What would you do? #45 - PP Aces vs. a turn shove

33/7 @ 24 hands. Gross board. Gross spot:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452897
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $14.65
UTG+1: $103.45
MP1: $72.65
MP2: $57.30
CO: $51.70
BTN: $20.00
SB: $100.00
Hero (BB): $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with As Ah
2 folds, MP1 raises to $2, 4 folds, Hero raises to $7, MP1 calls $5

Flop: ($14.25) Kd Jc Qc (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: ($14.25) 6h (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP1 raises to $41.50, Hero ??? -WTF? Check through the flop but shove the turn? Is this making sense to you? Are you making the call? The 6h does not put any additional draws out there... it is what you traditionally call a "BRICK."


Click to see results

Hero raises to $43 all in, MP1 calls $1.50

River: ($100.25) Js (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $100.25
MP1 shows 9h 9s (two pair, Jacks and Nines) - I looked him up in PTR AFTERWARDS (a little late there...) & it turns out he's a massive loser. Noted... and moving on :-)
Hero shows As Ah (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Hero wins $97.25
(Rake: $3.00)

A bluff gone terribly right... I wasn't bluffing!

I get into a situation where I feel a nicely sized bet on the river may take this pot down.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $49.25
CO: $10.00
BTN: $56.20 - 46/14/2.2 after a 70+ hand sample. My note on him is "maniac."
SB: $13.55
BB: $127.75
Hero (UTG): $65.30
UTG+1: $50.00
MP1: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with As Kd
Hero raises to $1.75, 4 folds, BTN calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 5c 3c 6h (2 players)
Hero bets $2.25, BTN raises to $4.50, Hero calls $2.25 This move is fairly typical from this player. I can put him on any two cards, literally. I have a backdoor + 2 overs, so if he has connected, I have an escape plan.

Turn: ($13.25) 2h (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $4, Hero calls $4 - Unless he's slow playing a monster, his bet sizing is not making sense.

River: ($21.25) Qc (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $5, Hero raises to $25, BTN calls $20 - Here's where I feel like a nicely sized raise will take down the pot. I have played this hand fairly passively with the 2 club draw on the flop. Therefore, I figure that his $5 bet on the end does not make sense and if I raise here and raise strong, I very well may take down the pot. I literally said "SHIT" out loud when he timed down and made the "hero" call. I was *SURE* I was beat and my bluff was called.

Final Pot: $71.25
BTN mucks Ad 8d - Good idea calling Ace high, except you have no kicker, son! WOW! It's been awhile since I've been called SO light on the river.
Hero shows As Kd (Ace King high) - I guess my river bet was not a bluff bet but a raise "for value." LOL!

I think the villain went on tilt immediately following, because this was the TWO HANDS LATER:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $49.25
MP1: $10.00
MP2: $20.00 - Same player
CO: $13.30
BTN: $123.25
Hero (SB): $121.00
BB: $50.00
UTG: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Jd Qs
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.75, 1 fold - Hell yeah... I want to be involved with this maniac in as many hands as I can get involved in...

Flop: ($2.50) Ad 7h Ts (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50 - I flop an inside straight draw. At this point, I can probably include my Q and J as overcards as well. He's been raising a ton of pots prior, and now I'd bet he's on tilt.

Turn: ($5.50) Kd (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks - GIN!

River: ($5.50) Th (2 players)
Hero bets $118.50 all in, MP2 calls $17.50 all in - Represent the rivered trips, and shove. I have no doubt that he'll call this with any piece of any part of this hand.

Final Pot: $40.50
MP2 mucks 8d 8h - LOL!
Hero shows Jd Qs (a straight, Ace high) - Tons of outs on the flop! I love it. Too bad he got up after this hand.
Hero wins $38.50
(Rake: $2.00)


Hero wins $68.25
(Rake: $3.00)

The Poker Meister #44

I waffled between shove / bet pot... I obviously missed value here:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452899
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $51.60
UTG: $9.25
UTG+1: $60.95
UTG+2: $31.15
MP1: $22.70
MP2: $56.05
CO: $82.20
BTN: $22.75
SB: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Jd 9d
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($3.25) 4d Td Ac (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $1, MP1 raises to $3, Hero calls $3, UTG+1 folds

Turn: ($10.25) Kd (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

River: ($10.25) Js (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP1 calls $10 - I should have shoved here... he had ~$20 behind. Bummer.

