What would you do? #52 - Middle set facing turn check

Can you point out the problems? Maybe I'm off base...?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $20.85
BTN: $20.10
SB: $21.00 -12/11 3bet 8% @ 139 hands
BB: $56.20
UTG: $50.00
Hero (UTG+1): $59.15
UTG+2: $173.40
MP1: $50.75
MP2: $38.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Th Tc
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, MP2 calls $1.75, 2 folds, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.75) 3d Ts 4c (3 players)
SB bets $4, Hero calls $4, MP2 folds
Flopping top set is always nice.

Turn: ($13.75) Jd (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks
What kind of hands can I possibly put him on that he'll call a second barrel? Therefore, I want "contain" the pot for him so that he gets a chance to catch up.

River: ($13.75) Ah (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $13.75, SB folds
I am praying that he floated with AK / AQ type hand. No such luck. Would I have been better off betting the turn? What about the river? Bet sizing wrong?

Final Pot: $13.75
Hero wins $13.10
(Rake: $0.65)

The Poker Meister #48

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $151.35
BTN: $29.90
SB: $24.55
Hero (BB): $54.85
UTG: $13.30
UTG+1: $21.50
UTG+2: $60.35
MP1: $79.50
MP2: $41.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Jc 9c
6 folds, BTN raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.25, BTNcalls $2.50

Flop: ($8.75) 4h 3c 9h (2 players)
Hero bets $6, BTN calls $6

Turn: ($20.75) 6s (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $19.65 all in, Hero calls $19.65
I check the turn, but I'm to believe that a guy who calls the flop is shoving the turn? Wouldn't he be raising the flop if he had a hand he was trying to value bet? All of a sudden he's scared of the two-heart board?

River: ($60.05) 4s (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $60.05
BTN shows 8c Ad (a pair of Fours)
Hero shows Jc 9c (two pair, Nines and Fours)
Hero wins $57.05
(Rake: $3.00)

What would you do? #51 - Rivered top pair facing oversized raise against good regular

As I alluded to in earlier posts, I'm starting to take shots at $100NL. I want to establish that I can play that level. When I was ready to go up back in December, my bankroll was decimated due to the UIGEA enforcement that I thought was probably going to go into effect. However, I have since re-established a nicely-sized bankroll, and have started to take shots at the "big time." Here's an interesting hand that still has me thinking:

Sleekest is a good winning regular at these stakes, so getting mixed up in a pot with him is not my idea of a good time. I have a nominal amount of hands on him, but according to Will Wonka, he's a:
15/12/4.3 over 10K hands
36% Steal overall and 53 from button
74CBet
Folds to 3 bets 61%
Clearly, he's a TAG. Clearly, I need to get used to this type of aggression; I'm not seeing it at $50NL and I'm not quite sure how to handle it. How light should I be typically calling?

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $100.00
UTG: $40.20
UTG+1: $148.15
MP1: $152.70
MP2: $82.65
CO: $100.00
BTN: $63.20
Hero (SB): $166.20

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with 9d Jd
2 folds, MP1 raises to $3.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $3, 1 fold
I should probably have folded, but how can I fold J9s?

Flop: ($8.00) 6d 2d 7c (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks
In position, with no cbet, he checks? Interesting...

Turn: ($8.00) 2h (2 players)
Hero bets $5, MP1 calls $5
Well, I have 2 diamonds and there's two diamonds on the board, so maybe I'll start to build a pot in the event I do hit. Additionally, I can potentially take this down right now. No dice, though.

River: ($18.00) Jc (2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP1 raises to $39, Hero folds
Good river. Sleekest has been completely passive in this hand and I honestly expect a call behind. He instead opts to overbet raise this pot. WTF? Anyone calling this? My thought is that I have $14 vested in this pot, and by calling another $32(!!!) is throwing good money after bad. Am I wrong? Should I be calling him light in this spot? I somewhat sense that he has a boat with this sized raise; hoping that I have an overpair or connected with the river. I'm confused by the fact that he did not bet the flop, though, with a lot of draws out there...

Opinions? Bad fold?

Final Pot: $32.00
MP1 wins $30.40
(Rake: $1.60)

The Poker Meister #47

From the Rush Tables:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $65.80
MP2: $105.00
CO: $50.00
BTN: $21.55
SB: $57.10
Hero (BB): $77.70
UTG: $66.75
UTG+1: $31.60
UTG+2: $41.35

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 9d Jd
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.75, 3 folds, SB calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.25) Kd Qd 3c (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP1 bets $4, SB calls $4, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($17.25) 7h (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP1 checks
Why bet the flop then check through the turn when you have position?

River: ($17.25) 7d (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, MP1 folds, SB calls $8
Not the best card in the world, but I'm still value betting my rivered flush.

Final Pot: $33.25
SB mucks Qs Ad
Hero shows 9d Jd (a flush, King high)
Hero wins $31.60
(Rake: $1.65)
I think $8 was a perfect bet size; he doesn't have top pair and there's a lot out there that beats him.

What would you do? #50 - Facing river shove on a 4 straight board

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $41.25
CO: $33.25
BTN: $55.05
SB: $31.70
BB: $40.90 - 100% VPIP @ 6 hands (is that enough history to make a generalization of this player?)
UTG: $66.35
UTG+1: $34.05
UTG+2: $63.55
Hero (MP1): $52.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP1 with Ad Ah
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 4 folds, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) Qd Jh Kc (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, BB calls $2

Turn: ($7.75) 4c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB calls $4

River: ($15.75) As (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7.50, BB raises to $33.15 all in, Hero calls $25.65
Is this easier than I'm making it out to be? Anyone folding here?

