Never Do This

I don't need to go through and explain about how this hand played out, because it would become fairly obvious what my holdings were had you not seen my hand. The point I want to make is the tragic flaw that MP2 made by forgetting the fact that players could reasonably get to a flop calling a 4x raise [profitably] in a NL cash structure with 100+ BB.

Hand #1
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/313608
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $30.76
CO: $25.66
Hero (BTN): $27.06
SB: $25.10
BB: $4.45
UTG: $11.18
UTG+1: $30.51
UTG+2: $12.41
MP1: $4.20

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with 6h 7h
4 folds, MP2 raises to $1, 1 fold, Hero calls $1, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.35) Kh 6d 6c (2 players)
MP2 bets $1.50, Hero raises to $3, MP2 calls $1.50

Turn: ($8.35) Ac (2 players)
MP2 bets $26.76 all in, Hero calls $23.06 all in

River: ($54.47) 7d (2 players - 2 are all in)

There will be plenty of circumstances where you're not sure whether you're way ahead or way behind--this being one of them. While the villain [MP2] really liked his hand by the turn, it doesn't mean he should be willing to play for his stack at that point. In this type of way behind/ahead scenario, the villain will always be raised by someone with a better hand [i.e. a 6x and the extremely rare, but possible AA or KK]. The villain will only sometimes be raised by weaker hands such as KQ on the flop or AJ on the turn, etc. Rarely will the villain be raised with a hand much less. With that said, I think the standard line to take is to value-bet downward and consider folding to a large raise. By no means would you open all-in like the villain did on the turn and risk a stack with plenty of fold equity for a pot that is less than 1/3 of the size as your stack. A shove on the turn with AK is absolutely tragic b/c it will force lesser holdings to fold, doesn't extract value from Ax, Kx and club draws and will only get called by a hand that has AK beat. Put simply, nobody is calling a $23 bet into an $8 pot here with only 2pair. The question is that if you're MP2 how do you fold your hand by the turn? By the river? Which of the following is the most likely line to take to get away from AK on the turn and/or river...

...bet-fold the turn?
...bet-call the turn, bet-fold the river?
...check-raise the turn, fold to a re-raise?
...check-call the turn, bet-fold the river?
...check-call the turn, check-raise the river and fold to a re-raise?
...check-call the turn, check-call the river?

3 betting the button from the BB - Blind protection

As I'm trying to shore up & increase my BB/100 rate, I'm thinking about a whole slew of options. In addition to the positional 3 bet of pocket pairs pre-flop, I am toying with the button steal. Thanks to Poker Tracker, I am able to monitor the attempted steal % of each player. Below is an example of an 18/12 regular who has an attempted steal of > 40%. I can steal right back with any two cards. You can file this under 3 betting; it is probably easier to steal a pot outright from an aggressive button stealer rather than 3 betting an early raise. See below:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/313427
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $10.00
BTN: $21.95
SB: $50.00
Hero (BB): $74.65
UTG: $56.50
UTG+1: $9.00
MP: $9.55

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Jh Kd
4 folds, BTN raises to $1.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, 1 fold
Attempted steal % is 42%. Easy situation for re-steal. In this case, I may very well have the better hand, but regardless, I am shutting him down because I'm fairly certain he can't stand a re-raise. I'd make this same move with 72o.

Final Pot: $3.25
Hero wins $3.25

Another weird bluff - What would you do? #8

This one is a little less interesting. Wasn't sure whether I should post it, but the sheer volume of the river bet was what prompted me to do so.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/310070
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $50.00
Hero (BTN): $72.85
SB: $12.00
BB: $26.00
UTG: $31.05
UTG+1: $10.00
UTG+2: $57.40
MP1: $3.85
MP2: $24.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 4h 2h
UTG calls $0.50, 4 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.75, 1 fold, BB calls $2.25, UTG calls $2.25, CO calls $2.25
Standard steal to punish limpers. I'm getting a little more aggressive on the button and in position. My range has really started to open up, while maintaining my VPIP ~20... My PFR has come up to around 15-18.

Flop: ($11.25) 2s 5c 8h (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, Hero bets $4.50, BB folds, UTG folds, CO calls $4.50
Unlikely to have hit anyone, so I'm happy to take this sucker down right now with bottom pair. I have no history on the CO, so I have no idea why he's calling.

Turn: ($20.25) Js (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks
Pot containment / check behind.