Final Pot: $30.25
Hero shows Jd 9d (a flush, King high)
MP1 mucks Jc Qh
Hero wins $28.75
(Rake: $1.50)

Business trip to Monterey, CA - live poker anyone?

I get to travel to different locations domestically and internationally about 3 times per year in my current job. It's kinda nice; I get to visit foreign locations and have everything paid for. I've gone to Munich, Germany (recently - around November), Quebec City, Canada, Paris, France, Salt Lake City, Utah, etc. It amounts to about one domestic trip and 2 international trips per year.

At any rate, I have a business trip scheduled for January 17th going to Monterey, CA. I like to play live poker if it is available near the site. I have done a bit of research and found three casinos / poker rooms in the area, in addition to Garden City Casino which appears to be about 2 hours from Monterey (probably too far).

They are:

• Banker's Casino
  Seems like an upscale version of Mortimer's. Problem is that the minimum stakes appear to be $2/$5, which is a bit too rich for my blood. I'm not a great live player; I have far too many tells and am not quick to think on my feet due to my reliance on online tabulations that are performed automatically for me. Therefore, I want stakes which are comfortable to me.
  
• Mortimer's Card Room
  Doesn't even have its own website. Seems like somewhat of a dumpy, sketchy place. Higher stakes poker, also ($2/$5).
  
• Marina Club
  Across the street from Mortimer's. This place seems like the lower stakes version of Mortimer's, and they're apparently connected to each other.

My decision seems to be quite clear - Marina Club it is. I was wondering whether any of the readers of this blog live near any of these sites? Can anyone make any suggestions as to where to go? Obviously, I'll have a car.

Thanks!

Bad turn raise? Should I be keeping customers?

CO had been raising for about 4-5 consecutive hands following a semi-bad beat; it seemed as though he was light on all tables I was on with him (~3), though he was a 12/8 or thereabout. I 3bet him here to cut off his range. I hit the perfect flop and the perfect situation with the unintended villain.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/454754
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $21.80
MP2: $15.20
CO: $51.55 - Frequent 3better on temporary tilt
Hero (BTN): $101.10
SB: $46.75
BB: $52.55 - Tight-"ish" player
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $68.55

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 6s 3s
4 folds, CO raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $4.25, 1 fold, BB calls $3.75, CO calls $2.50

Flop: ($13.00) 7h 4s 5c (3 players) -NEVER happens to me!
BB bets $3.50, CO calls $3.50, Hero calls $3.50 - Call behind because I want to keep both players in the hand. Given my pre-flop 3bet, if I raise here, the hand could be over for me. I don't think I'm getting all the money in with the current board state. I highly doubt this board improved anyone's pre-flop hand. I don't want to give information away about my hand, either; I could be floating (in position) with AK, which they've seen me do.

Moreover, not that I am worried about a set, but in the unlikely event of a stubbornly played pocket pair / flopped set, I want to ensure that the villain will be drawing thin to the turn. Although this is the perfect flop for me, I don't want to box myself into the hand - particularly when my opponents are clearly interested and putting money in. In other words, I think I can still get away from this hand, given the turn betting texture & actions. I am working to semi-contain pot sizes at this early stage of the hand.

Turn: ($23.50) Qc (3 players)
BB bets $8.50, CO calls $8.50, Hero raises to $20, BB raises to $31.50, CO folds, Hero raises to $93.35 all in, BB calls $13.30 all in - Here is the question: Should I have raised here? I figure that if I flatted the turn, I'd have 2 people in the pot going to the river, with $49 in the pot. I believe the CO would be calling a "reasonable" river bet of $15-20, since he's sandwiched in the middle of us. I think a flat would have netted me a $140-150 pot instead of $121, but is it worth it to carry an extra player to potentially suckout on me? For what it's worth, I put the CO on a hand like 88-TT.

