Polished Poker Vol. I Study Group

[rhombus]

River??? I have 6.37 left when vilain shoves River


poker stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (SB): $7.98 (159.6 bb)
BB: $5 (100 bb)
UTG: $14.02 (280.4 bb)
MP: $11.47 (229.4 bb)
CO: $15.01 (300.2 bb)
BTN: $15.43 (308.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9

9

3 folds, BTN raises to $0.10, Hero raises to $0.30, BB folds, BTN raises to $0.66, Hero calls $0.36

Flop: ($1.37) J

Q

9

(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($1.37) Q

(2 players)
Hero bets $0.95, BTN calls $0.95

River: ($3.27) K

(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $13.82 and is all-in, Hero ???

 

[duggs]

Fold i think, villain has QQ/KK squarely in his range, maybe some KQ aswell. be an awfully strange thing to do with Tx or AT on that board, and its hard to find many Tx hands that min 4bet and dont bet flop? on the other hand JJ probably bets flop and QQ probably does at least somewhat often, and KK is likely to bet aswell.

im really torn, which number is your hand sample?

 

[rhombus]

Fold i think, villain has QQ/KK squarely in his range, maybe some KQ aswell. be an awfully strange thing to do with Tx or AT on that board, and its hard to find many Tx hands that min 4bet and dont bet flop? on the other hand JJ probably bets flop and QQ probably does at least somewhat often, and KK is likely to bet aswell.

im really torn, which number is your hand sample?

Thanks I was thinking along similar lines so was hoping river wasn't A or K. Even if they had AQ AA, AT, highly unlikely to shove, so folded

The hand sample is the number at the end so in the screenshot above was 31
other ones are VPIP/PFR/A%
3Bet/Fold3Bet 4Bet CBet/FoldCBET
Early Raise/Mid Pos Raise/W$WSF and Total Hands

 

[rhombus]

another losing session dont know if playing crap or running crap. Out of the top 10 losing hands out of 1100 AK once again main culprit appearing 4 times

think stats look ok i.e. PFR/VPIP etc

Hand 1 just flush over flush
Hand 2 3 Bet a shorty to 13BBs and commited him on flop he had called with K9
Hand 3 another shorty who ended up having AQ for the straight
Hand 4 Hit two pair they hit 2 pair on River
Hand 5 was all in Preflop against 1/2 stack who called with A9
Hand 6 and 7 just played Bad
Hand 8 triple barreled when hit top pair top kicker they called flop with Q5 suited for the flush draw and hit runner runner for 2 pair.
Hand 9 already posted and 10 flopped sets and lost both hand 10 bet flop and turn they shoved river with obvious flush

 

[rhombus]

ok so just fallen off my bike but decided to get back on and have a little ride before bedtime

100 hands - 2 buyins with KK twice.

1st hand Villain 18/12 Ag 100% after 18 hands
CO raised and we ended up getting it in Preflop they had AK and hit the Ace

2nd hand Villain 14/12 AG33% 50 hands HJ raise and we got it in they had AA

Look at the bright side its only 5nl

 

[John A]

Isnt Bolded the textbook example of when to have an unexploitable calling range? We call river enough that he cant autoprofit with bluffs but no more (or if his range is strong enough and he bets big enough, always fold.)

Yes, but in order to call enough to not be exploited, you need to know someone's betting frequencies. How will you know that in 1k hands or less? You can't. How do you know if you're only against a player that is just VBing the river w/ the nuts or close to it? You don't. But you're correct, that is what you want to do in theory.

Regarding Italics, doesnt that just mean we are overestimating ourselves on the turn and should fold turn more? BC capture less than their pure equity in the pot (even accounting for positional advantages) Bluff essentially break even at equilibruim and value hands capture more than their equity in the pot, so shouldnt we just fold more turns?

The only reason i can ever see raising turn to be super effective is if a few conditions are met

a) we can get value from some hand
b) he jams better
c) it allows us to valuebet at least some runouts by virtue of him capping himself.

