SplitSuit.com

$0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em Cash Game, 9 Players
Poker Tools by Stoxpoker –

Hero (SB): $50.25 (100.5 bb)
BB: $50 (100 bb)
UTG: $64.15 (128.3 bb)
UTG+1: $59.20 (118.4 bb)
MP1: $62.30 (124.6 bb)
MP2: $60.10 (120.2 bb)
MP3: $73.95 (147.9 bb)
CO: $50 (100 bb)
BTN: $50 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is SB with K K
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $2.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $6.95, BB folds, UTG+1 calls $6.45, MP3 folds

Flop: ($16.90) 9 2 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $11.35, UTG+1 calls $11.35

Turn: ($39.60) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $18.95, UTG+1 calls $18.95

So this is the hand from a little while ago. Important pieces of info:

Hero: 14/12 at the time, about 3% 3b and no big pots to note over the 40 hands at the table

UTG+1: about 58/15 over the 40 hands at the table. Huge fish, is down a BI already. Small sample, but only folds to CBs about 50% of the time

MP3: 10/9 over 900 hands. Understands position and everything, winning player, but certainly a nitTAG

PF I decide to 3b as it comes back to me. No reason to just call here and play MITM (monkey in the middle) with a strong hand that hates flops 25% of the time. I 3b around 3x, but go a pinch smaller to invite UTG+1 if he really wants and because the ISO size was a little large as is. I only get the call from UTG+1 and we see a super dry HU flop.

Here, I think his PF flatting of a 3b range is almost exactly TT+/AK. While possible that he might do it a pinch wider (AQ/AJ/77+), I think that may be a bit too optimistic. So I am never folding on this board as I beat a lot of his range, and would like to stack here if possible. We also want to bet here. If we look at the stats of UTG+1 we see he has a huge gap between his VPIP and PFR…this is very indicative of passivity…so we can expect he wouldn’t often take the opportunity to bet here. So we bet, and need to pick a size that makes him feel comfortable with all of his range. I actually think I sized too large here and should have bet something like $9.6 rather than $11.35…just cutting under the $10 threshold…and he calls

The turn is clean given assigned range, so another bet is certainly in order. We cannot get stacks in if we check, and we can actually expect him to check behind almost all of his range given the passivity. The bet size is very important here, and the big reason why I posted this hand. I bet just about 1/2 pot, and cut just under the $20 threshold. This prices him to any river shove (which is really only $13 more)…but say I had shoved rather than bet how I did. If i bet $32 here (which is about a PSB) then he might possibly get uncomfortable with TT/JJ…and even if he only folded that 10% more often than he would if i bet $18…then I am losing major value in the hand. I see people make this mistake all the time…they shove…because it’s around PSB and a valid betsize…but the size doesnt accomplish everything it needs to…and thus is sub-optimal.

The river is a simple shove, but the real value in the hand is the turn sizing, which locks in the win and the pot size we wanted. Also, do not make the mistake of checking the turn. The card, while pairing the board, is not dangerous given range assignment. And don’t check it…1.) opponent is passive 2.) these types of opponents will think “O man, the 9 is bad because he could have A9″ (which maaaaaaaaybe makes up 1% of my range, lol) and check behind meaning we probably don’t get the stack in.

River: ($77.50) K (2 players)
Hero bets $13 and is all-in, UTG+1 calls $13

Results:

Spoiler:

$103.50 pot ($3 rake)
Hero showed K K (a full house, Kings full of Nines) and won $100.50 ($50.25 net)
UTG+1 mucked J J (two pairs, Jacks and Nines) and lost (-$50.25 net)

*SS*

$0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em Cash Game, 8 Players
Poker Tools by Stoxpoker – Hand Details

Hero (BTN): $56.90 (113.8 bb)
SB: $97.85 (195.7 bb)
BB: $56.15 (112.3 bb)
UTG+1: $44.50 (89 bb)
MP1: $58.20 (116.4 bb)
MP2: $52.75 (105.5 bb)
MP3: $61.40 (122.8 bb)
CO: $38.15 (76.3 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BTN with T 6
5 folds, Hero raises to $1.25, SB calls $1, BB folds

