Sly's Sept challenge days 4-6

[SlyAK]

Days 4-6 from my goal of $2,000 in September. All games are played at 1/2 NL- $200 max- 10 handed at prima unless otherwise noted.

Sept 4th- I sat down for an afternoon session and was immediately frustrated. It was one of those days when every hand that I folded would have flopped big. I limped with QJ, but there is a big raise from one of the blinds, and I end up folding, only to see a flop of KT9 rainbow ...... ARGH!! The same thing happens when I have 54s in the SB. One big raise, one caller.... flop is 876.... I would have won a big pot there as both opponents had overpair. In about 1 1/2 hours I am down about $135, so I say enough is enough and take a break.

In the evening, I hit the tables again for another 1 1/2 hours. Nothing too exciting, but I ended up winning a nice pot with AA vs. QJ... board went 55J5A... he called $80 on the river there and I appreciated it!! That put me about even for the day.

Finally I played a late night session for about 2 hours or so. One interesting hand in that session which I think I played well is below. The table was 8-handed at the time. Primary opponent is UTG+1 who has $300 and I have no read on him. I have approx. $225.

UTG folds, UTG+1 min-raises to $4, UTG+2 calls, MP calls, CO folds, I call on the button with 9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif SB folds, and BB calls. 5 players to the flop for $22.

Flop: J /images/graemlins/heart.gif 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

BB leads out for $2, UTG+1 min-raises to $4, UTG+2 raises to $12 and is all-in. MP folds, and I raise to $40. BB folds, and UTG+1 calls. Pot $116. My reason for the raise is that I dont want to give a flush draw a free card, plus if I am going to get action and build a big pot, now is the time.

Turn: 2 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

UTG+1 checks, I bet $88.. (yeah random I know)... UTG+1 calls. Pot: $292.

River: K /images/graemlins/heart.gif UTG+1 checks, I go all-in for $92.25, and he calls after some hesitation. Pot $475.50 - rake.

I cant put him on a heart flush since the hearts were runner runner. A lot of times in the past I would check behind here, but there isnt much to be afraid of so I bet out and it worked. He mucked, and had A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif J /images/graemlins/diamond.gif for the flopped TPTK + nut flush draw. The short stack all-in had J /images/graemlins/club.gif 4 /images/graemlins/club.gif for the flopped 2-pair, and I take down a big pot. I won another big pot later with AA vs. QQ and I ended up having a nice day.

Day 4 results: +$443.81, 5 hours, average 2 tables.

Day 5: No exciting hands so just results:

+$96.87, 1 1/2 hours, average 2.3 tables, (I did play one table of $100 max for 1/2 hour, instead of all $200 while I was on a waiting list for another $200 max table).

Day 6- I played a short session during the afternoon. After a slow start and no action on my couple PF raises, I get A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif A /images/graemlins/club.gif UTG. I do my standard opener to $8, and get called by one MP player, Button and SB. Pot $34. My stack is about $175 at beginning of hand and SB (villain) has me covered with about $225.

Flop is K /images/graemlins/heart.gif Q /images/graemlins/heart.gif T /images/graemlins/heart.gif

I sure wish that my ace were a heart. SB checks, I bet $30, MP and button fold... and SB calls. The pot is now $94. Ok, so should I have even bet here?? I almost felt like check-folding here, I hated that flop so much.

Turn: 3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif SB checks, I check. OK, should I bet here??? He wont call w/o a heart, and maybe I could push him off of 2 pair or even a set.

River: 7 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif SB bets $20, and I fold??? Is this played reasonably at all. He could be betting with AK with no heart I suppose and just trying to get the pot with a weak bet since I didnt bet the turn. I felt weak folding, but just didnt like this hand at all after that flop.

Things turned around with a couple 2-pair hands, and I managed a small win in the short session.

+$42.50, 1 hour played, 3 tables.

Total for month= $865.90.

Comments appreciated especially advice on that nasty AA hand....

[Cannes]

Good fold on the AA hand, you don't need to see the heart in his hand to know he has it. If he didn't have one, well fine, let him bluff. Patience is the better part of valor. You'll get the opportunity to take his money soon enough.

[dac]

Bold move on the AA hand, but I would proberly have done the same, at least on a 6 max table. The problem is that you really WANT to win with your aces, so you try a bluff when the flop misses. I think it is a bad spot to bluff in, what kind of hand will people put you on after your 3xBB UTG raise? Proberly not two hearts as KQJ is on the board. But maybe I'm giving too much credit to your opponents /images/graemlins/wink.gif.

As soon as you are called you are beat. You might get this guy to fold his hand 25% of time by betting on the turn, maybe even 50%, but the other 50% you will loose a lot, so well played on the turn and river.

[SlyAK]

The raise was 4x BB, but that doenst make any difference. My opponents would probably know if they were at all observant that I didnt have a flopped flush there. So, I guess a person with Ace /images/graemlins/heart.gif would figure that even if another heart didnt fall, they might be able to bluff me out of the hand. Once the 4th heart falls, I dont see any reason to invest in the hand. Still I probably should have check-folded the flop with 3 other people in.

Sly

[Che]

SlyAK-

Congrats on your results so far. Keep it up!

[ QUOTE ]
A lot of times in the past I would check behind here, but there isnt much to be afraid of so I bet out and it worked. He mucked

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand how this "worked" when he mucked a hand that might have paid $20-50 dollars to see your set. If you are beat, he always calls.

Basically, you are letting him get away from hands like AJ or even KQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif (maybe) while still losing when beat. Perhaps betting $30-40 and then calling any raise (obviously) is a better line, but I'm certainly open to criticism.

Later,
Che

[SlyAK]

Che,

Thanks for the reply. Whenever I type one of these long posts I mess something up /images/graemlins/grin.gif

He actually called, and then mucked, (not showing his hand)
I later looked at the hand history and he had the AJ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif, so he did pay the $90+ on the river. I really shouldnt type long posts at night as I usually make at least one mistake!!!

I have found that people will call with amazing hands when it gets to the river when the pot is big, so I just keep putting in big bets on the river lately, with decent success so far. I agree with you that there are certainly players out there who would call $30-50 and not the all-in, and so far I have been surprised with the number of river calls I have gotten.

Sly

[Justin A]

[ QUOTE ]
Still I probably should have check-folded the flop with 3 other people in.


[/ QUOTE ]

I agree depending on the action. This flop absolutely sucks for your hand.

Justin A

[Justin A]

With a $292 pot, I can't see betting anything less than all in, especially given the action on the turn. An all in bet still gives him 4:1 on his money.

Justin A

[Che]

Very good point, Justin.

I was thinking of the $90 bet in absolute terms as being a large bet in a $200 buyin game. However, with the pot odds as they were, just about anyone who would call $40 would call $90 so Sly would most likely be limiting his win by betting less than all-in. Losing an occasional player who would have called a $20-40 bet is more than made up for by the extra $ each time someone calls the all-in rather than the smaller bet.

My bad,
Che

[SlyAK]

Che,

One other thing I have done with some success when I have an opponent covered on the river, is I bet enough to leave them with 15 or 20 dollars. So if $100 would put them in I bet $80. This method actually seems to work. I dont know how many of these people would call for their entire stack, but it seems people dont mind risking MOST of their stack as opposed to all of it, and I do seem to get more calls this way....

Sly