … Read more…
I was playing some rush poker the other day when this hand came up against allinstevie. I recognized him from MTT’s and sit-and-go’s and quickly wrote him off as just another tourney donk. He went on to show me that … Read more…
I’m probably good here sometimes, and it’s close whether a call is better than a fold, but I think raising wins me the pot almost 100% of the time: Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter … Read more…
The FTOPS main event started at 3PM PST. I busted the NAPT around 3:20 and booked it back up to my room to late register. Obviously immediately after experience some bad luck in a big live tournament, I wasn’t in … Read more…
My starting table had not a lot of chips but a couple of notable players, including Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Andrew Chen, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo, and Lauren Kling. We broke after less than an hour, but I still managed to play … Read more…
75/150 I limp UTG with Ac Qc. Folds to the SB, who completes, and BB checks. Flop Js Td 9s. Checks to me, I bet 300, SB calls. I think he can have any pair and even a few draws … Read more…
The table started out pretty soft, with only two players I recognized at the table. Unfortunately, Jon “fatalerror” Aguiar and Bill Chen were on my immediate left. Bill didn’t get involved in too many pots, but Jon sure did. Early … Read more…
This one of his first 4-bets, but this guy was very aggressive with his 3-bets pre-flop, and I had an inkling he was light. My hand isn’t a bad one to jam pre-flop, but I decided just to call and … Read more…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com BB ($1961) Hero (UTG) ($2651.50) UTG+1 ($2040) MP1 ($2474) MP2 ($3105) MP3 ($1027.50) CO ($2000) Button ($1857) SB ($2904) Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, A Hero bets … Read more…
Story of the FTOPS for me for as long as I’ve been playing it: I went deep but not quite deep enough. After nearly 7 hours, I took 37th and won less than 4 buy-ins. My bust-out hand was pretty … Read more…
Villain’s flop bet, representing 75% of the pot and about 15% of the effective stacks, puts me in an awkward spot with my whole range (and is therefore a good one). Actually, I can play good draws pretty easily by … Read more…
Many of will have heard of this guy Leatherass, who plays just an absurd number of tables for an absurd number of hours every day. He plays pretty big stakes, mostly 5/10 and 10/20, and while he’s not one of … Read more…
Edit: Yeah, I’m an idiot. It was late when I posted this, and I did in fact calculate my pre-flop equity rather than my flop equity. I’m actually a 2:1 dog here, which is more what I expected. Thanks to … Read more…
I played this guy bawaa heads up on a couple of tables the other day. He played well and it was a wild match, with me taking an early lead, then getting stuck 6-7 buy-ins, then clawing my way back … Read more…
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $8.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Button ($816.20) Hero (SB) ($2062.85) BB ($2710) Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 6 1 fold, Hero bets $32, BB calls $24 Flop: ($64) 5, 6, 5 (2 players) Hero … Read more…