25 hands of PP

[Aaron W.]

Of the first 25 hands in the session (Paradise Poker, $0.50/$1), 16 were folds, and I think I misplayed 4 of the remaining 9 hands. But I'll post my comments and questions about those separately.
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Hand #1 [89o in BB] - EP poster checks, MP, SB calls, I check
[5c 6d 4d] - SB bets, I fold

Hand #2 [T6s in SB] - UTG, EP, B call, I call, BB checks
[Qd Qc Jc] - I check-fold

Hands #3-5 [29s, Q9o, KTo] - Fold

Hand #6 [T9s in EMP] - All 8 players for see the flop for no raise
[4s 5c Js] - SB bets, I fold

Hand #7 [K2o UTG] - Fold

Hand #8 [T5o in BB] - EP, EMP, LP, B, SB call, I check
[3s Qd Qc] - I check-fold

Hand #9 [J3s in SB] - I fold to UTG raise

Hands #10-16 [36o, 46s, T3o, 96o, 65s, K6o, 42s] - Fold

Hand #17 [AQo in BB] - EP calls, EMP poster checks, MP1, MP2, SB call, I check
[Ad 4s Qh] - SB checks, I bet, only MP1, MP2 call
[Ad 4s Qh 6s] - I bet, only MP2 calls
[Ad 4s Qh 6s Td] - I bet, MP2 calls -- I take the pot, MP2 had 55

Hand #18 [87s in SB] - All but MP, B see flop for no raise
[5d Kc Qc] - Checked through
[5d Kc Qc 4s] - I check-fold

Hand #19 [JJ on B] - UTG, EP, CO call, I raise, SB folds, BB and the rest call
[Qh 6s 3c] - Checked to me, I bet, UTG, CO call
[Qh 6s 3c Ad] - Checked through
[Qh 6s 3c Ad 8h] - Checked to me, I bet, both fold

Hands #20-22 [86o, J7s, 98o] - Fold

Hand #23 [AJo in EP] - I open-limp, CO, B call, SB folds, BB checks
[Jc 6c 8s] - BB checks, I bet, only CO calls
[Jc 6c 8s 2s] - I bet, CO calls
[Jc 6c 8s 2s Ac] - I bet, CO folds

Hand #24 [87o UTG] - Fold

Hand #25 [KQs UTG - new player sat in] - I open-raise, MP, LP, B call, blinds fold
[2d 5h 5s] - Checked through (I have two spades)
[2d 5h 5s 4c] - Checked through
[2d 5h 5s 4c 7c] - Checkd through -- I lost to LP's AK

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand #17 [AQo in BB] - EP calls, EMP poster checks, MP1, MP2, SB call, I check
[Ad 4s Qh] - SB checks, I bet, only MP1, MP2 call
[Ad 4s Qh 6s] - I bet, only MP2 calls
[Ad 4s Qh 6s Td] - I bet, MP2 calls -- I take the pot, MP2 had 55

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure that raising preflop is better. My problem is that I'm not sure how to plan for the potential flops. My first reaction after raising preflop in the big blind is to bet regardless of what falls, but I'm not sure how smart that really is.

After the flop, I think it was pretty straight-forward. I bet out hoping to get raised, but it didn't happen.

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand #19 [JJ on B] - UTG, EP, CO call, I raise, SB folds, BB and the rest call
[Qh 6s 3c] - Checked to me, I bet, UTG, CO call
[Qh 6s 3c Ad] - Checked through
[Qh 6s 3c Ad 8h] - Checked to me, I bet, both fold

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure what the right play on the turn is. My feeling was that I can check-call to snap off a bluff, but if I bet, no A or Q is going to leave. But then when it was checked to me on the river also, I thought I might bet it and hope that there was a medium pocket pair out there willing to call me down.

Part of me likes this, but part of me wants to bet the turn to try to get them to think I have an A. Yet giving a free card only hurts me if a king falls (since if someone was ahead of me on the turn, an A or Q would only put them farther ahead). So I don't know what's better.