Its the same basic concept of 3b/folding QQ v someone who folds to 3bets 30% but only 4bets a 2% range.

No, not really. We're talking about close to neutral EV spots where you have a marginal hand. Spots that include as many drawing ranges as possible.

In theory, you're correct. But it's -EV to create a balanced range and find an equilibrium point against opponents who are highly exploitable. If you're against opponents who won't get full value from narrow EV spots, won't re-jam light or with draws often enough, and don't know how to bet their hands versus someone's range, there are completely unbalanced exploitative approaches you should be taking to take advantage of that. If you're not, then you're just leaving money on the table.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't understand GTO approaches in any given scenario. I'm hoping you understand that against most opponents at 200nl and below, it's pointless to do. Again, it doesn't mean you shouldn't learn and understand how to balance your ranges. And there may be some better regs you have a ton of hands on that you should start implementing that. But most people below those limits won't have that history, so why would I look to check tptk+ 25% of the time OOP against opponents that will call too often with worse? The answer is, you shouldn't of course.

And if you said, c) turn some of our range into bluffs on certain runouts vs his capped ranges, I'd agree with you more. But any ways, I can go on and on about the misapplication of theory. I've had a lot of those conversations on other boards. You don't want to get your nose too far in the book that you're not seeing what's going on in front of your face.

 

[John A]

Fyi, I'll be available for sweat today for those who want to get on a call. 1:30pm PST.

 

[or3o1990]

I totally get owned in this hand. But his line made absolutely zero sense to me so he got paid.

PokerStars - $1 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 118.5 BB (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
MP+1: 106.1 BB (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 6.25, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 17)
MP+2: 16.5 BB (VPIP: 41.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
Hero (CO): 97.2 BB
BTN: 506.93 BB (VPIP: 47.06, PFR: 29.41, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 17)
SB: 99 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
BB: 114.14 BB (VPIP: 11.76, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 17)
UTG: 96.04 BB (VPIP: 35.29, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
UTG+1: 38.4 BB (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 6.25, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J:heart: J:spade:

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, SB calls 2.5 BB, fold

Flop: (7 BB, 2 players) 6:heart: 7:club: 2:heart:
SB bets 5 BB, Hero calls 5 BB

Turn: (17 BB, 2 players) T:spade:
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (17 BB, 2 players) 5:club:
SB checks, Hero bets 10 BB, SB raises to 91 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 79.2 BB and is all-in

SB shows T:heart: T:diamond: (Three of a Kind, Tens)

SB wins 192.4 BB

 

[John A]

Yeah, if someone is calling out of the blinds, then I'm raising that flop most of the time. I'd bet the turn most of the time as well. And we've talked about this before, but if someone can bluff for less and get the same result, then it's best to just fold in spots like this on the river. If he had a busted flush draw, he could just CR to 45 or something, and get your mid pair hands to fold. Thinking someone is trying to get you to fold QQ+ at these stakes in this spot is a futile thought imho.

 

[or3o1990]

Yeah, if someone is calling out of the blinds, then I'm raising that flop most of the time. I'd bet the turn most of the time as well. And we've talked about this before, but if someone can bluff for less and get the same result, then it's best to just fold in spots like this on the river. If he had a busted flush draw, he could just CR to 45 or something, and get your mid pair hands to fold. Thinking someone is trying to get you to fold QQ+ at these stakes in this spot is a futile thought imho.

It was the very first hand he sat in too. His sizing said bluff for sure and my thoughts were what reraises the flop then checks the turn and river that beats me? My head said absolutely nothing! But the correct answer was obviously pocket 10's in this case.

 

[duggs]

Yes, but in order to call enough to not be exploited, you need to know someone's betting frequencies. How will you know that in 1k hands or less? You can't. How do you know if you're only against a player that is just VBing the river w/ the nuts or close to it? You don't. But you're correct, that is what you want to do in theory.