River: ($121.60) 2s (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $121.60
Hero shows 6s 3s (a straight, Seven high)
BB shows Qd Qs (three of a kind, Queens)
Hero wins $118.60
(Rake: $3.00)

The Poker Meister #43

Been playing the occasional SNG.

Pretty dangerous straight flush board, but villain is a total fish:

Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452896
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: t1680 M = 37.33
UTG+2: t1545 M = 34.33
MP1: t765 M = 17
MP2: t1275 M = 28.33
CO: t2085 M = 46.33
BTN: t1455 M = 32.33
SB: t1410 M = 31.33
Hero (BB): t1740 M = 38.67
UTG: t1545 M = 34.33

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9s Js
2 folds, UTG+2 calls t30, 4 folds, SB calls t15, Hero checks

Flop: (t90) Qc 9c Jc (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t90, UTG+2 calls t90, SB folds

Turn: (t270) Tc (2 players)
Hero bets t120, UTG+2 calls t120

River: (t510) 9h (2 players)
Hero bets t210, UTG+2 calls t210

Final Pot: t930
UTG+2 mucks Ah 7c - HUH? 7c flush call? You really think 7 high flush is good here? You get an "A" for effort!
Hero shows 9s Js (a full house, Nines full of Jacks)
Hero wins t930

Rarely executed squeeze play

I've been trying to expand my repertoire. I've been fooling around with 3 betting and squeezing. This seemed like the textbook example of a spot to squeeze:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452891
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $25.00
CO: $27.95
BTN: $6.10
Hero (SB): $25.55
BB: $25.00
UTG: $20.95
UTG+1: $19.90
UTG+2: $4.50
MP1: $19.90

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 3c 7s
UTG raises to $0.50, 4 folds, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.75, 3 folds

Final Pot: $1.75
Hero mucks 3c 7s
Hero wins $1.85
(Rake: $-0.10)

What would you do? #44 - Rivered top two vs. tight river [essential] shove

13/3 /inf who had been making moves on me *A LOT*

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452884
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $29.71
CO: $28.30
BTN: $15.75
SB: $18.63
BB: $59.86
UTG: $42.40
Hero (UTG+1): $70.38
MP1: $33.74

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG+1 with As Jd
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.85, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.85, 4 folds

Flop: ($2.05) Js 9h 4s (2 players)
Hero bets $1.25, MP2 calls $1.25

Turn: ($4.55) 2h (2 players)
Hero bets $2.25, MP2 raises to $10.50, Hero calls $8.25

River: ($25.55) Ad (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $15.50, Hero ???



Click to see results

Hero calls $15.50 - I don't think I'm getting anything extra by raising here; he bluffed the river, and bluffed big. I think this is a fairly standard call, but a surprising showdown from a 13/3...

Final Pot: $56.55
MP2 shows Kh Qd (Ace King high)
Hero shows As Jd (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Hero wins $53.73
(Rake: $2.82)

The Poker Meister #-3 - FAIL!!!

Rarely does the J9s fail me... particularly spades... Foiled!

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452895
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $22.12
SB: $13.50
Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $26.79
UTG+1: $5.65
UTG+2: $27.72
MP1: $10.20
MP2: $7.57
CO: $8.40

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with Js 9s
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 4 folds, BTN calls $0.25, SB raises to $1.25, Hero calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, 1 fold

Flop: ($4.00) 8d 2s 7s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.25, UTG+1 raises to $4.40 all in, SB folds, Hero calls $2.15

Turn: ($12.80) 4h (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($12.80) Ah (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $12.80
Hero shows Js 9s (Ace Jack high)
UTG+1 shows Qs 8s (a pair of Eights)
UTG+1 wins $12.16
(Rake: $0.64)

December, ho-hum...