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand #23 [AJo in EP] - I open-limp, CO, B call, SB folds, BB checks
[Jc 6c 8s] - BB checks, I bet, only CO calls
[Jc 6c 8s 2s] - I bet, CO calls
[Jc 6c 8s 2s Ac] - I bet, CO folds

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm really confused by AJo in EP. Since I had been folding a lot, I thought it was worth a limp so I don't appear to be too tight. Also, the table was passive enough that I didn't expect to get raised behind, either. Is this reasonable enough?

Betting the river when the flush comes must be the right play because an ace fell and I have two pair (I would call if raised). Many players would have a hard time folding a pair of aces on the river for just one more bet. Plus, any Ax two pair still loses to mine (which is why calling a raise is worth it).

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand #25 [KQs UTG - new player sat in] - I open-raise, MP, LP, B call, blinds fold
[2d 5h 5s] - Checked through (I have two spades)
[2d 5h 5s 4c] - Checked through
[2d 5h 5s 4c 7c] - Checkd through -- I lost to LP's AK

[/ QUOTE ]

Simply put, I got gun-shy when I was called and when rags fell. I probably should have bet the flop.

My thinking was that since it was such a large pot, even though I raised UTG, I should treat my hand as a drawing hand out of position, and hope to snag a flush draw or K or Q on the turn, hence I was looking to check-call. I don't think this is terrible, but betting out on the ragged flop seems better.

[GuyOnTilt]

AJo plays horribly multiway. Either muck or open-raise PF. In your case, raising would've been best. UTG, you could consider mucking, but after there's 1 or 2 folds to you, you should be raising it up. After that, you played well. As a general rule, at tables where everybody is very loose PF, you shouldn't be limping in with offsuit cards (excluding pocket pairs) from any position outside the blinds. This isn't something I'd thought about before just now, but I think this would be a good rule of thumb for Micro players.

GoT

[GuyOnTilt]

On the turn, I would've bet unless one of my opponents was a bluff-a-holic who would bet the river with a worse hand after my show of weakness of the turn. Since someone called you down with 55 on an almost identical board earlier, it would seem your opponents are calling-station-ish enough to call down with a worse hand. You're not really betting here to make a better hand fold, 'cause they won't at this table. You're betting for value, for a free showdown on the river, and to keep yourself out of a tough spot by having to call a bet on the river (kind of the same thing I guess). Another reason for betting the turn is that you won't be in a tough position if check-raised; you have an easy laydown. It is close though, but I'd bet it. After you bet the turn and are called, check-through on the river.

GoT

[pudley4]

Hand 6 - you have T9s. Are we to assume the s stands for "suited" and not "spades"? Instead of putting "s" for "suited", put the actual suit (T9c for T /images/graemlins/club.gif9 /images/graemlins/club.gif)

If the hand in question was spades, terrible fold. Otherwise good.

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Hand 6 - you have T9s. Are we to assume the s stands for "suited" and not "spades"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you are to assume that, as that interpretation is consistent with the other 24 hands. I actually had a little debate with myself whether or not to put the suits, but I decided that I would just leave it as suited/offsuit and mention the suits only when they were relevant in the decision-making process in the positive sense ("I have a flush draw", or "backdoor flush draw with my pair"... instead of "I don't have any of those")

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
AJo plays horribly multiway.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard that, and I believe that based on the experience of the many others who say that, but I don't believe it from my own experience at these limits, because I'm selective about making that play.

AJo plays horribly multiway against players who can be agressive or who are more selective. But against loose passive players (passive not only preflop, but postflop), it seems to me that playing AJo should work out okay. You get paid off by Ax limps from the other positions, and the QJ/KJ that also get limped in from all positions. This game was particularly passive (notice the large number of limpers and the fact that I saw the turn twice for free, plus the time it was checked to me on the button, in the 9 flops I saw) I don't have enough data/experience to support this, and my poker instinct has proven to be faulty, so I'll keep thinking about it.