My first NL hand ever.

Done a sit-n-go before, but I mainly play limit. Only read on villain is that he had a boat a couple hands ago where he put in bets where he wanted villain to call like half the pot on each street.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (5 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

BB ($14.40)
Hero ($26.45)
MP ($5)
Button ($21)
SB ($20.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/club.gif. MP posts a blind of $0.25.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $1</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Button calls $1, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, BB calls $0.75.

Flop: ($3.35) T/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 2/images/graemlins/club.gif, 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $2.5</font>, Button folds, BB calls $2.50.

Turn: ($8.35) J/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($8.35) 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">BB bets $10.9 (All-In)</font>, Hero calls $10.90.

Final Pot: $30.15

Oh yeah, any books? I searched &amp; looked thru FAQ. Skimmed Championship No-Limit &amp; Pot-Limit Hold'Em by TJ Cloutier which was recommended, but that's crap. I've read TOP, SSH, the limit books, so not those. Any other sources of info? Thx.

[jkkkk]

Pot limit and no limit poker by reuben and ciaffone is good

Anyway I like all streets but the river... when BB pushes in on the river, what do you think you are beating exactly?

From my very limited experience in sh'ed limit, I know you have to call down with crap on lots of occasions.. NL is very different. The only hand your beating here is a total bluff, because if he has any sort of hand it will beat a pair of 5's, in NL when someone puts their stack on the river it will mean they have a hand they like &gt;80% of the time.

[pottie]

I would suggest not playing shorthanded starting out in NL, you will have to take many marginal decisions.

Raising with A5s UTG might be ok 5handed but a difficult and dangerous hand. Flop and turn play good, I hate the river call.

These NL forums are better than any book you will read...

Good luck with the NL!

[PinkSteel]

[ QUOTE ]
These NL forums are better than any book you will read.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Niwa]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
These NL forums are better than any book you will read.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

[vulturesrow]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En respuesta a:</font><hr />
I would suggest not playing shorthanded starting out in NL, you will have to take many marginal decisions.

Raising with A5s UTG might be ok 5handed but a difficult and dangerous hand. Flop and turn play good, I hate the river call.

These NL forums are better than any book you will read...

Good luck with the NL!

[/ QUOTE ]

Springboks?! BOOOOOOO! /images/graemlins/grin.gif (Hows that for a hijack?)

[pottie]

[ QUOTE ]
Springboks?! BOOOOOOO! (Hows that for a hijack?)

[/ QUOTE ]

I love it! You realise that BO means "on top" in Afrikaans.

Springboks ON TOP!

[vulturesrow]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En respuesta a:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">En respuesta a:</font><hr />
Springboks?! BOOOOOOO! (Hows that for a hijack?)

[/ QUOTE ]

I love it! You realise that BO means "on top" in Afrikaans.

Springboks ON TOP!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yikes. Pwned. Nice hand sir. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[theweatherman]

if you semibluff the flop you should deffintitly continue on the turn, giving a free card is not good.

Your bluffing with 6 outs on the flop and 15 on the turn.

Bet.

River fold.

No question.

[pottie]

[ QUOTE ]
if you semibluff the flop you should deffintitly continue on the turn, giving a free card is not good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hero is taking the free card

[gunslingner]

fold preflop.

Check/fold flop.

fold river.

bet flop.
check/push turn.
definitely fold river.

[PinkSteel]

[ QUOTE ]
fold preflop.

Check/fold flop.


[/ QUOTE ]

In a 5-handed game? Full ring, definitely fold, fold, fold.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Springboks?! BOOOOOOO! (Hows that for a hijack?)

[/ QUOTE ]

I love it! You realise that BO means "on top" in Afrikaans.

Springboks ON TOP!

[/ QUOTE ]

Bokke!

Are you from SA pottie?

[theweatherman]

taking a free card here is no good imo. Besides if you are taking a free card then you would have to fold this river since it does nothing for you.

I say take it down on the turn, even if the villian calls you still have a chance to bluff the river. Checking the turn then calling the river is TERRIBLE.

[gulebjorn]

Unless you get more NL experience, I wouldn't raise A5s UTG, even 5-handed. Limp it at a passive table, muck it at an agressive table.

