Sunday, November 15, 2009

2 In The Flesh

After negotiating my way into a night of live poker ($1-$2NLHE), I found myself in a funny but familiar position - having just a few short hours to balance my desire to get in as much action as possible with the need to play a smart, winning game.  This is such a common story for me as a poker hobbyist (an enthusiast, but still, given the short shrift of time poker gets, ultimately just a hobbyist).  I love the nuance of the live game, but the online game gives me the fully immersive action of multi-tabling and having the action come by spitfire.

Anyways, keep that in mind as you considering these two hands I played.  What's the right action in these spots?

Hand 1) 
The CO in this hand is a Middle Eastern guy that I've played with many times.  He plays a lot of hands but is a thinking player.  He's not terribly aggressive but limps with a wide range and may continue with a wide range, especially in a small pot.  MP is a young Asian girl playing a short stack who I have never seen get out of line post-flop.  I expect her play to be very straightforward.

Preflop: 4 limpers, I have Ad-Ts in the BB and check.  Pot is $11.
Flop: Th-6c-3s.  I lead for $7, 1 MP calls, CO raises to $30.  MP has $80 behind, CO has $110 behind.  What's the best play here?

Hand 2)
Villain in this hand has a small clue about how to play, but has no idea how to size his bets, and I have seen him make some random bluffs.

Preflop: I won the previous pot so I post a $5 kill and I'm on the button.  2 EP player limp and I check 45o.  SB folds and BB calls.  Pot is $21.
Flop: 7-8-Q rainbow.  It checks around to me and I check it through.
Turn: 6.  UTG limper leads for $7, UTG+1 calls, and I call.  Pot is $40.
River: 8.  UTG leads for $23.  UTG+1 folds.  It's on me and UTG has $60 behind.  Hero?

4 comments:

WillWonka said...

Hand 1. Doesn't feel right so I think I fold.

Hand 2. Much harder and I don't think there is anyway to get away from it. The questin is to raise or call. Would you get called by worse. I think so. I push

Memphis MOJO said...

Hand1: fold You represented your hand and gilliam said he didn't care.

Hand 2: I would call, but wouldn't be surprised if beat.

The Poker Meister said...

Hand #1 - You said he's not overtly aggro. I likely fold here and take a mental note.

Hand #2 - I push. I think villain has AQ or some sort of top pair combo. I don't put him on a boat or T9. Donks that don't know how to bet size are usually overbetting when they have the nuts and underbetting when they have, to them, a "good hand."

Anonymous said...

H1: Be aggressive. Show major strength. Re-pop him to $70. Come on, look at that board. 10-6-3 rainbow? He didn't limp from the CO with an overpair to that board. If he hit a set, why raise so much on such a non-scary board? Why not raise to $20 or even smooth call and hope there is more betting on the turn? I think he either has 4-5 for open ended, or most likely has something like K-T or Q-T. You're way ahead.

H2: A smooth call isn't terrible here, but there are many worse hands that will call you here, and given his stack, the risk is relatively small. Get it all in there.

Hef