Raining Aces

I played a 472 hand session on Saturday, during which I was dealt AA 7 times. Now you know where this is supposed to go, being the resigned poker fatalists that you all are. But it's not gonna go there! I did not get cracked every time. In fact, I won every time. Twice I got it all in PF, once against QQ, once against KK. I netted +59.90 with my 7 AA holdings.

I also had KK 4 times, but this is where the story starts to losing it's sunny disposition. Because one of those KK hands single-handedly rendered my session bloody red. I ended up down $10. I'm not whining about the end result, because I fell down a full $50 buy-in within 10 minutes of starting play. Here's the hand that I so badly butchered.

BTN is 29/13/3.3 over 125 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players
Hero (BB): $53.40
UTG: $34.85
BTN: $105.10
SB: $22.70

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $2, BTN calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.50) T J 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $3, BTN raises to $7, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($18.50) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $15, Hero raises to $44.40 and is All-In, BTN calls $29.40

River: ($107.30) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $107.30 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed K K (two pair, Kings and Sevens) and LOST (-$53.40 NET)
BTN showed 9 8 (a straight, Jack high) and WON $105.30 (+$51.90 NET)

I have to say that it's been quite a while since I've had an overpair get skewered like this. I'm sure that had a strong influence on my play and my apparent confidence that I was in pole position.

But I'm still left with a few questions about what was the right way to play this hand. There are two critical points here, the flop and the turn.

On the flop, Villain raises my C-bet from $3 to $7. Maybe I should I have been suspicious about a small raise. But if anyone tells me that they're folding there, I'd say they're crazy. Because if you fold an overpair to a min-raise (for all practical purposes) on the flop, you're throwing away dough. So I'm either calling or raising. Retrospectively, I think my mistake was not making another raise here. The benefit of my opponent's small raise is that he leaves me with room to make another re-raise without committing myself to the pot. So I could have raised to $17-$20, and given myself a chance to get away if he pushed. But if he doesn't push it in there, what am I doing when a blank hits the turn?

But a part of my villain's range here is a flush or straight draw (or both), so part of my logic was to hope for a blank on the turn and then make a strong move. That's what I ended up doing, check-raising all-in on an off-suit 3. I thought Villain's $15 turn bet seemed largish after making such a small flop raise, so I read it, optimistically, as a semi-bluff.

Maybe this is a worst-case type of situation, with little chance of escaping, but I wonder if anyone has any advice on how to act here.

Easiest Hand I Ever Played, Pt. 1

I'm showcasing a new column in today's entry. It's one that I pray becomes a regular feature, because it highlights a most wonderful kind of hand - one in which not only do you have a monster, but you have at least one opponent helping your cause by doing the betting, raising, and building up the pot. It's the most stress-free type of big hand you can play.

The featured hand went down about a week ago, and it came back to me when I was thinking about DQBs and the last few times I've had them (tangentially, DQBs stands for Dem Quads Bitches, making it one of the dopest acronyms in poker. It's origins are unknown to me, but I would say it's author deserves a proper flying chestbump. Further off the on tangent, I'm unsure whether it is correct to type DQBs, which might be read as Dem Quads Bitcheses, but we're talking about multiples quads instances, right?). I picked up quad fives this weekend when holding 7-5, and got called down by a donk holding a four that had paired up and made him a weak boat. It's not often you get a nice payday when holding quads.

This is the second-to-last time I picked up quads...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
Hero (BB): $49.35
UTG: $6.50
MP: $24.70
CO: $7.95
BTN: $51.30
SB: $28.15

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO calls $0.25, BTN raises to $1.10, SB folds, Hero raises to $3.65, CO folds, BTN calls $2.55

Flop: ($7.65) A 8 A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.75, Hero calls $5.75

Turn: ($19.15) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $10.75, Hero calls $10.75

River: ($40.65) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $31.15 and is All-In, Hero calls $29.20 and is All-In

Results: $99.05 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A (four of a kind, Aces) and WON $96.05 (+$46.70 NET)
BTN showed J T (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$49.35 NET)

Easiest hand I ever played. Check-called all the way down, against an opponent pushing with air on the end. We'll see how long it is until I get to post again in this series.

