Sat down to play a bit of Rush. Decided to start with 5.25. As a general rule, starting small forces me to be patient and aggressive. Other times I am just not sure if I really am in the right frame of mind and it will theoretically minimize my losses.
First hand I pick up 6s in the big blind. I like to set mine with these.
Well, Under the Gun limps, the small blind completes, and I…make my first error of the session. This is clearly a raising situation. Most of the time a raise to about 50 cents will win the 30 cent pot, an easy, nearly risk free 20 cent pick up.
I lie to myself that I want to play for a big pot. Problem is…with two limpers, what hand can give me a set that they will play a big pot for? MAYBE a flush…but then I don’t want to play a big pot. So that was a clear mistake.
Flop has an Ace and King, the sb bets 30 and I meekly fold.
- 10 cents
Next couple hands I fold (one in small blind with .35 cent raise and holding 3/5 off).
I fold the big blind to an early raise to 40 cents.
- 10 on hand, - 25 total…all Blinds.
I fold an unsuited 9/10 in the SB to a 35 cent button raise.
-5, -30
On the button I fold off suit J/8 to 40 cent middle position raise.
2 behind the button I pick up pocket 5s. It is folded to me so I raise to 30 cents and the big blind calls.
The flop is Th, 9c, 5c. I am somewhat happy with that flop, though not ecstatic. There is a possible flush draw and the 9/10 hits a lot of hands people call with…10/J, Q/K type hands…that could turn into bad turn cards for me. Forget the slow-play, I bet 50 cents and he folds.
+61 cents, overall +.01 cent.
This is the type hand I am not always sure how to play. I could check here, but I want to charge him to draw. Sure, I will improve to a full house or better 1-in-3 times. They will improve to a flush or straight sometimes, but will not always be on those draws.
So this might be a place where a little less aggression could lead to bigger over-all wins but with more variation. However, I am not sure it fits my play style. I think I prefer winning lots of small pots with minimal variation.
I fold a couple UTG hands, then open-fold a 5/7off from the cut-off. This was a mistake. That is a clear raising situation. Probably left 15 cents on the table.
Open fold early with J/8 off.
UTG fold 3/8 off.
I am dealt Qh/9H in the big blind. The button click-raises, the small blind folds, and I call. I am getting 3-1 for a drawing hand…but I am more playing the position bet.
The flop is pretty innocuous, a 4/8/6 rainbow. I lead out for 30 cents. Usually this results in a fold, but this time he calls. At this point, I should be done with the hand. I took my shot, it failed. No big deal.
Turn puts a second diamond, the 10 on the board. Now I have a gut-shot that has no value. For some inexplicable reason…I bet 50 cents. And he calls.
And the river is a 4 diamonds. Anyone who had the four will re-raise me, anyone who had something like middle pair, back-door flush draw has a flush now. I am obviously done with this hand…by which I mean I idiotically bet 1.10 which he snap calls with his pocket Aces.
So I bet 1.90 into a pair of aces. Well done. I have played hands worse before…but not many. This was a disaster. Overall I lost 2.10 on the hand.
I do not hate my pre-flop call or even my flop bet. After that…I played about as bad as someone could.
I fold middle trash to early raise and under the gun trash. Then, on the button, I open-fold. Do my cards matter? That is a clear raise.
I would not hate my fold if I did it for the right reason. But I thought to myself that, fresh off that horrific hand I had just played, I did not want to bluff off anymore money. That is the wrong reason. So I left a good situation without playing the hand. Bad play.
I am having a really bad session so far.
One off the button I fold Q/8 off to an early limper.
Early fold 2/7o. Middle position q/9 off folded to raise.
Early position 3/4 off hits the muck.
Under the Gun I fold K/10 suited. This is probably a good fold. Weak hand, early position…but then again, almost 70% of the time when I raise under the gun everyone folds. It is a sign I am playing tight, and somewhat looser is better. In this game, a healthy number of open raises picks up a lot of small pots, and a continuation bet works a very high percentage of the time. Whereas I routinely fold K/10 suited against a raise or, in a normal game, from anywhere but late position, it is a clear raising hand on Rush.
I fold 5/1o suited in small blind to open-raise from button.
I pick up A/q off in the big blind. The hijack min-raises. Again…very clear re-raise here and I weakly call. I am better off folding than calling and better off raising than folding. Yet another weak play. I wonder why I am only sitting behind 3.26 when this hand started?
Flop is Ks, 2C, 7C, a very clear raising flop. I meekly check-fold. Another poorly played hand.
I fold K/Q off in sb to early raise to 40.
Open fold 10/5 from mid-late. When I am running well that is a raise.
I pick up A/K off in the cut-off. I already know I am raising or re-raising. UTG raises to 30. UTG+1 re-raises to 1.05. I am in the “squeeze” position. I can either go all-in or fold. I choose the latter. Good choice…as the BB calls behind as does the initial raiser and they get it all in, pocket Kings versus pocket Aces.