Due to the being afraid that IUGEA would go into effect, I cashed out most of my Full Tilt account. As a result, I dropped down in stakes to play in the $25NL games. Despite playing underolled (since I cashed out), I was able to maintain a positive win rate of 2.52BB/100. Every time I'd get enough of a roll to take a shot at $50NL, I'd get clobbered, sending me back down to $25NL. I really crushed $25NL though, so I felt good about that - it soothed my confidence. Additionally, I really worked on my attempt to steal percentage; my ATS for the month is 65%!!! SIXTY FIVE PERCENT!!! That's freakishly big. I have become quite a kleptomaniac. I steal everything that isn't nailed down. And when I am met with resistance, I am cbetting & usually taking it down right then & there. Most players at 25 & 50NL don't pay much attention to steal percentages, but a person could make a living just stealing the blinds. Anyway, here's the rest of the story:



I made Gold status in the Iron Man challenge / bonus. Unlike last month:

1. I am eligible for $75 in the mid year bonus. Last month added $100 to my mid year bonus.
2. I can convert medals to dollars.
3. All of the poker played allowed me to qualify for free CardRunners training through totallyfreepokertraining.com and stoxpoker.com.

Full Tilt poker profits: $147.82
Poker Stars poker profits: $-10.35
Live poker profits: $0.00
Rakeback bonus profits: $161.95
Full Tilt bonus profits: $0.00
Total: $299.42

A quick rundown of my stats: 5.5K hands played on stars in 21 hours + 25.5K hands played on Tilt in 72 hours. My hold'em All In Luck calculator says that since the beginning of the month, I've run $-52, which says that I've overcome my negative expected value in all in situations.

Looking forward to January, I have $400 in year end bonuses accumulated through the Iron Man challenge. I have my work cut out for me and 45 days to make good on it. It will wind up being about 8000 points to get the full bonus. Therefore, I am moving up to $50NL to make a more efficient time of converting the bonus. At the time of this writing, I have achieved 1035 points, 1/8th of the way there. At this rate, I will qualify for iron status in the Iron Man during January as well. Additionally, I am going to attempt to convert Iron Man bonus medals (using $75 tokens) into $69 in cash with omgitsjoshua. I will put a post up shortly explaining it, if we are successful. Therefore, I stand to take about $469 in bonuses through Full Tilt during the month of January.

P.S. If anyone has converted medals to cash, let me know. I've read a few posts on the various sites saying it's easy, but have yet to do it myself.

What would you do? #43 - Rivered trips vs. pot comitting bet

15/10 @ 224 hands...

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452882
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $37.80
BB: $16.18
UTG: $26.10
UTG+1: $16.77
MP1: $15.42
MP2: $21.96
CO: $37.25
BTN: $5.25

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with Ad Qc
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO raises to $1.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.85

Flop: ($3.55) Tc As 2h (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, MP1 folds

Turn: ($6.55) Jh (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

River: ($11.55) Ah (2 players)
Hero bets $4, CO raises to $23.55, Hero requests TIME, Hero ??? - Is the villain raising big with anything less than AK? Did he get there with AJ?



Click to see results

Hero folds - I don't think I can handle a raise / shove here. I believe that he hit a set on the flop, or has AJ. I don't think he's stacking off with a straight. I think against a 15/10, I have to fold out here. Gross fold, but still...

Final Pot: $19.55
CO wins $18.58
(Rake: $0.97)

Quad stackage - on a steal, no less!

Happy New Year all! I'm back at the $50NL tables so I can work off my $400 end of year Iron Man bonus. This hand was taken from the end of December; I'm definitely starting to run quite a bit better:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452880
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $20.57
BTN: $25.00
Hero (SB): $25.43
BB: $25.00
UTG: $27.20
UTG+1: $35.23
MP1: $72.74
MP2: $30.86

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 8c 2d
6 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.50) 8d 4h 8h (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.75, Hero raises to $2.50, BB calls $1.75

Turn: ($6.50) 2c (2 players)
Hero bets $2, BB calls $2

River: ($10.50) 8s (2 players)
Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $10, BB raises to $19.75 all in, Hero calls $9.75

Final Pot: $50.00
Hero shows 8c 2d (four of a kind, Eights)
BB shows 9h 9d (a full house, Eights full of Nines)
Hero wins $47.50
(Rake: $2.50)