Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The return of the Points Degenerate

First off, thanks for all the comments on Montreal. I'm not sure I can blame everything on Montreal since it may have just been more like a bad beat vacation weekend. Upon arriving to Richmond, I learned that my luggage didn't make it and that it was stuck in DC (where my layover was). I just laughed and said "of course it is." The United agent looked offended so I quickly added "that's just the type of weekend we've had."

Well, I am back to the grind of things and July will be an extremely busy work month for my group. However, more importantly, July is a very busy month for points degenerate. On Fulltilt, I have to earn 12,000 points this month in order to clear my $600 ironman bonus. Even though I haven't played as much, my "not playing as much" = 200 fulltilt points per day. However, this month, I would have to double my playing time. 30 days of 400 points will clear my $600 bonus. Should not be a problem for me. However, Pokerstars, not to be outdone threw a little wrinkle. During the 1st week of July, they will be awarding 2x VPP. Their VIP program is definitely better than Fulltilt's and so this would be a chance to easily earn gold status. So, I will definitely be trying to get some playing time over at Stars as well. Last night, I believe I was 4 tabling FTP for a while, then 3 tabled FTP and 1 tabled PS. Busy busy.



I have a few hands to discuss but I'll probably break it up over the course of the next few days. It's been a while since I posted hand histories so we'll see how it goes.

This was an interesting hand that came up and even though I won, I'm not sure if I made the right decision or not. I don't even know if I like how I played it. Thoughts are much appreciated.

2-4NL 6 max as usual

Seat 1: ($240) <--- BB
Seat 2: ($406)
Seat 3: Hero ($400)
Seat 4: ($707)
Seat 5: ($458.40)
Seat 6: Villain ($866.45) <--- SB

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qd Qc]
UTG Fold
Hero raises to $14
2 folds
Villain calls $12
BB folds

*** FLOP *** [5c 6c 9h]
Villain checks
Hero bets $22
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $68
Hero calls $46

This is my first question here. I raise from UTG+1, I am called by the SB who I have no info on and he makes a raise that's interesting... Interesting because it's not a full pot raise. It's barely 3x my raise so it's almost like he doesn't want me to fold but rather, wants to build the pot. I was a little confused here and since I had no information on the guy, I was wondering what he could possibly have. But at this point, the range is probably pretty wide given the possibility of the flush draw so obviously I called. I also thought 55, 66 or 99 was possible for a set.

*** TURN *** [5c 6c 9h] [6d]
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain checks
Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero bets $120

The 6 was a great card for me. At least that means that if he has a set, it's more likely that he has 55 or 99 only. It also didn't complete any club draw so I figured I'm either already beat (in which case I woulda been beat on the flop which means it doesn't change anything) or it's likely that he was making a play with a hand like A9, TT, JJ (though JJ might have reraised me pre), 77, or 88. Again, if he had 78 or 55 or 99, it really doesn't matter because I was already behind. I thought about checking here but I didn't want him to draw out on me if he's still on a draw so I decided to go ahead and bet.

Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain has requested TIME
Villain raises to $784.45, and is all in
Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero has requested TIME
Hero calls $198, and is all in
Villain shows [Tc Td]
Hero shows [Qd Qc]
Uncalled bet of $466.45 returned to Villain

*** RIVER *** [5c 6c 9h 6d] [9d]
Villain shows two pair, Tens and Nines
RecessRampage shows two pair, Queens and Nines
RecessRampage wins the pot ($801) with two pair, Queens and Nines

With so much money in the pot, I couldn't fold considering I already decided that I would go with the fact that he's on a draw. It turns out he was massively overplaying the smallest overpair to the board.

The question is, not knowing anything about the villain, is this a profitable play longterm or did I get lucky that this villain overplayed his TT? It easily could have been a set here, right? Or am I fearing the nuts too much? Again, thoughts are appreciated.

5 comments:

Mike Maloney said...

Tough hand. My immediate thought was to check the turn, but the more I thought about it, the more his check seems to be suspect, and I like to bet out.

To check-raise the flop, then check-raise the turn too...just seems off to me.

Let's say he has a set, you just called his check-raise on the flop. Would it be smart for him to then check the turn too in hopes that you will bet out and he can get you all-in? You've indicated some strength, I would think he would bet out there if he was really that strong.

The CR on the turn doesn't feel like he's trapping, it just feels...weak, and/or dumb. The more I think about it, the more I like the play.

Hilarious that he's playing TT that way. It's like he was trying to be tricky with it, but failing.

Unknown said...

I think you got lucky, but I did like your analysis on the turn with the 6 coming that really the only thing that beats you is 55 or 99. He did not re-raise pre you so AA or KK is probably out.

I suppose 7-8 is a possibility but would he play a flopped straight so hard?

The turn all-in is scary but you were committed.

It's hard to say about long-term because this is a specific case where you read it perfectly and played QQ very well. I wouldn't play QQ like that a lot but I really liked your analysis there.

SimpleStyle said...

I think his line is too strange for a set. The turn check just doesn't make much sense considering that he's already shown aggression and is now giving you the option of seeing a free river. Those two things don't add up.

The worst you have to fear in these spots, I think, is some kind of trip 9s or a flush draw that didn't want to let go. Either way I think you have to get it in with QQ here.

If he bets out on the turn then it obviously becomes a much more difficult spot.

Shrike said...

I think long-term in this spot you overplayed QQ against opponent's range but I can certainly see playing for an opponent's stack here much of the time.

Anonymous said...

Without looking at everyone elses comments first, really good hand history. Especially the question at the end. My first reaction is it was an aggressive play, but I can't say wether it was right or wrong (I'm no Recess Rampage on the felt) Now I'm going to see what everyone else thought....

Lots of good discussion from everyone else. After seeing what everyone else wrote I agree the most with shrike. I see why you were pot committed, why you played the way you did, and why you aren't sure you played it right.

Good luck