Flop: ($3) Q 7 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.30, SB calls $1.30

Turn: ($5.60) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($5.60) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $4.50, Hero raises to $26.35

So this is the hand from last week. Villain is a very bad player, running 27/10 over 120hands. He folds to CB about 2/3, hardly 3bs, and just seems to be your standard fit-or-fold calling station. I make a small 2.5x raise on the button, a nice size to use as a steal (the BB is a nit 11/8, 2%3b over 1.3K hands). Only the SB calls, and we see a flop of Qs7s2c. He checks and I make a small 1/2PSB CB. No reason to risk much more in this spot as he is fit or fold, and this size means he only needs to folds ~1/3 for my play to breakeven. I expect him to fold about 55%-60% here given texture, so I make a decent profit in the LR here.

He quickly calls the CB, and the turn a blank 8. He checks again and I decide to knock back. Although I did pick up outs with a hand that has little, if any, SD value…this is not the kind of person to pressure here. He will never fold a pair, and his flop call leads me to believe he has one. DONT BLUFF THE MAN THAT CALLS!

Now the hand gets funky when I bink the straight on the river and he donks for ~80% pot. Here I have some decisions on what to do:

1.) call because I think he only has JT. this is silly…so I’m not flatting (or folding, ldo)

2.) shove! This is the kind of spot where he should really have a huge hand, something like TP+, with a heavy emphasis on 2pr (97, 87, Q9, etc). We can weight his range toward heavy hands because he donked, and donked fairly large on the river. Remember the player classification…we said he was a “fit-or-fold calling station”. That kind of player type doesn’t bet or raise unless they have a huge hand…if had something like 76 he would just c/c the river. A shove really pressures him and forces him to call off a lot of his stack. The only issue is, he might find a fold with something like QJ or so…a decent % of his range that I REALLY need to max value from.

3.) minraise. This probably sounds silly, but if I thought he would overshove his 2pr+ against a minR, then it is a good play (he might just flat a big raise with 97, but against a minR he might shove it). I am not sure enough of his actions given the sample size to use this play, and again, I really want to get max value from the QJ type hands in his range.

4.) something like I did, about 5x. I think this is a nice happy medium here. It puts in about 1/2 stack, should get called by just about his entire donking range, and gets max value against the 1pr hands.

I did end up going with option 4 and raised to $26.35. I personally think I could have pinched a little extra here, maybe $29.15 or so, but I am still happy with overall play. Make sure to consider your betsizing carefully to max value against the entire range, or as much of the range as possible.

SB calls $21.85

Results:

It has been a little while since I did one of these, and this odd hand felt like a good one to review. Here is the hand:

——————–
HAND 1
——————–

$0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em Cash Game, 7 Players

SB: $97 (194 bb)
Hero (BB): $52.70 (105.4 bb)
MP1: $51.20 (102.4 bb)
MP2: $57.85 (115.7 bb)
MP3: $50.75 (101.5 bb)
CO: $41.30 (82.6 bb)
BTN: $69.35 (138.7 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with A Q
MP1 raises to $2, 2 folds, CO calls $2, BTN calls $2, SB folds, Hero raises to $7.65, MP1 calls $5.65, CO folds, BTN calls $5.65

Flop: ($25.20) 5 A 2 (3 players)
Hero bets $14.35

So let me first give you the needed details. MP1 is a very reggy player. Usually plays 100NL, is well known on the forums, etc, and runs 13/9 over my 6K sample. He opens around 8% of hands from EP…he also has some pretty big leaks in his game (betsizing leaks like woah), and seems to be very face-up at any and all times. CO is an idiot, 23/2 over 70 hands and seems to be a little spewy. BUT is another reg player at 15/10 over 500 hands…again, nothing special. Which brings us to HERO…who like usual, is running a springy 19/17 with an aggro 3b%.