A couple forgettable folds, then I pick up pocket tens utg+1. I open raise to 30, the BB calls. Flop is A/Q/4, 2 spades. He check-calls my 40 cent raise.
Turn is Jack, checks all around and we both check the river 3. He wins with K/Q off, his pair of queens beating my tens.
It is possible a turn raise would have won…but doubtful. Most people with second pair, good kicker (and a gut-shot at that point) will call the turn and I did not have enough behind to bet him off at the river…nor, on that board, would I have tried. I am fine with my play on this hand.
Usually, when I bet there people fold so when he did not, I was done with the hand.
Now I have only 2.31 and pick up 7s UTG+1. I raise to 30, next guy calls. Flop is A/8/8, 2 spades. I continuation bet 40 cents, he calls, I am done with the hand. I check-fold to a two on the turn.
A few forgettable folds, including J/3 off in BB to raise.
Another weak open-fold from button with 1.51 and 4/5 off and another with 3/8H.
Pick up A/Kc UTG+2, raise to 30, the hijack and bb call. Flop is K/9/3 rainbow. With about 1.21 and a 90 cent pot the choice is clear…all in, no callers. I win a hand.
Now 2.10, but fold big blind with 5/8 off with a limper and raiser to me, down to 2. even.
A/J UTG I raise to 30, 1 caller.
*** FLOP *** [3d Td Qh]
I continuation bet 40 cents, he raises to 4.91 all in. Obviously he has me more than covered. Why the over-bet? He is clearly not paying attention to his opponent so could be on bluff…but that is all I can beat. I am not playing poorly enough to call off my chips on a gut-shot getting less than 3-1 so an easy fold.
I maybe should have folded pre-flop…but what are normally “series 3” type hands in tougher games are often top hands in this, so I do not feel badly about it. Actually, I am glad I did it as it shows I am starting to get aggressive again.
Except a lot of folding ensues, including two sb when limped or raised to but with weak hands, and a BB fold with 3/5 off when button raised.
UTG + 2 I open raise A/10 off and win the blinds. (This, by the way, demonstrates why I think raising A/Jo of K/10H is a good move).
However, I was still playing timid. A few good folds, then I picked up pocket 3a in the BB. The button open-raised to .35, a clear raising situation, but I merely called (fold or raise! NO CALL!) and check-folded on a K/9/4 rainbow. Badly, badly played.
Now I have just 90 cents in front of me. On the button I pick up A/Ks. UTG+2 raises to .35 and I am already planning my all-in…when the cut-off raises to 1.40. I am much happier raising all-in with A/K than calling…but there is 1.40ish I can win already in the pot so I call all-in and first villain calls.
Flop is A/K diamonds and 5c. I am felling good about aces up…until utg+2 raises a buck and cutoff re-raises all in. UTG+2 folds and cut-off shows….A/3 clubs? I am running good to pick up a nice pot if he cannot pick up runner-runner threes or clubs.
What a weird hand. What could UTG+2 have had? And what did KarnieB think he could beat to push all in with top pair, weak kicker?
Anyhow, good for me. Back to 2.66.
Made a few unremarkable folds, then picked up A/Ko in the hi-jack. UTG+2 raises to .35. Obviously I am re-raising here…and here is where tournament play is different. IN a tournament, low on chips, it is a clear all in. Here I should have raised to about 1.05.
Instead I went all-in, he called with pocket 10s and I never improved. I had given up my buy-in.
I did not feel bad about the buy-in…but I knew I was being too conservative, then making up for it by being aggressive at the wrong times. So I put in another 5 and went back to work.
Couple folds, then open-raised pockets 5s from the cut-off, nobody called, +15 cents.
Fold J/5s in BB to 35 cent open-raise from button.
Fold K/2s in sb to early raise, couple other folds.
Finally pick up A/Jo in bb and the cut-off just click-raises. When I am playing well I re-raise here but this time I just call.
And here is why I should raise pre-flop. The flop is A/K/10 rainbow. Pre-flop, I was behind any pair but ahead of any Ace 9 or below. Now I am behind any A/10 or below and WAY behind any A/Q or A/K. A/Q might be worse, as if I hit my kicker, they hit a straight.
At the same time, this could be a hard hand to get away from. So I want to play a small pot. I check. He checks behind. The turn is an innocuous 2h, I bet .20 and he folds. I pick up a 42 cent pot. It would have been bigger had I properly raised pre-flop…either because I would not have gotten the 3 cent rake or because he would have called and built the pot. Even though I won, I feel like I played the pre-flop portion of the hand poorly. I like my flop and turn play. On the flop, if he bets I can raise to see if he has it, and represent a better hand than I have. The turn gave us a flush draw, so I need to charge him to make it.
The usual progression of folds follows.