River: ($20.25) 2c (2 players)
CO bets $42.75 all in, Hero calls $42.75
So from a turn check / check to a river overpot shove... What would you do with your rivered trips?






...








Final Pot: $105.75
CO shows 6c 3c (a pair of Twos) - Stone cold bluff for overbet pot? I've heard of bluffing, but the point is not to go broke when you bluff like that. He was on an inside straight draw + backdoor club draw.
Hero shows 4h 2h (three of a kind, Twos)
Hero wins $102.75
(Rake: $3.00)

This really wasn't much of a decision in my book; I snap called immediately. In retrospect, I was looking at the way I played the hand & the way he played it (almost identically). The flop is a standard cbet. The turn says either one of us have air or monsters. The river overbet, to me, really questions what he's representing. If he's going for value, given the way I'd played, he's going to bet half to quarter pot. I'm not sure what his bet represents. Do I really think he's calling my flop bet with a deuce? And I'm supposed to believe he's rivered the deuce with ZERO history?

The Poker Meister #35 - Knew it didn't feel right edition

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/312741
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $52.70
MP1: $23.05
MP2: $7.00
CO: $71.20
BTN: $108.55
SB: $9.50
Hero (BB): $41.15
UTG: $52.80
UTG+1: $66.10

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Jh 9h
3 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, CO raises to $2.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.75, MP1 calls $1.75

Flop: ($7.00) 5c 6d Qh (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $2, CO folds, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($11.00) Js (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $4, Hero calls $4

River: ($19.00) Qc (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Final Pot: $19.00
MP1 shows 5h 3h (two pair, Queens and Fives)
Hero shows Jh 9h (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Hero wins $18.05
(Rake: $0.95)

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Fold Equity of AK + the 3 bet & image

Speaking of 3 bets... 7 hands into this table, I had my AA stack some schmuck with TT. My 3 bets are considered "credible." Therefore, I get away with this semi-bluff move with AKo...

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/310072
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $60.85
BTN: $38.80
SB: $10.15
BB: $50.00
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $34.85
Hero (UTG+2): $70.30
MP1: $50.00
MP2: $53.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Ac Ks
UTG raises to $2, UTG+1 calls $2, Hero raises to $6, 8 folds
I'm fairly certain that UTG+1 has a smaller pocket pair. He may very well have AK, or I may very well have the best hand.

Final Pot: $6.75
Hero wins $6.75

Pre-flop play: Small pocket pairs & the 3 bet

I've been reading excerpts of Small Stakes No Limit Hold Em (Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, Matt Flynn) and I've picked up an interesting bit of information, which spawned a short conversation with my poker guru, omgitsjoshua (he's the guy who got me playing correctly back in June). Mind you, I've been toying with this idea for awhile; I read Ryan Fee's 6 Max NL Strategy Guide and his guide proposes the same thing... but the text of our conversation went as follows:

...
we [Josh and I] talked a long time ago about limping / raising ranges, etc.

and i've been doing a lot of thinking lately

your standard pattern is to limp / call small pairs

i'm a fan of that out of position

10:42 AM but what about when you face a raise while in position against a limper or two?

i've been finding that a lot of times, against a 3x raise, I'll 2.5x again with 44-99

and usually take down the pot against a guy with a pfr of 10

assuming 100bb stacks

10:43 AM what i've been thinking about is the fact that small pps will only hit 1 in 8

which is their showdown value

but their steal value is a lot higher if you can set the tone for a steal &

take initiative away

10:44 AM i was reading that yesterday in the Small Stakes No Limit Hold Em

10:45 AM joshua: yeah its pretty standard to three bet with pp's in position

me: ok

10:46 AM joshua: i prefer deeper structures tho

me: thats fine too

and i get that

joshua: the truth is limp-calling with pp's is tough just to break even

me: yea

that's exactly my thought

and the book agrees

i had been doing it prior to reading the book

now i'm a lot more prone to do it

10:47 AM joshua: the only thing i would say is this...

if you choose to play a cash game strategy [optimal as it may be] you may incur a certain amount of volatility or getting smacked by the deck at any point in time

10:48 AM me: of course

and i get that too

joshua: my point is as you transition to this strategy, you may be getting 4-bet or trapped more often in the beginnning, leading you to believe that you're getting killed 3-betting so light

10:49 AM so, once again its a situation where you need to be able to handle the swings

me: yup

joshua: basically you're learning to play larger pots with smaller edges, which is good and useful as you move up

a small percentage [edge] of a lot > than a big percentage of a little
...

