Online Poker Blogs

From yesterday’s $300 6-max shootout WCOOP:

I’m curious how you all would handle this river. The table generally had been pretty aggressive pre-flop, and believe it or not I’d been pretty well behaved. Villain was the most aggressive 3-better, with a 3B% of about 10.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

BB (t8552)
Hero (UTG) (t8895)
MP (t5126)
Button (t3522)
SB (t3905)

Hero’s M: 44.48

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, Q
Hero bets t255, 1 fold, Button raises to t600, 2 folds, Hero calls t345

Flop: (t1400) Q, 9, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t588, Hero calls t588

Turn: (t2576) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: (t2576) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, Button raises to t2324 (All-In)

1213 for me to call, so I’m getting about 5-to -1.

Last week’s double float cost me about half my chips on the first hand of the $700 NAPT-Los Angeles satellite and was not so popular with the commenters. Here’s a similar bluff somewhat deeper in the same tournament this week. Our Villain is a slightly better target: I couldn’t tell you much about his playstyle, but overall I believe he’s a better player than last week’s Villain. I described the previous opponent as a 3rd tier Pocket Fiver, and this guy would be closer to top tier, maybe tier 1.5

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 25 Ante (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

MP2 (t38150)
CO (t19145)
Button (t46070)
Hero (SB) (t15484)
BB (t40291)
UTG (t10654)
UTG+1 (t16138)
MP1 (t29062)

Hero’s M: 16.30

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t1250, 4 folds, Hero calls t1000, 1 fold

Flop: (t3200) 4, 8, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks

Turn: (t3200) J (2 players)
Hero bets t2468, UTG+1 calls t2468

River: (t8136) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t6666, 1 fold

Total pot: t8136

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t8136

My guess is that he had a medium pocket pair, maybe as strong as T’s, or possibly paired an 8. My call out of the SB correctly slowed him down on the flop. I expected him to call any pair on the turn but fold hands worse than like JT on the river. It increases the profitability of this bluff considerably that he probably shoves a lot of JT-type hands and slowplayed overpairs when I bet the turn.

Oh and for those who question whether I’d actually play a big pair or similar hand this way and with this bet sizing, here’s an earlier hand from the same tournament (Villain was not at the table to witness this):

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

MP1 (t9200)
MP2 (t10400)
CO (t12173)
Button (t12800)
Hero (SB) (t9417)
BB (t10750)
UTG (t18310)
UTG+1 (t7275)

Hero’s M: 62.78

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
3 folds, MP2 bets t300, 2 folds, Hero calls t250, 1 fold

Flop: (t700) J, 8, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks

Turn: (t700) J (2 players)
Hero bets t567, MP2 calls t567

River: (t1834) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t1550, MP2 calls t1550

Total pot: t4934

Results:
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
MP2 mucked 7, 7 (two pair, Jacks and sevens).
Outcome: Hero won t4934

3 spots pay

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (4 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Hero (UTG) (t8288)
Button (t219)
SB (t4401)
BB (t17092)

Hero’s M: 10.36

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls t400, Button calls t169 (All-In), SB calls t200, BB bets t17042 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: (t1569) Q, 10, K (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t1569) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t1569) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t1569

Results:
Button had 8, 10 (one pair, tens).
BB had A, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won t1569

Anything other than checking it down all the way here is just preposterously bad and demonstrates a really fundamental lack of understanding of satellite strategy. This was surprising because Villain is a Team PokerStars Online Pro who plays a ton of these things and had otherwise played quite well as we approached the bubble.

None of us here has an interest in anything other than maximizing the odds of busting the short stack on this hand.

I’m trying to make as thorough of a list as I can of reasons for betting or raising, and I’d appreciate your help. Obviously this isn’t an exact science, but I’m very interested in your feedback regarding the following list:

1. Value- To get called or raised by worse hands.

2. Bluff- To fold out better hands.

3. Protection- To fold out worse hands that have some equity in the pot.

4. Information- To make decisions easier on future streets

5. Deception- To increase the profitability of future bets in similar situations

6. [Insert Catchy Name Here]- To set up a multi-barrel bluff

7. Isolation- To get the pot heads up with a particular player

8. Position- To drive out players who will have position on you later in the hand

9. Blocking- To prevent an opponent from putting you to a difficult decision

10. Image- To encourage opponents to misunderestimate your skill or playing style in later hands

I guess I should add too that what I’m really interested in are good reasons for betting. Like, “because the guy’s shirt was blue” is maybe a reason why some people bet, but I’m not interested in putting it on my list.