If we knew his betting frequencies we could perfectly exploit him. If we are only against a player vbetting the nuts or close to it (and somehow cant infer it), we still dont lose money in theory, because he x and gives up all his bluffs and we win the pot, or he doesnt bluff enough on an earlier street and we win more pots on the turn.

No, not really. We're talking about close to neutral EV spots where you have a marginal hand. Spots that include as many drawing ranges as possible.

In theory, you're correct. But it's -EV to create a balanced range and find an equilibrium point against opponents who are highly exploitable. If you're against opponents who won't get full value from narrow EV spots, won't re-jam light or with draws often enough, and don't know how to bet their hands versus someone's range, there are completely unbalanced exploitative approaches you should be taking to take advantage of that. If you're not, then you're just leaving money on the table.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't understand GTO approaches in any given scenario. I'm hoping you understand that against most opponents at 200nl and below, it's pointless to do. Again, it doesn't mean you shouldn't learn and understand how to balance your ranges. And there may be some better regs you have a ton of hands on that you should start implementing that. But most people below those limits won't have that history, so why would I look to check tptk+ 25% of the time OOP against opponents that will call too often with worse? The answer is, you shouldn't of course.

And if you said, c) turn some of our range into bluffs on certain runouts vs his capped ranges, I'd agree with you more. But any ways, I can go on and on about the misapplication of theory. I've had a lot of those conversations on other boards. You don't want to get your nose too far in the book that you're not seeing what's going on in front of your face.

This second bolded part is having your cake and eating it too, you cant argue we dont have enough information so we cant play a river effectively without minraising for information, and simultaneously state that we need to use exploitative strategies. either we have some information or we dont. If not why cant we just use population tendencies on river bluff frequencies and make exploitative call/call call/fold decisions in the first place?

more to the overall point, i dont know where I am exactly over applying theory. If nothing else a theoretically sound game is what we should fall back on in the absence of exploitable reads, if we have exploitable reads im not sure why we cant just play the river well rather than raising turn to avoid difficult decisions?

 

[John A]

It was the very first hand he sat in too. His sizing said bluff for sure and my thoughts were what reraises the flop then checks the turn and river that beats me? My head said absolutely nothing! But the correct answer was obviously pocket 10's in this case.

Yeah, but like I said, use the John theorm... if someone can bluff for less and get the same result, and the raise amount is significantly over that, then it's usually not a bluff. Especially at those stakes.

 

[John A]

If we knew his betting frequencies we could perfectly exploit him. If we are only against a player vbetting the nuts or close to it (and somehow cant infer it), we still dont lose money in theory, because he x and gives up all his bluffs and we win the pot, or he doesnt bluff enough on an earlier street and we win more pots on the turn.



This second bolded part is having your cake and eating it too, you cant argue we dont have enough information so we cant play a river effectively without minraising for information, and simultaneously state that we need to use exploitative strategies. either we have some information or we dont. If not why cant we just use population tendencies on river bluff frequencies and make exploitative call/call call/fold decisions in the first place?

more to the overall point, i dont know where I am exactly over applying theory. If nothing else a theoretically sound game is what we should fall back on in the absence of exploitable reads, if we have exploitable reads im not sure why we cant just play the river well rather than raising turn to avoid difficult decisions?

I don't need to know any information on my opponents at these kinds of stakes to know they will have exploitable tendencies, which in the min raise example, again means they won't know when to push narrow EV spots. So instead of facing 2 more VB's, where you're in a tough river decision, you only face one. I should note, there's very few times you use this kind of play. But it was brought up in 2 hands so we're discussing the merits of it, but most importantly, when it should be executed.

All that means is that you don't know frequencies, but you know enough about opponents in general at those stakes. They don't know how to get max value. That's all you need to know. But if you want to say that you can take the average to good regular at your stakes, and tell me there aren't huge differences in their barreling tendencies, and how they understand value vs. texture, I think you know you'd be fibbing a bit.

