Thursday, January 31, 2008

Think things through..

With Rakeback + $50 of cleared bonus, my original $500 bankroll is now over $1000 over 3800 hands. I havent posted many hand histories so heres a couple that grabbed my attention. Nothing too spectacular but something for me to babble on about....


$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
5 players
http://weaktight.com/93422

Stacks:
UTG ($9.10)
Hero ($66.25)
BTN ($49.20)
SB ($31.80)
BB ($108.87)



Pre-flop: ($0.75, 5 players) Hero is CO

UTG goes all-in $9.1, Hero calls $9.1, BTN raises to $20.7, 2 folds, Hero goes all-in $66.25, BTN goes all-in $28.5

Flop: ($134.4, 3 players)

Turn: ($134.4, 3 players)

River: ($134.4, 3 players)
BTN shows:
UTG shows:
Hero shows:

Hero wins $121.8 ( won +$46.45 )
BTN lost -$49.20
UTG lost -$9.10

**The key part in this hand was the call of UTG's bet. He was short stacked having only $9.10. The guy to my left had been active 3 betting. The last thing I want is a 5 way pot with KK but with such a large opening UTG raise I made the assumption that the blinds would not be a part of this hand. I called the bet hoping that villain to the left of me would reraise as he did. To be fair he did have a decent hand but me reraising preflop might have made him lay down. I do not advocate slow playing large pairs but stacksizes and the read on the player to my left dictated that I could win a larger stack by doing this. Again nothing too spectacular in this hand but this highlights something that a lot of players miss. That is to take you time with decisions and look at ALL components of the hand including stacksizes.


$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
http://weaktight.com/93425

Stacks:
UTG ($59.20)
UTG+1 ($87.50)
Hero ($56.30)
BTN ($87.60)
SB ($13.22)
BB ($91.00)


Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is CO

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2.5, Hero calls $2.5, 1 fold, SB calls $2.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($8, 3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $3.5, Hero calls $3.5, SB folds

Turn: ($15, 2 players)
UTG+1 bets $4, Hero calls $4

River: ($23, 2 players)
UTG+1 bets $5, Hero calls $5

Final Pot: $33
UTG+1 shows:
Hero shows:

Hero wins $30.85 ( won +$15.85 )
SB lost -$2.50
UTG+1 lost -$15.00

My thought process in this hand changes as we move through the different streets. my preflop call is standard hoping UTG +1 has a decent hand and if I hit my set I will be in position to take a decent size of his stack. The Small Blind also comes along for the ride. The flop gives me a gutshot straight draw. My notes show UTG+1 continuation bets a lot so I am not giving his less than half pot bet much credit here. This looks like a steal. I think a big pair would have raised more so I call to re-evaluate on the turn. The 2 is a good card for me giving me an open ended straight draw (OESD). I have to think atleast one of my outs are gone as he could easily be holding on of the Aces. A very weak bet of $4 into a pot of $15. I could have reraised him here but with position I wanted to see another card to see if i could get a lock on the hand. The Q is not the best card for me now. QQ,AQ,KQ,QJ are all possible. QQ is unlikely as I would have seen heavier betting and QJ is a little weak to be raising UTG +1 from this player. His bets of $5 into a pot of $23 said to me that he wanted to be called. Here is where my game has changed from previous years. In my beginning years of playing cards I would have called as all i would have seen was a small bet. In my middle stages of learning I would have folded as I thought that was a bet intended for me to call and he must have a Q. In my present state I thought of other hands that he could be doing this with. This included other over pairs but also more importantly AK. Other over pairs 77-JJ would be scared of higher cards to come and would have put some more pressure on each street by betting more. That didnt add up. AK made sense when looking at the weak bets that had been made. It was $5 to win $28. I had to be right just 1 in 5.5 times to breakeven. With a good chance he held AK i made the call.


Dont rush hands, especially when things dont add up. step through what you have seen and think of hands that fit in. dont just think of the hands that beat you but the ones that also missed. This is a lot easier to play in position.

Good luck
Ryver

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