Hand by hand 3

So with 2.51 after the Aces hand, I open from the button with Jc/Kh and the blinds fold. This should really be my plan, to pick up lots of small pots and play very few big ones.

Unless, of course, I pick up Ac/Ad the next hand utg+1 and again over-raise to .20. I need to stop that…make the standard raise. The hijack with 5.33 calls, as does the small blind with 5.35. So now I am in the squeeze position in a larger than normal pot…

And the very dangerous 10h/3s/Jd hits. This smurf-slaps all sorts of drawing hands that might call…Q/K, J/10 being the most obvious, though certainly an A/J type hand makes me happy.
The sb checks, I bet 2/3rs the pot, .40 and they both call.

I am not too excited about this. At least it was a rainbow flop…but I am not feeling good about a three-way pot with just an overpair on a flop like that.

The turn is the 6d. The sb checks and I have seen enough…I do not want draws hanging around. There is about 1.80 in the pot, I have 1.98 left, so I ship it and get a call from middle position and fold from the blind.

Fortunately, he shows exactly the type hand I was hoping…Kc/10s. He is drawing to 2 tens, about 5%. He also called with second pair, good kicker against A) someone who thrice showed aggression and B) with a player behind who might have re-raised.

I do not like my too-large pre-flop raise, but compared to this guys play…I am an all-star. I also rake a nice 5.43 pot.

Later, a middle position limps with 2.27 and I re-raise from the big blind with As/Kc. He calls. To me, this represents a drawing hand…suited cards, low to medium pair, maybe even something like 7/8 off.

The flop is 9d/6h/3s. I over bet .50 into a .60 pot and he ships his last 1.97. I go into the tank.
It is 1.47 to call, there is 3.07, so slightly better than 2-1. This hand hits a couple hands I put him on, misses a couple. I figure to be behind but have 6 outs twice, so about a 4-1 dog. A clear fold…but inexplicably, I call, he shows pocket 10s, and I rightfully lose with a badly over-played big slick.

I mis-read his play as thinking I was simply making a play from the blind and it cost me.

Still, I have 3.16 and am being fairly active. I open from middle with Ah/Qc, get called from the next seat with 4.66, the cut-off with 5.39 and the three of us take the flop with .50 in the pot after the rake.

The flop is another of those good/bad…Ad/10s/Qh. I hit aces up, but there are lots of draws that hit, and even a long-shot set or two. I continuation bet .30, get a fold and a call.

Now the pot has over a buck, I am not sure where I am , and the turn is the 9h. It only hits badly played hands like 8/J, I bet .55, he calls. Now there is almost as much in the pot than I have left, the river is the 3h.

Here I make a mistake. There are two good courses of action; check, hoping to induce a bluff, or bet about a buck hoping for a call from A/10, Q/10 type hands. Instead I ship my last 2.16 and he folds. I got greedy, did not think through the plan, and extracted fewer chips than I should. The only hands that call me are sets or K/J…MAYBE A/K but I doubt it.

So I have been up and down a bit with some erratic play. Thing is, during the session I do not think I am playing erratically. It feels like I am playing well (except the A/K versus pocket tens hand). But when going back over it, I see many holes in my play.

From late middle I open to .15 with Qd/Qc and 4.24. The cut-off calls with 2.09 and we see a 6h/7c/8c flop. This is not good for queens.

Medium pockets from 5 to 10 love this, suited connectors as well. Still, I will almost always continuation bet here. I do so with .25, he calls.

The turn is the 10s, making it even worse. I now want to play a small pot…but bet .55 anyway because history has shown this produces a fold about 70% of the time, with a call about 20% and a fold-inducing re-raise about 10%. He calls.

So now we have a pot of 1.90, he has played it passively the whole way, a dangerous board, and an over pair. The river is the 10c. Now there are straights, flushes, even trips that beat me. I am ahead of A/K and not much else. I check, he goes all in for his last 1.14. I am getting about 3-1 on the call.