The One You've Been Waiting For

No, not the name of the first David Archuleta single. I'm referring to those big cash game hands that you shape your image around. The ones that you spend so much time patiently waiting for. It's the hand that's supposed to make up for those countless conservative folds. These are the hands that justify long stretches of stack stagnation. Because all of those small pot folds that drop your stack down 10 or 20 BBs can be instantly recuperated by one big 100BB double-up.

And then there's the flip side, and that's where I ended up yesterday. In my first session since going broke and reloading, I actually felt like my play was strong, and I managed to find a few tables with some weak, exploitable players.

I bounced up early with a little luck and a little slowplay by my opponent.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

Hero (MP): $50
CO: $50
BTN: $19.45
SB: $20.65
BB: $94.85
UTG: $42.25
Pre-Flop: K T dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, SB calls $1.50, BB folds

Flop: ($4) Q Q A (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50
And I'm done. Prepared to check-fold.

Turn: ($9) J (2 Players) <-- Oh wait, Broadway! Nevermind. SB checks, Hero bets $5, SB raises to $16.40 and is All-In, Hero calls $11.40

River: ($41.80) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $41.80 Pot ($2.05 Rake)
Hero showed K T (a straight, Ace high) and WON $39.75 (+$19.10 NET)
SB showed Q K (three of a kind, Queens) and LOST (-$20.65 NET)

I do love being done slow, real slow. But I gave it back on this one...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
CO: $9.05
BTN: $20.25
SB: $25
BB: $33.95
UTG: $23.15
Hero (MP): $31.35

Pre-Flop: T T dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.85, CO folds, BTN calls $0.85, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 8 6 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets $1.50, BTN raises to $3, Hero raises to $30.50 and is All-In, BTN calls $16.40 and is All-In

Turn: ($40.85) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($40.85) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $40.85 Pot ($2 Rake)
BTN showed 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes) and WON $38.85 (+$18.60 NET)
Hero showed T T (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$20.25 NET)

I thought about this one, but ultimately I think I'm fine with my play. I've seen enough in my session so far to make me believe that this could be an OESD or FD. And I've seen enough weak players make this kind of call with a naked 8. And my opponent's relative short-stack makes it all the more inevitable that we get it all in here.

So anyways, that brings us to the hand that spawned the title to this post...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
SB: $56.15
BB: $66.70
UTG: $50
Hero (MP): $58.95
CO: $21.25
BTN: $59.55

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds,
Hero raises to $1.75,
2 folds,
SB raises to $7,
BB folds,
Hero raises to $58.95 and is All-In,
Now I've started making this move in lieu of a 4-bet, because it elicits a surprising number of calls from JJ, QQ, and AK. And if I'm up against AA, we're getting it all in anyway.

SB calls $49.15 and is All-In
My opponent tanked, but finally made exactly the kind of call I was hoping for - with AK. So I'm right where I want to be, in a great position for a big bump. Calling all-in with AK here is a major leak, which I know from experience. That all in push means AA or KK probably 50% of the time, where AK is a big dog. The rest of the time, AK is only 50-50, unless you're up against someone you know is capable of pushing with AQ or something weaker. And if you know any such people, please refer them to me.

And then heartbreak hits...

Flop: ($112.80) 8 A 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: ($112.80) 6 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($112.80) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $112.80 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed A K (a pair of Aces) and WON $109.80 (+$53.65 NET)
Hero showed K K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$56.15 NET)

And now we have another problem, because I'm extremely close to going on major tilt after this. But fortunately, I got to end my session with the type of hand that revives my faith in my ability to be a profitable poker player.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
MP: $49.25
CO: $50
BTN: $50
Hero (SB): $65.20
BB: $50
UTG: $109.75

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, BTN folds, Hero raises to $5.75, BB folds, CO calls $4

Flop: ($12) K Q 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8, CO calls $8

Turn: ($28) 6 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks
This check is from a newly (belatedly) added play in my playbook - "It's only one pair, let's not play for a huge pot with it"

River: ($28) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $15, CO calls $15
But now I feel safe making a value bet.

Results: $58 Pot ($2.90 Rake)
CO mucked 4 K (two pair, Kings and Sixes) and LOST (-$28.75 NET)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes) and WON $55.10 (+$26.35 NET)

Of course, I have to hope that this type of player has a thousand equally stupid clones. But it's still something to hope for.

I ended up down $16, but very close to up $100. Now I'm backing to waiting for that big hand again.