Questions from first session 1-3

[David Wibel]

I just got done with my first ever session, I have never played live or online for actual money before just watched vlogs and youtube videos to learn.

I sit down with $200 (max was 3 but I planned two bullets with $200) and my second hand i play at the table is QTo in the BB. Middle position player bets $15 and 3 people call with me last to act. I call expecting to check-fold if the flop doesn’t go my way.

Flop: 88T rainbow
I flop top pair so I lead out for $55, with so many callers it’s hard for someone else to have a good pair and this can fit my range pretty well defending the BB. I get one caller, the initial raiser. I expect he has an over pair or suited overs, KQ or QJ. So we are heads up to the turn.

Turn: Q
Turn Top 2 and I have about $100 left and I jam it all in. My opponent could have JJ or 99. I lose to AA or KK but I think it’s unlikely for him to have those. He could also have JT suited and call. He calls and the river is a K, but our opponent turns over AA and I lose $200 immediately.

Second hand I wanted help on. I’ve reloaded for $200 and my next playable hand not too long later is QQ in middle position. I raise to $10 and get 3 callers including the villain who bet us previously who is in late position. So we are 3 to a flop.

Flop: AQT rainbow. DISCO! I flop middle set and it’s unlikely either of our opponents have AA since they didn’t raise. I bet $30 since a lot of cards are bad on the turn, I’m putting both opponents on pairs and broadway hands. both call and we are 3 to the turn. I have ~$150 behind here

Turn: Jx I hate this card since now any K beats me which is what I put at least one villain on. I am led into for $50 and my heart sinks. I have no idea what to do. I’m scared of losing my final bullet here and I could be beat pretty bad. I fold and feel disgusted for doing so. They end up getting it all in and sure enough one, the one that stacked us prior turns over KJ and the other turns over KQ with no flushes possible. River is a J which would have given me a boat but I don’t know if folding there with the potential to triple up was correct.

Thanks for any advice.

[James McGuire]

Nice disciplined fold there against 2 villians… If there were only one player against you it would have been too much of an easy bluff card for him and you would have been able to call the 50 for pot control and to see the river… Not sure if either would have folded in this spot; but sometimes a bigger raise pre-flop is necessary in live games against mostly rec. players… Don’t let the bad variance discourage you man. GL on your next session

[baz weaver]

On the 1st hand I wouldnt off called the $15 raise with Q 10 off against 4 players

[Jma]

1 hand – I would fold pre-flop

2 hand – need to raise more with QQ especially with 3 limpers, I would go for $16-21 depending how loose/tight and passive/aggressive the players are. If all of them call I would bet close to the pot size on the flop to make them pay for their gutshot.

[Ian McClellan]

1. Agree with others, Q-10 (especially off-suit) is not a good hand for a $15 pre-flop call, especially in the BB (early position) where you are likely to be pushed around post-flop. Dump it, lose the $2 BB and wait for a better spot. I lost a lot of pots early in my career with J-10, Q-10, K-10, A-10…. Always seem to flop something interesting, but usually end up costing you some money unless you absolutely murder the flop.

2. QQ is a really tough hand to play post-flop most of the time, as you discovered. $10 is not enough to push someone off a KQ or KJ-type hand at these levels, especially since they now smell blood in the water after the Q-10 hand. They will all be wanting to get into pots with you, so your moves have to be substantial to discourage them from pushing you around. I think you made the right fold at the right point in the hand – poker is really about making the right (disgusted) fold sometimes.

Overall – nothing shameful. Some tough spots – and you will get into these all again in your career. Early on, the biggest mistake I see is people wanting to mix-it-up too much- having a really wide range and wanting to play a lot of pots. You’re excited, you’re there to play, you want to make some moves. But poker is not only about being IN pots, it’s observing others. My best advice for your next session – tighten your range down to a very select set of premium cards – call all pocket pairs < 10s for set-mining, raise pocket pairs > 10s and A-10 through A-K suited, call the A-10 through A-K off… mix in some lower suited connectors in late position for some variance and to show some range so they don’t think you’re a complete rock… Play pretty straight-forward, tight, aggressive poker. Raise your Premiums to $12-15 preflop, get a couple callers, hit an A on the flop and bomb it- push everyone out- or make them pay for their draw, and drag some pots. Be aware, they will be check-raising the crud out of you if you play your cards TOO face up, so be prepared to defend. You just need some time at the table and some seasoning! I remember how badly I was shaking my first casino experience – it’s tough to control.

You’ll get there. Stay in the deal.

[Frederick F]

I would agree with the above advice, especially the QT hand. Fold pre but definitely don’t just donk lead into 4 players with top pair.

I would like to share some advice on bankroll management that I learned (painfully) over time: don’t play if you’re scared to lose. You mentioned in your post that you were scared to lose both buy-ins in one sitting, and if that is the case then you shouldn’t even be there. Scared money never wins and that has been proven time and time again (it took me a while to accept this.)

This is not to say you can’t win if you don’t buy in for the max, it’s just that if the money is too important for you to lose, you won’t be able to execute a sound strategy. You’ll be afraid to pull the trigger on that third barrel or stack off with top pair in situations where game theory or your reads otherwise warrant it. Trust me. That voice in the back of your head gets louder as the pot gets bigger.

That said, some cash game players buy in full and are prepared to reload multiple times. If you do this you can afford to play speculative hands and mix it up, with the intention of playing for stacks. But if you buy in short your strategy should be to play tight and wait for someone to make a big mistake against you. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, it’s just not as sexy. Just try to avoid playing weak hands if you’re buying in for 65 BBs.

You might consider playing small buy-in tournaments to get your feet wet. That’s what I did. I didn’t play my first cash game for over a year and the experience of being in the poker room around a variety of other live players helped me out a ton, and it was easier on my bankroll because I just brought enough to play the tourney and if I lost I just left and came back the next time I could afford to lose a buy-in. Most casinos have regular tournaments for less than $100 and with a little luck you might just win one!

Anyhow, good luck out there and keep us posted.

Cheers
FF

[Old Dog]

David,
One other thing to consider is that not only do you know that you’re a newbie at the tables, the regs do, too. Many regs that stake out the smallest games have a fairly simple strategy: take money from the fish that over-play top pair top kicker or overpairs. I assume that when the regs play back at me, they have top-top/overpairs beaten, especially when the bets get bigger. It hurts, but I’ve saved a bunch of money folding in these situations when I’ve got what they hope I do.

[Author]

Posts