Final Pot: $82.05
BB shows Kh 6s (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows Ad Ah (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero wins $79.05
(Rake: $3.00)

WTF?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $15.95
BB: $26.70
UTG: $26.10
UTG+1: $96.55
MP: $25.75
CO: $33.85
Hero (BTN): $50.85

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Ad Kh
UTG calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, 1 fold, BB raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $50.85 all in, BB calls $18.70 all in
I don't normally push with AK, but this is a situation where BB has been 3betting all day. I know I'm ahead here, but I'm very surprised to see his call. I realize that I'm 60/40 with him, but it still sucks to go down in flames against a total idiot CALLING T8s!

Flop: ($54.15) Th 9c 4d

Turn: ($54.15) Td

River: ($54.15) 2h

Final Pot: $54.15
BB shows 8s Ts (three of a kind, Tens) - Thanks, Full Tilt!
Hero shows Ad Kh (a pair of Tens)
BB wins $51.45
(Rake: $2.70)

PT3 Color Coder / Notes automatic generator location

If anyone is interested, please use rapidshare.com as the place to download my simple application. I make not warranties. If you find the software useful, please feel free to contribute to my poker degeneracy by transferring money to Full Tilt account: ThePokerMomTPM (the first name of the city is N).

Enjoy!

Ouch of the day

This was a pretty sick hand where everybody (except me) had a SOLID piece of the board.

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP2): $68.90
CO: $29.21
BTN: $25.00
SB: $38.27
BB: $22.90
UTG: $24.75
UTG+1: $44.77
UTG+2: $8.46
MP1: $8.43

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP2 with 3d 3c
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, MP1 raises to $1.10, Hero calls $1.10, 4 folds, UTG calls $0.85

Flop: ($3.65) 4d Js 2s (3 players)
UTG checks, MP1 bets $2.25, Hero calls $2.25, UTG calls $2.25
I'm calling any reasonably-sized bet; this is a fairly dry board.

Turn: ($10.40) 5d (3 players)
UTG checks, MP1 bets $3, Hero raises to $6, UTG calls $6, MP1 calls $2.08 all in
Open-ended. I'm semi-bluffing but UTG strings along.

River: ($27.48) 6h (3 players - 1 is all in)
UTG checks, Hero bets $15.40, UTG calls $15.40 all in
If UTG has come this far, then he's calling an all-in for the rest of his stack.

Final Pot: $58.28
Hero shows 3d 3c (a straight, Six high)
UTG mucks 4h 4c - A flopped set of Fours!
MP1 mucks 6d 6s - A rivered set of Sixes! (I don't feel bad at all for this guy; he should have laid down to all of the prior action.)
Hero wins $31.01
Hero wins $24.36
(Rake: $2.91)

The Poker Meister #46

I should have stacked him. I think he was calling no matter what I bet. Missed opportunity.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $39.15
SB: $64.80
BB: $48.50
Hero (UTG): $125.60
UTG+1: $50.00
MP: $53.30
CO: $30.95

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with 9h Jh
Hero calls $0.50, 4 folds, SB calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($1.50) 8s 8h 7h (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1, Hero raises to $3, SB folds, BB calls $2

Turn: ($7.50) Ts (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4.50, BB calls $4.50

River: ($16.50) 9c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7.50, BB calls $7.50
With $16.50 in the pot already, I think I could have bet around $20-$25 and gotten a call - if not more. Bummer that I wasn't thinking more clearly at the time!

Final Pot: $31.50
BB mucks 8d 4d
Hero shows 9h Jh (a straight, Jack high)
Hero wins $29.95
(Rake: $1.55)

Rush Poker and a PT3 notes auto color coder for your Full Tilt client

So I've been working all day on pulling together an automatic notes generator for Full Tilt Rush poker, since PT3 / HEM cannot keep up with the constant change of tables. What I have done is coded a Java application which inspects your PT3 Player Ratings and copies their stats and color codes into the notes XML file. Do you think this would be of interest to anyone?

It's been a LONG time since I've coded, so I must admit that my code is spaghetti-like, and my SQL is even worse! (I'm a Systems Engineer now; I last coded 4-5 years ago!) Anyway, what I did was pretty simple, and I compiled it into a Java executable, to make it easier for all Windows users to utilize. Please let me know if you're interested & I'll throw it up there.

Thanks, Full Tilt! Iron Man bonus achieved 22 days early!

Thank you for inventing Rush, so I can rush to get my end of year bonus money! I love Rush poker.

Biggest pot ever!

Again, nothing special; my flopped set vs. AA. I knew what he had pre-flop, which is why I called. 150BB deep, it's worth a peek to see what happens. I'm definitely laying down an A or K high flop with my set after the 3bet.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $69.65
UTG: $20.00
UTG+1: $46.25
UTG+2: $62.60
MP1: $78.25
Hero (MP2): $125.70
CO: $50.00
BTN: $50.25
SB: $93.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with 4h 4d
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 2c 8d 4s (2 players)
MP1 bets $2, Hero raises to $6, MP1 raises to $18, Hero raises to $45, MP1 raises to $76.50 all in, Hero calls $31.50

Turn: ($157.25) 5s (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($157.25) 9c (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $157.25
MP1 shows Ad As (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows 4h 4d (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero wins $154.25
(Rake: $3.00)

A quick recap on my thoughts about the Full Tilt Rush table format

First, this:


Not very often that my opponents are seeing me stack off with QQ. However, given the action on the Rush tables, if you played them, you'd understand why I'm stacking off (not saying the action is justified, as dropping 100BBs SUCKS BIG TIME).

