I do have to say this - contrary to my preconceptions, I definitely have no diminished desire to play poker, despite the joy I experience from spending time with my daughter, and despite the energy drain of managing a first baby. I still love these poker games, friendly and janky alike. I keep waiting for this bug to fade, but it's not happening. Now, if I were on a brutal downswing of beats like my friend Dave is feeling, maybe I'd feel different.
Here's the problem though - I need time to make my playing style effective. I play patient, I build up an image, and I have to wait it out to hit some hands before I can make any money. Last night, my game was thrown on its head - when I was patient, I got stomped with my big hands. When I lost patience and donked around, I struck gold.
The first (and only) Eureka:Hand 1
Hand: Q8s, middle position
PF: 3 limpers ahead ($2), I limp, one behind. SB raises to $12, everyone calls. 6 to the flop. $72 pot.
Flop: Q-Q-Q (poker is easy)
Action: SB bets $10, one fold, 2 calls, I call (obv). Pot is $110.
The two callers in front are wonderful for two reasons - more money in My Pot, and some disguise for my hand...now the PFR may think he can milk money from other guys playing low pocket pairs.
Turn: 4
Action: Check all around
I'm hoping for an A or K here, so I can make some money on the end.
River: 5
Action: SB leads for $20, one caller ahead, I raise to $60, both fold. I scoop $150.
Easiest Hand I've Ever Played, Part 2. First off, a $10 raise is not how you narrow the field, not at this game, and not from out of position. I would have made it something more like $20-$30.
As it turned out, my Q and 8 both played and qualified me for the house high hand, which is important, since it's the only thing of value I had left my the time the night had ended.
Basically, nothing really got going, I lost a big hand (see below), and ended up dropping off my last $125 when I flopped a pair and a flush draw, got it all in as a favorite against two players with top pair, and missed my draw. Ended down $240.
But if I may jump back to the other big hand of the night. This is a hand where I think I played one too many tricks with myself in talking myself into a bad play. Judge for yourself:
Hand 2
Hand: Kc-Kh in MP
PF Action: UTG limps, folds to me, I raise to $12, it fold around and UTG calls. Pot is $25.
Flop: 10s-7d-6d
Action: UTG checks, I bet $15, UTG raises to $60, leaving $55 behind.
Pause for a second. This is messy...it's a bad flop, because it's coordinated and hits a lot of the hands that would limp-call from UTG, like 89, 67, 66, 77. UTG player has been relatively tight too...I haven't seen him make a big raise like this yet. All of these are telling signs, and I've picked up on them. But there are two big problems:
1) The board could also be read as draw heavy, with the diamond flush draw out there, and a hand like 88, 99, or even 7-8 or 7-9 possibly willing to make a big semi-bluff.
2) My villain only has $55 behind, which lures me into the false sense that there is a low cap on my losses in this hand. I mean, it's still another $105 total, over half my stack at the time, but it gave me some strange sense that it would be wrong to fold here.
So I pushed for his final $55, he called, the board ran out Q-Q, and he turned up 66 for a set-turned-boat.
Here's the question, and try to answer without regards to the revealed results: In these overpair facing aggression situations, how much influence should the presence of draws have on your assessment of your opponent's strength?
Should I be more or less concerned if the flop had been 10-7-6 rainbow?
And how much, if at all, should my opponent's remaining stack size play into my decision?
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