One-timed royal flush FTW

Back-to-back straight flushes!  For information, these hands are somewhat disparate from my archives.  I note them as I play 'em & post 'em at a later date.  In other words, I don't think this hand occurred coinciding with the prior post.  I'm sure it seems like I run like a maniac!

Anyway, 0.25/0.50.  Folds around to the player on my right who opens for $1.50 (it's a normal raise).  I look down at AdQd - pretty automatic 3bet to my standard (and admittedly LARGE, but I get a TON of calls) $5.25.

SIDEBAR ON BET SIZING: My opinion is go as large as you can if you're getting opponents to call it.  If your 3bets are severely weighted towards value, bigger is better.  I'm polarized when I 3bet.  I estimate I'm around 80/20 value.  Against opponents with higher PFRs - and on this site, they're VERY easy to see - I adjust my value/bluff percentages and adjust my definition of value.  In other words, KQ may be a bluff hand to some opens (and a bad bluff because very often, it's a dominated hand to some tighter players), it's a value hand to higher PFR players.  I can also use 75s, or other suited gappers to 3bet as a bluff; they're easy to continue / fold post flop.  Anyway - rabbit holes...

My 3bet folds everyone out to my heads-up opponent who calls.

$11.25 and flop is Kd7h2s.  My 3bet hands are very weighted towards Kx hands - mainly AK - and that's the common assumption of the majority of my opponent.  This assumption makes my cbet somewhat mandatory, though I've been playing with flop checking my top pair hands for deception.  In this case, though, I'd prefer to take the hand down without a fight: My stubborn opponent checks to me & I cbet half pot: $6.25.  Stubborn dude continues to be stubborn and calls.

$23.75 and at this point, only an A will get me to continue with the hand.  My opponent has called me twice & clearly believes he has me beat.  Turn is Jd and though this card improves my draws DRASTICALLY, I feel like I'm getting too close to very narrow stack-to-pot (SPR) ratios that my opponent will feel compelled to ship it if I bet here.  I don't love that prospect even though I have enough equity to call.  Quick math is as follows: I have 9 flush outs + 4 Ten outs + a possible 3 Aces and 3 possible Queens (which I can questionably discount a bit, since hitting my Ace may give my opponent 2 pair, and hitting a Queen may be futile against his possible pair of Kings) gives me a total 13 + ~2 outs (15) with one card to come gives me (15 x 1 card x 2 percentage multiplier) 30% equity.  My opponent checks to me & I opt to check behind.

$23.75 in the middle and I river the stone cold goods: Td.  Final board is Kd7h2sJdTd and I hold a very hidden backdoored straight flush.  To my delight, my opponent leads for roughly 2/3 pot making my shove a very easy shove.  He leads $17.50 with $18.22 behind.  I essentially double it, $37.50 and he snap calls for the rivered set and bad news: TcTh.  Exactly two timed.  Not sure I like how he played the hand, but got unlucky on the end for sure!

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Pretty simple, uneventful bomb pot - a straight flush vs. second nuts

$0.25/0.50 tables.  Bomb pot, where each player puts in a single blind and everyone goes right to the flop.

$4 in the pot; flop is 6d7dJs.  SB opens for $2 and gets called my HJ (I have him labeled as a fish).  I'm in the CO and have an up & down straight flush draw: 8d9d.  I'd love to take this pot down immediately, but I'm definitely okay with getting it in.  I 3bet "smallish" to $6.75 and get called by both spots.

$24.25 in the growing pot.  Drumroll.... turn is of course, true to the title, 5d.  I have the 9 high straight flush, with a total lock on the hand.  Checks to me - I have two spots who called my raise; at least one should have a diamond draw - or something worthy of calling a turn bet.  Bonus if both have call-able hands!  That said, I want to bet small enough to keep in those who still feel they can draw out, but large enough that a shove on the river is not out of the question.  Half pot seems reasonable: I continue to lead for $12.  SB folds, but my $44 HJ fish friend soldiers onward.

$48.25 in the pot.  River is a very good / very bad (i.e. polarizing for my opponent) Qd.  I still have the same plan of shipping any river card into my opponent's $32 remaining.  I ship it & get snapped off immediately: KhKd.  Bro, what?