With the early raise, and then 2 callers, I think I can squeeze this out almost always. MP1 opens 8% of hands from EP which will look like 55+/AK give or take. If I fold out 55-TT and AK sometimes, then I am doing very well here. Also, I make CO or BUT play with their hands face-up in a bloated pot (so my CB will work often and fold out their pairs). There is also $6.75 in dead money in the pot, and flatting with AQ OOP in a 4way pot is a recipe for making amplified mistakes. So I squeeze here to $7.65, a pinch smaller than I would normally squeeze to. This size means it only has to work ~53% of the time outright to work, not even including the times I am called and pick it up with a CB. It also applies a lot of pressure, and the size of it allows me to play perfectly against MP1, who if he shoves, he obvi beats me and I lose the least amount I could.

The plan doesn’t quite go as planned as I get 2 callers, though luckily for me, from the 2 people that now have their hands face-up. MP1 really only has JJ/QQ/KK, and sometimes AA (he most likely shoves AK as a 4b…though being he has leaks, he COULD make a huge mistake and flat it here…but I will assume he is good enough to shove it and discount it from his range). And BUT has 22-JJ and is over setmining (btw, greeeeeeeeeeat job putting in ~15bb to setmine preflop!).

The flop is a very interesting Ad5d2d, and I lead out for $14.35. In retrospect I think this bet should have been smaller, about $12.85 or so…but I am a betsizing nit =) My lead here is as a semi-bluff. I want to pick up the pot now (that would be lovely), but don’t mind a flatcall from MP1. If I get any action from BUT HU, I will have to feel it out very carefully (meaning I bet, MP1 folds, BUT calls). My plan is to stack it in against MP1 (if he raises (1 combo of AA, 6 combos of KK with a diamond, say a discounted 3 combos of QQ with a diamond, etc) , and BUT folds) now…to fold if I bet, MP1 folds, and BUT shoves…to feel it if I bet, MP1 folds, BUT calls…and fold if I bet, MP1 calls, BUT shoves/raises. All of these are very logical and come from how these players would react to the other’s action. And notice my betsize carefully, I open myself up for nothing…I do not trap myself to the pot, I do not bet so little I offer a cheap bluff against me…I threaten stacks with minimal investment.

As played MP1 calls, and BUT comes over the top. My line was to bet/fold if that happened, and thus I did. I think I played the hand very well, applied a ton of pressure during the entire hand, and risked very little to create a very mistake rich environment.

MP1 calls $14.35, BTN raises to $61.70 and is all-in, Hero folds, MP1 calls $29.20 and is all-in

Turn: ($126.65) 9 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($126.65) 8 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

Spoiler:

$126.65 pot ($3.00 rake)
MP1 showed K K (a pair of Kings) and lost (-$51.20 net)
BTN showed 2 2 (three of a kind, Twos) and won $123.65 ($72.45 net)

*SS*

$0.25/$0.50 9 Player No Limit Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players @ The Table
Poker Tools by Stoxpoker – Hand Details

MP: $103.95
CO: $46.60
BTN: $137.35
SB: $6.60
Hero (BB): $50
UTG: $49.50

Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with A A
UTG raises to $2, 2 folds, BTN calls $2, SB folds, Hero raises to $7.35, UTG calls $5.35, BTN calls $5.35

Flop: ($22.30) 5 9 8 (3 players)
Hero bets $42.65 and is all-in

So this is the original hand. UTG is a player who doesn’t appear to like me very much. I have 4b him once, have stolen as much as possible from him, and just been a PITA. He is running 11/8 over the last 150 hands, and is on a few tables with me. Hero has been running a lovely 32/26 on this table, and has been just raise/CB-ing with minimal success mostly. And BTN is a very bad, very spewy 43/5 over 40 hands. No other notes of history for this hand.

UTG opens to 4x, BTN flats, and it is my action. Now normal betsizing would say i should go to 4x here, or $8. I decide to tone it down a little bit here. If I go too large, say $9.25, I may scare some of the strong/weak pairs from UTG, like TT or JJ. I also really don’t want to lose BTN. Also, if I go to what I did, $7.35, and UTG calls, then BTN will surely call, making a nice $22 pot, and $42 back…for a simple 2SPR pot. Although multi-way pots tends to suck with hands like AA and KK, this is a spot where the SPR is mistake proof and also keeps them in with favorable ranges.

