Thursday, April 24, 2008

First Hand, Just Sat Down

I'm squeezing in 50NL 6-max cash games wherever I can, but I didn't get very many hands in this week. No worries here, because come tomorrow morning (by which I mean 1:30am tonight), I will be saddling up to a seat at a poker table somewhere in Atlantic City, intent on getting in enough poker to make me sick of it. Which may be necessary, since I'm finding less and less time to sit down and play at home.

I want to discuss a hand that came up in my very first hand after sitting down at a table. Now right when I sit down at a table, I tend to prefer to play pretty tight while I feel out the table. I almost don't want to be dealt any playable hands, and if I do play them, I'm looking to hit it big. The reason being, if anyone plays at me, I don't have enough information to judge an opponent's move. I'm just playing my cards. And if someone makes a move against me, then that's just a really risky move, because they don't know nearly enough about me either. They don't know that I'm a chronic C-better or whether I like to lead when I hit.

With that said, here's the hand...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6141354870: Table Nobar (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: noldmax ($50) <-- BB
Seat 2: birdiemachine ($48.75)
Seat 3: slurp eee ($13.50)
Seat 4: yurec ($50)
Seat 5: stellar1212 ($56.35)
Seat 6: foldfag2 ($25.10) <-- SB

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to noldmax [Js Jd]
birdiemachine raises to $1.75
slurp eee folds, yurec folds, stellar1212 folds, foldfag2 folds
noldmax raises to $5.50 <-- This is my standard play in this spot
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine calls $3.75

*** FLOP *** [6d 5c 9c] <-- All unders, some coordination. Good, not great.
noldmax bets $7
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $18.50
Hero?

This is the type of situation where experience and history play a really big role in your decision-making. I your opponent is loose, you could put him on a weak holding like A-9 or 9-10, or even A-6. If your opponent is aggressive, he could be pushing a big draw, something like Ac-Qc. Or, he could be making a move with a hand that has outs, something like 7-7 or 8-8. But in this case, I don't have anything to go by, so I have to give strong consideration to 55, 66, 99, or even a better overpair like QQ. Really, the only hands I beat are 10-10, 7-7, and 8-8, and against drawing hands I'm close to 50/50.

Scroll down a bit for the results....
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noldmax has 15 seconds left to act
noldmax has requested TIME
noldmax adds $12.50
noldmax folds
Uncalled bet of $11.50 returned to birdiemachine
birdiemachine mucks
birdiemachine wins the pot ($24)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $25.25 Rake $1.25
Board: [6d 5c 9c]
Seat 1: noldmax (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: birdiemachine collected ($24), mucked

Does anyone play this differently, given the situation? I can't check the flop with an overpair, right? Or do I just smooth-call the PFR, then check-call or check-raise? Anybody pushing the flop?

I think in the future, I don't 3-bet PF from OOP. That would fit much better with my strategy of laying low when I first arrive at a table.

2 comments:

birdiemachine said...

FullTiltPoker Game #6141354870: Table Nobar (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:26:31 ET - 2008/04/22
Seat 1: noldmax ($50)
Seat 2: birdiemachine ($48.75)
Seat 3: slurp eee ($13.50)
Seat 4: yurec ($50)
Seat 5: stellar1212 ($56.35)
Seat 6: foldfag2 ($25.10)
foldfag2 posts the small blind of $0.25
noldmax posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [Qh Qd]
birdiemachine raises to $1.75
slurp eee folds
yurec folds
stellar1212 folds
foldfag2 folds
noldmax raises to $5.50
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine calls $3.75
*** FLOP *** [6d 5c 9c]
noldmax bets $7
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $18.50
noldmax has 15 seconds left to act
noldmax has requested TIME
noldmax adds $12.50
noldmax folds
Uncalled bet of $11.50 returned to birdiemachine
birdiemachine mucks
birdiemachine wins the pot ($24)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $25.25 | Rake $1.25
Board: [6d 5c 9c]
Seat 1: noldmax (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: birdiemachine collected ($24), mucked
Seat 3: slurp eee didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: yurec didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: stellar1212 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: foldfag2 (small blind) folded before the Flop


Good fold!!!

The Poker Meister said...

That's so cool, birdie! WAY cool!