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I think I learned something today... Deep stacked with KK

Both fish: 3bet/calls ship KQs, 4bet/ship KQs, 4bet ships A5s & 

I know I've been blogging about deep-stacked poker lately, and chastising my opponents for deep-stacked shoves / poor play.  I think turnabout is only fair play; I get caught in a deep-stacked trap.  I have reasons, which I'll share, but I still think I can get away from the hand & don't.  I learned from it.

We're at the $0.25/0.50 tables - my usual stomping grounds as of late.  I've been starting to play up to the $100NL tables, but the traffic is so infrequent, the volume is somewhat meaningless.  Anyway, I'm sitting on $140, but my largest stacked opponent has $93.61.

Folds to UTG+! who opens for $3 - larger than a usual raise (typical for these stakes is 2.5-3x.  A player calls to my right and I look down at KK from the CO.  Because of the large open and flat, I 3bet to $12.75 - this pot is getting larger, quick, if I get even one caller.  SB 4bets to $40(?) with $53.86 behind & original raiser shoves his $61 stack in.  Notes on the 4better are: "3bet/calls ship KQs, 4bet/ship KQs, 4bet ships A5s" and shover are: "O/c large 3bet K9o."  These are both labeled and noted as fish.  That said, I don't have any notes on a LARGE 4bet so deep-stacked, but these players can overvalue JJ,QQ, AK here.

Thoughts on my action?  Can I reasonably fold KK here?  Ever?  Against the shipper, I don't think I can, or should ever fold KK.  That's for ~100BB, though.  For ~200BB, does the calculous change?  I'm staring down a 80BB 4bet, who doesn't look like he's messing around.  I don't know; am I stuck in the matrix here?

Short of it is: I shipped my $141.22 only to get snapped off by my second deeper-stacked opponent.  I'm up against AA & AA.  Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?  I think my lesson learned is even I blind squirrel finds a nut every so often.  Respect a 4bet and even respect a fish!

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Fold or no fold? What to do???

The proverbial smoking gun...

Okay - here's a real stone cold whodunnit...  We're deep stacked at a $.25/.50 table today - $80.20 is the effective stack size (I'm sitting on $145.05).  I don't have any real data on my opponent.

I look down at AsQd from the CO and open for a standard $1.50.  I get called by the SB.

$3.50 in the middle, flop is 5s7h3s.  He's got a wide range, but this kind of flop mostly misses any strength save for the obvious sets.  However, I want to charge for any draws he may have.  I cbet for $2.50 and he calls.  No timing tells or anything; he pauses and check raises me for essentially a min raise: $6.75.  With a backdoor flush draw and 2 overs, I call.

$17 in a growing pot, we see our bingo Ad.  Our opponent continues his aggression, though betting a bit on the small side after his flop c/r: $8.50.  I think I call here - I don't see what raising accomplishes; I keep in all his bluffs and open myself up to be jammed on (which I probably have to fold).

River is a 2rd A: Ah.  $34 in the middle.  Final board 5s7h3sAdAh.  I hold trips.  He open jams $63.45 into the $34 pot.  WTF?  Let's play this back: 64 is possible, XsXs - (As6s, As4s are not possible since I hold the As), set of 5's, 7's or 3's.  Does a naked straight draw play it this way (i.e. 6sX)?  This is so far out of the realm of the player base - I have yet to see this kind of action and pressure from this pool.

What do you do here?

I folded - given the action, there's simply too many hands that beat me that act like this the whole way through.  His hands are so slanted towards value with the rivered boat...

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File under: Cooler with needless bloodshed

We're full stacked at $.25/.50 today.  It's a bomb pot, meaning each player sitting puts in a BB and we all see a flop.  There are 3 players at the table, including me.  Nothing notable about stack sizes, other than one opponent has $25 - 50BB.  I have no notes on either player.

Since it's a bomb pot, we're looking at a flop of 3c9dQd with $1.50 in the middle.  We have AsTh.  I've found that more often than not, I can stab at these bomb pots and take 'em down without a fight.  As it stands, we have a backdoor straight draw paired with our overcard.  In other words: we don't have much.

