I haven’t talked about many poker hands lately, so I thought I’d go over a few from yesterday’s play.
This first hand is gonna seem retarded, but it’s a pretty interesting example of how the past few months have corrupted my thinking a bit. Villain is an aggro reg, and so far seems like one of the best players at 100nl.
Poker Stars, $0.50/$1 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
BB: $99.50
UTG: $102.40
Hero (BTN): $100
SB: $203.10
Pre-Flop: A
2
dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $3, SB calls $2.50, BB folds
Flop: ($7) 9
K
2
(2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5, SB raises to $15, Hero calls $10
Turn: ($37) 5
(2 Players)
SB bets $26, Hero calls $26
River: ($89) T
(2 Players)
SB bets $56, Hero calls $56 and is All-In
Results: $201 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero mucked A
2
and LOST (-$100 NET)
SB showed 9
9
(three of a kind, Nines) and WON $199 (+$99 NET)
I called down because in this spot I think villain can pretty much only have four hand combos that beat me, the case deuces and the three combos of 99, and I kind of expected him to 3bet the nines a good portion of the time. That said, the relevant question is not how small is the number of combos that I’m behind to, it’s what could he possibly be bluffing with.
That fact that I’m aware of all that Bayesian jazz and called anyways is because I’ve been pretty solidly perma-tilted lately. I think I stacked off because deep-down I wanted to get some validation that I know how to read hands… sigh.
Oh well, I had a lesson with WiltOnTilt later in the day at 1/2 and not only did we play incredibly well, we actually ran well too!
Here’s a pretty standard hand from before the lesson started, it’s fun to win these now and then.
Poker Stars, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
Hero (BTN): $224.50
SB: $198
BB: $112
UTG: $248.30
MP: $243.20
CO: $97
Pre-Flop: A
A
dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG calls $2, MP folds, CO calls $2, Hero raises to $12, SB raises to $34, 3 folds, Hero calls $22
Flop: ($74) Q
4
T
(2 Players)
SB bets $58, Hero raises to $190.50 and is All-In, SB calls $106 and is All-In
Turn: ($402) 4
(2 Players – 1 is All-In)
River: ($402) 7
(2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Results: $402 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A
A
(two pair, Aces and Fours) and WON $399 (+$201 NET)
SB showed K
K
(two pair, Kings and Fours) and LOST (-$198 NET)
I can’t decide if I prefer flatting his squeeze or 4betting/shoving, as part of a general strategy against squeeze plays. It’s a slightly odd spot given stack sizes because I have very little room to 4bet a non-committing amount, and 4betting to like $65 seems very strong to me and probably never induces action… well who knows, I guess I should experiment with it. Against unimaginative TAGs it’s probably a very profitable bluffing spot, and against spewtards it’s probably like waving a red flag.
Anyways, I wanted to post some sick multi-street bluffs Wilt orchestrated for me, but I’m on the wrong computer. He’s been playing a ton of HU this summer and I think it shows – he’s always been a great player but now he’s sick.
Here are some fun poker theory links instead:
Understanding Game Theory and Hold’em, by Bryce.
Using Equilibrium Strategy to Better Understand Exploitive Play, also by Bryce.
An excerpt from Moshman’s Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em book.
And finally, Sklansky on the NL semi-bluff.