If you haven't played the Rush tables, I highly suggest checking them out. I think any solid player can seriously clean up. You get tons of hands per hour, there's no waiting for the next hand, and there's constant action. It's like watching the old TV show, "Sliders." You're brought from one hand to the next instantaneously. Like I said before, though, if you have a solid idea of ranges to play from positions, you'll clean up.

Without a doubt, this is a fun way of presenting poker. For single-tablers, this is constant action, simulating multi-tabling. Your decisions are superficial, not generally based on any reads or datamining from prior hand history. You rack up a ton of points and rakeback; yesterday alone, between my standard $50NL poker tables & the $25NL rush tables, I generated 940 points and about $30 in rakeback! Simply ridiculous! Anyway, I highly recommend checking out the tables, if you haven't done so already.

The Poker Meister #-5 - FAIL!!!

J9s beating me at my own game. Freaking 3 outters!

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $48.75
MP: $23.35
CO: $101.05
BTN: $49.25
SB: $19.25
Hero (BB): $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Jc Ac
1 fold, MP calls $0.50, CO raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.50, MP calls $1.50

Flop: ($6.25) 9s Kc 9c (3 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO bets $5, Hero calls $5, MP raises to $10, CO calls $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($36.25) 6c (3 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $11.35 all in, CO folds, Hero calls $11.35
Beautiful! I have the nut flush. I also have one of his out cards in the Jack. What can go wrong?

River: ($58.95) Jd (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $58.95
MP shows Jh 9h (a full house, Nines full of Jacks)
Hero shows Jc Ac (a flush, Ace high)
MP wins $56.05
(Rake: $2.90)
Thanks Full Tilt! Once again, you river me for a 3 outter!

What would you do? #49 - KK vs. TAG 3bet PF, facing large turn bet

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $50.00
UTG+2: $17.95
MP1: $26.90
MP2: $84.90
CO: $63.65
BTN: $6.00
Hero (SB): $106.95
BB: $61.65 - 15/7 @ 750 hands 2.8% 3bet
UTG: $41.70

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Kc Ks
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.50, 3 folds, BTN calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.50, BB raises to $8, 2 folds, Hero calls $5.50
Should I be going broke here? Should I be 4 betting with 120BB effective stacks?

Flop: ($17.00) 3d Ah 7c (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $10, Hero calls $10

Turn: ($37.00) Td (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $21, Hero folds
Too nitty? AA or AK?

Final Pot: $37.00
BB wins $35.15
(Rake: $1.85)

The Poker Meister #-4 - FAIL!!!

My hand has failed me...

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $31.20
UTG+1: $29.55
UTG+2: $38.30
MP1: $68.50
MP2: $61.65
Hero (CO): $51.25
BTN: $56.85
SB: $58.25
BB: $62.45

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 9h Jh
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.75, 3 folds, UTG calls $2.25, UTG+1 calls $2.25

Flop: ($9.00) 5c 8h 5h (3 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $5.75, UTG calls $5.75, UTG+1 folds

Turn: ($20.50) 2d (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($20.50) 9c (2 players)
UTG bets $10, Hero raises to $42.75 all in, UTG calls $12.70 all in
I thought I sucked out on the river.

Final Pot: $65.90
UTG shows 9d 8d (two pair, Nines and Eights)
Hero shows 9h Jh (two pair, Nines and Fives)
UTG wins $62.90
(Rake: $3.00)

A win at live limit poker!

Well, never one to be deterred, I went to Mortimer's Card Room in Marina, CA. Unlike the Garden City Casino, though, they only offered 3-6 limit poker. It was a decent crowd, mixed with the local 2-3 rocks sitting and waiting for hands vs. the gambling LAGs. I don't know why, but the stereotype is ALWAYS true - Asian guys in their 30's-40's playing [and raising] absolutely ANY TWO CARDS! Oh yeah, and they hit their two cards constantly! K7o? Raise! Flop? K xx, turn 7. A3s? Raise! Flop 3 3 x. It's absurd how lucky these guys are, and since they raise such a wide range, you just have to sit and wait along side the rocks.

I played far from perfect poker; I misread a flopped pair for two pair which was somewhat costly, but other than that, for the most part my hands held and I hit some nice hands including a set of Aces and flopped trip 4's. I got paid on every single hand, as you can imagine, simply due to the gamblers. I will likely go back tonight or tomorrow, and try to recoup my $200 loss from Garden City. Regardless, limit poker stinks. It's slow, and full of variance since so many people are calling the whole way to the river with inside draws, overs, etc.

Anyway, book a win of $50 for last night.

Calling with AQo high

Calling with A high? I'm probably more comfortable than I should be with doing this, because it seems to cost more when I'm wrong than when I'm right, but here goes a good hand:

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

UTG: $58.00
UTG+1: $50.00
MP1: $84.15
MP2: $52.50
Hero (CO): $103.00
BTN: $24.35 - LAG
SB: $42.95
BB: $72.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Ac Qc
4 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($3.75) Jd 2h 7c (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks
No draws on this board; I set myself up for a raise if I lead here. I am definitely calling a bet from out of position because I'm certain the cards here are not in his range.

Turn: ($3.75) 9h (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, BTN calls $2.50
I think I'm still ahead here, but the 9h puts a TON of draws on the board. His flat indicates that he's picked up a drawing hand.