"A theoretically sound" game purely depends on how you're defining that as you know. To me, that means I'm playing balanced ranges against opponents who know what the hell they are doing, and I'm exploiting the heck out of the rest of my opponents. But to apply GTO play to most players, even regs at 100nl, is a mistake imho. I'm all for people learning game theory play, and thinking through ranges and betting frequencies, because I think it makes you a better player. But if someone is teaching me the perfect way to cast my line fishing, and all the theoretical spots that there's typically fish and how to drag my line properly, and I don't bother to look down and see the huge schools of fish right at my feet, I'm just wasting my time and going hungry.

But on that note... we should take a look at the new GTO Leak Analyzer in Leak Buster at some point also. I was thinking about having Alex Sutherland come in this thread and go over some points about GTO Rangebuilder, and we can discuss some higher level concepts. I think it would be cool if everyone is down for it.

 

[John A]

Sorry, I didn't really address this:

"If we knew his betting frequencies we could perfectly exploit him. If we are only against a player vbetting the nuts or close to it (and somehow cant infer it), we still dont lose money in theory, because he x and gives up all his bluffs and we win the pot, or he doesnt bluff enough on an earlier street and we win more pots on the turn."

That's my point though. In smaller samples, you don't know this. So we're operating from more general group information (and maybe this is what you're misunderstanding), which means, if I have a narrow EV spot, and I have no idea how aggressive someone is, how much money do I want to call to get this hand to showdown (if I'm not turning it into a bluff)?

If you want some honest opinion too, I think you're likely projecting how you think about the game too much onto your opponents. Trust me, they don't know as much as you might think they do.

 

[Figaroo2]

take the average to good regular at your stakes, and tell me there aren't huge differences in their barreling tendencies, and how they understand value vs. texture, I think you know you'd be fibbing a bit.

John.... derrrrr
Duggs doesn't fib.., actually he always gives it to you straight. I can imagine the frown on his face reading your gentle needling....

I have enjoyed and benefited from this string. I take it then we should just playing situationally depending on the villain for max exploitation unless we have a ton of hands on each other when we start to think a bit more GTO.
thb this is what I've been doing anyway.

As leakbuster was saying cccc was one of my worst leaks it will be interesting to see if that's still the case. I definitely feel like I'm getting better results from raising a little more often the turn whether as a bluff or with medium strength neutral EV hands,.
I went through a phase of calling down wider against barrellers earlier in the year and started losing 2bi for every 1 where I picked off a 3 barrel bluff. It never seems anything more than an educated guess on the end, so I don't mind clarifying the hand somewhat on the turn even if it isn't optimal. At the moment if I'm losing less that has to be a bonus.

Down in the micros I find its only the most aggressive players and regs who give you 3 barrels. But interestingly I just had a short 6max 2nl zoom session on Stars for a bit of fun (ran up 4bi) and I don't think I saw a single bluff on the river
(there are gold and silver star regs infesting even at this level, unbelievable) My stats for the session are below they seem alright, I did pick up a lot of hands utg.

David and I had a 4 hour sweat last night it went on a lot longer than normal as I was waiting up for a doctor to visit my wife at our home who is ill, he eventually turned up at 0330 and I normally get up 0530. like WTF time is 0330 for a house visit....There weren't any major league mistakes or interesting spot although looking back I made a couple of silly little errors.

Dave you were commenting on my lack of cbetting, yeah it was only 55%, a bit low.

This call drew a comment from David but the villain is aggressive and it seemed a natural call to me with his stats and opening range in this spot

Pacific, $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 7 Players

SB: $19.49 (97.5 bb) - VPIP: 28, PFR: 12, 3B: 4, AF: 2.8, Hands: 137
Hero (BB): $20.42 (102.1 bb)
MP1: $14.13 (70.7 bb)
MP2: $10 (50 bb)
MP3: $23.86 (119.3 bb)
CO: $20 (100 bb)
BTN: $64.47 (322.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K

K

5 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to $0.60, SB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) A