I think I am probably beat. Really, what could he have called with here? If it was the club draw I am beat. If he started with something like the gut shot J/10 I am beat. I guess stuff like A/8 I can beat, A/K, pocket Jacks…but really, I think this is a losing call. But I have an over pair, it is just another 1.14 to win nearly 3, and I am not good enough to lay it down. And he shows…

Ad/6c. I rake in the 3.97 pot, but not sure if I played it right or not. There is simply no way I could foresee him showing up with bottom pair here.

So now I have 6.12 and pick up Qs/Ad under the gun. This is a hand that, when I am getting a lot of action, I usually fold. It is too easy to run into A/K, Aces up, or something similar when an Ace flop and hitting the Queen is nice but I want a small pot. From the middle this is an open-worthy hand, from here I often fold.

This time I open and everyone else folds.

UTG open limps with 1.08, the next two seats call with 3.37 and 6.68, the button calls with 8.23 and, in the big blind with 5c/Qd I check. I am not happy about being in this hand. Four other players, I have a trash hand with no potential and am afraid of catching just enough to continue. I have 6.19 and do not want to get involved in a hand like this, make a poor decision, and ship a bunch of chips because I saw a “free” flop.

Sure enough, the flop is 4c/2h/5s. I hip top pair, modest kicker. I lead out for .20 hoping everyone folds. Instead I get a call, a re-raise to .50 and I actually play smart…I fold.

A/2, A/3, A/4, A/5 suited are all possible, and an over pair is probable, a set also fits well here. The utg calls. The turn is the 3h and the both check. On the one hand…I feel silly laying it down. On the other hand…with the re-raise, one of them HAS to have a set or straight? And surely the other has an over pair? There are no real draws other than A/x straight.

The river is the 2d, a lead out for .05 and re-raise to .65…the call putting first guy all in. Sure enough…pocket 4s for the flopped set and rivered boat…and he got paid by the 6c/Kd which rivered the straight.

The what? He limped…under the gun…with K/6 off? Called on a gut-shot, then called a re-raise on a gut shot…wow. This guy is either really, really good (no) or so bad I want to play lots of hands with this guy. He will pay to the river with bad draws and then not make you pay off by min-betting.

So the next hand, I open in the small blind with 5.94 and Ac/10c. The big blind, with 5.08, re-pops to .40. Often enough I just fold here…I have a draw, but it is a long-shot, I am out of position, and most of the time people just fold their big blind to this open. So this guy might actually have a hand or just be someone willing to make moves.

I do NOT want a big pot here.

But I call. The flop is okay…3d/As/Qh. I am ahead of the same Aces I was before, am now ahead of Kings or other pairs, but behind better aces. I check, as does he. The turn is the 9c. I do not want to face a big bet by checking twice, the pot has .80, I bet .45 and he folds. Hey, this game is easy.

He apparently thought I was making a move based on everyone having folded…something I am sometimes capable of, but not always…and just wanted to take it down pre-flop. When that failed, he gave up on the hand.

With Ad/Kh the next hand, I am in the small blind again and this time I open to .20 and see the big blind fold.

The next hand I am in the cut-off with As/Qc and open to .15 The button calls with 9.10. This leads me to believe he has a wider range and is playing position, both because people on the button tend to call with a wider range due to position and people with nearly double the max starting stack are GENERALLY good players…sure, sometimes a bad player will hit a hot streak or double up on a big hand…but combine the stack and the position call and I am going to assume he has a wider range of calling hands.

The 4d/Ks/7h does not bother me much, I lead out for .25. I figure it is about 50-50 call or fold. If he calls, I lead again on the turn. If he re-raises, it depends on how much he re-raises. A small re-raise will see a call and lead on the turn, a big re-raise will get me to fold. But he makes me happy by folding.

I have seen a lot of people make the cut-off open raise and check-fold the flop when they miss...I am GUESSING that is what he expected. Either way, I feel like I am back to playing well and it shows in my healthy stack of 6.54.