River: ($8.75) 6h (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8.75, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $8.75
Decision time: Was he on the heart draw or the straight draw? No matter; would he be potting on the river if he has a made hand? It seems that consistently at this level, weak means strong and strong means weak. I thought about it for awhile, trying to put him on a hand. If he has a pair here, I believe he's checking behind. If he has a flush, I think he's betting ~$4-5. Therefore, I make the call with the second nut no pair. Pretty light!

Final Pot: $26.25
Hero shows Ac Qc (Ace Queen high)
BTN shows Qs Th (Queen Jack high)
Hero wins $24.95
(Rake: $1.30)

So let's review: He throws "good" money after bad by telling a terrible river story. Lesson: You can't make this move very often, and when you do, you need to make it a credible story!

Poker is a funny game...

The poker Gods have a funny sense of humor. They can totally take the wind out of your sails one day, and the next totally inflate your ego with a killer session. As a poker player, I feel like a schizophrenic on a roller coaster called variance. Tonight, most of my hands held up with the lone exception of a half stack sucking out on a 2 outter on the river with my trip Kings vs. his pocket Aces. When my hands hold up, I'm a winning player. When they don't, I'm a losing player.

Frustration... A live poker session at Garden City Casino, San Jose CA

Well, I played a little live poker two nights ago. Talk about card dead. I won 2 hands the whole night. I bought in for $200 (kept my stack about level until bustout) and played .... maybe .... 8 hands in 3-4 hours! My bustout hand went as follows:

A host of limpers and I'm on the button with QcJc. I call and the SB & BB come along. I have $150 in front of me for a 3/2 game. Note: The setup is a bit weird; this game is 3-100 spread meaning that you can bet / raise anywhere between $3 to $100 with a 3 raise cap. The flop comes 5x 9c Tc. The SB checks, BB (a very LAGy but lucky player) bets out $3. The UTG quickly calls and the UTG+1 raises to $10. Hijack folds and CO calls the $10. I put out a raise to $35, wanting to isolate the raiser, who was fairly new to the table and who I had no particular read. Folds aruond to UTG+1 who calls and HJ smoothes. Turn is a 2x. Checks around to me and I bet out $75, leaving me with about $40 behind. Both players flat. River is no help. Checks to me and I push out my last $40, hoping both were on draws - UTG+1 calls and HJ folds - UTG+1 tables T6o. WTF? I guess that's the difference between live donkeys; they're willing to throw their whole stack with a naked top pair! I find out that the other player had J8, so I was drawing to 2 J's, 9 clubs, 4 K's and 3 8's giving me 18 outs and more than half the deck. WTF? Why do I run so bad?

I go through these runs where when I run good, I can run right through anyone. However, when I run bad, absolutely nothing comes in. When I run bad, I am a terrible losing player. I easily wash away all the wins I have from the good run. I don't get it. Oh yeah, and what I mean by running good is not sucking out by getting my money in behind, but having my damn hands hold up. I think it truly is better to be lucky than good. Not saying I'm good, but I'd like to know what lucky is like.

Book a loss of $200 for me for the 2nd live session this month. I plan on going to the local card room here in Monterey, a little later this week. I hope to crush them, and if the players are anything like what I experienced in Garden City, then I am going to crush them.

A good laydown

I'm playing terribly at the moment. The following was from a hand a few days ago, where I think I made an excellent laydown.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG+1): $81.40
MP: $55.10
CO: $97.25 - VERY LAGy player.
BTN: $24.35
SB: $50.00
BB: $20.50
UTG: $14.85

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Tc 9c
UTG raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 1 fold, CO calls $1.75, BTN calls $1.75, 2 folds
Not a normal call in this spot, but an early raise gives potential that if I call, there will be additional callers. The CO had been calling wide as well, and T9s plays well in a multi way pot.

Flop: ($7.75) 4s 3c 7c (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO bets $3, BTN folds, UTG calls $3, Hero calls $3
CO bets at the flop, which is not a normal play for him. I had found that when he had made hands, he'd bet, and with air, he'd check. I put him on a made hand, but with the flush draw & possible overs, I make the call. Particularly, I'm getting the UTG to come along.

Turn: ($16.75) 2c (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $10, CO calls $10, UTG raises to $10.10 all in, Hero calls $0.10, CO calls $0.10
I hit my flush, and want to get value. With CO calling, I suspect he is a lot stronger than a 1 pair hand. I don't know why, but I felt, at the time, he had a set.

River: ($47.05) 4h (3 players - 1 is all in)
Hero checks, CO bets $47.05, Hero folds
As the board pairs, I'm certain my flush has been beaten by a boat. I can't imagine him committing 100 BBs without the strongest hands.

Final Pot: $47.05
CO shows 3s 3h (a full house, Threes full of Fours)
UTG mucks Ah Kc
CO wins $44.70
(Rake: $2.35)

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For the live home game players, this is a good deal!

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Another "When to fold AK"

It's not very often that you find yourself at the folding end of Ace-King, pre-flop.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $10.00
MP: $63.05
CO: $21.65
BTN: $51.10
SB: $49.50
Hero (BB): $59.55

UTG posts a big blind ($0.50)

Pre Flop: ($1.25) Hero is BB with Kc Ad
UTG checks, MP raises to $2.25, 3 folds, Hero calls $1.75,
I flat because I'm looking to see a cheap flop. The MP raiser is a 23/8, so I am likely against a pocket pair at worst and AK at best. Given his range, and his position, I'm putting him on TT+, and a raise will not get him off the hand.
UTG raises to $10 all in, MP raises to $63.05 all in,
What could I possibly be up against that I'm a strong favorite? Do I think he's acting this way with AQ? If he has AK, I got suckered out of $2.25. However, I'm more than likely behind; easy fold!

