Back in The Trenches! A lesson in what not to do

[MyNameIsMud]

A little background of the session. Live 1/3 at MD Live. Im in the game for 600 as I ran queens into aces pretty early in the session and rebought. There are a couple of aggressive players at my table that are up 500 one orbit and then down 100 the next, people are spweing and im waiting for my shot to get in there but I blew my shot.

I look down at two big bad red aces UTG, and I raise to ten. I get three callers and were off to the flop. (pot 40). Flop comes ace of clubs, king of diamonds, eight of diamonds. I lead for twelve. This was a sizing mistake on my part as I thought the pot was thirty not forty. I lead right into this flop because so many worse hands are gonna call especially when they have position. An ace, a king, flush draws, maybe even jacks, tens and nines, are all calling here. Myself and another opponent both have about 400 to start the hand. Ive seen him run up and run down a huge stack in the two hours hes been here, but he seems like a good player and Im hoping this pot gets big. The turn is where I know I misplayed. Turn is the queen of hearts, so now JT just got there and there is still a flush draw on the board, pot is 64 and I lead for thirty. He tanks and check raises to 85. Now JT is very in his range but Im not worried since hes been check raising light and bluffing with high frequency. But I think a flsuh draw is a possibility. But the ace of diamonds is in my hand, and the king of diamonds is on the board. Maybe he has some low suited connector type hand. Maybe he has pocket eights and flopped bottom set. With his raise to 85 the pot is about 175. Ive got 320 or so in my stack. I dont think and make an awful play. I jam. Yeah I want to charge flush draws, and If I flat the 85 i Have a pot size bet left, so if the river is safe I jam, too easy. All I could think about in that moment is if the river is a diamond that doesn’t pair the board, Im in a gross spot. But four diamonds arent even live, so hes 10% to hit his flush, if hes even on a draw. As I write this I realize how badly I played this hand. That jam did nothing, he of course folds, but I had him crushed equity wise and forced him out. I was scared of him drawing out on me but every worse hand folded and only JT was calling there. That was, scared, unmathematical, old man coffee poker.

I wrote this to maybe give advice to some of the newer players out there. I see so often at 1-3 NL people flopping top set or two pair and jamming their whole stack, like 8x pot, and then I hear, there was a flush draw out there Im not risking that. Yes wet boards are scary, but you, as I did in the above hand, have the best hand! What I did in that hand is what everyone is doing at 1/2, 1/3. They are thinking about their own two cards. If i had looked at the board and built my opponents range in my head, and done some simple math, I never would have shoved. I looked at my set, saw the flush draw and jammed. Very embarrassing for someone looking to take shots at 2-5 lol. If you are a newer player hear my cry! A DRAW IS A WORSE THAN HAND THAN WHAT YOU HAVE, CHARGE THE DRAWS TO CONTINUE BUT IF YOUR GOAL IS TO MAKE WORSE HANDS FOLD YOU WILL BE AT THE 1-3 TABLE FOREVER.

My question: What are some mental tips, maybe a checklist or something you say to yourself to slow your brain down and think about a spot. This hand exemplifies a huge leak in my game. My mind races and I feel the pressure to act quickly, and make bad decisions that revolve around my own two cards. What tricks do you use to stay focused on your opponents range when you’re in a hand.

• This topic was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by MyNameIsMud.

[Hans Griese]

I usually ask myself ‘why?’ – why am i betting, or is he betting, calling, etc. I may not have an answer, but the act of asking gives me pause. I also will always take two breaths before acting (with the exception of intentionally acting quickly for image) on anything of decent size

As for getting panicked at the table, the best thing you can do is own it. People take their own time to think, and any respectable poker player will let another guy think and take his time to act. Be confident that you have literally all the time you need, and don’t worry about what other people think.

Cheers and good luck

[John S]

I actually don’t think your 3-bet is bad at all. I think your pre-flop and flop sizing is small (is $10 really the standard open in your games there?). I usually raise to around $15 when I play 1/3, and your flop bet should have been closer to half pot since the board is fairly wet.

I think your 3bet on the turn is fine for a few reasons:

1: you absolutely want to charge your opponent’s draws. You can’t give away free cards, and if they miss are you ever going to get paid? If the river comes and offsuit 2 are you ever getting more money from T9dd? Maybe if he bluffs, but chances are most players just give up. You want to put money in while you know you’re good and get paid charging them to draw.

2: he has a lot of hands that he can call with here. AK, AQ, KQ are all possibilities since a lot of 1/3 players won’t 3-bet anything but KK and AA. QQ and 88 are possible. You might get a loose player to game and call with pair+draw hands like KJ, QJ, KT, QT.

And to be honest, your raise isn’t that big when you factor in your matching the $85 raise. Pot is $235 once you match his bet, so for him it’s $320 to win $555. I suppose you could make it 180-220, but then you have a nearly $500 pot with around $100-120 behind.

To answer your question – first off, don’t be afraid to take an extra 15 seconds to make a decision when there is money in the pot. Don’t be one of those guys that tanks every pre-flop decision, but you got raised – it’s okay to take 15-20 seconds to think about 1. what beats you, 2. what draws are out there are beat you if they hit, and 3. which of those hands he could have.

Next, try to range players when you’re not in a hand. I’m not saying try to range every single hand, since they gets pretty overwhelming. Instead, either pick a player at the table and range him every time he’s in a pot or pick a few hands here or there and range a player in that hand. Not only are you not under any time restraints, but it’s free since you’re not in the hand. This help speeds up the process of ranging opponents, and it also helps you learn to keep track of the action throughout the hand (like who raised and from what position and what that should mean for the range, the size of the bet relative to how wet/dry the board is and how well it should be for their range).

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