Sunday March 9, 2008
On Sunday, I played a 5 handed session with some friends. Playing these short handed sessions these past couple of months has improved my game. Being able to play shorthanded and then a full ring game and being able to switch gears from each of those sessions increases your awareness. Its funny how hands in shorthanded play in comparison to a full game. If you've played enough of both, you know what I mean.
A couple of rounds in, I open raise to $2.50 with
and get called by Wil in the SB. We take a HU flop of 
. He checks and I bet $3.50 and he calls. Turn 
and we both check. At this point in the hand, obviously I think I have the best of it. I check the turn because I have position and wanted to induce a bluff on a river from a weaker hand. It may look like I have two overcards and get a weak 8 or something like J10 to lead out on the river. River 
and Wil checks again. I make it look like a buy and bet $8 which he called and I take down the pot.
Heres a crazy hand. I limp in the SB with
and take a flop of 
. I check, Wil bets $2.50 and its folded to be. I wanted to get frisky and make a move and elected to play this pot so I call. Turn, 
and it goes check check. River, 
. I check and Wil bets $7. Honestly, I have no business in this hand. I'm folding this hand about 98% of the time. I started running the hands through my head and there isn't much I can beat. I started talking and asking "did you miss your draw?" I concluded there was a very good possibility he had Q10, about the only draw I can beat. If I make this call and I'm right, I figure its going to put Wil in a tailspin. He's probably going to try and make moves on me later in the game. For those reasons, I called and he showed 
and I take down the pot! 
I was slowly building my stack and on cruise control. Then these two hands came up: 1: I raise to $3 in the SB with
after everybody limped and Wil called in the BB as did March on the button. Flop 
. I lead out for $3 and BB raises to $11. March folds and its back to me. I felt like this is one of those times Wil is deciding to make a move on me from earlier. I gave is range as 109, 89, 79, area. Because of that, I elected not to reraise and just call. Turn . I check and he goes all in for $26. Seriously, probably the worse card in the deck. I really wanted to see a rag card or even a face card in that spot. I figures that card gave him 2 pair or better but it give me open ended. With the calculations I did, it just wasn't the right price to call. I fold and Wil turned over 
. Surprisingly, March said he mucked 
. We ran the river out and I would have made my straight......
The 2nd hand, I don't remember all the details but I called off a big pot ($50ish) against Loge with top pair against his flop straight holding. Flop was 
. Very stupid and very silly to play a huge pot holding only a Q in that spot. After that hand, Loge had a monster chip stack in front of him.
A little while later, I would get my revenge. I raise on the button with to $3. Wil calls as does Kyto. Loge reraises to $8. I can't automatically give him credit for KK or AA here because we're shorthanded and both him and I are pretty deep. I didn't want to just call here either and not define my hand plus I didn't want the two limpers to call with marginal holdings. I chose to RR to $18 total and its folded back to Loge who calls. The most likely range I have him on at this point is AKs, AQs, QQ, JJ, 1010, and maybe a smaller pair. KK is possible (and afraid of AA) but I think more times than not, KK and AA RR me. Flop 
. A beautiful flop for me for his range. Loge leads out for $15. I have about $50 behind. My only concern was his hand strong enough to get stacked off and double me up? I could see KK leading out here or even AK
. Maybe making a move with a smaller pair an represent KK? I felt my hand was strong enough to slow down because if I call, its going in on the turn even if a heart hits and he has a flush given the pot size. I call. Turn and Loge bets $20. I raise to $38 and Loge calls and tabled . What a perfect turn card for me! From his point of view, he was hoping I had KK or AA at that point! River bricked and I take down a HUGE pot and I'm back on track!
Another hand of significance for the night. Its now 4 handed, I raise to $3 on the button with
and Kyto calls out of the BB. We go heads up to the flop of 
. He checks and I bet $3. He raises to $13. We are both pretty deepstacked. I felt he had a pretty strong hand and the board is very dangerous for me. I didn't necessarily want to get rid of my hand because he could be making a move but I also didn't want to RR and play a big pot either. I decided to play it safe and call. Turn and he leads out for $15. The turn is one of those bad card/good card type deal. Good card in that it improves my hand but bad card because it improves me hand. (Hope that makes sense). I losing to 2 hands here, 56 and J10 (outside shot of 106 too). He COULD have made the same bet on the flop with 2 pair or a set. I felt I had decent implied odds to make the call, which I did. River , brick and he goes all in for about $80. First instinct, why so much? What are you trying to tell me and represent? What do you want me to think you're doing? Wouldn't J10 value bet? Those things automatically go through my head. I still wasn't sure I had the best hand. Either he's making a move or he has the nuts. Its a lot easier to go all in holding the best possible hand. But if he has 77, 88, or 99, those hands aren't "making a move" from his perpective because theres really no way he puts me on AA, not the way I played it. After going into the tank, I decided there was very little chance he was bluffing here, less than 10%. He just looked too comfortable. Almost begging for a call. I didn't see him jeopardizing his entire stack without the nuts in this spot. I laid it down face up and he showed 
for the flopped 
.
I ended up the night +65. It could have easily been over 100 but ran into a few bad spots.
Notes: Overall, I think I played pretty well. Loge was up for most of the night until that hand with me. Can't blame him for trying to take the pot away from me though. Any other card besides the J on the turn and he doesn't double me up. His game is definitely improving, as is Kyto's. March is still struggling and has been for the last few weeks. From what I can tell, he's playing with scared money. Calling when you should be raising and folding when you should be calling, etc. Passive poker is not winning poker. Scared money is dead money. You can't be afraid to lose. You can't be afraid to fail either. I've failed many times. Sometimes you just have to go after it. You just gotta get right back on that horse and try again. Only in poker, it could be the very next hand.