The question from the hand that I walk away asking myself is this: given the way the hand played out, if the MP flats in this spot, do I call & take a $10.00 flop? I've committed 20% of my stack pre-flop. However, I'm getting very good odds to call: 3-1. Is this every an EV+ situation?
1 fold

Flop: ($22.50) Qc Kh 8s

Turn: ($22.50) Qd

River: ($22.50) 3c

Final Pot: $22.50
UTG shows As 9c (a pair of Queens) - Good thinking, but wrong time against wrong person. Here is a short stacker going for a classic squeeze play. He sees raise & late call figuring there's dead money and squeeze shoves for his stack. As a short stacker, you can't do that against an 8% pre flop raiser. Stupid risk.

However, from his position, I understand what he thinks is going on: He posted a missed big blind (which is VERY EV-, particularly from UTG!!!) and he thinks that MP is stealing from him. Not only that, he knows that he can squeeze, which is a regular play from short stackers. Fortunately for me, UTG is a competent player who gets me out of a sticky situation by shoving and inducing an overshove. Thanks, UTG!
MP shows Ac Ah (two pair, Aces and Queens) - Based on the 4 bet shove (for 125+ BBs!!!), was there any question that a 4 bet shoved pot means AA or KK?
MP wins $21.40
(Rake: $1.10)

The Poker Meister #45

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

MP1: $12.75
MP2: $76.10
CO: $11.25
BTN: $12.70
Hero (SB): $64.30
BB: $50.00
UTG: $59.50
UTG+1: $21.35

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 9s Js
4 folds, CO raises to $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold
CO was stealing a ton. I flat in the SB. If I 3bet, it's going to be for stacks against a short stacker, so I opt to flat & take a flop.

Flop: ($3.50) Th 9h Ks (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $9.75 all in, Hero calls $9.75
Pretty ugly flop. All of these cards hit a ton of his stealing range. However, I have a backdoor flush draw (~1 out) + 2 pair / trips (5 outs) and a gutshot straight draw (4 outs). 10 outs, if I'm not already ahead with my bottom pair. I make the call for the remainder of his effective stack, which is an overbet because I likely have, at worst, ~40% equity in the hand. Moreover, I want him to know that it's not cool to steal from me; short stack or not short stack. Gotta make a stand sometime.

Turn: ($23.00) Jc (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($23.00) 7d (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $23.00
CO shows Ac As (a pair of Aces) - I chose a bad time to make a stand and defend my blind. Even still, though, I didn't get it in with all that bad odds.
Hero shows 9s Js (two pair, Jacks and Nines) - Don't mess with J9s. I was behind on the flop, but I mop up and suckout for the win!
Hero wins $21.85
(Rake: $1.15)

What would you do? #48 - Top pair, no kicker facing river shove

59/4 / 2.1 Aggression factor @ 51 hands:

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

MP1: $47.30
MP2: $51.25
CO: $50.00
BTN: $15.20
SB: $9.65
Hero (BB): $50.05
UTG: $55.75
UTG+1: $26.30

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 3s Qs
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.25) Qd 2c 9s (2 players)
Hero bets $1, MP1 calls $1 - Limped pot, I want to try and build it up a little with TPTK. I want to get value against a guy limping a wide range of hands.

Turn: ($3.25) 2h (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, MP1 calls $1.50 - Barrel the turn, no reason to slow down...

River: ($6.25) 2s (2 players)
Hero bets $6.25, MP1 raises to $44.30 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero ??? - Now I screwed up on my bet sizing for the river, because I should have bet about half pot and continued my story. However, he overshoves for his full amount. What do I do here?


Click to see results

Hero folds - As it turns out, this player is a frequent bluffer. Someone would later call him down with the nuts to his river shove. I expect that either he caught his duece on the end. However, the reality is that this is a limped pot, where I have no idea where I am in the hand. I can put him on a pretty wide range. Is calling worth risking my stack, particularly when I feel like there will be better spots against this player? Therefore, I fold.

Final Pot: $18.75
MP1 wins $17.85
(Rake: $0.90)

What would you do? #47 - Live hand PP AA vs. river shove

Blinds are $1/$2 - this is at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. This hand probably goes back about 2 years, since that was last time I visited Dallas, TX (work trip :-) ). I've had this in my notebook for awhile... clearly I am a different player now than then, but this was a good hand.

The setup: villain is a loose aggressive. Since he's sat down at the table, he has shoved once & lost, also doubled up once in the last 45 hands. He raises every hand he enters. He is capable of any two cards.

Villain / UTG (sitting on about $325) is sitting to my immediate right (I have about $350).

He raises $2.
I am dealt AsAc and I had been asking all night if he "really wants to do that; you know I have Aces under here" and then proceed to fold to his raise. This time, I really do have Aces and 3 bet him (first time I 3bet at this table) to $11. 5 folds around back to the villain UTG who flats the $11 raise.

$11 + $11 + $2 + $1 = $25 pot.

Flop: 2h 6d 8d

Villain checks, I lead for $20 into $25. Villain calls the $20.

$25 + $20 + $20 = $65 pot.

Turn: [2h 6d 8d] Qs

Villain checks, I lead for $40 (If he has a set, so be it, but I'm not going to BS around with AA. If he has a draw to diamonds or a straight, then I want value). Villain calls the $40.

$65 + $40 + $40 = $145 pot.

River: [2h 6d 8d Qs] 2s

Villain all in shoves for the remaining $250 he was playing behind. Is this an easy call? It is possible that he played deuces to the river and got lucky, no? $250 is a big overbet, and he's no less leading into me, when I have shown to be the aggressor the whole way.

