Second-timer, two hands for review

[davehwm]

Sorry about this one. I just found these boards and wanted to get a couple of hands (albeit poorly played hands). First one is a little messy, if any of you wouldn't mind taking the time to comment, I'd appreciate it.

HAND #1:

#Game No : 947036597
***** Hand History for Game 947036597 *****
$25 NL Hold'em - Tuesday, September 14, 16:32:30 EDT 2004
Table Table 14381 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 5: BriscoCoJr ( $19.7 )
Seat 6: ROSIECOMEOUT ( $18.15 )
Seat 8: dtg123 ( $15 )
Seat 10: Ramblinman04 ( $42.7 )
Seat 3: dap042 ( $22.25 )
BriscoCoJr posts small blind [$0.25].
ROSIECOMEOUT posts big blind [$0.5].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to dap042 [ 9h As ]
dtg123 calls [$0.5].
dap042 calls [$0.5].
BriscoCoJr calls [$0.25].
ROSIECOMEOUT checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, 6s, 6h ]
BriscoCoJr checks.
ROSIECOMEOUT checks.
dtg123 checks.
dap042 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
BriscoCoJr bets [$0.5].
ROSIECOMEOUT folds.
dtg123 raises [$1].
dap042 calls [$1].
BriscoCoJr calls [$0.5].
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
BriscoCoJr checks.
dtg123 checks.
dap042 bets [$5].
BriscoCoJr folds.
dtg123 is all-In.
dap042 calls [$8.5].

Results in white below: <font color="white">
dap042 shows [ 9h, As ] a flush, ace high.
dtg123 shows [ 6c, Ks ] a full house, Sixes full of kings.
dtg123 wins $30.40 from the main pot with a full house, Sixes full of kings.
</font>

----------------------------------
HAND #2

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 max, 6 handed)

SB ($23.55)
Hero ($17.40)
UTG ($14.95)
MP ($18.60)
CO ($25.50)
Button ($52.35)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG calls $0.50, MP calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Button folds, SB completes, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to $2</font>, UTG calls $1.50, MP calls $1.50, CO calls $1.50, SB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($10) 6/images/graemlins/club.gif, 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, MP checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($10) 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets $2</font>, UTG folds, <font color="CC3333">MP raises to $16.6 (All-In)</font>, CO folds, SB folds, Hero calls $13.40 (All-In).

River: ($42) 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 2 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: $42

Results in white below: <font color="white">
Hero has Ac Ad (two pair, aces and sixes).
MP has Js Qc (two pair, sixes and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $40.80. MP wins $1.20. </font>

[amoeba]

Hi dap,

I believe you were at my table yesterday and caught me during Tilt. Good play on your AQ hand if you do remember.

anyways, with regards to your 2 hands, on the first one, fold A9 off preflop.

I would bet the flop on the second hand. If you are finding that your table is so loose that 4 people call a $2 bet preflop, then you might want to raise to $3 preflop next time.

[davehwm]

Amoeba -

Thanks for the comments. I know A9 isn't a great hand to go into the flop with, but when half the table is playing Q5o - I have a hard time turning it down. I've been trying everything with AA, usually get way too many folds with $3. I had actually just sat down at the table, so I didn't have much of a read on anyone. I'll keep an eye on that for next time, though.

Thanks for the comments, it sure is tough as hell to figure these tables out. I've only been playing them for a few days. I've had luck at the .50/1 limit tables over the past few months, but these 25NL tables are a mess.

[amoeba]

yes, lately people have been folding to my $3 preflop bet all too often at party NL25.anyways, if you are finding people to be folding alot and generally playing weak, that gives you more opportunity to steal.

In your case, you had 4 callers with a $2 bet. I think $2 is a good number to generally test out how tight a table is preflop. Afterwards you certainly have to adjust this.

I used to play .50/1.00 limits but I've found NL25 to be much more profitable.

and A9s isn't bad at all to see the flop with. A9o can get you in trouble as a lot of the players limp in with AT, AJ and even AQo out of position.

Also on the first hand. you might not want to bet so much when the flush hit on the river. Just check it. When the guy goes all-in, fold.I say this because at first I thought you had Ah but rather you only had 9h. Thus you could easily lose to higher flush here.

[srblan]

A9o is a hand that gets me into more trouble than almost any other. I religiously fold it preflop, though I will often play A7 (strange, I know, but I have a much easier time psychologically tossing A7)... The thing about A9 is that you can often manage to convince yourself that your kicker is big enough that your ace is probably good. This is almost always incorrect, since a single ace with no kicker will often be up against two pair (many people will play ace-anything) or an ace with a bigger kicker. Before the flop, if you must play A9o, come in for a small raise. That way, you might be able to weed out really crappy hands that will be hard for you to read and easy to get busted by. On the flop, I probably would have taken a swipe at the pot. If someone can beat you, they will generally raise you and the hand will be safe to throw away your hand. I really don't like checking in last position here because you have no idea whether or not your hand is good. With the flush draw on the board, I think that the check by the guy with K6 is simply awful, since he probably has the best hand here and could easily get beaten by another heart.

Once someone bets on the turn, an alarm should be going off in your head. A 50 cent bet into this pot is probably a bluff, but the minimum raise should indicate to you that someone's holding a 6 the idea here by the raiser is to get more money into the pot without scaring out chasers. After that raise, I think it is a big mistake to pursue the hand any further (the only thing I'd be looking for if I did continue would be an ace, you could easily be up against A6, in which case any kind of draw that you could be pursuing would be dead... Once your 9-high flush hits, you make a pot sized bet, which I think is probably a really bad idea. If you get raised, it would be by at least a bigger flush, if not a full house. My least favorite part of this hand is your call of the all in. He check-raised you all in. Did you stop to think what he might have? What would someone be holding to make this play? He is obviously hoping someone with a heart will bet, since if he had a heart, he'd be worried that nobody would give him any action and make a bet so that it didn't get checked behind him.

[davehwm]

Thanks for the reply. I know it was a horribly played hand. It was one of those ones where I convince myself. I didn't expect the check with the set, either. I also didn't expect him to check-raise me all in on the river, but that's just my inexperience. I've really only played a few months of .5/1 and done fine, but the only NL I play is with my buddies where I can rack up.

Thanks a lot for the comments, I really appreciate the help. I've just got to be much more disciplined at these tables.

[Cannes]

Hand #2. I have but one comment: gotta love Party Poker

[davehwm]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand #2. I have but one comment: gotta love Party Poker

[/ QUOTE ]

Because I shouldn't have called, or because he never should have bet?

[Implied Evens]

Because with plays like that, MP (and those similarly challenged) will pay you, Cannes and me a tidy sum far more often than not.

If I may be so bold as to interpret Cannes intent...