Some No Limit Hands

Assume stacks are around 500 unless otherwise noted.


Hand #1

Six handed. Blinds of 5-5 ten to go.

I open for 30 in the cut-off with TT.


The small blind calls. He's a relatively new opponent for me, I haven't played with him much. I have seen him move all-in on a flush draw with one card to come, so he's capable of some ballsy moves. And he's capable of making a read on you and committing based on that read.


I assume his call in the blind most likely means a small pocket pair. He's going for a set to bust me.


Flop comes Q82 rainbow.


Check check.


I check because at this point in the game, I don't believe there's yet been a pot where I didn't bet the flop when it was checked to me. So I thought I'd throw him a curve-ball. I was pretty sure I still had the best hand, and I figured I'd posture on the turn if nothing freaky came.


Turn is a 9.


My opponent says "Well if you are asking me to buy it I guess I will" and bets 50. I raise 150 more and he folds.


Hand #2

My biggest suck-out ever. Unbelievable. I have AK in the blind. Someone opens for 20, two callers, I call. I am shortstacked with around 200. I figure I'm going to miss and fold or hit a pair and get someone all-in.


Flop comes A37 with two clubs. I check, a decent player bets 50, the button calls 50 (he's not so good so his call doesn't concern me too much), and I move all-in.


The first bettor comes over the top and shuts out the button. Oops.


33 vs. AK.


Turn K. River K! Woohoo! Damn, I really had no idea how good it feels to suck out big time when you thought you were totally dead. Is this a once-in a lifetime suckout? I don't play as often as full-time players, but damn, I've NEVER sucked out like that before. Ten minutes later I flop a set and get paid. I figure I'm gearing up for a big night until I lose over 400 with my AA vs. TT. Oh well, that's how it goes.


Hand #3

Someone opens for 30 in the cutoff. I defend my blind with a small suited connectors (stacks are big obviously, a couple of us have around 900). The other blind defends too.


Flop comes J-crap-crap two tone. The opener says "this is a perfect hand for a checkraise, isn't it Nate?". He he. We both check to the opener who bets 75. I make it 200 and take it down. Thanks for the tip!


Hand #4.

Ok, last one.

I have 66 on the button. UTG opens for 20. This does not indicate the kind of strength it should. He's not as sensitive to position as a good player would be. One caller, I call on the button with 66. One of the blinds calls too. Stacks are around 700 for most of us. I have 800 and the opener has me covered.


Flop comes jack high, all hearts. I have the 6h. All check to me so of course, I bet 60. UTG calls, all fold.


Turn is a Q. Check to me. I bet about 200 now, assuming he's fishing for a heart. He thinks about mucking but eventually he calls. River is a heart. He bets, I fold. He shows KJ with the Kh. Of course, I do not show.


natedogg

I was the unknown opponent in the first hand.


I had JTs, so I really hope your board memory is wrong, or I folded the nuts. /images/smile.gif


I felt like you weren't really happy with the flop, and that you could be pushed off the hand. I picked up the straight draw on the turn, and bet at it.


That was a mistake, given the texture of the night. Steals were only somewhat effective, but resteals were very very effective all night long. I should have checked to you again, and then raised the 150 myself when you bet.


It's quite hard for you to call there, especially since there are so many scary cards that can come on the river. But instead, I made a bet that looked like a steal, and didn't quite have the nerve to move in on a bad draw as a bluff there.


The other hand, where I raised with the flush draw, was against a player I know well who was somewhat short stacked, so I was only putting about 40% of my stack at risk.


In this hand, you had about as much as I did, so the play is a lot harder to make. For me, at least.


- target

I had JTs, so I really hope your board memory is wrong, or I folded the nuts.


Yeah, obviously there was not an 8 on the board. It was something like that, a six or something. I DID remember that it was Qxx where TT was higher than either x.


That was a mistake, given the texture of the night. Steals were only somewhat effective, but resteals were very very effective all night long. I should have checked to you again, and then raised the 150 myself when you bet.


Damn, that is EXACTLY right! I wish I had been able to articulate that feeling. I KNEW I had my reasons for checking the flop but I couldn't quite pinpoint them. That was exactly it. It was a game of re-stealing on the flop and I had already internalized the need to change tactics in order to win this pot.


For the record, I was prepared to call you if you moved in on me and there's no way you can disprove that at this point. /images/smile.gif

Ni han!


natedogg

Its funny, last time a played in our (tiny) home game, I came to exactly the same conclusions:


Steals were only somewhat effective, but resteals were very very effective.


In fact, *not* realising that had made me performe badly the last few cessions.


I alway thought about the texture of a game in relatively rought terms: loose, tight, passive... But clearly, noticing such detailed aspects of the texture of a game can hugly improve your game, and making such remark conscious ( opposed to just having an intuitive feeling) helps a lot to.


so, what should you be looking for? A few ideas:


1)

stealing on the flop is not very effective. This could happen in unraised pot, with big stacks, making it hard to make a big raise. ( for exemple, a small poket pair could try to draw in such a situation).


2)

small raises on the river are not often called. This happens a lot in my home game (very soft), where a 1/4 pot size bet oten wins the pot.


3)

small raises get called less often the big ones. This happens somtimes to me. I generaly play aggressevly, and a small raise is felt by the other players to mean that I have a monster hand and am trying to keep all the players in, so they often fold.


Any more ideas or comments ?


Gatlif