Click to see results

I make the call with the thought that the paired 2's on the river helped me: if he had a lucky flop of 8 6 for 2 pair or some random 2 pairs, then the paired river just counterfeited his 2 pair. After I made the call, I waited for him to show... He claimed he had trip deuces but wouldn't show his hand. Finally, I laid my AA out on the table and waited... he mucked. I grabbed my stack and immediately left as it was getting late on a work night and I didn't want to be sitting at the table with a fresh stack of $700+ when I was tired. As an aside, what an ass; he's waiting for me to muck my hand by claiming that he rivered trips? I despise angle shooters.

Interesting situation - TT vs. short stacker shove vs. LAG flat

Interesting situation where the pot becomes very bloated, pre-flop, due to a short stacker:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/457384
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $55.60
Hero (MP): $61.90
CO: $9.65
BTN: $9.75 - Short stacker with typical 10/8 range
SB: $10.25
BB: $75.25 - 41/28 over 100+ hands
UTG: $8.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP with Ts Td - I'm going to break up the pre flop action so that it is easier to read:
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, BTN raises to $9.75 all in,
Am I ever folding TT vs. a short stack shover? Probably not. I'm good enough times here that I will show a profit over the long term to call a short stack shover.
1 fold, BB calls $9.25,
At this point, what can the BB be flatting for 20BBs? He is a LAG, so I'm thinking about his range in this spot: AK, AQ, [maybe] AJ (I tend to think that AK is going to re-raise though, because LAGs / donks are taught that AK is the nuts), and pocket pairs.

Hero raises to $20, BB calls $10.25
Here's my mistake though: With ~$20 in the pot, I raise another $10, offering him 3:1 for him to make his call. The question is: What should I be raising to? Should I be shoving here? I don't really want to shove because he's calling AK and [maybe] AQ, in which case we're 50/50 with the overlay of the short stacker's 20BBs.

I am reasonably sure that I can get away from the pot with 1/3 of my stack lost if I see an A or K hit the flop.

Flop: ($50.00) 7s 2d 6c (3 players - 1 is all in)
BB checks, Hero bets $20, BB folds
I want to shut down over card draws by making a "significant" cbet here. I think the size of the bet, not necessarily in relationship to the pot size, is the shocking / significant factor here. (I don't think your standard donks are thinking about bet sizing in relationship to pot size.) As a side note, I don't have a problem with this play: dry flop, a little less than half pot bet. Clearly, it's a committing bet where if he shoves, I am going to re-evaluate / call.

Turn: ($50.00) 6h (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($50.00) Ad (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $50.00
Hero shows Ts Td (two pair, Tens and Sixes)
BTN shows 9h 9c (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
Hero wins $19.45
Hero wins $28.05
(Rake: $2.50)
In the end, I think I got pretty decent value out of a middle pair. I just haven't been in this situation too often, where a short stacker over shoves for (in ratio to the pot) an odd amount (20BBs when the raise was 3.5BBs), thus bloating the pot and screwing things up for stack-pot ratios.

A little home game live poker!

Nothing much to report, other than the fact that I got 2 outted on the river once and 4 outted on the flop (my flopped straight against a flopped 2 pair), all in on the flop. Running terribly live just stinks. The game was really easy, and they moved up to $.5/$1 blinds with a $50 buy in. It was a very easy game. For the night, with all the suckouts and the bad run, I wound up profiting $18.50. I'll take a session win any time I run bad!

2009 Poker year in review

I wanted to put together a quick post for the 2009 year. First, thank you, everyone who reads this blog. Thank you for your participation in the comments. Thank you for taking time to digest, what my wife sees as, my nonsense. It is very cool that I started out writing because I needed an outlet to vent my frustrations and second-guesses in poker; it turns out that people actually seem to like my stream of thoughts.

I'm not going to make any resolutions for the 2010. Nor am I going to predict what will happen in 2010. The only goal I have for this year is a very tangible one, which is to use Hold'em Manager and migrate away from Poker Tracker. However, I will break down my 2009 half year career. Since meeting up with Josh in June, I learned how to properly play Texas Hold'em as a tight aggressive. I learned about hand ranges, positions, equity, and bankroll management. Only a half year ago, my learning curve was exponential, like Google's stock chart. Although my learning has slowed as of late, I am constantly in the mode of looking to increase my knowledge base. I am picking up subtle things, like when to overbet a pot on the river, as an "either you got a hand or you don't, but I'm not betting pot to get a call, I'm shoving and either you're calling or not" type situation, or folding small pocket pairs, OOP, against a short stacker, because there isn't enough reward to benefit me in the long term. I'd say my learning curve right now, to use the stock market analogy, is more like Walmart, where it's more matured, slower and steadily increasing. I want to continue to stay one step ahead of the donks, and move up in stakes, but looking back, I've jumped 2 levels in 6 months ($10NL to $25NL to $50NL). I hope this pattern continues.

The year ended on a low note, with my earnings showing a marked decrease within the last 3 months. I attribute that downswing to running $-850 in all in expected value. There isn't much I can do about that; how many times can I get myself in a position to be playing for stacks as a >60% favorite and lose? I look at these loses as pent-up good karma; I should have a nice run for 2010 because karma owes me :-).

Looking to 2010, as I talked about in my December wrap-up, I have the Iron Man bonus of $400. I also have a $69 Iron Man token to convert to cash, amounting to $470 in January bonuses on Full Tilt. Additionally, PokerStars is offering a reload bonus of 25% up to $150 (if you reload $600) which I may or may take advantage of. I *WILL* take advantage of the VIP Stellar Rewards program that they are running, though. The short of it is that they are offering $10 for each 750 VPPs earned up to the first 4 sets of 750 VPPs (i.e. 3000 VPPs = $40). Not a great payout, but good enough if I want to increase my bankroll there. I'd imagine they are moving towards a quasi-rakeback system, but the payouts at each level diminish the higher you go in VPPs. Not very well thought out, but a bonus nevertheless.