Does that stop me?  In chorus: "NO!"  I take a pot sized stab: $1.50.  It does nothing - I get called in both spots :-(.  Womp Womp.

$6 in the middle and I see signs of life with the Jh rolling off the turn: I now have a gutter and an over, which may not be good.  I check with the full intention of check / folding.  However, it checks through.

$6 in the middle, and I river the nuts with the Kc, making the final runout: 3c9dQdJhKc; I have broadway locked up!  My thinking is go large - VERY large - because any Ten completes the straight and I have a very hidden nuts, having backdoored it.  I make a very bluffy $25 bet into the $6 pot, going for what I think is broke.  My cheeky opponent decides to ship the rest of his $48.35 stack in, and my mid-stacked friend calls his $23.40 stack... WTF????

Nothing too exciting: I'm up against KTo and T8o - for two turned straights who have simple 4 straights.  Not sure why my full stacked opponent felt the need to ship it, but thanks for the nice scoop of $123!!!

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File this under: Don't do that! (second edition)

Just stop.  Seriously... just stop!

Deep stacked at a $0.05/0.10.  We're sitting on $60.59 effective (our opponent has a greater amount of chips as compared to us.  This one comes complete with notes; my notes on villain are "overreps 22; bet turn / riv."  I've added notes since, but he's a fish, to be sure!

He opens to $0.35 and I flat in the HJ with Ah7h along with the BTN.  Perfect hand very deep stacked - it's a nut flush hand, along with the top pair that is going to be good some of the time.  Given my opponent's overplay ability, I'm content seeing a flop with 600BB behind.

$1.20 in the middle; flop is AsAc2h.  Opponent leads for $0.90.  I flat.  I don't think I'm ever getting away from the hand, but I don't think I can call an open shove for 6 buy-ins.

$3.00 in the middle, turn is 5c.  He leads pot, and I happily call again.  I'm kind of kind check down mode but it's costing me each street.

$9.00 in the middle; river is 7d, completing my top boat, and as a matter of fact, the nuts.  No real non-nut hands possible besides a cooler'd better Ace, A2, A5 and sets.  To my delight, he leads again for $6.75.  This train is going to value town!  I ship $56.00 even, which he of course snaps off - proudly showing none other than 3d4d?????  He turned a straight but couldn't fold for a 600BB ship?  My targets were squarely worse boats & cooler'd Aces... a straight was not even on my radar!

Don't do that!

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The 'ole Zeebo back at it!

Apparently Zeebo is a clown

Nearly without fail, people still REFUSE to lay down a boat.  I get a full stack in on the riv when I open overbet shove:

Table is $0.25/0.50.  Sitting on $50 effective and I'm relatively new to the table.  I look down at 5c4c & open to $1.50 - 3x is pretty standard for open.  Folds around to HJ who raises to $4.4, slightly under standard sizing, and certainly smaller than my 3bet sizing to an open.  The HUD on the site is poor, but at least it gives me an inkling of tendencies; it shows he's 3bet before in around 10 hands or so.  I debate 4betting vs. seeing a flop, and go the more passive route.

$9.55 in the pot and flop is a magic 3h5s5d.  I check and he bets $3.35.  I call.  I can make the argument for raising, but I think this flop misses much of his non pocket pair range.  If he has a PP, that's a weak-ass cbet.  I want to keep his bluffs and "made" hands in.

$16.25 in the middle; turn is 8c, completing the rainbow board.  Pretty blank card.  Checks through.  He's either playing tricky or has nothing.

Still $16.25 in the center and river is a 5s, completing my 4 of a kind - otherwise known as the nuts.  At this point, he either has it or he doesn't.  If he has it, the "it" is a boat.  Zeebo's Theorem essentially says, "they never fold boats."  Unfortunate if he has it, and if he doesn't he was likely checking through the river.  I open ship the $42.25 behind.

Not going to lie; I knew he had a hand - and he definitely timebanked all the way down... before finally calling the $42 into $16.  Shows 8s9s; scoop, baby!

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It's not often I'm speechless when playing...

Credit to Jim Manser's album art

Today's hand is from the $0.10/$0.20 tables.  We're heads up sitting on $21.83 effective.