The flop is perfect for my hand as it misses TT-KK (the logical setting range of UTG), and keeps all of his pairs as overpairs. BTN, well if he hit a hand, then good for him. Again, the SPR is so low that folding isn’t an option. I actually decide to take an odd line and shove here. I figured this might look bluffy to UTG, and that if he calls, then BTN might come along with a 1pr hand as well. It is a very optimistic that i get both stacks in the middle with a super edge, but odder things have happened =). So I do shove, and then…

UTG calls $42.15 and is all-in, BTN folds

Turn: ($106.60) Q (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($106.60) 5 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: $106.60 pot ($3 rake)
Hero showed A A (two pairs, Aces and Fives) and won $103.60 ($54.10 net)
UTG showed J J (two pairs, Jacks and Fives) and lost (-$49.50 net)

The real interesting part of this hand is looking at it from UTG’s POV. He raises UTG with JJ to 4x (I would obviously suggest 3x. If you are going to be OOP almost always, and pretty much unable to stack off JJ as an overpair well, then why make the pot bigger?), gets a call by a super spewtard, and then another spewtard squeezes (I’m sure he views me as a spewtard and not as a solid player). He actually has a pretty tough spot here when he gets squeezed. Flatting, imo, is the worst of the options. Let’s look at the options closely:

1.) Fold. Well we don’t lose much which is nice. Folding preflop is neutral EV. And my stack is threatened by this one single 3b…I don’t think much of an edge can be had here given stack off range, and I’m not 100% sure of the squeeze range

2.) 4b. Again, if we commit here, we don’t really have an edge (we may sometimes, but probably not often). So this isn’t a great option

3.) Call. We have position, which is almost negated by the lowly SPR. Also, I’m going to have to see this flop MW as monkey in the middle, not good stuff. Also, with JJ, an overcard will hit the flop about 45% of the time…thats uncomfortable for putting in almost 20% of my stack preflop to play the “did you miss your overcards or did you have an overpair the whole time? while dodging babysets and junk” game

Folding would be best for UTG unless he knows that I am not only squeezing light, but stacking in some hands he has an edge on. His edge is pretty much not there at all against a logical stack range, so fold fold fold…and don’t get trapped

*SS*

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 8 players –
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $28.10
MP2: $61.70
Hero (CO): $51.80
BTN: $24.00
SB: $95.40
BB: $64.20
UTG: $50.10
UTG+1: $49.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with A J
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 1 fold, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.00) A J 7 (3 players)
SB checks, MP2 bets $3, Hero raises to $11.30, SB folds, MP2 calls $8.30

Turn: ($27.60) 8 (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $17.10, MP2 calls $17.10

River: ($61.80) 6 (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $21.90 all in

So this is the original hand from a session a few days ago. The villain here (MP2) is a very loose villain, running about 35/17 over the last 50 hands. He seems to be a bit tilty and has just lost 2 decent sized pots in a row. Hero is running about 15/9 over the last 50 hands, and the other villain (SB) is running about 13/10 over 6.7K hands. No history between any of the villains.

Preflop MP2 open raises to 3x. Now, generally I would fold a hand like AJs to an open raise from MP, but this villain is special. He is very bad, tilty, and it seems he might be ready to spaz out. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT and a concept that a lot of people either ignore or misunderstand. Generally a bad player will buy in for $X, and play with it until it is $0…simple. We generally expect that a fish isn’t going to reload. It is awesome when they do, but it is not what we expect. When a fish gets tilty…they are telling you they are going to bust their stack and then leave. When this is the case, we have to take advantage, and often times that is done by playing more hands, and sometimes not the best of hands, like AJ, against them.

I opt to call here, rather than 3b, which is debatable in this situation. We end up seeing a 3way pot, and I flop top two. I raise the CB up to $11.3. The raise here should be a bit smaller imo. Something like $7.85 would be an awesome amount. I am not concerned with the SB…if he was lucky enough to flop a set here, o well. However, I want to allow MP2 to make a big mistake…either by bluff 3b-ing or by flatting and getting stuck with 2nd best hands.