I pick up pocket 5s in middle position and open raise to .30. The big-blind click raises to 50, I call and we take the flop heads up.
He leads out with 50 cents into a 9/k/7 2 suit flop. I am not interested in losing a big pot with a little hand, so I fold.
I actually like my play on this. I mask my hand by not limping, his raise meant I was calling 20 cents to win 45, or a little more than 2-1…but he had me covered, so I was playing for 5 bucks if I hit my hand. If I miss, well…minimal investment for potentially huge reward, it is easy to let it go.
A few other easy folds, including 8/3o in sb when utg open raises 1.15 all in.
UTG+1 open raises to .21 cents and I call from the next seat with pocket 6s. And here lies the danger…A middle position guy re-raises to .99, another guy calls, the original raiser folds and it is .78 cents to me.
I do not mind this much. I have two other players, and the hands that give me a set while not giving them enough to call are few and far between. Additionally, after their pre-flop action, they are highly likely to raise, even if they miss it, and if I hit I am looking good to triple up.
I would prefer to play it for less and .99 cents but…
Wow, what an ugly flop. J/8/10 rainbow. Two other people in the hand, I am done. They get it all in….Q/K versus set of tens. The straight never completes, but it doesn’t matter…I had long moved on to the next hand by the time the river arrived.
Folding time…including 8/9o in bb against a raise and call in front of me. If I had a deep stack I might think about this for a bit, but then I am sure I would still wisely fold.
A bunch more folding, including open-folding J/5 suited in small blind. That is a huge mistake because the BB is likely to fold.
I fold some more, including BB to raise to 40 when I have 4/7o.
Finally I raise to 40 (the cut-off limped in and I was blind-stealing) from the button and…uh-oh, BB calls. Flop is 10/9/10 2 suited. I bet 70 cents and he folds. Good, solid aggression pays off.
Fold brigade including 2/4s in sb to raise
UTG+2 I open raise to 30 with A/9s. The cut-off and big blind both call. The flop is nice, a 9/10/6 rainbow. When I was the pre-flop aggressor, I am almost always the post-flop aggressor as well. No way for people to know if I hit anything or not. Here, I have second pair, top kicker, so I bet into two people, raising to 60 into pot of .89. They both fold and I collect a nice gain.
And it really feeds into what I am learning. Aggression, properly channeled, means you do not necessarily need cards. They were folding whether I had a pair or not. At the same time, when people play back at you, if you do not have cards, you have to be willing to lay it down. Sometimes I am…sometimes not so I need to watch that.
But I am starting to return to my aggressive ways. I open to 30 from the hijack. Only the cut-off calls. The flop is Ad/Jd/4c, I lead out for 40 and he folds. Guess my K/10o was the best hand…
Very next hand it is folded to me in the Sb. I raise, bb folds. Does not really matter I had A/8. I made the right poker move and that is what matters. It also brings me back to 5. even, though still down 5 overall.
Next hand, I am small blind. UTG limps, UTG+1 limps, KarnieB (whom we saw earlier) click-raises to .20. Hmm. Two early limpers…small pairs or suited connectors probably? And a min-raise. Earlier in the session when I was playing passively and poorly, I would flat call, but here I raise to .90 and everyone folds.
I make the correct play again and get a great result…I make 50 cents (2 limpers, BB, and the 20 cents from KarnieB).
I then fold the 5/7 bb to an early raise. There are times to be aggressive and times to move on to the next hand.
A few folds follow, including folding the hijack with A/9off after early limp and a couple raisable button-hands after early limps.
UTG+3, pick up the cowboys and open to 30. The bb pauses, thinks, then raises to .50. That is only 20 cents to me.
The pot is now 1.5; my 30 cents, the small blind, his bb and call, and then his raise. Now, if he gives me a serious raise, I probably just call. But this raise is begging me to run him off the pot. It feels like a big ace or medium-big pair. Really, the only hand I fear is Aces and his re-raise is too weak for that. If he had aces, he probably would have raised the pot or so.
So now, how much to re-raise? He has 3.45 behind, so any raise by me should pot-commit him. I get lazy and raise all-in. He snap-calls…with Big Slick. Sweet, he is drawing to 3 outs.
He never improves, and I rake a 7.42 pot in. Now I am sitting behind 8.87 and feeling much better about my game. I am starting to get aggressive, making the right reads and moves.
Next hand, bb with a/5 off. I check with about 4 limpers and then check-fold a Q/K/K 2 suited flop. With that many people involved, I am way behind. How far behind? Well, one of the limpers had pocket Aces…which means only running 5s would let me win, otherwise I am drawing to a runner-runner split pot with him. By the same token…he won the pot, and it was just .94 cents.