Now to the summary:

	Full Tilt	Poker Stars	Rakeback	Bonus	Live	Total
July '09	$ 709.00		$ 70.97	$ 100.00		$ 879.97
August '09	$ 530.00		$ 93.81			$ 623.81
September '09	$ 935.03		$ 158.75		$ 39.00	$1,132.78
October '09	$ 27.16		$ 319.46	$ 50.00		$ 396.62
November '09	$ 59.72	$ 84.65	$ 301.08	$ 100.00	$ 70.00	$ 615.45
December '09	$ 147.82	$ (10.35)	$ 161.95			$ 299.42
Sum Total	$2,408.73	$ 74.30	$1,106.02	$ 250.00	$ 109.00	$3,948.05

I can't complain about ~$4K for 6 month's work. I'm very happy with the outcome. The greatest thing about it is that the $4K includes all stakes ($10-$50NL). In theory, assuming I continue to show profit at the higher levels, I should be able to earn larger returns this year.

What would you do? #46 - steal -> called 3bet OOP

Interesting hand vs. a 20/16:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/454752
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $5.05 - Reckless, loose.
MP1: $63.95 - Reckless, loose.
MP2: $50.75
Hero (CO): $50.85
BTN: $60.55 - A frustrated player; 20/16 @ 412 hands. He has been 3 betting me a ton due to the fact (in my perception) that I keep stealing blinds and buttons from him. I am out of position against him, and have had to fold 3 out of my last 5 steal attempts.
SB: $50.60
BB: $19.10
UTG: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Qd Td
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.75, BTN raises to $7, 4 folds, Hero calls $4.25 - I raise to steal the blinds + limpers. I had been doing this quite a bit, but lately I have been met with resistance from the BTN. Additionally, I believe he is 3 betting me light at this point because he realizes I am stealing a ton. Therefore, he re-steals against me in position, with the intent of picking up the dead money (limpers) + my steal money.

Had the BTN been successful, it would have been a nice pot: $4.50. Wrong as it may be, this is the highest quality hand I've had vs. this player in a steal situation. Therefore, I make the awkward call, out of position.

Flop: ($15.75) Ad 6c 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $9.50, Hero calls $9.50 - I don't believe he 3bet with AA and flopped a set. He could very well have AK, AQ, AJ, even AT. I also put air and randoms in his range for 3betting in this spot. However, I make the call with the expectation that he won't slow down any streets upcoming if I hit my diamond draw. I think he could easily try to represent the flush, given the passive line that I take on the flop.

Turn: ($34.75) 6d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $34.75, Hero ??? - I have now check /called and checked again. 65 is certainly in his light 3bet range, as is 55. It doesn't make sense to me that he leads for pot on the turn... if he has the boat, isn't he betting for value? What is your read here?


Click to see results

Hero calls $34.35 all in

River: ($103.45) Jd (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $103.45
Hero shows Qd Td (a flush, Ace high) - Probably an easier call than usual. It was unusual to see this player take a bluff this far... so far as to lose a stack over a re-steal attempt. I think he has to shut it down on the turn instead of shoving the turn.
BTN shows 8s 7d (a flush, Ace high) - He was on a draw and did leave himself with "outs" though he was drawing completely dead on the turn.
Hero wins $100.45
(Rake: $3.00)

Sick bad beat... quads over quads!?!?!?!?

Omgitsjoshua spent a lot of money last night, in order to get a PokerTableRatings.com tattoo. Here is a picture of the tattoo he got:

I don't know why he wanted to pay so much for the tattoo; he doesn't have any tattoos in real life... So why pay $53.90 for an online tattoo? Really, it's meaningless, right? Who pays attention to such things?

Anyway, I say all of the above in jest: Josh flopped the nuts with QUADS! And how do you get your money in the middle when you're behind with QUADS?!?!?!? When the villain turns QUADS himself!

I will never speak of a bad beat again in my life, after having seen the disaster below.*

*I retract that last statement. I still reserve the right to complain - just not as loudly as I normally would.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $53.90
SB: $129.65
BB: $54.95
UTG: $25.10
MP: $90.30
CO: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Jc Js
UTG raises to $1.50, MP calls $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($6.50) Qd Jh Jd (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, MP checks, Hero checks
Crafty Josh plans to let the villain "get there" so that he can get his stack in the middle... DO I REALLY NEED COMMENTARY ON THIS?

Turn: ($6.50) Qs (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, MP checks, Hero bets $3, SB folds, UTG folds, MP calls $3

River: ($12.50) 8s (2 players)
MP bets $5, Hero raises to $49.40 all in, MP calls $44.40

Final Pot: $111.30
Hero shows Jc Js (four of a kind, Jacks)
MP shows Qc Qh (four of a kind, Queens)
MP wins $108.30
(Rake: $3.00)
For those of you who can't read, that would be 4 of a kind over 4 of a kind. This is a bad beat by definition. Maximum suckage - I propose a moment of silence in reverence to Josh... please everyone bow their heads when they read this, and give the man your best wishes of luck in the future.*

*Selfish me says thank God it wasn't me on the end of the beat-down stick.

