Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Wise and Advised

I have been advised. It has taken me a few extra days to get these hand results up, as I have been fighting a kidney stone. Man oh man, I have been dying. Like literally, curled up, moaning with each breath and each heartbeat, and the pain throbs through my back and I plead for mercy. And it ain't over yet, but I have enough relief (that you Vicodin) to post the results here at last.

Thanks for the input. Comments are addressed and results displayed.

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Hand 1:
Villain is 28/16/2.0 over just 49 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
MP: $35.55
CO: $43
BTN: $49.25
SB: $48.80
BB: $40.30
Hero (UTG): $88.90

Pre-Flop: 7 9 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $0.85, MP folds, CO calls $0.85, 3 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 9 5 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets $1.50, CO calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.05) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $3,
CO raises to $11.75,
Hero calls $8.75
1a) Different action here?
I called here thinking that there was a good chance I was ahead, that my villain was drawing, and that if I pushed I might shake him off of a drawing hand or a bluff. But Craig and Rodney advised the push. It's not a bad move, but what worse hand would be calling?

River: ($28.55) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks,
CO bets $28.90 and is All-In,
1b) Hero?
So my plan was to call, hope that no diamond hits and then check-call. But then I started doing some scared thinking. My villain's line does like quite a bit like the line of someone with a 9, likely stronger than mine. But hands like this are the entire reason you play a loose game PF and raise with a wide range. So you have to call here...

Hero calls $28.90

Results: $86.35 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed A 6 (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-$43 NET)
Hero showed 7 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and WON $83.35 (+$40.35 NET)

A really bold bluff, the kind I don't really make. And it's a good thing I stuck with the plan. What's more, there's no way I pull down the rest of my opponent's stack without smooth calling on the turn.

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Hand 2:
Villain is 31/23/4.8 over 77 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
BTN: $24.95
SB: $21.50
Hero (BB): $25.25
UTG: $18.80
CO: $19.05

Pre-Flop: J J dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to $1, 3 folds, Hero raises to $3.10, UTG calls $2.10

Flop: ($6.30) 7 8 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $4.50,
UTG raises to $15.70 and is All-In,
Hero?

The villain has some loose aggressive numbers, but I ended up putting him on a stop-and-go here. There's no flush draw, so what else does he push with? I think it has to be AA-QQ, or possibly 77, 8-9, A8s. The only hands I'm ahead of are 99 and 1010. So I gave it up. Too weak? I guess so, since the almost unanimous advice was to call here.

Hero folds

Results: $15.30 Pot ($0.75 Rake)
UTG mucked and WON $14.55 (+$6.95 NET)

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Hand 3:
Villain is 30/9/1.5 over 50 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
UTG: $33.45
CO: $47.80
BTN: $24.25
SB: $42.70
Hero (BB): $114

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $0.25, CO folds, BTN calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15,
Hero raises to $1.25, UTG calls $1, BTN calls $1, SB calls $1

Flop: ($5) T 8 A (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.50, UTG calls $3.50, BTN calls $3.50, SB folds

Turn: ($15.50) 9 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, BTN checks
3a) Different action here?
I checked here to keep the pot from growing and making a decision even harder on the river. I can see a set here trying to trap, or a straight from someone with QJ (double-gutter on the flop). This is part of a change I am making to keep pots small when I don't have monster hands. That goes double when there are two other players in the pot.

River: ($15.50) 9 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $14.75, BTN folds,
3b) Hero?

Well, my plan was to check call on the end, and then my opponent makes a big PSB. We've gone through it before here. That PSB tends to be a strong hand more often than a weak one. Most people said call here, but I don't lose much folding here.

Hero calls $14.75

Results: $45 Pot ($2.25 Rake)
UTG showed Q 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and WON $42.75 (+$23.25 NET)
Hero mucked A K (two pair, Aces and Nines) and LOST (-$19.50 NET)

Regardless of the poor call on the flop by my opponent, I should have made a better read on the intent of that PSB on the end. Most players with just a single pair on the end there are either betting for value or hoping to go to showdown. Unless I have a read that my opponent is overly aggressive and bluffs a lot, I'm rarely going to see worse than 2-pair on the end here.

AKo continues to be one of my least profitable top hands. I may have to do an analysis at some point here. I'm sure I'm not the only one to struggle with what should be a profitable hand.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone who posted.

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