By which I mean the “clever” play of limping with Aces is not for me. It forces you to play small pots when ugly, dangerous flops hit. On this one, there were straights, flushes, and even anyone with a goofy hand like K/J has him crushed…and that is a hand LOTS of people play on Rush. Just one more reason I hate the limp. It fails more than it works. And when it works, you seldom make enough to make up for the times it does not.
Next hand I have 7/9 in the cut-off. Not a great hand…but it can hit a middle pair or hidden straight draw. It is certainly worth an open raise…but I fold. And several more folds follow.
I pick up A/10o in middle postion and open to 30. The bb calls, and then check-folds a k/3/6 two suited flop. Controlled aggression works well. And people do that all the time. Occasionally they will lead out on the flop or even re-raise, but most of the time it is call-check-fold. I love it.
Next hand, sitting behind 9.08, I pick up Big Slick in the big blind. UTG min-raises, UTG+2 raises to .75 and I….fold? What? I guess the re-raise MIGHT be Aces or Kings or even Queens…or might be someone like me who re-raises lots of hands. Oh well. Folds seldom bad.
Couple more folds and, with 8.98, pick up Queens on the button. I love this…button raises are usually suspicious, so a big hand there can get you paid sometimes. UTG limps, UTG+1 raises to 1.41 all-in. Decision time.
Obviously I am not folding, but do I flat-call trying to pick up a blind or limper or do I re-raise trying to isolate? Well…I would not be surprised by anything from any pocket pair to A/10o or A/xs. I doubt he has Aces or Kings, but he might. A raise here builds a big pot that will be hard to get away from if an Ace or King flops, so a call seems wise.
Everyone folds, and he flips up…K/9 of clubs? What? Awesome! And I have the Queen of clubs, so I am blocking both straight and flush draws. By the river there are 2 Aces on board and I pull in a nice pot.
In fact, it is nice enough I am now sitting behind 10.44. Since I lost 5.15 earlier and then put 5 back in, I am not in as good as shape as it looks…on the other hand, I am now ahead by .29 cents which feels pretty good after playing so poorly earlier.
At the same time, it is sometimes bad because I start thinking about whether I am up or down and playing based on that instead of what I should do. Example; a few proper folds, then I pick up q/6o on the button.
Only someone being exceptionally charitable would call this a marginal hand…but on the button it is a clear raising hand. I do not want to get “stuck” again so I open-fold it. Bad play.
A few hands later, I raise the A/10s from middle position. The button, sb and big blind all call and suddenly we have 1.20 in the pot (pre-rake). Oops…
Well, the flop is decent. 2/2/k rainbow. If I was ahead before, I am ahead now. If I was behind before, I am behind now. The blinds check to me, I bet .60 into the pot and everyone folds. After rake, I pick up 1.12.
I used to check those flops figuring “there are three people, one of them has the king”. Now I bet as if I have it…and good things happen.
Several folds later, including a sb and bb to raises, I open-fold a 4/5 in the sb. This is always a mistake. Raise that!
Very next hand I fold the bb with k/jo a cutoff raise.
I know I am playing too soft, but several folds (one sb) follow until I pick up the same K/Jo in the sb and open for 30. The BB re-raises.
This is a clear fold. It is seldom indeed that someone plays back at me, and Estrike has no notes on him so he has not done so before. Believe him! Or I could idiotically call. Which I do. And then I bet into a 10/q/8 2 suited flop and he re-raises. With a double belly buster I call. The turn pairs the board. I check. He waits…waits…waits…and then bets 2/3 pot. I fold 2.25 or so too late. Gave away a lot of money I did not need to.
I still like my initial raise and do not hate my call or lead bet on the flop…but no way should I have continued past there. Save a dollar.
So now I am down to 8.41. This is bad because for the night I am stuck 1.74. But since I am not going to be tentative…it will let me play. Hopefully.
A few folds, then I open to 30 from early middle position. 2 calls and then the bb comes over the top 11.85 all in. EyesMindAssassin with the massive overbet for the win as nobody calls.
From the cutoff I then open-fold q/8o. Again, not a great hand…but I need to raise there. The next hand I have k/5 suited and do open from the button and pick up the blinds.
A button fold to 2 limpers, then I find myself with 6/6 in the big blind. I call a hijack raise to 40 and see a 10/10/2 flop into which I lead out, he folds, and I pick up the pot. Just .61 cents, 30 of which is mine…but I pick up 30 cents here, 15 cents there…it adds up.
In fact, when I pick up a lot of blinds, it lets me chase a few more draws that can turn into big pots. So it is well worth doing.
Next hand, middle position limps, I limp behind with 5/5, and the next guy bumps it to 30 cents.
This is a bad, bad raise. Two limpers have put in ten cents apiece and the pot has the blinds already, so it is a .20 cent raise after they fold. The first limper needs to call 20 to win 65 and, after he calls, I need 20 to win 85, or better than 4-1. Easy call.
