Two PL hands

Reno Hilton Saturday night, 5-5 PL HE game just starting and I

get last seat. Have played no non-ESCARGOT big bet games. Buyin

for $400 and am average stack. Goal: do not embarass myself early. There is one calling station making multiple small rebuys, two very aggressive players, and others seem patient.

About an hour into play I had taken a couple of smallish pots with flop/turn bets and thrown away lots of hands. On button I have KQo and raise pot when folded to me. ONe blind calls and flop is beautiful J109 rainbow. Lady is very aggressive and I am certain she will bet turn( a 5) if I check flop after her. I do and she does. I ponder, raise pot, she ponders and calls, but doesn't look happy. River is a K and in goes the rest of her chips and we chop (actually she gains as she gets the other blinds chip). I think trying a trap here is correct (she had Q10 so her call of my turn raise certainly seems suspect).


Second hand about an hour later: 5 limpers and I have AA in first blind, raise pot and get 5 total callers. Flop is A76 with Ax hearts. I bet out 100 and all fold. it seemed way too dangerous to give a free card here, but I also gave up a chance at a monster pot.

Comments or critiques of both hands appreciated.

Had a great time, won some $ and looking foward to playing small PL again.

Best,Gary

You played the first hand well. I would be a little careful on the river, though. It's a little hard to tell about the stack sizes here, but if you have $400, and put in $20 preflop and $190 on the turn, (pot bet and pot raise), I would think carefully before putting the last $200 in on the river. Probably call if she bets, but I might or might not bet if checked to on the river.


If she has a lot less than that, though, the money going in is fine.


As for the AA hand, it's fine as long as you occasionally bet out there without having a huge huge hand. It's a pretty coordinated board, and you'll make the most money from someone raising the flop. Risking a free card is probably bad. Just bet like that some time without having top set and you'll be fine.


- target

As soon as you make a play like that i am all over you. dont get tricky when you flop a big but vulnerable hand. i know now when you bet the button thee is a good chance you weak. if you would have bet the flop the lady would have called for sure, raised if shes as aggro as you say and you would have took it down right there, NO SPLIT. You also would look like a player and not a sucker and people would be less likely to start messing with you. the play you made makes people more likely to take shats at you.

hand # 1 many players who flop a pair plus an open end straight draw will go the distance, so I see nothing suspect about her call. Y ou are lucky she did not have A, Q


hand # 2 I can not say that your 100 bet was wrong, but I will say that I would have made more $$$ with that hand than you did. because of your pre flop raise, seems unlikely that they have cards to connect to the 7,6 for a straight...as to the flush draw, that is 8 outs & you have 7 cards to give you a killer,,,,rather than 100, lets bet about 30% to 50% of the pot and HOPE for callers!!

I agree that you should've bet the flop, but for different reasons than Limon has stated. I'm a non-regular pot limit player, but I do play whenever I can get a game going(poker barren NC).


I think that a bet on the flop is to build the pot. You bet on the button in a heads up pot - that can't be taken to mean the nuts. However, if she raises, I'd just call. That's the same amount you bet on the turn w/ the check on the flop. The bonus is when she fires on the turn and you raise, you get the third and fourth pot sized(or third if she check-calls when you bet) when you've got the nuts.


Thus you can get more money in the pot when she's drawing for a split (Q+pair) or win(set) and might still call, whereas if the draw misses, she might not call on the end. Even if she folds for a bet on the turn, you make the same as you did checking the flop. If she bets and folds to a raise, then you've made out huge as you get the third pot sized bet and take it down w/ no competition.


That said, it does make for a dicey proposition when the board pairs on the turn or the K hits on the turn. Then it becomes a matter of knowing the player. I however think that building a pot is what you want to do so that you can get all the chips in on the turn when you have the nuts.


Any comments?

Thanks for the responses.

Hand #1: it would have been more natural in hindsight to just bet out. With the specific player I am pretty sure if she had AQ I would have found out before the flop, she was aggressive.


Hand #2: in the texture of the game, almost all bets being made on the flop were nearly pot-sized so I did not want to arouse suspicion by underbetting the pot. I thought that if someone had been hit by flop I would have at least been called but if flop missed them entirely, they would fold (they did) but if a scare card hit the turn I could be in a world of trouble and not know it.

complicated/challenging/fun game and looking foward to trying it again.

Best,Gary

>> You also would look like a player and not a sucker and people

>> would be less likely to start messing with you. the play you

>> made makes people more likely to take shats at you.


I don't buy this part of your comment. He showed the table a trapping game which just didn't work out. Regardless of the merits of this play, the table should become wary of messing with him. I'd rather put a play on a man who's got only a weak or moderate hand.


Isn't the best anti-trapper style to avoid paying the last bet when he springs and also sometimes draw out when he fails to charge you? Setting traps too often is probably not the best way to play, but it should make opponents wary and try fewer plays on you.


My .02 - Fat-Charlie


BTW: Rookie, what's your e-mail? I live near Raleigh.

Hand 1: No comment to add to the previous comments


Hand 2: Bet the pot every single time. You're in a 5-way raised pot. Take it down. Don't let the flush draw get there cheap. If you're lucky, someone flopped a lower set. If no one flopped anything, you still get to win a decent pot. The flush draw may or may not pay. Make sure that when they do pay, they are making a fairly big mistake by betting the pot.