3

5

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.20) J

(2 players)
SB bets $0.90, Hero calls $0.90 (always calling at least once having opened his bluffing range)

River: ($3) 9

(2 players)
SB bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50 (I would usually fold to a passive firing again here but not this guy)

Results: $6 pot ($0.30 rake)
Final Board: A

3

5

J

9

SB showed 7

T

and lost (-$3 net)
Hero showed K

K

and won $5.70 ($2.70 net)

 

[Sneaky Feet]

I know I'm going to get my pee pee slapped for these but that's the reason why I'm posting them. A little public shaming goes a long way

Hand 1. So my excuse is I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone and she started talking all sexy and.... No she didn't I was just an idiot lol

I hadn't tried squeezing at all and had been running pretty well in spots so I took a flyer. I shouldn't be squeezing from the blinds right?

pokerstars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/

Button ($5)
SB ($5)
Hero (BB) ($9.80)
UTG ($6.90)
MP ($3.95)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, A

UTG raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, UTG calls $0.60, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.67) K

, 9

, 5

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.10, UTG calls $1.10

Turn: ($3.87) 9

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.85, Hero folds

Total pot: $3.87 | Rake: $0.16

Results below:

Spoiler

UTG didn't show

Hand 2. I was trying to bluff and UTG seemed like a pretty decent player. I hit but this is another bad habit developing if I continue along this road ya?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

CO ($5.05)
Button ($5)
Hero (SB) ($5)
BB ($5.84)
UTG ($4.95)
MP ($3.97)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3

, 3

3 folds, Button raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, BB calls $0.45, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.15) 6

, Q

, 3

(2 players)
Hero bets $0.65, BB raises to $5.34 (All-In), Hero calls $3.85 (All-In)

Turn: ($10.15) 2

(2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($10.15) 7

(2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $10.15 | Rake: $0.42

Results below:

Spoiler

Hero had 3

, 3

(three of a kind, threes).
BB had A

, J

(high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $9.73

I don't feel I was making good decisions. Damn sexy girlfriend : P

 

[Figaroo2]

Sneaky
Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, A

I think 5 handed this is fine to raise and try to take it down pre, playing AJ out of position against 2 players is tough. BUT the UTG player has to be reasonably loose, that's one of the keys to the squeeze, (loose player raises and another just calls the loose player, neither are usually very strong)
You don't give any stats for the UTG if he's strong just flat or fold and if you do flat bear in mind you will be up against plenty of AK AQ .
You tried to take this pot away from him twice and failed so giving up looks right against a normal utg range.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3

, 3

Both flatting and 3betting this hand are perfectly fine, your opponent is clearly drooling from the side of his mouth and trying to blast you out of the pot.
If you remember that training video that we were asked us to look at recently as homework, the trainer was advocating this sort of move....lol.
We don't fold sets on partly coordinated drawing boards against aggressive players. Well played.

 

[Sneaky Feet]

Sneaky
Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, A

I think 5 handed this is fine to raise and try to take it down pre, playing AJ out of position against 2 players is tough. BUT the UTG player has to be reasonably loose, that's one of the keys to the squeeze, (loose player raises and another just calls the loose player, neither are usually very strong)
You don't give any stats for the UTG if he's strong just flat or fold and if you do flat bear in mind you will be up against plenty of AK AQ .
You tried to take this pot away from him twice and failed so giving up looks right against a normal utg range.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3

, 3

Both flatting and 3betting this hand are perfectly fine, your opponent is clearly drooling from the side of his mouth and trying to blast you out of the pot.
If you remember that training video that we were asked us to look at recently as homework, the trainer was advocating this sort of move....lol.
We don't fold sets on partly coordinated drawing boards against aggressive players. Well played.