And great flop. Jc 5h 2h. I flopped a set, just one draw. I bet .50. The pre-flop raiser, to my delight, bumps it to 1.50. The first limper folds, and I have to think. His most likely hands include suited A/J, over-pair, or a flush draw.
If he has an over-pair or A/J NOT hearts, I want to slow-play here. If he has A/J Hearts, he has 11 outs twice, 44%…I want him all-in NOW while I am a favorite (and have the re-draw to the boat). If he has Queens or Kings I want him all in now before an Ace kills my action. If he has Aces, he will get it all-in unless he is one of the better players on here.
I raise all-in, he insta-calls and has pocket Kings. One is the heart, so he has a back-door flush draw…and a 9H falls on the turn. Uh-oh…but the river is a blank, and the 16.42 pot is shipped my way.
This is why I am not afraid to set-mine even against raises like earlier. Sure, I lost a buck there…but I can do that if I can double up when I hit. Besides which, people regularly fold both pre-flop and flop, so I can realistically expect to win over half the pots I am involved in with even pedestrian pairs like deuces when I am playing with proper aggression.
Yet I also have some coward in me. Several folds later, I have a/6o in sb and fold to a raise. I usually do because I am out of position with not just a weak hand but an easily dominated one. Any A/7 or above is a quite believable hand, so there is really no flop I will be happy to see. So good fold.
A couple folds later, UTG limps and in the next seat I do as well with pocket deuces. Sometimes I will try to see a cheap flop with a drawing hand. Then we get a fold, a click-raise to 20, a raise behind that to 1.00,and a raise to 3.. The first limper calls.
Now I have a tough choice. There are lots of people interested, so if I hit my hand I will make a lot. But I am not getting remotely close to 8-1, there is a chance of set-over-set and I have people behind me. Time to fold.
And the next guy raises to 10.25. I just saved 3 bucks.
Oh, and it was aces versus queens and I would have flopped the set and won 13.55…
A few folds later, I pick up J/10 suited on the button. This is a hand I like to raise with, and will sometimes call a min-raise or will limp if others have. What I really want is to flop the straight draw. I am never particularly happy to get a pair because of kicker issues…a lot of loose players love A/J, A/10, K/j type hands. Q/10, Q/J, K/10….I am crushed every which way from Sunday.
Unfortunately, someone bumps it to .35…and even more unfortunately, I lie to myself that position and straight and flush possibilities make it a worthy call.
Even more unfortunately, I get a partial hit on a K/10/4 rainbow flop. He raises to .40 cents, I pop it to 1.10 and he calls. The turn is a Q. Now I am really not happy. A/J is a believable hand, as is A/K, A/Q, or A/10. About all I can beat is a bluff.
Yet when he checks, I bet 1.40 into him which he calls. Now, that is not as foolish as it seems. Lots of guys who raise pre-flop will call any re-raise on the flop, then check-fold the turn if they hit nothing.
When he check-calls the flop it makes me nervous. That usually means someone has a hand good enough to see a show-down but not good enough to raise…or they are slow-playing. Either way, I am beat.
And when a harmless 5c falls on the river, he is all-in 4.75. Easy fold, but took a bit of a hit.
In the big blind next hand, 10/3 off with raise and re-raise in front, easy fold.
Open-raise from button with A/8o, no callers.
Open raise from cut-off with k/9s, no callers.
A few folds of questionable nature such as the last one, then open-raise from button with pocket 7s, no callers.
And so it goes. Lots of folding to raises, raises in position or with pairs, and so forth.
With 13.62 in front of me, I pick up Aces on the button. I really want someone to raise in front of me. The cut-off click-raises and I raise to 90. Everyone folds. I pick up the blinds and his 20 cents.
The lesson here, though, is I do not re-raise enough from the button. A click-raise indicates a position raise more often than not, and while most of them will call the pre-flop re-raise, very few do anything other than check-fold the flop.
And after being reminded of that, I called a raise to 25 from the cutoff when I was in the big blind with a/10 off. Flop comes down 9/10/k rainbow. Middle pair, top kicker, clear raising situation…and I elect to re-raise. Unfortunately, he checks behind me. 3s on the turn, I bet, he folds.
Lots more folding, then a fun hand. Big slick utg+2, raise to 30. The blinds call. Flop was Qd, Jh, Th. I have the absolute nuts at the moment, and a draw to the second nut flush of the backdoor variety. Still, I am not going to be too happy if another heart falls, so I continuation bet, and into two people, I bet 90 cents, almost a pot size bet.
One caller, and he checks a 4s, but calls my 2.70 bet. The river is a harmless 6c. How to maximize it? He checks to me. I figure he has a busted flush draw or maybe top pair, questionable kicker. I bet in reverse, a 2.50 value bet but he folds pretty quickly. I doubt he would have paid anything. Still, I took down a nice 7.56 pot so that was cool.