The short of it is this: You are not going to realize a big profit by limping small pocket pairs. In fact, you will be hard pressed to realize any profit by limping these types of hands. If you're only hitting a set 1 in 8 times, your showdown value is minimal. Additionally, most times a flop will have at least one overcard to your pocket pair. However, taking the initiative and "smartly" (don't 3 bet a tight tight player i.e. VPIP 6/6, etc.) 3 betting pre-flop may accomplish one of two things: you may take down the pot right then & there (netting you the raise and/or limpers' money + SB/BB), or it gives you the initiative to garner fold equity from post flop play. A 3 bet can represent a broad range of hands in post flop play. It's too easy for pocket pairs to represent any number of hands post flop, when you've 3 bet pre-flop. You can rep an overpair, set, etc. - the possibilities are endless. In addition, it sets you up for your true monsters such that people will play wider to you and you'll get paid there more often. Just remember to play smart with a flat call to your 3 bet (be careful on the flop)... and DEFINITELY have the discipline to fold to a 4 bet!

What would you do? #7

Yet another situation where I'm way ahead / way behind. What do you do in this spot?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/308298
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $70.60
UTG: $47.50 - 33/11/inf @ 19 hands
Hero (UTG+1): $51.75
MP1: $53.00
MP2: $35.65
CO: $50.00
BTN: $37.20
SB: $3.55

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Tc Td
UTG calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, 1 fold, MP2 calls $2.25, 4 folds, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($7.50) 9h 6h 2h (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4.25, MP2 folds, UTG raises to $10.50, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $6.25
Flopped overpair. All heart board. What are the hands that he can be check / raising but limping / calling the pre flop?

In retrospect, it was a bad call on the end (I wanted to see what he would do on the next street), but I get away from his turn BIG bet.

Turn: ($28.50) 8s (2 players)
UTG bets $19.50, Hero folds
Are you calling this? Or better, are you calling the check / raise flop? The only hands I can put him on are 99, 66, 22 or (obviously, but less likely) hearts. What about if the next card is a 10s? Would you be calling in that spot - I think [obviously] more likely, but this is not a pretty board...

Final Pot: $28.50
UTG wins $27.10
(Rake: $1.40)

Can't beat these nutz!

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/310076
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $129.45
BTN: $41.50
SB: $10.25
BB: $50.00
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $34.00
Hero (UTG+2): $71.00
MP1: $50.00
MP2: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Th Ts
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 1 fold, MP2 calls $2, 4 folds
I had been 3 betting this table a TON, so I opt to smooth the pre flop raise.

Flop: ($6.75) 2h Ac Tc (3 players)
UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5, MP2 folds
Pot-sized bet, most of the time, means non-club... The only thing I have to fear is Aces which is a credible hand from UTG. However, I'm going broke with this hand if need be.

Turn: ($16.75) Td (2 players)
UTG requests TIME, UTG bets $10.50, Hero raises to $25, UTG requests TIME, UTG raises to $43 all in, Hero calls $18
AWESOME! Now I *HOPE* he has a set of Aces! Seeing UTG request TIME made me really question my 2.5x turn raise; I played this pretty standard and I thought I gave away my hand... At least he was smart enough to realize a call is useless & he wants to take initiative (by his shove).

River: ($102.75) 9d (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $102.75
UTG shows Ad Js (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Hero shows Th Ts (four of a kind, Tens) - QUADLINGS!
Hero wins $99.75
(Rake: $3.00)

Decisions... decisions... What would you do? #6

I continue to get into decisive situations more often at the $50 level... Here is a WWYD situation?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/308294
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $30.85
MP1: $67.70
MP2: $60.60
CO: $50.00
Hero (BTN): $58.35
SB: $60.30 - 28/22/1.0 @ 46 hands
BB: $45.00
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $18.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Jc Js
5 folds, CO raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold
CO proved to be fairly tight. Therefore, I'm not sure of whether my JJ is ahead, but I'm at least calling in position.

Flop: ($5.00) 5d 9d 5s (3 players)
SB bets $3, CO folds, Hero raises to $8.50, SB raises to $14, Hero calls $5.50
On the SB lead and CO fold, I'm fairly certain I'm good - therefore I raise. I'm not so sure of what is going on here, though... I don't like that 4 bet on the end.

