Am I molting into a Mason?

[Tommy Angelo]

All hands are $15-30 and took place within a two hour stretch.

I openraised with A-10 in the cutoff. The button called and one of the blinds called. Threeway with me in the middle. The flop came A-5-5. All checked. The turn was a blank. All checked. The river was another five. The first player checked, I bet, and they both called and my hand was good.

I raised with AQ and no one reraised. It was fourway action with me last. The flop came Q-10-10. Checked to me, I bet, two players called. Thr turn was another ten. All checked. The river was a blank. First player (the small blind) bet out. Next player folded. I called. He showed pocket kings. My hand no good.

I openraised with AJ and only the big blind called. Flop: A-10-x. He checked, I bet, he called. Turn: 10. We both checked. River: king. He bet, I called. He had J-10 for three tens. My hand no good.

Tommy

[Gabe]

Yes, but he wins them!

[Softrock]

No, Mason doesn't play 15-30.

[glen]

]My hand no good[/b] <break>

You are not turning into Mason.

[Diplomat]

LOL -- My thoughts exactly. And, not like becoming a 'Mason' would be such a bad thing.

-Diplomat

[mrbaseball]

All boards were paired in these examples which thickens the plot. I don't like real aggressive play when the board is paired unless I have a piece of that board pair. On the two losers you didn't give the early positions the chance to trick you by betting into them with the scary boards. In fact your check behinds could have likely upset them.

I think it's in Caro's Secrets to Winning Poker where he writes that anytime a board pairs and doesn't directly hit you it isn't a mistake at all to fold or at least slow way down which is what you did in these hands. You cost yourself the least to see the river on paired boards where you held top pair but were very vulnerable.

[mikelow]

I think the transformation is complete. Now go to the Bellagio
and play against him.

[Ulysses]

So, I've recently tried to keep my sessions to 6 hours at the max. I've found that I start to lose a little focus somewhere around there. But, the game was so good that I figured 8 hours was no problem. Then I was about to leave, but Tommy showed up, and I figured, a couple more hours w/ Tommy at the table should be fun. And I'm still alert and making great decisions. And then, I somehow found myself in the BB w JTo, heads-up w/ Tommy having called his raise. It was in the few seconds between calling that raise and the flop coming, and well before I caught one of my two outs on the turn, that I decided it was time to start racking up my chips. /forums/images/icons/cool.gif

Now, I wonder if Tommy is going to post anything about live 45 and 66 vs QQ vs KK. Yeah, I'm very good at poker.

[Ulysses]

Hand 1: I didn't understand the turn check. Tommy?

Hand 2: I like your play here. When the Ten hits on the turn, against those two opponents, I don't think you get a call from a hand that you beat. Even without knowing the opponents, I think the check is a good play and you may well get bet into on the river by worse hands that might have folded to a turn bet.

Hand 3: Well, it seems like your opponent played this one masterfully. Yuck.

[Tommy Angelo]

"Hand 1: I didn't understand the turn check."

I thought the might both be drawing dead, and that maybe someone would bluff the river.

"Hand 3: Well, it seems like your opponent played this one masterfully. Yuck."

:-)

Actually, I felt like my opponent handed me $30 on that hand, for I would have called the river AND the turn, had he bet.

Tommy

[Ulysses]

I thought the might both be drawing dead, and that maybe someone would bluff the river.

Good answer. I wonder, though, if you make enough from bluff bets on the river (and calls you might not have gotten on the turn) to make up for bets lost from weaker aces or smaller pairs that would have called both the turn and river? I guess one would have to also take into account the bets saved the times someone was going for a checkraise w/ a 5. Hmmm... That's a lot to account for.

Actually, I felt like my opponent handed me $30 on that hand, for I would have called the river AND the turn, had he bet.

Yeah, I realized that right after I said "check." I also decided that you'd fold to a checkraise if you were behind, making the attempt even sillier. See my previous post re: playing too long.