About this point I am sitting behind 17.70 and thinking I should pack it in. That is a nice win and usually when I start thinking like that, I change my style and then give a bunch of it back. But I keep playing.
After a few folds, pocket Aces under the gun. I open to 30 and everyone folds. Grr.
Next hand, bb special, A/4 off. 5 limpers including sb, I check. Flop is 4s 6s kh. I lead out for 30, which often gets a lot of folds. One caller. Turn is Ac, I bet 60, he folds and I take down the pot.
A little while later, back to back hands show the difference between being aggressive and being passive. In the first I have 4/5 off in the cut-off and open fold. The next hand I raise a 4/6….slightly worse, in my opinion…from the button, one seat later…and win the
blinds.
A few hands later, I narrowly avert disaster. (Okay, so I easily averted it) by folding J/3 under the gun. Flop was 8/8/J, so I would have bet. Turn was a 10, river was a Jack, which would have given me a full house…which would have beaten the queen high straight but lost to the straight flush and cost me a lot. Sometimes folding is not just a good thing, but a great thing. Irony is…my j/3 was suited, which lots of people play “because it is suited”.
Lots of folding, including couple blinds, follows before the next hand of any interest. I pick up A/10o in the blind. Obviously this is a hand I will raise with from even middle position, so on the button it is a virtual lock…the key word being virtual. The hijack raise to 30, the cutoff folds.
Here is where my cautious side shows. Sure, he could have a low to medium pair, he could have medium suited connectors…but he could also have A/J, A/Q, A/K, or even a high pair. He might be like me…raising all sorts of trash hands with position, or he might have a hand.
The point is, there are better spots to play. Why get involved when one person has shown strength and there are two left to act? Fold and move on to the next hand. (The blinds also fold, so we will never know if it was a good move. But I lost nothing, so I think it was.)
A few folds follow, and then I open raise the button with a monster…q/5 off. The big blind calls. The flop is Q/8/2, 2 hearts. He checks, I raise, he folds. Ah…the joys of position. He must have feared my mighty kicker…
A few folds later, I pick up pocket queens in early middle position. I open to 30 cents, the button re-pops to 1.05, I call and we take the flop heads up. And it is an ugly flop, K/8/2, 2 hearts.
Lets see…he re-raised me, but he did so from the button. That can mean lots of things. Lots of people are playing the Full Tilt Academy and will raise from the button with any two cards to fulfill a challenge.
I think that is a dumb reason to do it…but I also realize it is a factor.
People will also re-raise with A/K, A/Q, any suited ace, a medium or even a small pair. They just really, really believe in the power of position. So I have 3 ways to play this hand;
1) Aggressive. Come out raising.
2) Tricky. Check, planning to check raise.
3) Passive. Check, figuring he will only raise if he has the king, so planning to check-fold.
I choose aggressive, I raise, he folds, I am happy.
Next hand I fold A/Jo to an early raise when I am the Hijack.
A couple folds later, I make a bizarre, bad play. I was sitting behind 19.21 and for whatever reason decided I would make 20 my goal and then quit. But instead of being patient, playing tight-aggressive, solid poker, I did the following.
UTG+2 limps. Sitting on the button with 9/J off, this is an obvious fold…so I re-pop to 40. The blinds fold but the limper calls. Low pair maybe? Suited connectors? Slow-playing Aces?
For a silly play like this, the flop is pretty good. 8/9/4, 2 suits. He checks, I raise, and my bad play works out as he folds.
Very next hand, I am the button and fold the 3/4 suited to a min-raise from early. Ironically, I would flop the nuts as A/2/5 rainbow hits…but I was gone by then.
After a few folds, I ran into one of those cases where the raise may not be a good idea. I opened from the button and the big blind called. The flop was 10/3/q rainbow. He checked, I bet half the pot, he called. A lot of people will call the flop assuming it is a continuation bet, so I am not too troubled.
Turn was a 7, putting a second spade on board. He check-calls 80 cents. I figure he either had the 10 with a weak kicker, maybe the ten, or a moderate pocket pair, or perhaps big slick. Anyhow, I am done with the hand. River brings a King. Now I am way behind A/J, K/Q…I am happy to check behind him. He had K/9…so he called the flop and turn with a gut-shot straight draw. And took down the hand…
I go two different ways when I get close to a goal. Sometimes I get too aggressive (see prior hand) or too passive (several questionable folds in between). So how to guage this hand? I am down to 18 even, pick up A/5 suited and raise.
That itself does not bother me. What does it I made my raise utg+1. A/5 suited is a drawing hand. Unless I flop a flush draw or a miracle 2/3/4, I am not overly happy to see either card in my hand match the board. If I hit my Ace, I have kicker problems. If I hit my 5…well…I have a pair of 5s.
The small blind calls. This troubles me more than the big blind calling…a lot of people in the big blind over-value the “discount” and call with a wider range of hands. Usually the small blind needs a bigger hand to call.