Flop is good. Pot the turn. Fold the river.

I thought I put in a sizeable bet on the flop. If he has a flush draw or Ten, I'm not knocking him out. I didn't want to be c/r'ed on the turn, and have to put in money when I was behind. I figured if I hit a 5 or club, there was a chance that I was going to get him to put in some decent money. However why does he go all-in when the 3rd spade hits? It didn't make sense to me. He knows I'm weak, and I can't call. My mind starts thinking that that is a bluff. Do I just lay these down?

Edit: Who's getting the free card on this turn?

[gulebjorn]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought I put in a sizeable bet on the flop. If he has a flush draw or Ten, I'm not knocking him out. I didn't want to be c/r'ed on the turn, and have to put in money when I was behind. I figured if I hit a 5 or club, there was a chance that I was going to get him to put in some decent money. However why does he go all-in when the 3rd spade hits? It didn't make sense to me. He knows I'm weak, and I can't call. My mind starts thinking that that is a bluff. Do I just lay these down?

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop thinking so much. He called you on the flop, so he's drawing or trapping. He checked the turn, so he's drawing, not trapping. He bet the river, so he hit. Fold.

[ QUOTE ]
Stop thinking so much.

[/ QUOTE ] bad habit, can't help it

[theweatherman]

what indication do you have that you will be check raised?

Your bet on the turn is to take the pot right there and then, however if it doesnt work you have lots of outs to hit on the river.

Your river call barely beats a bluff, the only hand you beat is a pair of twos. calling this river hoping the guy is bluffing is a classic fishy play that will make you a lot of money when the fish do it to you, dont do any favours by making the same mistake.

[ QUOTE ]
what indication do you have that you will be check raised?

[/ QUOTE ] None. Looking back, maybe I should have bet the turn. However, calling that uncoordinated flop, then folding to a turn bet is not something I thought to be likely.

[PinkSteel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
what indication do you have that you will be check raised?

[/ QUOTE ] None. Looking back, maybe I should have bet the turn. However, calling that uncoordinated flop, then folding to a turn bet is not something I thought to be likely.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a two-tone flop, and if he's drawing he figures that, at that point, he gets implied odds to call. When you bet the turn hard, he has only the river left to draw, you've taken away his drawing odds, and he lets it go.

This isn't always the case, but especially at low limits, "I'll Call Your Flop Bet on This Drawable Flop" = "I'm Drawing! I'm Drawing!"

[elus2]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought I put in a sizeable bet on the flop. If he has a flush draw or Ten, I'm not knocking him out. I didn't want to be c/r'ed on the turn, and have to put in money when I was behind. I figured if I hit a 5 or club, there was a chance that I was going to get him to put in some decent money. However why does he go all-in when the 3rd spade hits? It didn't make sense to me. He knows I'm weak, and I can't call. My mind starts thinking that that is a bluff. Do I just lay these down?

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop thinking so much. He called you on the flop, so he's drawing or trapping. He checked the turn, so he's drawing, not trapping. He bet the river, so he hit. Fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

why can't he be trapping if he checked the turn. some people will try to c/r a flop bettor on the turn with a set/two pair/etc. if he is horrible then his river lead could easily be a frustrated set trying to get money in or a flush draw that hit.

I'm in favor of checking behind on the turn. Take the free card and try to hit Aces up or better. I think we will agree that this guy isn't going anywhere with a T. He only has 10.9 left and the pot is over 8. By checking behind, we lose less against a T.
His other likely holding is a flush draw. We are giving infinite odds to a flush draw, but whos to say he won't decide its worth it to chase and call or check raise all in anyway? We aren't even in that good of shape against a flush draw.
Why not just check, play it safe, and fold the river if we don't hit a red A, a 5, or a club?
You really should fold this river though.

I certainly don't mind the PF raise with A5s short handed or the continuation bet on the Flop. However, when you picked up the flush draw on the Turn, a semi-bluff bet of 1/2 - 2/3 the pot is a must in my opinion. At the very least, a bet here would probably allow you to check it down on the river if he calls and you don't improve. Calling on the River was a poor decision. You were only getting about 2:1 on your money meaning you had to have thought that there was at least a %34 chance that your opponent was bluffing since that's all you could beat. Besides, you checked the Turn because you thought you were behind. Why call a large bet on the River when you didn't improve?