AJ. Ya villain didn't seem to be loose so it was a bad decision and I should have folded pre. I had that itching in the back of my head before I made the choice to try and squeeze. Short stack I wasn't really concerned about though as they were quite loose I had a good feeling that they would fold. I even told my girlfriend I was in a tight spot.... And that's when it started lol

33. Holy really!?! I made a good choice totally by mistake! I don't think I was back on cards chat when that video was posted so I'll have to search and see if I can find it. If I didn't hit the flop I would have been completely lost and probably just check folded. I will watch the video so I know step two!

 

[John A]

John.... derrrrr
Duggs doesn't fib.., actually he always gives it to you straight. I can imagine the frown on his face reading your gentle needling....

I have enjoyed and benefited from this string. I take it then we should just playing situationally depending on the villain for max exploitation unless we have a ton of hands on each other when we start to think a bit more GTO.
thb this is what I've been doing anyway.

Well, duggs is a smart guy and a good player, and I'm sure he can handle it.

We're all here to learn. You only learn and grow by challenging your beliefs, opinions, and positions on things. Otherwise you just continue on the circle of insanity.

As leakbuster was saying cccc was one of my worst leaks it will be interesting to see if that's still the case. I definitely feel like I'm getting better results from raising a little more often the turn whether as a bluff or with medium strength neutral EV hands,.
I went through a phase of calling down wider against barrellers earlier in the year and started losing 2bi for every 1 where I picked off a 3 barrel bluff. It never seems anything more than an educated guess on the end, so I don't mind clarifying the hand somewhat on the turn even if it isn't optimal. At the moment if I'm losing less that has to be a bonus.

You guys are all good enough to have a pretty decent idea of what someone is going to be betting for value that beats you, and the kinds of draws someone will have. I think if I gave you guys a test on just that portion of someone's range at the end, you'd do very well. What you don't know is someone's bluffing range. I'll give you a pretty good example in another post on a hand I played yesterday while I was testing something. That's why I got off the call w/ you guys right away btw.

Sometimes you can get better hands to fold when you raise the turn, sometimes you will get value from their draws, and sometimes you'll just save yourself money. But you should just be doing this in very few spots.

Down in the micros I find its only the most aggressive players and regs who give you 3 barrels. But interestingly I just had a short 6max 2nl zoom session on Stars for a bit of fun (ran up 4bi) and I don't think I saw a single bluff on the river
(there are gold and silver star regs infesting even at this level, unbelievable) My stats for the session are below they seem alright, I did pick up a lot of hands utg.

David and I had a 4 hour sweat last night it went on a lot longer than normal as I was waiting up for a doctor to visit my wife at our home who is ill, he eventually turned up at 0330 and I normally get up 0530. like WTF time is 0330 for a house visit....There weren't any major league mistakes or interesting spot although looking back I made a couple of silly little errors.

Dave you were commenting on my lack of cbetting, yeah it was only 55%, a bit low.

This call drew a comment from David but the villain is aggressive and it seemed a natural call to me with his stats and opening range in this spot

Well I hope you're wife is ok. And yeah, that's a crazy early/late call. wtf.

Pacific, $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 7 Players

SB: $19.49 (97.5 bb) - VPIP: 28, PFR: 12, 3B: 4, AF: 2.8, Hands: 137
Hero (BB): $20.42 (102.1 bb)
MP1: $14.13 (70.7 bb)
MP2: $10 (50 bb)
MP3: $23.86 (119.3 bb)
CO: $20 (100 bb)
BTN: $64.47 (322.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K

K

5 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to $0.60, SB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) A

3

5

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.20) J

(2 players)
SB bets $0.90, Hero calls $0.90 (always calling at least once having opened his bluffing range)

River: ($3) 9

(2 players)
SB bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50 (I would usually fold to a passive firing again here but not this guy)

Results: $6 pot ($0.30 rake)
Final Board: A

3

5

J

9

SB showed 7

T

and lost (-$3 net)
Hero showed K

K

and won $5.70 ($2.70 net)

Yeah, pretty standard. Once you check that flop, and the turn brings some draws, you have to plan on calling 2 streets since you're opening up someone's bluffing range a lot more. The bigger question is how much would you call on the end?