The rest of the hand is pretty basic as I make a 1/2PSB turn bet to “glue” him to the pot, and then shove the river. It is important to shove the river, even though the flush came. Although you should often yield for at least a second when a draw fills, this player shouldn’t worry us. His range is comprised of way too many Ax and Jx type hands for us to not put in the last bit of the stacks.

MP2 calls $21.90

Final Pot: $105.60
MP2 mucks A T
Hero shows A J (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Hero wins $102.60
(Rake: $3.00)

The big part of the hand was getting involved preflop, and the glue-bet on the turn. Coupled, this made for a nice win for us. Remember to look for these kinds of spots, especially when playing on weekends or weeknights where there are more fish around who are just looking to give you their stack =)

*SS*

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players –
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $50.00
BB: $46.30
UTG: $39.55
MP: $56.45
CO: $19.25
BTN: $78.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 9 9
2 folds, CO raises to $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.25, BB calls $1

Flop: ($4.50) 9 J Q (3 players)
Hero bets $2.90, BB folds, CO calls $2.90

Turn: ($10.30) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $6.20, CO calls $6.20

River: ($22.70) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $8.65, CO calls $8.65 all in

So the table is starting to break down slowly. However, the villains here are pretty bad, so I opt to stay. The CO is 29/17 over 77 hands…very loose, but only CB-ing at 67%. The BB is a very loose dude, running 46/26 over 62 hands. He has some major calling station tendencies. Hero is running pretty tight at 13/10, but I doubt either of these two really care =)

CO opens to 3x with a 1/2 stack. Now 99 is a real cusp hand here…I have no issue 3b-ing to commit here against certain villains, this one being pretty close to ideal. However, I have a very loose guy to my left…who has a nearly full stack…and would be offering me a whole new set of implied odds (no pun intended). So I opt to call here and play poker, and invite the multiway pot, which the BB so kindly obliges.

We see a very lovely 9JQ flop, and here we have the decision of donking or CR-ing. If we look at our left, we see that CO doesn’t always CB, and we see that the BB is a calling station. This is actually a much better spot to donk out, rather than CR given it gives the BB a chance to put dead money in the pot, and also allows the pot to get larger much quicker. Obviously if either one raises, we will commit it now…but remember to check for good spots to donk, as opposed to CR when you catch big hands.

The CO is the only taker, and he just calls, leaving himself about 1.5SPR…pretty damn close to commitment. But we actually get quite a bit of information about his hand. He doesn’t jam the flop, which leads me to believe there is never a ten in his range. Although he is not super aggro over the sample, I can still be pretty damn confident that any ten would have commited already. So his hand must be something like AJ/AQ/KQ/KJ or something of the like. The 8, while a very scary card, is almost a complete brick here as far as HIS range is concerned. However, now we have two decisions again, to donk or to CR.

I opt to smallish double barrel here. If villain were aggro, and I thought he might bluff here, then obviously check would be the best line. However, given the range I have assigned villain, he will most likely check that behind trying to get to SD, rather than risk getting CR’d. If that happens, then I don’t get his stack, as he will surely not call a 1.5PSB on the river. I bet to start getting villains stack inside…and not force it all at once. This is called “gluing” someone to the pot. You make a bet, that they “have” to call…which leads them to make another call…generally allowing us to get a nice pot.

Obviously on the river we shove it in when the Q hits, but the real meat of the hand has already happened and allowed us to ship the pot against this player.

Final Pot: $40.00
Hero shows 9 9 (a full house, Nines full of Queens)
CO shows A Q (three of a kind, Queens)
Hero wins $38.10
(Rake: $1.90)

*SS*

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 9 players –
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $50.00
UTG: $47.20
UTG+1: $52.25
UTG+2: $60.30
MP1: $40.00
MP2: $35.40
Hero (CO): $53.00
BTN: $87.90
SB: $50.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Q 9
5 folds, Hero raises to $1, BTN calls $1, SB calls $0.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.50) 3 J A (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, BTN calls $2, SB calls $2

Turn: ($9.50) K (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, BTN calls $8, SB calls $8

River: ($33.50) 2 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $42 all in

So this is the original hand. I am running about 29/25, and very aggro at the time. The BUT is a very solid reg running 26/20 over about 900 hands, with a fairly high 3b%. The SB is a 14/10 over 2K and the BB is a 17/11 over 800 hands. I minR here because BUT has a very high 3b%, and i think he will 3b a minR less often (being more inclined to call and try to play IP). Also, I like to minR quite often anyway…as it fits into my style quite well. So I end up getting called by the BUT and the SB, and see a gorgeous 3way flop.