I'm on the BTN and open to a standard 3x with Ah3c and villain calls.  Ax hands are fairly strong heads up.  In fact, when playing HU, I've read that you should be opening ~50% of your hands.  If you apply that metric, Ax is really strong.

Conjecture aside, flop is 3h3dJc - nice flop ($1.20 in the middle)!  Problem is I don't feel like it connects with any of my opponent.  He checks to me and I check.  Can't turn blood from a rock, after all!  If I bet my trips here, there's a huge chance he'll fold and I want him to connect something with his hand.

Turn is a 7s, same $1.20 in the middle.  The 7 completes a little more of my opponent's range: T9, T8, 78, 76, etc.  TBH, if he has a Jack, he's leading here too.  He checks to me again, though.  I consider the above, but again check, not wanting to lose him.  Perhaps he'll get "lucky" on the river and call a strange bet by me.

2s on the river.  Womp Womp.  This doesn't hit anything.  He checks a third time.  Same $1.20 in the middle and I throw a Hail Mary $5.25 bet out there, seeing if he'll fish.  He does.  And shows me As8s for Ace high with 8 kicker?   I mean...  What?  Thanks for the $5.25 gift!

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Straight flushes? Oh my!

This is known as a "Nutting Stone."

I'm mystified at how I made only one bet on this hand.  A little background on me: I get a little spicy when I see a bargain to enter a pot.  Hopefully that explains my speculative call.

$0.10/$0.20 table, effective stacks are $25 (I have $48.73 FWIW).  Folds twice to villain who opens for $1.  BTN calls and I call with Kc9c.

I flop magic: TdQdJd - straight flush.  I'm fairly certain this hits my opponent's range on the head so I check.  Of note, I have stone nuts; there is no drawing out on me with blockers up & down.  He leads for pot: $3.10.  I flat, considering raising will scare away villain.

Ah on the turn, $9.30 in the middle.  This kind of ruins my opponent's hand because unless he has AK, he's going to be less tenacious.  It unfortunately narrows down the hand for his value betting range.  I'm stuck: I can't bet here because I'll scare him, but I need him to have a precise combo.  I check. He checks :-(.

Hopefully, my check turn will make him comfortable because the 9c (an effective blank) falls on the river.  Still $9.30 in the middle.  In my head, I flip a coin: bet/check.  The coin flip lands on check - I'm hoping he finds he still may have value from his range - given that I've been 100% passive the whole hand.  Nope.  He checks through and I'm shown QhQs for a flopped set.

Okay - comments?  I don't need Monday morning quarterback comments; I'm looking for meaningful, "I flopped a straight flush and should have bet the turn or river because XYZ."  Lay 'em on me!

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File under: definitely bad beat / cooler

My nuts were slow roasted!

I have the nut flush!!!!  How can I lose?  This hand kinda pisses me off - but I think it's just a vanilla cooler.  The topper is he's not even fully stacked.

We're heads up sitting on $43.20 effective at a $0.25/0.50 table.  Villain is in the SB and I'm in the BB.  I've been beating him handily; I'm up $7 and change on him.  He opens to $1.50 and I flat Ac9c.

$3.00 in the middle and I flop magic - JcQcKc.  I shit you not when I say this but I did consider the following during the hand: I love that I have a blocker to the straight flush, meaning that only precisely Tc9c can beat me here.  And I have a re-draw to the straight flush with the Tc if my opponent happens to suck out on me.  Unexcitedly, the hand checks through.

3s (blank) on the turn.  I need to get money in if we're going to stack our opponent.  I lead full pot, $3.  He calls.

6s (another blank) on the riv with $9 in the middle.  I have no hope of stacking him, but he did call a full pot on the turn.  I lead pot again, $9 on the river hoping for a call.  To my chagrin, he ships it, $38.70.  I snap it off and am shown the bad news: Tc9c.

Ugh!  $85.40 lit on fire :-(

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No sooner than I post the last hand and this occurs!

I'm not really a donkey, am I?

I find this hand exemplar of NOT stacking off when deep stacked.  We find ourselves at a $0.25/0.50 table sitting on $90.27.  This is one of those bomb pots where the whole table sees the flop by posting a BB each and the hand begins with the flop.

