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View Full Version : I came to play $3/6 holdīem...


03-02-2002, 09:30 PM
but I ended up playing $3/6 stud due to a severe lack of holdīem games in my club, even though I consider myself a far better holdīem player. Nevertheless I ended up with +115 after 2 hours of play, which equals 9.58 big bets per hour, so I guess thatīs ok ;-)


Key plays (or rather mistakes) against a loose and passive opposition:


1) I get dealt JJ and T, make it complete (bring in is $1), ok guy calls with a medium low card, asian woman calls with a 7, rest fold. On fourth, asian woman gets dealt another 7, ok guy gets one of the same suit, I get a blank. Asian woman bets $6, and I fold, thinking she might have trips and the ok guy very likely having a four-flush. Mistake I made: didnīt notice asian woman had only $8 in front of her or only $2 after her bet, meaning she probably threw the last of her money away as she was going all-in, so if I had noticed that, I guess I should at least have called (havenīt been playing for a while, so Iīve got to shake of all the rust). Turned out she didnīt have a trips, and the ok guy had a lower pair in the hole than jacks.


2) I get dealt the hand of the evening: As8s, Ah. I make it complete as usual with such a hand, and there are four callers!


next card is the 9s, I bet, ok guy calls, another asian woman raises with two hearts showing, two callers, I reraise, all call except one.


Next card is a low spade, I bet, all other three call with their flush-draws.


Next card is the Ad, I bet, ok guy calls, asian woman raises me with her third heart out, she has got the flush now. Guy to my right has got four clubs, queen high, but Iīve got two of their aces, so if I make my flush (or full house), it will be higher than theirs. Still I only call (raise here?), ok guy folds.


Last card is the Qs, giving me the best flush, and I decide to check-raise the asian woman. Of course it gets checked around (as usual) since they know Iīve got three aces and I take down the pot of over $100. I should clearly have bet here, I think, but ás I said before, itīs been some time since the last time at the green felt.


3) I get dealt xQh, As. Everyone folds to me (a queen and an ace go into the muck), and I see that if I remain in the hand itīll just be two other players. Since Iīve been playing fairly obvious, I decide to semi-bluff with my "obvious" pair of aces by making it complete. My two opponents only have small cards and call. Fourth and fifth bring bricks to all three of us, but Iīve been betting both streets and they both fold on fifth.


Comments?

03-03-2002, 12:45 AM
1. Well, generally when someone hits his door card, it's time to go. You might call since this is her all-in hand, but I don't think folding was a mistake.


2. I think it was reasonable to try to check-raise. Most of my opponents don't check flushes on the end, even if they "know" I have three Aces. My usual strategy is to bet, hoping for a raise so I can three-bet. I wouldn't beat myself up over this one either.


3. This doesn't come up a whole lot at $3/6. I'm assuming a $.50 ante like my local card room, so there's something to steal. If no one else is in, and there's any chance that the other two guys will fold, raise here every time with that Ace showing. It almost doesn't matter what you're hole cards are. I'd probably follow through with bets on fourth and fifth, giving them a chance to fold. Who knows, you might catch a scare card or make a pair or something. If there isn't an ante, throw the hand away.


You did just fine. I play more hold'em than stud these days, just because my local room has trouble getting $6/12 stud going and almost never has anything bigger, but I find the stud games easier to beat. I do think I'm somewhat better at stud, although I don't always remember absolutely every card, but I think my success has more to do with the people I play against. Loose, passive players abound in the stud games. The hold'em players tend to be more aggressive. You can still make money, but you have to work for it.

03-03-2002, 03:09 PM
"I'm assuming a $.50 ante like my local card room..."


No, itīs $1, there are no $.50 chips where I play.


"...but I find the stud games easier to beat"


What I really like about stud is a) that your opponents will have a much harder time catching up with their crappy hands which is a lot easier for them in holdīem, b) they really might be more loose in stud, so in combination with the first point thatīs great and c) there is one more round of betting, equaling one more round to extract money.


Forgot to post about a hand:


4) QQ, As. Make it complete, only two players call with low cards showing. 4th is Qs! I bet, they fold. My reasoning was like: If I check and bet on 5th they just get one card and will very likely fold anyway, but I also didnīt want to give them two free cards as one had 7c9c showing, but with only the two of them, I think I could have risked it. What do you think?

03-03-2002, 07:08 PM
4) Don't complain. Take the money. Same as raising on 3rd with AA/K and all fold. Take the money.


Stud is more fun than holdem. With experience it becomes easier to read hands and know where you are at.

03-04-2002, 12:21 AM
"your opponents will have a much harder time catching up with their crappy hands which is a lot easier for them in holdīem"


Actually, it's easier to catch up in stud than it is in hold'em. If a small pair faces a big pair in stud, it can catch up by catching a smaller pair. This avenue is not available in hold'em.


I suspect you mean that once someone has limped in with rags in hold'em, he has the flop to save him, and if it doesn't, he can be done with the hand. Stud hands evolve more slowly, so if you limp in with nothing, it's going to be at least fifth street before you can have some semblance of a hand, and that just might cost you a couple of bets. One thing that I like about stud is that I get to suck out every once in a while myself. This only comes up every few weeks in hold'em.


There is one more round in stud, but pots can get huge before the flop in hold'em. This is much less common in stud (in my experience anyway). I don't think stud pots get much bigger than hold'em pots, if at all.


One dollar is a huge ante for $3/6, so if you can steal it, by all means do. I would risk $3 to win $8 more or less every time that I thought I had any chance of getting away with it. My local room does have $.50 chips, but my understanding is that this is the exception. For one thing, the chips cost them more than $.50 apiece. Foxwoods has a $.50 ante for $5/10 stud, and perhaps other games. They use $.50 coins, and I think that this is more common. Anyway, that ante is high enough that it may make the game hard to beat.

03-04-2002, 08:59 AM
Regarding the ante: If 8 down to 6 or 5 players ante in, they take $3 for rake (or is that a collection? donīt know the difference) right away, and also $1 for jackpot. How should this effect my strategy (stealing antes isnīt so good now I guess, perhaps I should be more inclined to trap players instead of making it complete right away?).

03-05-2002, 03:22 AM
So it's only $4 in the pot right away? That sucks, but I guess it's the only game in town. There is still $4 in antes plus the $1 bring-in, so that's a pretty significant ante, proportionally higher than $15/30. I would still take a shot at the antes with an Ace in the door and almost nothing underneath. Save trapping for no ante games. Here, I'd make it a full bet with my real hands except when lots of people have already limped in, in which case I might wait until fourth street to pop it as this has a better chance of thinning the field. See 7CS4AP, 21st Century Edition for more discussion.

03-05-2002, 09:16 AM