Random Hands

Having rat-holed a nice pick-up, I start a new session and promptly play exactly one of the first 23 hands…a boring open raise with big slick everyone folds to.

Finally I pick up big slick again, this time in the small blind. That is something I both love and hate. It is impossible to play a hand in position from the blind which adds to the difficulty. On the other hand, people often discount the strength of the hand…so I have to put them on a wider range of holdings.

UTG+2 opens for .30 with 9.10 in front of him. With 3.90, I have to decide how to proceed. Folding is something I actually occasionally do, and it is always a mistake. He could have a lot of hands here…6/6+, suited connectors, suited Ace, even something like K/Qo I have seen quite a bit.

Calling is a poor option as I give worse hands a free shot to draw out on me and I let them control the action. So a re-raise is in order. I pop it up to a buck and he flat calls.

I more or less rule out Aces or Kings, put Queens as possible but unlikely, and figure him for a good pair…10/10+, with other hands possible but unlikely. On the bright side, I have the initiative. On the dark side, he has position and the pot is a bit larger than I like with just Ace high.

The flop is pretty not good…7h/9s/5h. I hit none of that. Time to make my continuation bet as he probably hit none of that either. Now, with 2 bucks in the pot, I usually bet half the pot here…but in this case, that is the same amount I bet pre-flop, which is a bet that just feels weak and even at the amount, that pot commits me so I pot bet, 2.10, leaving me just .80 cents behind. I probably should have just moved in.

He instantly re-raises me. I figure he has something like Queens or Kings…maybe even Aces…but now with over 6 bucks in the pot and just 80 cents behind, there is no way I am folding. I made a bad bet, got clipped, and now time to pay.

He flips up pocket 7s, a hand I had in his initial range and had I only bet a buck, who knows…I MIGHT have been wise enough to fold. I doubt it…but every so often I surprise myself.

I actually thought I was drawing dead. Running Aces or Kings would give him a boat. The turn is the 10h and I start laughing…so many people have drawn out on me in ridiculous situations like this that I see it coming and when the 2h hits, I rivered the nut flush and take down the 7.38 pot on a ridiculous suck-out.

It is not often your chance to win a hand is better after the turn than the flop…but wow. Just wow.

Funny thing is…if I were him I would not have been in the hand anyway.

Lets reverse it for a second. I open to .30 and get re-raised to 1. I have pocket 7s which are almost guaranteed to need to improve to win the pot. I am really playing for a set here.

Short-hand math says I need to get 8-1 to play for a set…he is calling .70 to win 3.90 max, or less than 6-1. For me, that is an easy fold, particularly as I am behind most hands in the range of an opponent who re-raises from the small blind…I credit them for 10/10+, A/K, MAYBE A/Js+.

Against that range I am significantly behind over half and a coin flip against the rest. If the small blind calls, I am okay with that…if they re-raise, the odds are wrong and I need to fold.

So here is a case where both players played poorly, just at different points in the hand; his pre-flop play was abominable, and my post-flop play arguably even worse. And I got extremely fortunate to hit a horrific long-shot. I’ll take it.

Sometimes after I play a hand poorly and get rewarded, I get overly aggressive. This time I fold 9 consecutive hands and then, irony of ironies, he next hand I play is from middle position with pocket 7s.

Utg click-raises with 5.38, I call with 7.28. I want more people in the hand to increase my pot odds. Unfortunately, the next person raises to…wait for it…1.00 with 4.10 behind.

Folded back to me and I am facing an .80 cent raise to win 4.45 – rake. A simple 8x.80 tells me I need 6.40 and I am getting incorrect odds…so I fold.

This is a very similar situation with identical hands facing similar raises. I actually would argue I had MORE incentive to call…the re-raise was in the face of a lower-than-average raise and flat-call, both of which indicate marginal holdings, and had several people left to act, so this is more in line with an isolation raise.

I would give them any mid pair…say 4s or better, a moderate suited ace or a strong unsuited ace, a range my 7s have better equity against…but not good enough to call based on the odds. I might be wrong but I like the way I played this hand.

I then fold 22 consecutive hands…meaning I have not seen a flop in a while and the blinds have chipped me down to 6.78 when I pick up Ah/Kc and open to .30 from the cut-off. The big blind, with 6.80, calls and we see the flop heads up.

I am pretty happy with the flop…Ad/3h/7c. I am way behind pocket threes or pocket 7s but way ahead of anything else. There are not draws. He check-calls my .40 cent continuation, then check-folds the 2h turn. This game is easy.

A couple hands later I open with Queens in middle position, everyone folds. But I am okay with that. Being tighter with my opening hands has been good to me, no need to get involved bumping around opening trash like A/10o and then hitting flops part-way, getting lost in the hand and giving up big chunks.

Or getting into hands by accident. With 7.59 I am in the big blind with Js/Kc. The button limps with 37.89, the small blind folds, and I check my option.

If I am going to get a cheap look with a marginal hand I might as well flop a big hand. Now, normally here I will lead out. I have a good but hardly untouchable hand. For whatever reason…I check. He checks behind.

The turn brings us the 10d, adding a couple draws and potentially hitting several hands he might hold. I put out almost a pot size bet and he folds. Again…not sure how to play this. There is nothing to indicate he will ever bet into me. So I guess that is about as good as I can do. I need to figure out a better way to play hands like this where I am extremely likely to have the better hand.

After numerous folds and a couple uneventful, by the books hands, I pick up Ah/Jh under the gun. I routinely fold this hand as I am really working on tightening up my pre-flop hands, but this was a “I have folded lots of hands and this sure looks pretty after a barren stretch” moment so I raised to .30 with 7.63 in my stack.

The cut-off, with 2.81, flat-calls, as does the small blind with 2.36.

The three of us look at a pot of about a buck and a flop of 3c/8c/Js. With top pair, top kicker and both of them having less than three bucks I am pretty sure to see the river. The small blind checks, I bet half the pot, the cut-off folds and the small blind calls.

The turn is the 6s, he checks, I bet .90, he flats leaving .66 behind. That .66 is going in or he is folding on the river…because I am betting if he does not.

The river is the 3s, he leads out for .66. I know I am calling, but just as an exercise for myself, I work through the hands he could hold.

He was getting a decent price on his call, calling .25 to win .75 if the big blind folded, or 3-1. So with the loose nature of the game, I can give him credit for A/10+, A/xs, suited connectors, any pair, 10/j, or any two face cards. A pretty wide range.

He played it passively, check-calling to the river. He led out on the river, knowing I am unlikely to fold to a .66 cent bet into a 3.50ish pot. So he either A) has a monster and is afraid he will not get paid or B) has nothing and knows his best bet is making me fold.

Looking at the hand, a 3 is a definite possibility but unlikely. It feels more like a missed flush draw with minor thoughts he held a 9/10 and wanted a straight. I really think he is going to flip up a/x of clubs.

I make the easy call and he shows us the Kc/10c. What do you know, the missed flush. Okay, so I missed what his top card was…I am quite pleased with my read on the hand.

So some up and down play with pretty good results.