The flop is 6/9/j, and I have 4 to the flush. Not bad. If he is calling with A/J, K/Q, Q/J, 10/J, etc. and I complete my flush, I will look good to win a nice pot. But he check-folds to my continuation bet.
After a few folds, I raise A/J from the button, the blinds fold. Nothing too exciting, but just solid ABD poker, slowly working my way up towards 20.00.
Tired of solid poker, I am in the big blind with 10/8 clubs. The button opens to 30 cents and has 29.17. I have a suited one-gapper and decide it is worth calling his possible position raise.
The flop comes 8/k/6, two suits. I lead out for half the pot and he folds. I mark a note on his profile that he plays position poker, but passively. Had he re-raised, I probably give him credit for the king and fold.
However, it is a sign I am getting looser. To back this up, a couple hands later I am the small blind, have K/10 off…and call a raise from the hi-jack. What am I thinking here? K/10 is a horrid hand.
It is dominated by A/K, A/10, K/Q, K/J, and is in trouble to most straight draws. Worse, the big blind also calls, so I am out of position against two players. Flop is 7/6/9 rainbow. I passively check, and they check behind. The turn is a 4, I bet half the pot, they both fold.
Still, I should not have been in the hand. If I had re-raised pre-flop…maybe. But calling? Not too smart.
Now I am sitting behind 19.36. So close…
In the sb, I pick up pocket fours. Someone limps from early, and the hijack raises to 30. I do not like being in the squeeze position, but I do like having people interested when I have a trap hand like 4s. So I call, as does the original limper.
I like the flop, 5/3/6 rainbow. I likely have the best hand and, with the middle of the straight draw, I like where I am. I raise. The original limper folds, the raiser calls. The turn is a King of the 4th suit. Hmm. Lots of guys will call with Big Slick, so I am not too worried, because I still have 10 outs. I bet a buck…and he calls. The river is a 9c, I check, he checks behind. His pocket 7s take a nice pot.
Even though I lost the hand, I am not disappointed with my play in this hand. I was aggressive, I got to see the river for a price I found worthwhile. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you look down and have 17.56 in play…
A couple hands later I open to 30 from the cut-off with A/7 off. The big blind hesitates, then calls. He is a guy I have seen make some pretty loose plays so I am not too worried.
The flop brings 2/9/q rainbow. He check-calls my half pot bet.
The turn is a Jack, putting a second club on the board. It also completes the draw for anyone playing 8/10 or K/10 and both the queen and jack hit a lot of potential hands. He check-calls my half pot bet. The river is another 9 and a club. There are straight draws, flush draws, and straight flush draws. I check behind him. He had 7/9d, so he hit trips on the river. Well played by him, too aggressive probably by me, but I would rather err on the side of aggression than passiveness. I also figure he planned a river check-raise, so I like my check behind.
But now I am going in reverse, with only 16.06 in front of me.
1 fold later, I am the small blind with A/J suited when the button opens to 30. It is a clear re-raise, but I meekly call. Sometimes, I will randomly decide to go for the home run, and this is an example. Instead of taking down a small pot, which a re-raise would probably do, I play for that 1-16 chance of flopping a flush.
The flop is A/10/5 rainbow. Another clear raise. I check. He bets half the pot…is this guy my clone? A re-raise is in order…and I just call. The turn is a 6. I again check-call a half pot bet. Again…I should have re-raised.
The river is a q. Uh-oh…if he had something goofy like K/J…which would actually be a solid raising hand from the button…I am now facing a straight. It would also make 2 pair for a lot of hands I would believe. I give serious consideration to check-folding. He bets 2.70…hmm. I am going to fol….what…did I just call? I did.
And he had A/Q.
So perhaps the check-calling was not so bad, I got hurt less than I would have. He had a very good hand, played it strongly, I played passively and gave away 4.30 in one hand. Then again, I do not think I am strong enough as a player to get away from A/J against a button open raiser when I hit the flop like that. I need to be, though. Re-raise the pre-flop and flop and, facing that much resistance, I might get away cheaper. But I was trying to get cute and trap him…and got trapped myself. I was badly out-played on that hand and it cost me.
And now I am at 11.76. My how it flies away in just two or three hands…
A couple hands later a middle position guy limps, from the next seat I jack it to 50 cents with a/10 off. Not a good move. Well, maybe it is…everyone folds and I take down the pot.
If I were a couple seats later I would like this move, but I think I was too early in the hand with a marginal hand like that. Oh well.
A couple hands later, a late position min-raise finds me in the big blind with Q/6. I argue that 3-1 makes this playable and call. Then I check-fold a 2/j/k flop. Horribly played. I should log out instantly. But I do not.
I did not think so at the time, but looking back on it, I think maybe I was on tilt. I was upset with myself for too much aggression on some hands and for the big pot holding nothing but top pair, third kicker.