I CB the flop, and nothing special happens…so we see a 3way turn card of a clean King. Here, is a great spot to make a bigger bet than your standard 2/3 bet. It is pretty unlikely either has a set, as i can assume that AA and JJ are rarely in the ranges, and also that 33 would have raised the flop in an effort to commit. The King is a good card as it makes a lot of 2prs (AJ/KJ), and also gives the NFD a pair. I bet large here to get calls from that part of the range, but also figure that Ax will come along often given my aggressive image.

The river is where I think I made a mistake. I get one check to me, and then shove for a little more than pot. This is bad because it doesn’t encourage Ax to call me, really only 2pr. Also, if they have a flush (a slowplayed babyflush which wouldn’t make too much sense, but I certainly should not rule out)…they will shove over my bet. A much better bet would have been $19.85. This stands to get called in both spots very often, netting me around $28.5 on average (thinking sometimes they wont both call)…and a shove will probably not get calls as often, esp not from both, only netting me an estimated $16.5. Multiway spots are special, and often times it can be more profitable getting called in both spots for smaller, than getting 1 caller for a bigger bet

*SS*

Here is the hand:

Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold’em – 8 players –
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $160.35
BB: $127.85
Hero (UTG): $114.05
UTG+1: $100.00
MP1: $107.85
MP2: $190.85
CO: $154.70
BTN: $155.95

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $3, UTG+1 calls $3, MP1 calls $3, 1 fold, CO calls $3, 1 fold, SB calls $2.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($16.00) K K K (5 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $11, UTG+1 calls $11, MP1 folds, CO folds, SB folds

Turn: ($38.00) 6 (2 players)

Hero bets $26

Preflop is super standard. I generally use 3x as my raise size from all spots as an open raise. My image at this point is probably about 20/16. The main villain in this hand, UTG+1, is a very tight 9/7 over 900 hands. Very hit or miss, never makes a big pot without a big hand.

The flop is a a standard CB spot. According to Zeebo theorem, we can expect that nobody is going to fold a fullhouse here. So I bet a little more than 1/2 pot, and only get called by the very tight guy. At this point, he has one of two hands. He has a worse boat that is drawing dead. Or he has a K, and we are drawing dead. This is the most extreme example ever of WAWB. However, if we look at the kinds of hands that UTG+1 would call pf that have a K in it…it is super rare. Maaaaaaaaaaaaybe he would have AK…but combinatorally speaking, that is damn hard to have. So he is going to have a worse, drawing dead, boat a lot of the time.

On the turn I bet for $26 trying to eek out some more value, and set up for a nice big river bet (if he calls this, there is about $90 in the pot, setting us up for a nice shove on the river). However, this is the mistake of the hand imo. A 9/7 is never going to get involved in a pot this large with a bad boat. He seriously might not get involved in a pot that large with QQ, yet alone TT or 88. Because of this, it is pretty much a bad turn bet. He never really gives me action with worse, and thus I am betting for no reason. The turn is a good spot to check, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe induce a bluff or so, but really set it up so we get a big bet on the river ($31 or so). The turn bet was a pretty large mistake here, costing me about $27 in ee.

*SS*

So this is the original hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) – Poker-Stars Hand Converter from HandHistoryConverter.com

Hero (BB) ($50)
UTG ($9)
MP1 ($48.25)
MP2 ($25.55)
CO ($62.45)
Button ($20)
SB ($30.95)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 8
5 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero bets $2, SB calls $1.50

Flop: ($4) 2, 4, 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.60, SB calls $2.60

Turn: ($9.20) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($9.20) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, SB raises to $16, Hero calls $8

Total pot: $41.20 | Rake: $2

Preflop is very standard. Villain is 48/0 over 56 hands, super passive with no ATS, no CB %, a high fold2CB%. He open completes the SB, and I raise planning on taking it down now, and/or CBing the flop and taking it down. This is almost an automatic play whenever someone open completes into you.