Flop is Qs8s8h, $3.00 in the middle (6 players) and I have Js8c.  Trips.  Good hand.  By far not the nuts, but not far off.  2 flush on board, I lead for $2.25 in the BB after the SB checks to me.  Gets called by the next two players ($105.84 and $92.52 respectively) as well as the BTN ($20.25).

Turn is a Kd.  $12 in the middle.  Given the flop action, there are plenty of targets out there for my continued bet: naked Queens, spade draws, T9 and JT gutters, worse 8's.  I don't think I should check down the hand at this point given the sheer quantity of draws available.  I continue on the turn with a $7.50 bet which gets called by the next player ($96.09 behind), and min raised to $15.00 by the following guy ($75.27 behind.  BTN folds.  It's a min raise; I can fold here because I can already be beat - and if I'm beat, there is no suckout for me.  This could also be a probing bet to determine the strength of my hand, vs. his [at best drawing hand] perceived JsTs which still has a ton of equity.  I think about pumping more money in or pumping the brakes - and I settle on brakes; it's a bomb pot and he can have any two cards including (no blockers to some of the combos) QQ, KK, Q8, K8, A8 - all of which have me beat.  The other guy seems to settle on the same though: call.

River is a helpful Ks.  $57 in the middle.  Ks completes flushes, but gives me bottom boat which beats all flushes.  With bottom boat, however, I'm only beating flushes and random bluffs.  I will not stack off here - I'd prefer to fold a winner than dump 150BB on a random hand that was undefined from the get-go.  Checks to the turn raiser who downsizes to $13(?!?!?!?!?!).  To me, that feels very much like a teaser bet to get me to check/raise.  My mantra for this hand is, "do not stack off," and I follow through with a flat weak-ass call, as does the player to my left.  $93 in the middle and we get the reveal:

AhAs for the plyer to my left and Kc8d for the better boat and win.  He did not win max value!  As for the AA, he's beating nothing by the river save for bluffs.  He should have saved money by folding the turn and/or river.

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Hand of the Night

Holding hands for the Hand of the Day

This hand is not all that interesting, other than the fact that my opponent stacks off 200+BB.  A little preface for the hand: the site that I'm on offers a forced ante hand randomly.  I'm not sure of the odds of a forced ante, but in the event it's a "bomb pot," every ponies up a BB and we automatically see a flop... i.e. no pre flop action.

This hand comes to you from a $0.25/$0.50 table - where I'm pleased to announce that I'm playing nearly 100% of my time.

$4.00 in the pot (8 players * $0.50 per).  Flop is 4hQsQd.  I'm in the SB with 55, and first to act.  I check & it checks to the HJ who bets half pot, $2.  He's now sitting on $53.02.  BTN calls with $114.77 behind, and I flat leaving me with $123.16.  I've seen these players bet the 4 often enough to know I should see a turn card without much thought.

I'm sure you know where this is going: 5d on the turn, completing my totally hidden 5's full of queens.  Board reads 4hQsQd5d  Now, I'm not sure if either them have anything whatsoever, and I'm okay with letting a free card go if they both have air.  However, I'm going to find out pretty quickly if one of them have a Q, because I expect a continued bet - particularly because there's a 2 flush board out there, and there's also a straight draw with the 4 5.  To my delight, the HJ bets $6.50 - for sure repping the Q, and the fat stack BTN comes along for $6.50.  Now I'm faced with a dilemma; I want to stack the 200BB guy.  If I have any shot of doing that, I need to juice the pot now, or hope to get it in on the river.  If I juice the pot now, though, I can set up an easier river shove, rather than a jagged over bet on the riv or a check/raise.  With $23 in the middle prior to my call, I go roughly pot, raising to $24.  They both come along.

$82 in the pot and $90.77 effective (I have more than the BTN, so we're playing for his $90.77 stack).  River is 7s, completing a weird backdoor straight, but otherwise not providing much fear to any naked Q.  I didn't feel comfortable at the time (retrospectively, I probably should have opened shoved, so I missed out on another $15 in profit) so I led the river for $75.  Both players snap call and I scoop probably my largest pot yet on this site: $257.52.

HJ shows KdQh and BTN shows QcJs for the case Queen....  NH fellas!

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