 

[John A]

I know I'm going to get my pee pee slapped for these but that's the reason why I'm posting them. A little public shaming goes a long way

Hand 1. So my excuse is I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone and she started talking all sexy and.... No she didn't I was just an idiot lol

I hadn't tried squeezing at all and had been running pretty well in spots so I took a flyer. I shouldn't be squeezing from the blinds right?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/

Button ($5)
SB ($5)
Hero (BB) ($9.80)
UTG ($6.90)
MP ($3.95)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, A

UTG raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, UTG calls $0.60, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.67) K

, 9

, 5

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.10, UTG calls $1.10

Turn: ($3.87) 9

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.85, Hero folds

Total pot: $3.87 | Rake: $0.16

Results below:

Spoiler

UTG didn't show

Well, as any good poker player will tell you, get an ugly g/f or go celibate. It's the only way you'll be able to make good decisions, not only in poker, but in life.

Yeah, I mean I don't hate it 5 handed, but typically speaking you don't want to be squeezing an UTG open and MP flat from the blinds. Those are usually 2 strong ranges. So you're just turning AJ into a bluff (against most opponents). I don't mind flatting, but I just want one of those guys to be bad or if I'm 3-betting that the opener is opening too wide.

Post flop is fine. Bet the flop, as you don't know his 3-bet calling range. It could include some SC's, or he could just give up some mid pair hands. You have some equity likely w/ at least you Ace being good since AK is a bit diminished in your opponents range.

Hand 2. I was trying to bluff and UTG seemed like a pretty decent player. I hit but this is another bad habit developing if I continue along this road ya?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

CO ($5.05)
Button ($5)
Hero (SB) ($5)
BB ($5.84)
UTG ($4.95)
MP ($3.97)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3

, 3

3 folds, Button raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, BB calls $0.45, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.15) 6

, Q

, 3

(2 players)
Hero bets $0.65, BB raises to $5.34 (All-In), Hero calls $3.85 (All-In)

Turn: ($10.15) 2

(2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($10.15) 7

(2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $10.15 | Rake: $0.42

Results below:

Spoiler

Hero had 3

, 3

(three of a kind, threes).
BB had A

, J

(high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $9.73

I don't feel I was making good decisions. Damn sexy girlfriend : P

My general rule w/ small pairs out of the blinds to open steals is if my opponent is good (or really aggressive post flop), I'm either 3-betting or folding from the blinds (unless we're deep of course then I'm calling). Otherwise I'm calling.

 

[Sneaky Feet]

Well, as any good poker player will tell you, get an ugly g/f or go celibate. It's the only way you'll be able to make good decisions, not only in poker, but in life.

Yeah, I mean I don't hate it 5 handed, but typically speaking you don't want to be squeezing an UTG open and MP flat from the blinds. Those are usually 2 strong ranges. So you're just turning AJ into a bluff (against most opponents). I don't mind flatting, but I just want one of those guys to be bad or if I'm 3-betting that the opener is opening too wide.

Post flop is fine. Bet the flop, as you don't know his 3-bet calling range. It could include some SC's, or he could just give up some mid pair hands. You have some equity likely w/ at least you Ace being good since AK is a bit diminished in your opponents range.



My general rule w/ small pairs out of the blinds to open steals is if my opponent is good (or really aggressive post flop), I'm either 3-betting or folding from the blinds (unless we're deep of course then I'm calling). Otherwise I'm calling.

Thanks John I appreciate your feed back and your recommendation as a professional poker player regarding girlfriend choice and celibacy however I must gracefully decline : )

Good point on the AJ hand. If it were a couple positions later it probably would have had a different outcome.

As for the 33, I can't say if villain was really good or really aggressive. They had been pretty quiet for the time I was at the table. It felt more like they weren't really getting many cards in their range and may have been getting a bit frustrated. After the hand I had with them they went all in with their remaining 17bb with A8 and were beat by AQ then left. I definitely felt that I pushed them to full tilt by hitting my set.