On the flop I make a small 60%PSB CB. I am just trying to pick up the pot without risking much, and am planning to fold to a CR. He calls pretty quickly

I do pick up a gutshot on the turn, but opt to knock behind and draw for free. I doubt he will fold to a double too often in BvB, so a check seemed right.

On the river, however, I improve to the 2nd nuts. He checks, I bet big here thinking he probably has a lot of 2pr-ish type hands given the board texture, and am not folding if CR’d. He does end up CR-ing me, albeit a minCR, and I call. This is the mistake in the hand imo. After his minR, he has about $11 back, a little more than a min3b. I should really be shoving here and forcing that last bit of money into the pot. Let’s look at some of the hands he might have here:

= He like never has 98. He is passive, so he def folds 9hi to my CB
= He can certainly have a 3, especially if it was paired on the flop or coupled with a draw
= He can certainly have 2pr, a very likely hand given the texture of the board
= He could have a chopped 8
= He could have a bluff

Given that hand range analysis, a shove on the river is best. The bluffs will never call you, but every other part of the range will crying call, and we either beat it or tie it. I lost about $9 here in value (equity based on his range allocation) by not shoving…and hopefully you don’t miss this spot in the future =)

*SS*

So I have been toying with this idea for awhile, and today seemed like a good day to get it started. I want to mix in, between articles, blog posts, music, etc, some hand history review. This should be a fun way to look over some old hands, learn a bit, and LOL at some old results and lines. So let’s take a look at this old hand with 76s, where a common turn issue comes up that doesn’t allow me to max value in the hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Hand Converter from HandHistoryConverter.com

MP2 ($50.50)
CO ($50.80)
Button ($51.90)
SB ($40.90)
BB ($53.45)
UTG ($46)
Hero (UTG+1) ($55.50)
MP1 ($14.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 6, 7
1 fold, Hero bets $1, MP1 calls $1, 1 fold, CO raises to $2, 3 folds, Hero calls $1, MP1 calls $1

Flop: ($6.75) A, 4, 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO bets $2, Hero calls $2, MP1 calls $2

Turn: ($12.75) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO bets $3.50, Hero raises to $13.40, MP1 calls $10.50 (All-In), CO calls $9.90

River: ($50.05) 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets $33.40, 1 fold

Total pot: $50.05 | Rake: $2.45

That was the original hand. It probably seems odd that I minR’d from EP, but I do this with a wide range of hands (SCs, PPs, big hands, etc) dependent on table conditions. I get pretty much min 3b by the CO (25/12 over 45hands), which is awesome because he is giving me awesome odds when it comes back to me. So I call, and end up seeing a 3way flop OOP.

I catch a weak pair, so I check, MP1 checks, and CO makes a smallish CB (about 1/3 pot). I think his hand is probably about TT+/AQ+, and I peel thinking I have good implied odds if I improve to either my 7 or 6. Surprisingly, MP1 peels as well, and I am OOP on a very awesome 6 turn.

Now, this is where i disagree with my line.

Turn: ($12.75) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks

I really want to be betting here. The fact that CO just min3b me pf allows me to believe he probably is not a very thinking player. And the fact that the MP1 is a shortstacker, I can assume the same about him. Here, is a great spot to bet, trap a bet in from MP1, and allow the pot to get bigger while gluing in both stacks. I like a bet of $8.6 here. If MP1 calls, and CO calls, it leaves a nice ~$40 pot with about $38 back effective between Hero and CO. Also, checking doesn’t really encourage CO to fire with anything less than AQ…so a check is only keeping the pot smaller when we want it to be huge.

Given the nature of the smaller sized pf sizes, it is very hard to get stacks in the middle. And when we come across a hand like this, it can be frustrating because we don’t get stacks often. But, in a given strategy, it can be much more profitable to create smaller 20bb-50bb pots regularly, and sacrifice a little return on your huge hands. (volume + good ROI > rare + great ROI).

Happy discussing =)

*SS*