Turn: ($33.00) 4h (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $10
Okay. I'm nearly folding here. It totally smells of value bet. I thought long & hard about this - I will nearly have half my chips into the pot. In retrospect, I should have shoved or folded right here. However, the question is: Do you make the call?






...








River: ($53.00) Kc (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks
I am OVERJOYED to see a cheap showdown!

Final Pot: $53.00
Hero shows Jc Js (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
SB shows 7c 7s (two pair, Sevens and Fives) - I had to type to him in the chat window (don't think he thought I was genuine though, although he almost did win with the worst hand) "NH"
Hero wins $50.35
(Rake: $2.65)

The Poker Meister #34 - Don't try to use it against me!

Doesn't this guy know the power of the Poker Meister?!?!?!?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/308293
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $11.60
Hero (SB): $49.00
BB: $20.00
UTG: $49.50
UTG+1: $19.25
UTG+2: $55.95
MP1: $20.35
MP2: $36.85
CO: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Ks 5s
UTG calls $0.50, 5 folds, BTN calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.25, BB checks
Easy SB limp.

Flop: ($2.00) 9s Kh 5h (4 players)
Hero bets $2, BB folds, UTG folds, BTN raises to $4, Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $7.10 all in
I'm happy to get it in here with a flopped 2 pair SB special.

Turn: ($24.20) 7c (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($24.20) 8d (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $24.20
BTN shows 9h Jh (a pair of Nines) - I didn't realize that I was slightly favored on the flop... I dodged 9's and hearts.
Hero shows Ks 5s (two pair, Kings and Fives)
Hero wins $23.00
(Rake: $1.20)

Another good month... September comes to a close...

The most profitable month yet, as I hope every continuing month would be... As usual, this month featured a downswing early in the month, but not nearly as drastic as prior months. To start, I was down ~$200 (for the stakes I was playing, ~10 buy ins!). I recaptured that by mid-month and went on a tear (you can totally see that in the graph between hands 10856 & 15866) leading to the opening of my career at $50NL/PL solely. After tearing up that game for a little while, things settled down and, I was plus/minus 5 buy ins. It is great to be profitable at the next level, but I have very limited hands to show for it (~11K @ $50NL/PL). I started 5 tabling, with the intent of working my way up to 6 tables. Since moving to 5 tables, I've done well, and been less susceptible to over-thinking / neurotic decisions (a form of tilt for me, where I am sure that everyone is bluffing me). Let's hope October has a steady course and I continue to show good profits...

Online poker profits: $935.03
Live poker profits: $39.00
Rakeback bonus profits: $158.75
Full Tilt bonus profits: $0.00 (Take 2 bonus not yet paid in September)
Total: $1,132.78


A quick rundown of my stats: 24K hands played in 98 hours for a win rate of 4.77 BB/100 (PT3 BBs) - my dollar / hour average kicked last month's average's butt by double @ $9.52/hr. I am going to start posting my Iron Man status as well; this month I made silver, but check out the last day (30th)! 545 points is more than I have ever done in a single day! It was a 5 hour session last night.

Note: I started adding in the sources of my profits, where in prior months I only tracked my online poker playing profits. I went through my last 2 monthly recaps and added this section to each of the posts.

Quick commentary: I started 5 tabling the other day... I was in the midst of a -$120+ session and I said to myself I need to stop messing around with 2 or 3 tables and increase my hands seen... I opened up 5 total tables and started playing "normally" for me, which is not worrying about the trivial details, avoiding tough decisions every hand, etc. I started avoiding OOP situations (because I'm seeing more hands, having less time to worry about marginal situations), started getting busy between hands on other tables, and was able to focus fully. From the low of $-120 for that night, I turned it around to $47! I think that's the key - I need to start increasing my tables to keep my focus.

It also helped that I started getting decent hands... but that's neither here nor there. I was able to start playing the cards & waiting for the cards instead of pressing marginal situations.

I think the above is fundamental to all online poker players; there are too many available distractions when you're in your home on your computer. If you give yourself the optimal balance, you won't have time to watch TV, play solitaire, read blog posts on the internet, and any host of other bad habits I've been doing lately while waiting in between hands with 2-3 tables.

Update: The last day of the month, September 30... I figured I'd give 6 tabling a try. I was busy, and made some marginal decisions, but it went well! I can see 6 tabling in my future.