Still, I am still somewhat aggressive, raising the awesome K/4 off from the cutoff and watching everyone fold.
And the next hand raising a more reasonable Q/10 off from the cut-off. This time the big blind calls.
The flop comes 2/a/10, all spades. He checks, I bet half the pot, he folds. Could not tell you if I had a spade or not, did not really matter.
A couple hands later, it is folded to the small blind who completes. I should raise, after all, I have a monstrous 3/5 off. However, this hand stands a fair chance of being second best after…well, 99.999% of all possible flops, so if I am going to win this hand, now is the time. But I check anyway because sometimes I am a truly awful player.
A 6/j/1, 2 suited flop sees him min bet. An obvious re-raise…but I fold. Because sometimes I am a truly awful player.
And the very next hand, I am the small blind. The button open-limps, I weakly complete with the 9/10 off, and the big blind does what I should have and raises to 50. The button calls, I fold, having wasted a nickel with weak, poor play.
However, even weak, poor players can pick up good hands. In the hijack, one guy limps to me and I look at pocket aces. I bump it up to 60. The utg limper flat-calls and the flop is 2/5/7, 2 clubs. He checks, I bet, he folds.
I do a lot of folding, then in middle position, largely out of boredom I suppose, I open-raise an 8/Q off and everyone folds.
Pockets 7s in middle position. One person limps and I have a choice. A re-raise here would be strong and probably wise. Often, when a few people limp, one of the blinds will make a big re-raise. 7s are good if you get in cheap but cannot stand a big raise. At the same time, if I limp, often that brings others into the pot. I really only plan to play a big pot if I flop a set, so I limp to try and see a cheap flop. At a normal table where I am trying to maintain my “table image” of someone who is aggressive and whom you better have a hand to stay with me, then I raise. But here where most people are so busy rushing to the next hand that they do not take notes…why not try to see a drawing hand cheap? So I limp.
The Big blind checks and we see a 10/6/k flop, all hearts. I have no hearts, but I do have heart, and when they both check, I make a half-pot bet, they fold and I take it down. Had someone re-raised, it would be an easy fold.
So there are times I am being aggressive, and then times like the one shortly after where I open-fold the button…and the sb folds, giving the big blind a walk. Are my cards really relevant here?
Next hand, in the hijack, I do raise, and still nobody calls. Pocket deuces win again.
The lesson, oft-repeated, seldom followed, is controlled aggression wins lots of small pots I am not entitled to by my cards. But smart aggression I guess entitles me to them. At the same time, better hands are easy to fold.
Example; next hand I am in late middle position with A/J off. Under the gun click-raises, I fold. The pot later gets large and I would have lost it to pocket 9s. Good fold with a better hand than the ones I was raising with.
The lesson is still clear; raise lots, call seldom. When I am playing well, I fold K/2 suited in the big blind, as I later do…yet if it were folded to me, I would raise that from the hijack or later.
That is one way I use these hand histories, to see if I was playing well or poorly. For example, I open-folded the small blind. That is always a mistake, even with “trash hands” like the 10/3 suited I did it with. The big blind folds that so often that I should always give him a chance to do so by raising.
I then am in too much of a hurry to fold and open-fold pocket 4s. Now, as it turns out, I was under the gun and two people got all in with pocket 2s versus pocket 10s…of course, the deuces only had 88 cents, but this is a good example of a time where a conservative fold was a good one…if I am results oriented instead of “proper play” oriented.
At a normal table, open-folding pocket 4s under the gun is automatic. On Rush, not raising it is typically a mistake because often it flat out wins the pot, other times it hits the set, and other times it wins unimproved through continuation bets. But not a huge mistake to fold.
Raising A/5 suited from the cutoff pickes up the blinds.
Under the gun+3 with pocket 7s follows the pocket 4s formula. Regular table…easy fold. Rush…automatic raise. Only the cut-off calls. Flop is dangerous…J/Q/9 with 2 suits. So naturally I bet half the pot, he folds, and I pick up a small pot.
Looking for “one more hand” I pick up a suited J/Q on the button. I open to 30, the small blind calls and we take the flop heads up. The flop is A/5/3 rainbow. I bet 50 cents into a 70 cent pot. Why did I make it 50 instead of my standard 40? Acting too fast. And I am not happy when he calls.
The turn is a 7, giving me 4 to the flush. He checks and I check my flush draw. The turn is a Jack of the 4th suit. I now have a pair, but the way he has played this hand I figure he could have a dry ace, 2 pair, or just a couple high cards. Most of what he holds are dangerous, so I check behind him. He had K/2 of same suit I had, so I am glad no flush hit…and he missed his gut-shot straight draw so I take down 1.59.
Now I have just about 13.86 and decide it is a good time to quit.
Despite some poor early play, I finish about 3.75 to the good. Woo-hoo!
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