Hand reading exercises

UTG opens to .20 with 5.32, a fold, a call with 12.04 and I find myself on the button with Ac/9c. Okay, I have a drawing hand, position, and will likely get another caller from the big blind. I elect to call with 3.70, then both blinds disappoint me by folding.

The flop is 9d, 3h, 2c. With the min-raise, the utg has a wider range than usual…A/10+, K/J+, any suited ace or king, any pair. The call represents more or less the same range.

I figure to have the best hand with top pair, top kicker and when they both check, the bet is mandatory. With about .70 cents in there, I lead out for .40. UTG calls, middle folds.

So I figure he probably has 2 overs, maybe even something like A/4 or A/5. He checks the 7h turn, I lead out for .80 and he again calls.

The river is the 5d and he checks. Let’s see…he min-raised utg, check-called innocuous flops and turns and checked the river. What fits that?

An Ace that missed, 2 over cards, pocket 4s, pocket 6s or slow-playing a set or over-pair. I do pretty well against that range so I go ahead and bet again.

He folds, so I really have no idea if I was right or not. But with a marginal hand, I am happy with that pot.

In middle position I open to .30 with pocket Aces. I am happy when the button calls with 10 and then the big blind also calls with 10.73.

If there have to be two other players, I am happy with the 6c/4c/4h flop. Probably missed everyone except a draw. I want to take down the pot and lead out for .95, getting the button to call and the big blind to fold.

Over pair or flush draw, slightly weighted toward the flush draw, with two big cards also a possibility. The turn is the 10d, I have 2.94 left and the pot means I am playing this to the river, so I shove my last 2.94 which he calls.

Really, the main thing I am afraid of here is pocket 10s, but I think maybe A/10c, A/x clubs are likely, with pockets 7 through 9s equally likely. Less likely but possible are jacks, queens or kings.
He flips up pocket 7s, my aces hold up and I double up. Nice, my Aces held.

With 7.27 I open to .30 from utg+2. The big blind is my only customer, with 10 even.

The flop is 5c/4d/5s, he checks, and something like 99.999% of the time, I am betting here regardless of what I have. I bet .40 which he snap-calls.

The turn is the Qs and we both check. An unusual move for me as I almost always bet here. The river is the 9c, he leads out for .40.

Okay, so he called out of position pre-flop, check-called the flop, checked the turn, and then under-bet the river. I am thinking marginal hand here. Maybe a dry ace, medium pair, maybe even A/K or A/Q type hands.

Also possible but less likely are pocket 4s or pocket 9s. I re-raise to 1.40, takes his time and calls with pocket 7s. My pocket queens boated up and take down the pot.

UTG+1, with 4.29, takes time and then click-raises. Middle position, with 17.90, calls, the big blind also calls with 7.22 and they see the flop three handed.

The flop is the 5s/6c/8d, it is checked around. The turn is the 7d.

Big Blind raises to .20, about 1/3rd the pot. UTG folds, mp bumps it to 1.25.

This is a frequent reaction to weak, defensive bets like that of the big blind and may or may not mean he has a hand. As the moment the 9/10 is the nuts, but there are 2 flush draws, the way the hand has played any set is possible and something like pocket 9s or even pocket 4s is also a distinct possibility.

BB re-pops to 2.30, indicating a hand, and mp re-re-re-raises to 2.20, which the button calls.
At this point I am thinking set over set, set over 2 pair, two pair versus straight are the most likely hands.

The river is the 10d, bb hesitates, then bets 1.0, mp raises to 2.20 and there is a call.

Flush is a possibility, but remote. I think these are two made hands and think my turn conjecture is pretty good.

Big blind shows Ks/4s…the ignorant end of the straight. The mp shows Ac/9c and takes the pot with the higher straight.

I really do not like the play on this hand at all. While the K/4s was almost the same hand as pocket 4s at that point in the hand, all the re-raising without shoving screamed “hand that can be beat trying to scare away better hand”.

Worse, he was betting into a made hand. Not worth getting involved with the bottom end of a straight, the best he could hope for was something like a set where the board did not pair.

But I have seen worse plays…cut-off open limps with 16.17, small blind completes with 7.58 and the big blind checks with 7.86.

The flop is 10d/4d/3s, it is checked around. The turn is the qd, the sb checks, big blind bets .30 (pot size bet) and everyone calls.

River is the 8c, the small blind leads out for 1.20, the big blind calls, the cut-off folds.

The small blind shows pocket aces and loses to the big blind’s king high flush…k/7 was his holding.

So the desire to get action on aces led him to let everyone see a cheap flop, he bet nothing when he was ahead, and then called and bet when he was behind. How did that work out for him?
Yes, if he raises pre-flop he probably gets a fold from the big blind…but he does not lose 16 blinds on the hand and makes 3. That is a 19 blind swing because he tried to trap, then did not bet to charge the draws.

I have to constantly remind myself...while there are players on this level capable of tricky plays (i.e. the pocket rockets dude), there are far more people against whom it should be a simple game; bet when I have the goods, fold the rest of the time.