PokerStars freebie!!!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 233050

Iron Man Bonus follow-up

This weekend, with the help of my co-conspirator omgitsjoshua, we conducted a little experiment to try to convert Iron Man medals into real coin. It was an absolute success. I googled the optimal strategy of converting Iron Man medals and came up with the following:

After further research, it appears that the $75 tokens are the way to go with the Iron Man medals. If you can find someone with a $75 token as well, you can set up a private HU game and either chop or transfer after the game is over. The rake will be $6 / person, so you're essentially getting $69 ($69 + $6 tourney from a $75 token) in return, but the cost is 400 medals: $0.1725 / medal. This is in opposition to the $600 bonus, costing 3000 medals, which after rakeback "paid back" & re-earned, amounts to a real total bonus of $438: $0.146 / medal (remember that the $600 bonus money costs earnings in rakeback). As an added bonus, the $75 token route includes no additional "work"; i.e. you don't need to earn your bonus like you would if you chose the $600 bonus.

Omgitsjoshua & I decided to play out the actual tournament, and split the winnings afterward, for bragging rights. Omgitsjoshua set up a 3000 chip, deep stacked match. The match included a lot of trash talking by both parties, and after about 100 hands, it was settled. I am 1-0 in our Iron Man Medal token series. I suspect I did get better cards, though. I hit a set once (33) and was dealt QQ, AK & 55. It will be 2 months to recoup the medals and play again.

To set up a private tournament, simply send an e-mail to privatetournaments@fulltiltpoker.com with all of the following information regarding the tournament you want set up:

Tournament Name:

Tournament Date:

Tournament Time:

Game to be Played:

Buy-In and Entry Fee:

Password:

Expected Turnout:

That's everything, but here are a few other things to be sure to watch for:

The tournament's name can not exceed 25 characters.

The time you choose is clear (If you want a tournament at 4 PM, don't just write 4:00, write 16:00 SERVER TIME). All unlabeled time zones are interpreted as SERVER TIME, which is US ET.

The entry fee must be at least 10% of the buy-in.

The password must be all lower case letters without spaces.

If you want a tournament with something other than a nine player minimum, make that clear in your e-mail.

Missed value? Straight vs. turned 3 flush

50/21 @ 14 hands. Did I miss value here? Is anyone raising the river bet? I went into call down mode when I hit the gross Td on the turn. Any other T and I'm good, but he's not slowing down. What do you think?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/452900
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $90.15
UTG+1: $50.00
MP: $62.35
Hero (CO): $52.25
BTN: $8.50
SB: $59.95
BB: $12.30

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Jc Ad
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, 3 folds, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) Qd Kc 8d (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $3, UTG calls $3
Wary of the flush draw. Standard cbet.

Turn: ($11.25) Td (2 players)
UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5
He donk bets into me on the turn. Is anyone raising here? I have the Ad to backdoor, but if he has the 3 flush, I doubt he's folding it at any point. Is there a point to raising?

River: ($21.25) 4c (2 players)
UTG bets $9.90, Hero calls $9.90
Is anyone raising the river here? I'm scared because he continues to lead. Clearly, at a minimum, I'm making the call, getting 3:1.

Final Pot: $41.05
UTG shows Kh 9c (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows Jc Ad (a straight, Ace high)
Hero wins $39.00
(Rake: $2.05)
I'm happy with the value, but did I miss out on more value? Clearly, this is a fairly reckless player at 51/21.

When to fold AKs?

In reflecting back on the "old" me, I think I'd be all in pre flop and consider this hand a cooler. However, the more recent, "thinking me," is finally able to pick up on the action before it actually happens. I make a "are you the real deal?" raise pre-flop, in position, only to be shut down.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/455194
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $44.00 - 15/6
UTG+1: $56.20
UTG+2: $24.50
MP1: $46.00
MP2: $84.20
CO: $18.05
Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $33.70
BB: $42.70

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Ad Kd
UTG raises to $1.75, 5 folds, Hero raises to $5.50, 1 fold, BB calls $5, UTG raises to $14.50, 1 fold, BB calls $9
- A 15/6 doesn't have a HUGE pre-flop range, particularly from UTG, but he certainly can be raising with TT-QQ, AK. In addition, I'm not happy about the BB's flat. The BB is loose, but not dumb (not smart either, but definitely not dumb). I want to isolate and / or take this sucker down pre-flop. Therefore, I make a 3bet with the expectation that I am, at WORST, 50/50. However, when I get 3x 4bet, I'm positive I'm the sucker here. I think I have to fold all but AA, KK to a 4 bettor who raises 6% of the pre flops, from UTG no less, AND does not have a markedly high 3bet / 4bet percentage (omitted because I don't have the actual number).

I'm still not understanding the BB's flat of a FOUR BET!

Flop: ($34.75) Kh 4c Js (2 players)
BB bets $17.35, UTG raises to $29.50 all in, BB calls $10.85 all in - I could have predicted this from a mile away: AA vs. KK or JJ. UTG has the AA, and he was fairly committed, pre-flop, playing for a 88BB effective stack (BB had $42 to start), with $28.20 behind.

Turn: ($91.15) 8d (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($91.15) 7s (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $91.15
UTG shows As Ac (a pair of Aces) - I don't blame UTG for the play here. I don't think he's getting away from a 50BB raise / push. Perhaps he should be flatting the flop, but the money is going all in either way, with $11 behind after the initial lead.
BB shows 4h 4s (three of a kind, Fours) - Wow. Note taken on this idiot. Who is calling a 4 BET, OUT OF POSITION, for 25+% of his stack, PRE FLOP?!?!??!?! So much for my assessment of this player pre flop...
BB wins $88.15
(Rake: $3.00)

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)