2 hands for review

[cjs]

I'd like some imput on how these 2 hands were played. Paradise .5/1 passive table with 40-45% seeing the flop.


Hand 1
I'm in mp1 with A /images/graemlins/spade.gif 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

folds to ep3 who bets, hero calls, mp2 folds, mp3 calls, folds to button who calls, and the blinds call also. 6 see the flop.

Flop: 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif A /images/graemlins/heart.gif 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif

checks to me who bets, mp3 folds, everyone else calls. 5 to the turn.

turn: A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

checks to me who bets, button calls, sb folds, bb and ep3 call. 4 to river.

river: Q /images/graemlins/club.gif (A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif A /images/graemlins/heart.gif 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif)

bb bets (???) , ep3 folds, hero raises, button folds, bb reraises, and I cap. Does anyone fear AQ here and not cap the river?

results later

hand 2
same table- I'm in ep2 and dealt K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif K /images/graemlins/heart.gif

ep1 bets, hero raises, ep3 folds, mp1 3 bets, folds back to ep1 who calls 2, and I cap, both call. 3 to the flop.

flop: 9 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

ep1 bets, hero raises, mp1 calls 2, ep1 reraises, hero caps, mp1 calls 2 again, ep1 calls. 3 to the turn.

turn: 3 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

ep1 bets, hero raises, mp1 folds, ep1 reraises, hero caps, ep1 calls. (does anyone not cap here?) 2 to the river.

river: 6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif (3 /images/graemlins/spade.gif 2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 9 /images/graemlins/heart.gif)

ep1 bets, hero raises, ep1 reraises, hero calls. ( anyone cap here?)

results to follow. I am still having trouble on how aggressive to be with good hands. Does anyone try in hand 1 to check raise the flop or turn? Hand 2 when do you worry about AA? ( he did not cap prefolp ) Any eval would be appreciated.

[Allan]

Hand 1:

I think you did fine on this one. I would cap the river. To me the action doesn't seem consistent with Ace big kicker. BB have QQ?

Hand 2:

I think you gave way too much action on this hand. After the flop action and EP willing to fire into you again on the turn it looks like you are up against a set. And if that first action doesn't clue you in the 3 bet on the turn should surely be telling you to slow down.

Maybe you weren't working to put your opponent on a hand and considering what he is putting you on?



Allan

[bisonbison]

Hand 1: If that's AQ or A8, then that's the most timid AQ/A8 in history. I think capping is good. You have the third nuts and this is just too weird to give up betting on. Hope you won.

Hand 2: I'd start operation call-down on the turn. When someone bets into you after a cap, it tends to mean "I can beat 1 pair".

[bunky9590]

Hand One played fine, Cap the stinking river! You did, he paid off. If he has AQ then good for him.

Hand two, I'm not worried about AA, I'd be worried about a set that filled up, you have to slow down on the turn and go into check call mode on the river. I want to show that hand down and not get super nuts with it.

[fluff]

Hand 1: I would think AQ would have bet/raise you on the flop, and definitely on the turn. A8 would've been crazy not to bet/raise the turn. I would probably cap the river, knowing that more often than not your hand is good.

Hand 2: ep1's hand was not good enough to cap PF, but strong enough to bet into you and reraise on the flop? He could've sneakily played AA, KK, QQ that way, but in microlimits I would tend to believe that he has a medium pair and hit a set.

[cjs]

Just when I start to think I'm getting the hang of this, I get reminded how little I actually know. Allan you were right on in both hands. Hand 1 bb shows QQ and my hand is good. Why he didn't raise prefold I don't know but I thought AQ was more likely. Hand 2 ep1 showed 99 for the flopped set. This hand cost me all my profit from this session at this table and I never saw it! I need help with hand reading - are there any good books here about hand reading? The last book I read was Jones' WLLH. What do you guys look for in reading hands?

[bisonbison]

Well, hand reading is basically just practicing your poker thinking.

One of the first things you should do is to make sure you can look at any board and see the top 5 or 10 possible hands right away. Then see if you can see whether those hands were really going to play the way they did on each street.

It's easy to get turned around in a hand like Hand 1 and think that your A2 is really threatened by that Queen, but it's not. Someone with QQ is still behind you, and someone with AQ has the nuts, but with AQ they'd be crazy not to have thrown in a raise at some point.

[Allan]

here is a link from the essays section of this website:

A Basic Primer to Reading Hands in Hold 'em (http://www.twoplustwo.com/skp1.html)

There are also sections in TOP, HEP and HEPFAP that should be studied.

Hope this helps,

Allan

[JDErickson]

hmm.....

Am I the only one that thinks the Preflop call was questionable? A2s in MP with 1 raise in front of you? I guess its ok if you know you will get a bunch of cold callers but what if the rest folded. Your odds just went kaput.

I would have folded this preflop myself.

Jim

[cjs]

there was no preflop raise in hand 1

[JDErickson]

[ QUOTE ]
folds to ep3 who bets

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, that sounded like a raise to me.

If its was just limped I can see playing.