Does anyone have a copy of that video handy that Figaroo was mentioning? I went back to page 66 and can't seem to find it.

 

[John A]

Thanks John I appreciate your feed back and your recommendation as a professional poker player regarding girlfriend choice and celibacy however I must gracefully decline : )

Does anyone have a copy of that video handy that Figaroo was mentioning? I went back to page 66 and can't seem to find it.

No, trust me and heed my advice. I can't go anywhere w/o dudes hitting on my wife. It gets really annoying. We're even at Office Depot last night and she gets hit on in a store w/ maybe 5 people total in it, twice! For ****s sake man, I'm standing right here and she has a ring on and so do I. lol My wife doesn't do anything to bring it on, but she's polite and gracious and ends their attempts pretty quick. But it gets old...

Get an ugly girl so she'll be thankful to be with you, and you won't have to fend off guys all the time. This way you'll have more energy to put into poker. lol

 

[John A]

When I was younger I dated a former Ms. Texas for a little over a year, and going to clubs was a nightmare. You get to see how obnoxious and stupid guys can really get. Sometimes it's good entertainment though to watch them crash and burn. But some of the attempts and lines make me wonder how we made it as a species. I guess club over head was pretty effective back in the cave man days.

 

[John A]

Any ways, here's that hand I was talking about from yesterday. I was testing some bovada card catcher updates. I don't normally play FR. But I like checking paired dry boards OOP into people and seeing what they do on the flop, because I can generally get a pretty good idea of what kind of hands they have, and people like to bluff on paired boards a lot.

iPoker - $1 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 81.3 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
UTG+1: 52.35 BB (VPIP: 60.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
MP: 113.5 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
MP+1: 316.94 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 25)
Hero (MP+2): 105.5 BB
CO: 54.8 BB (VPIP: 11.76, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
BTN: 51.45 BB (VPIP: 14.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
SB: 92 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
BB: 65.67 BB (VPIP: 24.00, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T:club: T:diamond:

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 3.5 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (8.5 BB, 2 players) 6:club: K:heart: 6:diamond:
Hero checks, BTN bets 8.5 BB, Hero calls 8.5 BB

When I see this sizing, I instantly know I'm c/cing all 3 streets.

Turn: (25.5 BB, 2 players) 2:diamond:
Hero checks, BTN bets 10 BB, Hero calls 10 BB

Smaller sizing by opponent to setup a bigger bluff sizing. If he had Kx and was worried about protecting his hand by betting so much on the flop, why not on the turn when a possible draw comes in? And if he has KQ or 6x, you think he'd want to make my river call a little easier by betting a little more on the turn. The second I saw that, I was about 99.2% positive he was setting up a river bluff size.

River: (45.5 BB, 2 players) 7:spade:
Hero checks, BTN bets 29.45 BB, Hero calls 29.45 BB

Hero wins 101.4 BB

Yeah, and I snap call.

So talk about balancing your checking range... here my opponent is super polarized to 6x. He likely doesn't have AK, maybe with this stack size he looks to get 3 streets w/ KQ, but probably not KJ or less as often. But the key is the flop bet sizing of course. When someone bets pot when you check into them like this on a paired board, it generally means I have nothing and want you to fold. It's rarely, I have a big hand and I'm trying to make sure I can get max value. So when the pot sized flop bet happens, I almost completely throw 6x out the window and heavily discount Kx.

Now some opponents on different textures will pot bet with top pair + hands of course, but just be aware of these kinds of paired board dry scenarios. They all come into play when maximizing value. Generally speaking, you want to be checking into aggressive opponents. Here, I really don't know how aggressive my opponent is. It's FR, players play pretty bad and don't know how to bet their hands well, but you will open up even tight players bluffing ranges on paired boards like this. Don't worry about leveling yourself in these kinds of spots.

Here, opponent had: Ac3c.

 

[rhombus]

John I feel sorry for you, so ill do you a deal. Ill swap my ugly gf for yours