Help a NL newbie (long)

I’ve only played NL a handful of times online (literally, count ‘em on one hand) and I admit, if it weren’t for some of the posters here, I’d be completely clueless. Not to say I have a clue, because I doubt I do. But I want to hear it from you.


Past experiences: Game selection has been key so far. Choose a passive game, limp fairly liberally, and steal lots of small pots. And it’s been working fairly well in my limited experience.


I guess I bluff a lot, but making pot sized bets of $2 to $5 to win a couple of bucks nobody is interested in seems all too easy. I know this is not skill, but merely an opportunity presented by the competition.


So, to the hand in question. Paradise 0.25-0.50. The table has been pretty good. Without many cards to speak of, I’ve managed to incrementally add 50% to my buy-in in about 30 minutes. My antagonist for this hand is the player to my left. He was the big stack when I joined, but missed a draw or two (seemed like reasonable plays, he showed one busted flush draw with AKs). He has been playing tight for the last few hands. He has $60 and I have him covered.


I am dealt 5s5d two from the button. An early poster open-checks and two callers to me. I call. The cutoff raises to $6 and all fold around to me.


Okay. I’m guessing he’s playing with a big pair because he’s been so tight, but AK is possible. I’m guessing I’m way behind but I look at his stack and think “Ignore the money on the table. I’m getting 9:1 to flop a set.” Is this correct? What else am I supposed to consider? I call, feeling like I’m stepping way over the line but able to get away from a clearly bad flop.


$13.75 in the pot.


*** FLOP *** : 6h 3d 3h


Hmmm, not clearly bad. What to do. My MO so far has been to buy pots on the flop and default to that here, trying to represent a made hand. I check and cutoff bets $10. I’m still not comfortable with the betting structure. I wanted to raise enough to give him poor drawing odds if he has AKh but, for whatever reason, ended up only raising the minimum $10 and offered him 4:1 odds. I know this was my worst mistake of the hand. Am I too focused on pot odds? Help me see the light.


Cutoff calls. Pot is $53.75


*** TURN *** : 6h 3d 3h 4h


That turned me from bluffer to drawing, but could have also helped him make a flush. What should I do here?


I checked, ready to give up the pot here. Cutoff bets $10 and I call. Switch seats for a second. Should the nut flush underbet with the paired board to lose the minimum and win the maximum? Should a small flush go all in to protect his hand? Should a big pair push all-in? What could this underbet mean? My hand reading stinks. I consider only my own hand and decide that the pot's big enough to call and there is some money left in his stack if I hit a straight or my two outer.


*** RIVER *** : 6h 3d 3h 4h 2s


I love this game. I made my hand so I bet all-in and cutoff calls with his last $23, Am I going to see AKh more often than a big pair here? Cutoff shows Ad Ac and I drag what’s been the biggest NL pot for me yet.


I was subsequently berated for my play. Am I solely to blame? I think I’m probably fishy, but am I far of the mark?


All comments welcome.

"I’m guessing I’m way behind but I look at his stack and think “Ignore the money on the table. I’m getting 9:1 to flop a set."


In my opinion, I would fold. The main reasons being that I am facing a full sized raise out of position, headsup with a marginal hand. If there had been 1 or 2 callers then I would call because I would have ideal conditions to call.


In general, with deep money, if you get lucky and flop a set it is very, very difficult to double through 1 opponent when out of position unless your opponent gives you a lot of suicidal help. Although it appears this opponent would have done that because they were probably a good player tilting. A lot of bad players would also give this co-operation in doubling you up. In these cases you may be able to play marginal hands headsup because of the increased implied odds.


This specific situation may be an exception. Some people may call here because the call is about 10% of the stack on offer and the stack sizes are such that if you do flop a set then you can get it all-in on the flop without overbetting the pot, against an opponent likely to have a big pair and likely to go with you. I still wouldn't call in this spot because of the reasons stated and that I would like the chance for a much bigger win if I did flop a set. Although 9-1 would be enough to give you a profit in the long run, this is really a limit mentality. In big bet poker you should be looking for a potentially much bigger return when you flop a set than 9-1.


"I was subsequently berated for my play. Am I solely to blame? I think I’m probably fishy, but am I far of the mark?"


No, you are not solely to blame. The AA played his hand terribly post flop. Probably because they had been a big stack and had seen it evaporate.

Of course you didn't play your hand very well, but when it comes to berating, the person doing it is always to blame. There's never an excuse for berating an opponent.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

> I'm getting 9:1 to flop a set.


No. This would only be the case if you (a) would always win with a set (against an overpair you will lose about 1/5 of the times to a higher set and given your stack size and position, you probably cannot avoid doubling him up when that happens) and (b) if you always would succeed in getting his stack in as a dog while you're out of position.


In a more realistic scenario, if you flop your set, he might get away from the hand 20% of the times, you will double him up another 20% and 60% it will work. This reduces your actual implied odds from 9:1 to about 4:1. Even if you think you can do better than this, you won't get anywhere near the 8:1 you need just to break even.


> I?m guessing he?s playing with a big pair


> FLOP: 6h3d3h. Hmmm, not clearly bad.


You made a questionable preflop call, hoping to spike a set. You didn't. No miracle draw either. According to your own game-plan, you should be done with the hand! If you figure him to have an overpair more often than not, you are in no position to make a play for the pot here.


cu


Ignatius

No set-no bet is a good policy here. That was Plan A and you should have stuck with it. If you get in a habit of putting your opponents on hands you can beat in NL you will go broke fast. He had position and showed some strength--no need to fight hard for every pot. Fold on the flop.


KJS

Fold or raise pre-flop. You don't want to play 5-5 out of position. (Fold)


The AA guy played the hand much worse than you did.