Check out Mastering No-Limit Hold'em by Russell Fox and Scott T. Harker. It covers small stakes no-limit ring games. It's very recent so it takes into account the types of players you'll encounter in today's games. It's not my favorite poker book (I love the Harrington on Hold'em series), but is one the few quality texts on small stakes no limit cash games.

[ QUOTE ]
if you semibluff the flop you should deffintitly continue on the turn, giving a free card is not good.

Your bluffing with 6 outs on the flop and 15 on the turn.

Bet.

River fold.

No question.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this pretty much sums it up. I hate the miniraise UTG. If you are going to raise there, I would raise 3-4xBB , just as you would with AA, KK, AKs or the like. I would just limp though, and would more likely make a "loose" raise with a hand like 56s or 44.

[nietzreznor]

Flop and turn look fine. I think check behind on turn is good here, you picked up more outs (to the nuts), checking is fine.

Fold the river, he was either calling the flop with a made hand better than a pair of 5s or the flush draw, which hit.

[theweatherman]

Ahh!

Checking the turn is NOT fine. 6 max is an agressive game, if you aren't going to semi bluff with 15 outs dont play 6 max. You dont win by checking down and only betting with the best hand. You NEED to bet this turn. There is really no other way to play it well.

[nietzreznor]

[ QUOTE ]
Checking the turn is NOT fine. 6 max is an agressive game, if you aren't going to semi bluff with 15 outs dont play 6 max. You dont win by checking down and only betting with the best hand. You NEED to bet this turn. There is really no other way to play it well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play 6-max almost exclusively. I realize that it is an aggressive game. I didn't say that betting the turn was bad--only that checking it isn't bad either.
Frankly, a lot of it depends on what your opponent has here--if he almost certainly has a draw, betting is fine. But if he might have a big hand going for a c/r, or a decent hand that won't fold, checking seems better. Getting c/r here sucks, and in all honesty I'm not sure what kind of fold equity we have here against other hands.

So I'm not saying anything about not semi-bluffing. But surely you do not need to semi-bluff at every available opportunity, and what you should do here seems mostly dependent upin opponent and your image.

[orange]

There are a few reasons for both.

reasons for checking the turn-
-free card, draw to the nuts ( /images/graemlins/club.gifdraw)
-no way to be pushed off your hand (potential c/r)
-your hand is not very strong at this point- all you have is a pair+NFD. This hand would be very strong on the flop, but even a hand like K10o has us at more than a 2-1 dog:

Ac 5c 31.82%
Ks Td 68.18%

-pot control

How much folding equity do you think we have if we bet the turn? Do you think villan is drawing to a /images/graemlins/spade.gifdraw?

reasons to bet the turn-
-opponent may be drawing, we can charge him and buy a showdown.
-we can win the pot now, and our hand is stronger with the NFD.


I think checking the turn is best IMO. If we bet and villan calls, we are bloating the pot with a draw. If the river blanks, do we give up the hand? I much prefer to hit before betting again.

Fold the river btw.

I have the image of a LAG probably, cuz I like to gamble. Opponent shows 33 &amp; MHIG.

[TheWorstPlayer]

If you think the overbet means 34 and 34 only, then fine. In general, I'm folding here, though. More likely spades that hit than staright draw that missed. You don't see too many people bluff missed draws here, even though you checked the turn through. Your play is not bad by any means, but it assumes a certain level of aggression for your opponents that you usually don't see at these micro stakes. Hope it worked out for you, though.

[orange]

TWP,

What are your thoughts on the turn action? Is this a check behind or a bet?

[TheWorstPlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
TWP,

What are your thoughts on the turn action? Is this a check behind or a bet?

[/ QUOTE ]
I usually check it with deeper stacks since I don't want to get check/raised off my good draw to the hidden nuts. But with these stacks, it looks like he's drawing, you have a pair and he probably doesn't. I probably just put him in on the turn. If I'm wrong, I have a lot of outs.