Enjoy your day!
TK
A couple of rounds in, I open raise to $2.50 with
and get called by Wil in the SB. We take a HU flop of . He checks and I bet $3.50 and he calls. Turn and we both check. At this point in the hand, obviously I think I have the best of it. I check the turn because I have position and wanted to induce a bluff on a river from a weaker hand. It may look like I have two overcards and get a weak 8 or something like J10 to lead out on the river. River and Wil checks again. I make it look like a buy and bet $8 which he called and I take down the pot.Heres a crazy hand. I limp in the SB with
and take a flop of . I check, Wil bets $2.50 and its folded to be. I wanted to get frisky and make a move and elected to play this pot so I call. Turn, and it goes check check. River, . I check and Wil bets $7. Honestly, I have no business in this hand. I'm folding this hand about 98% of the time. I started running the hands through my head and there isn't much I can beat. I started talking and asking "did you miss your draw?" I concluded there was a very good possibility he had Q10, about the only draw I can beat. If I make this call and I'm right, I figure its going to put Wil in a tailspin. He's probably going to try and make moves on me later in the game. For those reasons, I called and he showed and I take down the pot! I was slowly building my stack and on cruise control. Then these two hands came up: 1: I raise to $3 in the SB with
after everybody limped and Wil called in the BB as did March on the button. Flop . I lead out for $3 and BB raises to $11. March folds and its back to me. I felt like this is one of those times Wil is deciding to make a move on me from earlier. I gave is range as 109, 89, 79, area. Because of that, I elected not to reraise and just call. Turn . I check and he goes all in for $26. Seriously, probably the worse card in the deck. I really wanted to see a rag card or even a face card in that spot. I figures that card gave him 2 pair or better but it give me open ended. With the calculations I did, it just wasn't the right price to call. I fold and Wil turned over . Surprisingly, March said he mucked . We ran the river out and I would have made my straight......The 2nd hand, I don't remember all the details but I called off a big pot ($50ish) against Loge with top pair against his flop straight holding
. Flop was . Very stupid and very silly to play a huge pot holding only a Q in that spot. After that hand, Loge had a monster chip stack in front of him.A little while later, I would get my revenge. I raise on the button with
to $3. Wil calls as does Kyto. Loge reraises to $8. I can't automatically give him credit for KK or AA here because we're shorthanded and both him and I are pretty deep. I didn't want to just call here either and not define my hand plus I didn't want the two limpers to call with marginal holdings. I chose to RR to $18 total and its folded back to Loge who calls. The most likely range I have him on at this point is AKs, AQs, QQ, JJ, 1010, and maybe a smaller pair. KK is possible (and afraid of AA) but I think more times than not, KK and AA RR me. Flop . A beautiful flop for me for his range. Loge leads out for $15. I have about $50 behind. My only concern was his hand strong enough to get stacked off and double me up? I could see KK leading out here or even AK. Maybe making a move with a smaller pair an represent KK? I felt my hand was strong enough to slow down because if I call, its going in on the turn even if a heart hits and he has a flush given the pot size. I call. Turn and Loge bets $20. I raise to $38 and Loge calls and tabled . What a perfect turn card for me! From his point of view, he was hoping I had KK or AA at that point! River bricked and I take down a HUGE pot and I'm back on track!Another hand of significance for the night. Its now 4 handed, I raise to $3 on the button with
and Kyto calls out of the BB. We go heads up to the flop of . He checks and I bet $3. He raises to $13. We are both pretty deepstacked. I felt he had a pretty strong hand and the board is very dangerous for me. I didn't necessarily want to get rid of my hand because he could be making a move but I also didn't want to RR and play a big pot either. I decided to play it safe and call. Turn and he leads out for $15. The turn is one of those bad card/good card type deal. Good card in that it improves my hand but bad card because it improves me hand. (Hope that makes sense). I losing to 2 hands here, 56 and J10 (outside shot of 106 too). He COULD have made the same bet on the flop with 2 pair or a set. I felt I had decent implied odds to make the call, which I did. River , brick and he goes all in for about $80. First instinct, why so much? What are you trying to tell me and represent? What do you want me to think you're doing? Wouldn't J10 value bet? Those things automatically go through my head. I still wasn't sure I had the best hand. Either he's making a move or he has the nuts. Its a lot easier to go all in holding the best possible hand. But if he has 77, 88, or 99, those hands aren't "making a move" from his perpective because theres really no way he puts me on AA, not the way I played it. After going into the tank, I decided there was very little chance he was bluffing here, less than 10%. He just looked too comfortable. Almost begging for a call. I didn't see him jeopardizing his entire stack without the nuts in this spot. I laid it down face up and he showed for the flopped .I ended up the night +65. It could have easily been over 100 but ran into a few bad spots.
Notes: Overall, I think I played pretty well. Loge was up for most of the night until that hand with me. Can't blame him for trying to take the pot away from me though. Any other card besides the J on the turn and he doesn't double me up. His game is definitely improving, as is Kyto's. March is still struggling and has been for the last few weeks. From what I can tell, he's playing with scared money. Calling when you should be raising and folding when you should be calling, etc. Passive poker is not winning poker. Scared money is dead money. You can't be afraid to lose. You can't be afraid to fail either. I've failed many times. Sometimes you just have to go after it. You just gotta get right back on that horse and try again. Only in poker, it could be the very next hand.
Enjoy your day!
TK
Comments