Couple of interesting cash hands to post here. As a general rule of thumb (which is dangerous to have), I try to follow the "Big pot = big hand" rule... in other words, if there's a big pot brewing, I want to have a big hand to stay in (or potentially a big hand) or it would be a total bluff. It won't be with some sort of mediocre, tough decision hand... So, let me throw out two examples of AA here, followed by a big pot with a suited connector.
FullTiltPoker Game #2749689770: Table Vintners (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:08:44 ET - 2007/06/23
I started with a full buyin of $400 and ran it up to about $530 when this hand came up against a villain who had me covered...
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ac Ad]
UTG folds
Villain raises to $14 from UTG+1
2 folds
SB raises to $24
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage raises to $75
Villain calls $61
SB calls $51
Fairly standard reraise at a 6max table here for couple of reasons. I don't necessarily always reraise with AA. On the same token, one of them obviously likes their hand considering there's a raise from UTG+1 AND a reraise from SB OOP. So, with the current best hand, I wanted to build the pot, hence the reraise. Ideally, I wanted to narrow the field but that didn't happen.
*** FLOP *** [Kd Jh Qh]
SB checks
RecessRampage checks
Villain bets $100
SB folds
RecessRampage calls $100
All things considered, I hated this flop. There's a lot of hands there that could be beating my hand right now. However, the $100 bet is a pretty small bet considering the pot at this point is $225. I'm just glad one of them folded though.
*** TURN *** [Kd Jh Qh] [5d]
RecessRampage checks
Villain checks
I'm more than willing to check this hand down considering that I already did all the pot building early and since I don't like the texture of the flop AND I'm OOP.
*** RIVER *** [Kd Jh Qh 5d] [6c]
RecessRampage checks
Villain checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Villain shows [Ah Ks] a pair of Kings
RecessRampage shows [Ac Ad] a pair of Aces
RecessRampage wins the pot ($422) with a pair of Aces
So it turns out that the Villain hated the flop as well since there aren't too many hands that he could beat, considering all the action preflop.
FullTiltPoker Game #2750210534: Table Vintners (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:12:49 ET - 2007/06/23
2 other players involved here both have me covered as I have approx $390 at the table. They are both decent players who are aggressive but I haven't seen anything from either players to think that they are out of line.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ac As]
UTG raises to $14
UTG+1 folds
MP folds
Villain calls $14 from button
SB folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to $62 <--- from the BB
UTG calls $48
Villain calls $48
Once again, I tried narrowing the field but they both appear to like what they have. Well, the flop comes and this is where it gets interesting...
*** FLOP *** [7d 3c 5s]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets $110
UTG calls $110
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $398.60, and is all in
Now what would you do here? You have approx $220 left behind you. Based on what just happened, could it be that there are three overpairs? One thing we know for sure (IMO) is that all three of us have a pocket pair. Not just based on the preflop sequence but the fact that the board came all low, I bet out after my reraise and there's a smooth call right after me from UTG. So, either UTG has JJ-KK or he flopped a set with a hand like 77 and is just smooth calling to entice another caller here. So, the presence of UTG made it uncomfortable for me even though I have to admit, I didn't think I was behind UTG. On the other hand, what would the villain have that justifies this move. Only thing I could think of was a set. Based on the entire sequence, it makes perfect sense. As such... this is what happened...
RecessRampage folds
UTG has 15 seconds left to act
UTG has requested TIME
UTG folds
Uncalled bet of $288.60 returned to Villain
Villain wins the pot ($515)
So clearly, UTG had a pretty big pair because he also let his additional time run down before he finally decided to fold. So, he and I probably shared the same read there regarding the villain's play. I would still love to hear other people's thoughts. Only thing I wonder is if I was pretty much priced in. $515 pot, $220 for me to call. Again, I still like my fold, even after reviewing this hand later. Still hurts to fold AA though...
FullTiltPoker Game #2750158930: Table Marietta (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:06:24 ET - 2007/06/23
I'm up to $500 at this table and the villain involved is a fairly active player who had about $540.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Tc 9c]
Villain raises to $14 from MP
RecessRampage raises to $48 from the button
Villain calls $34
This is just a variation that I occasionally throw out. I don't do it with every suited connector in position or anything. But every once in a while, I like to mix in a few reraises with nonpremier hand and so that's what happened here. I don't mind the call since I have position and based on his call, my guess is that he's got a PP or AK type of hand.
*** FLOP *** [6s Jh 3s]
Villain checks
RecessRampage bets $75
Villain calls $75
Just following through on the sequence. I obviously didn't like his call too much but on the same token, now, I know that he's got a pocket pair. The question is, can he let it go or not.
*** TURN *** [6s Jh 3s] [8d]
Villain checks
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage checks
The turn card made things interesting for me. First of all, it gave me the nut straight draw. So, I debated about following through on the bluff and firing out another bullet which now would be a semi-bluff thanks to the turn card. I would say 8 of 10 times, I'd fire out another bullet here. At this point, I'm pretty sure about what the villain has. He's got a pocket pair that could be something like 77-TT. Could be lower but that would be pretty shocking. He calls my bet on the flop with a pocket pair because I could be doing the same move with AK at which point I might slow down on the turn. So, if I bet here, I'll probably get a fold unless he hit a set because he can't like his midpair after a reraise preflop and a bet on the flop and the turn. However, because I felt that my hand was so well concealed, I decided to get a little fancy here and check. If I hit my straight, I was going to overbet, trying to represent a bluff with AK, at which point, this guy would surely call since his thought would be, "why did he slow down on the turn if he had a made hand?" I could potentially lose this pot because of this play but that was a risk I was willing to take (which is probably why I tend to have big variances at times).
*** RIVER *** [6s Jh 3s 8d] [7d] <--- BOOM!
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $165 <--- lol, even better!
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to $376.95, and is all in
Villain calls $211.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [Tc 9c] a straight, Jack high
Villain mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot ($1,002.90) with a straight, Jack high
To say that I got extremely lucky here is an understatement. Turns out the villain had 77 for a rivered set which was why he bet out. The only thing I had to think about was how much to bet but since he bet out such a big amount, I figured he must like the hand he made/had and so I decided to push, representing a desperate attempt to take it down with my overpair (or what the villain surely thought I had). I just got lucky that a) I caught my straight but more importantly that b) the villain caught a hand at the end. More often than not, I would have followed up with another bet on the turn there so I also got lucky that on one of the few times I didn't, it worked out in my favor. However, keep in mind that at this point, I felt that in the villain's eyes, I either had a higher pocket pair or AK. So, instead of just the 8 outs I had (or maybe 6 if you're afraid of the flush), I had the phantom +6 outs (any ace, any king) since if either one of those cards come on the river, I'm betting there as well and most likely taking it down.
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2 comments:
Your progress as a player is pretty damn good dude.
Hard work pays off.
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