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The game tonight was ok. There were some very trappy people at my table and a lot of short stacks, buying in for the minimum and check-calling over pairs to the river. Only one hand that is noteworthy, where I think I missed a raise on the river. I’m ok with my play, but feel like I left chips on the table again. Please let me know your thoughts.
Hero Stack: 450
Hero Hand: AKs
Hero Position: MP2Villain Stack: 300
Villain Hand: QJo
Villain Position: UTG2Preflop:
Villain open limps, Hero raise 15, only Villain calls. Heads up to a flopFlop: J 8 6 sss
Villain check, Hero bets 15, Villain check-raise to 30, Hero callsTurn: 4c
Villain bets 60, Hero callsRiver: Jd
Villain bets 100, Hero tank callsThe villain in this hand had just came to the table and this was literally her first hand at the table. She didnt have chips yet, when she open-limped. I’ve seen her before, and she’s kinda crazy. The people you deal with at this limit.
I had been card dead for an hour, folding 90% of my hands. I think my table image was really tight, as I was not getting any action when I raised. Luckily, this villain hadn’t seen me fold so much when she came to the table.
The flop was gin for me. Today, I kept a close eye on the pot and how much was in it on every street. I bet 1/2 pot, targeting pair of Jacks, flush draws, sets, or straight draws.
Her raise kinda surprised me and my literally felt my heart race. At the moment, I didnt know what to make of the min-check-raise. On this board, I couldn’t tell if it was top-pair (like it usually is) or a set. I decided to let her hand herself if she wanted to build a pot.
My guess is that she thinks I have a Ace high flush draw.
When she bet on the turn. I still think I’m in the lead. I took a moment, and tried to think, what she thinks I have. I thought about what card would show up, that would slow her down. I thought she would probably slow down if a spade hit the river. I called again hoping a blank will come.
I was in a tough spot on the river. I had sets in her range on the flop and the board just paired. She fires for 1/2 pot on the river. I thought in my head, I should’ve taken it down on the turn, and I let her fill up on the river. I was getting 3:1 immediate odds, and she only had about 100 left behind.
I leveled myself into a call, saying that I let her get there and I should just pay her off. To my surprise, my hand was good. Could I have gotten the rest of her stack? Did I play this hand too cautiously? With the line she took, I was weighted her range to sets than just top pair. Could I have played it differently?
The min-raise can mean a lot of different things depending on the player. It looks so strong since it gives you such a great price to call, it looks extremely valuey. But I see a lot of people min-raising pretty light. Was he Queen a spade? That makes some sense at least.
This is a tricky spot. You not only have the nuts, but you also block the second nut flush. So at best she has a set (and will pretty much always call) or a Queen or worse flush (or flush draw). There are a few bad cards for you. Any spade means lower flushes are less likely to call (maybe some people get sticky with a queen, but doubt you get much money from a 10 or below). And pairing the board means you lose to a set.
So how do you proceed here? I think call flop and raise turn is probably best. I still looks like you could be doing it with just the Ace of Spades, and the pot would be big enough I think you have to call river even if the board pairs.
As played, not sure if you should raise river. Obviously full houses are calling, but what worse does? Worse flushes may or may not call, and the 3 jacks may or may not call. That really is player dependent. Raising turn or river just looks so strong, I’m not sure if you get paid off here.
Sorry this wasn’t more helpful. I guess all I can say is get more money into the pot early when you can, especially with the nuts. You may fold more hands out, but you get more value when you opponent can call.
Good morning John. The Queen was not a spade. Her holding was Jh and Qc. So in this case, it was a light min-raise.
I’m still trying to work on, “What worst hand would call?” I keep thinking my opponents are holding monster hands, especially the lines she took.
My girlfriend told me that I should’ve raised the turn, just as you suggested. I thought at the time, the turn-raise would look so strong, she could get away with a worse hand. I wanted to keep her in with worst. Luckily for me, she didn’t have a set.
At this level, I seen a lot of the weaker players go nuts with their non-nut flushes.
I sometimes get the feeling, people at this level, see a half pot bet, (in this case, the same bet as the preflop raise) as a sign weakness. And I would get raised or bluffed off my hand. I would get annoyed by conclusion from my opponents, but now I see that it’s a mistake that I should be exploiting.
That is one things to remember – many people just do weird things at the lower levels. That’s why the best way to get paid is to simply put money into the pot when you have a strong hand. Sure you will fold out of a lot of hands doing this, but chances are you aren’t getting paid anyways in those cases. Making a big hand is only half the challenge – they have to have a decent hand as well.
A few weeks back I was playing 3/5, straddle pot. I raised to something like $35 or 40 with JJ, straddler makes it something like $110. I call. Flop comes Jxx rainbow. Turn comes a Q, he checks, I bet $100ish, he folds. Obviously he 3-bet me light. I smashed the flop and should have won a big hand (which I needed because I got stuck a buy-in pretty quick, and had been waiting all day to get something good going), but I won the minimum. If he had AA, KK, or AQ/AJ I probably get my stack in and double up.
That good to notice how people interpret your bet sizing. You absolutely should be exploiting players that can be exploited.
That is one of my tilting triggers. I call it “action tilt,” where I feel the game is too nitty and I start splashing and make bad decisions.
Too bad you couldn’t get more action for your hand. Were you trying to target those premiums and possible broadway holdings? I would think, that those stakes, people could get away with small pocket pairs on that board.
I personally think straddling is dumb, especially from a short-stack.
I get bluffed a lot at my stake, and it’s mostly from weaker players, who I think are there to gamble. When I try to go for value, they would come over the top. The stronger players, pick out good spots to apply pressure on me and I usually fold to it. I’ve read that bluffing does not occur as much as T.V makes you think, but it appears to happen to me in 80% of my sessions.
I was just trying to put money in the pot. Had a really strong hand, had to build a pot at some point, he just didn’t have anything to call. He tanked for like 30 seconds before he folded, but not sure if that was a hollywood or not. I imagine he bets with AK at some point, has to bet/continue with any Q. The board is bad for underpairs, so maybe that’s what he had.
I don’t straddle often. The 3/5 I play has a decent amount of straddles because it’s the biggest game they get going regularly, and I think some of the regs like to play bigger because it makes people uncomfortable and play a little looser than they normally would. I would recommend to you to start straddling if the table is too nitty. Even tight players have a tendency to loosen up during straddle pots, and it can bring action to the table if everyone is playing too passive. Give it a shot one of your sessions – it’s better and cheaper than splashing around when the game is boring.
I doubt you’re getting bluffed that much, but there are players at those levels that have a ton of money and are willing to put a lot of pressure on those that can’t afford buy-in after buy-in. Just identify those players, tighten your range, and be more aggressive in hands with them.
Ok. At my session tonight. If I see the game is too nitty. I’ll put up a straddle. I honestly do not see how the game would loosen up, but it is true, that it should be cheaper than me trying to force action with my loose opens. I’ll post what happens tonight or tomorrow morning!
I like to joke around with it. New dealer straddle, all white chip straddle, etc. And I don’t get what it does to some players, but I’ve seen Old Man Coffee’s lose their minds (and stacks) on a straddle. It just makes for bigger pots and people tend to have a bit more gamble when the straddle is going. Especially when you raise (or 3-bet) your straddle. Pots can get big, and getting a premium in a straddle makes for good pots.
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