Make sense? Thanks in advance for any comments, questions, or suggestions you can offer.

I really had no idea what to put UTG+1 on here, but I didn’t think he’d play anything better than 99 this way on the flop. Obviously the K is rather unlikely to hit him, and while his turn bet is weird, I also wasn’t sure he’d check Kings on the river. Given the number of draws out there, though, I do think his line is a good one. I still like my value bet, though, even if knowing he can occasionally have a K.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

CO ($162)
Hero (Button) ($414.60)
SB ($309)
BB ($413)
UTG ($522.60)
UTG+1 ($544)
MP1 ($889.40)
MP2 ($335.80)
MP3 ($634.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $16, 4 folds, Hero calls $16, SB calls $14, 1 fold

Flop: ($52) 3, 7, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $17, SB calls $17, UTG+1 calls $17

Turn: ($103) K (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $55, Hero calls $55, 1 fold

River: ($213) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $166, UTG+1 calls $166

Total pot: $545 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and sixes).
UTG+1 had A, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $542

Well, I was right about everything except this player’s ability to read hands/make a remotely disciplined fold. Zeebo Theorem FTW:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Button (t3000)
SB (t3000)
BB (t3000)
UTG (t3000)
UTG+1 (t3000)
Hero (MP1) (t3000)
MP2 (t3000)
CO (t3000)

Hero’s M: 100.00

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, A
2 folds, Hero bets t60, 3 folds, SB calls t50, BB calls t40

Flop: (t180) 2, 4, 4 (3 players)
SB bets t120, 1 fold, Hero calls t120

Turn: (t420) 3 (2 players)
SB bets t300, Hero calls t300

River: (t1020) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1020, SB calls t1020

Total pot: t3060

Results:
SB had 8, 8 (full house, fours over eights).
Hero had K, A (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: SB won t3060

I won’t be a back-to-back champion in the $2000 2-day FTOPS. I actually had quite good luck with my table draws, recognizing no one at my starting table and only two players over the course of the three and a half hours I played: Eric Froehlich and Tmay. The two big pots I lost were with AA and KK:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds 7 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB (t1851)
BB (t2250)
UTG (t8364)
MP (t15220)
CO (t6557)
Hero (Button) (t5577)

Hero’s M: 42.25

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG bets t150, 2 folds, Hero raises to t444, 2 folds, UTG raises to t1095, Hero calls t651

Flop: (t2322) 4, 9, 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t777, UTG calls t777

Turn: (t3876) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: (t3876) A (2 players)
UTG bets t3876, Hero folds

Total pot: t3876

Results:
UTG didn’t show
Outcome: UTG won t3876

I flat the 4-bet because I think the hands that call a 5-bet shove are stacking off on most flops anyway, especially since an A isn’t too likely to flop nor is AK likely to be his hand given that I hold two A’s. This was not exactly the flop I was hoping for, though.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB (t8310)
BB (t7190)
UTG (t5301)
MP (t20101)
CO (t7202)
Hero (Button) (t5988)

Hero’s M: 28.51

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K
2 folds, CO bets t250, Hero raises to t666, 2 folds, CO raises to t1555, Hero raises to t5978 (All-In), CO calls t4423

Flop: (t12166) 7, 3, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in

Turn: (t12166) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t12166) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t12166

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and threes).
CO had A, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Outcome: CO won t12166

Not that I’m getting away from K’s 55 BB’s deep BTN vs CO, but TMay isn’t at the top of my list of guys whose 4-betting range I’m crushing. Oh well, guess he “pwned” me here.

Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I did have a bit of good luck too:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Button (t13616)
SB (t1691)
BB (t9993)
UTG (t19006)
MP (t6844)
Hero (CO) (t2942)

Hero’s M: 16.34

Preflop: Hero is CO with 10, K
2 folds, Hero bets t187, Button calls t187, 1 fold, BB calls t107

Flop: (t661) 8, Q, 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t444, Button calls t444, 1 fold

Turn: (t1549) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, Button raises to t3440, Hero calls t1190 (All-In)

River: (t6151) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t6151

Results:
Button had J, 10 (straight, Queen high).
Hero had 10, K (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won t6151

I know it looks bad, but this guy was calling like 40% of hands pre-flop and 80% of flops, so even with a draw as weak as mine I think I like double-barreling. As you can say he did in fact call me pretty light but happened to get there. Not that that stopped him from berating me when I got there on the river.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokersavvyPlus.com

Button ($3902.35)
SB ($1434)
BB ($911.25)
Hero (UTG) ($2747)
MP ($1000)
CO ($1242.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, J
Hero bets $40, 2 folds, Button calls $40, 2 folds

Flop: ($95) J, 4, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $77, Button calls $77

Turn: ($249) A (2 players)
Hero bets $222, Button calls $222

River: ($693) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $555, Button raises to $1850, Hero folds

Total pot: $1803 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button didn’t show
Outcome: Button won $1800

Pretty gross spot. I feel like he actually shouldn’t be raising low flushes, since I could easily have the nuts myself. Maybe he has the straight flush? On the other hand it’s also a weird spot for him to turn a hand into a bluff, since again I could easily have a flush. Ultimately his aggression wasn’t that high, and I’m at the bottom of my value range, so I folded suspiciously.

I’ve been taking a beating in heads up games recently. There were one or two cases of bad game selection, but for the most part I don’t think I’ve playing or running all that badly. I’m losing to people against whom I’m pretty confident I have an edge, not because of bad luck or consistently bad play, but because I keep making like one big mistake per match. And the thing is, no matter how well you play 99% of your hands, you can’t afford to make a 100BB+ mistake, not even once. That just isn’t a handicap you can overcome.

Here was tonight’s. I was up about four buy-ins across on this guy across all the tables we were playing when this happened:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Hero (SB) ($8949.50)
BB ($28887)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 10
Hero bets $100, BB raises to $375, Hero raises to $950, BB calls $575

Flop: ($1900) 9, 6, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $699, BB raises to $2750, Hero raises to $7999.50 (All-In), BB calls $5249.50

Turn: ($17899) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($17899) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $17899 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 7, 10 (one pair, sixes).
BB had Q, 8 (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: BB won $17898.50

I underbet the flop with the intention of shoving over a check-raise, and I don’t think that was a bad plan. What should have given me pause (what did, to be honest, give me pause, though I ignored it and shoved anyway) was the size of his check-raise. I was expecting a check-raise to about 2K with some mix of bluffs and value hand against which I have a boatload of outs. This larger check-raise, I think, is almost always a flush draw. And a flush draw is the only hand against which I don’t have good equity.

I went on to finish slightly down to this guy after losing a few more big pots that I think I played fine but that just didn’t go my way. Erase this hand and I’m up. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. The only way to erase mistakes like these is to stop making them.

For the sake of my ego, here’s one of my better played hands against the same guy:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Hero (SB) ($7513.50)
BB ($10000)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5, 5
Hero bets $100, BB raises to $350, Hero calls $250

Flop: ($700) 9, 7, 9 (2 players)
BB bets $375, Hero calls $375

Turn: ($1450) Q (2 players)
BB bets $900, Hero calls $900

River: ($3250) A (2 players)
BB bets $2900, Hero calls $2900

Total pot: $9050 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 5, 5 (two pair, nines and fives).
BB had 10, 8 (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero won $9049.50

The first installment of my 2010 WSOP main event trip report, covering Days 1 and 2, is now appearing in the 2+2 Internet Magazine:

“We began play with 30,000 chips each and blinds of just 50 and 100. On the very first hand, about half the table folded before the player on my right, a young French Canadian in a red hoodie who looked sort of like a raccoon, made a small raise to 200. I was next to act holding K5s. I re-raised to 600. Everyone folded, and just like that I was up to 30,350 chips. It was the most I would have all day.”

If you want to find out what went wrong on Day 1 and why I got called a “douchebag” on Day 2, then read the article. And of course, let me know what you think of it!