couple 5-10 hands

alright, i haven't posted a hand on here in quite a while. i also haven't been playing nearly as regularly as id like, since i have a full time 9-5er with an hour commute each way... i would like SoccerMike's opinion on these hands if he sees them...


hand 1

i am in cut-off with QQ. table is pretty average, fairly tight (especially compared to california games), not a lot of aggression (though i have only been sitting here for about 15 minutes, and i only know how a couple of my opponents play.). i raise, and it folds around to the button, who cold calls, along with both blinds. (probably some of the looser players, but im not really afraid of going to a showdown unless an overcard hits). flop comes J73. i bet, button calls, SB folds, and BB calls. turn is a K (no flush draws here.) i bet again, button calls, BB folds. i figure if he calls here he may have a weak K and i might be losing a bet on the river if i do bet. river is a 4. i check, and he checks behind me. i show my QQ and its good. did i miss a bet? would he have paid off with a J? what else could he call with that i could beat?


hand 2

i have moved 1 seat to my left since hand 1, and i am now cutoff+2 (which puts the button from the last hand in the SB, etc.). i look down and see AKs. UTG limps, i raise, unknown player on my left calls, SB calls, BB folds, and UTG calls. 4 to see flop.

flop is AQ9.

UTG bets?, i raise, unknown drops, SB calls, UTG calls.

turn: 9

SB bets!! UTG calls, and i make a crying call (only because i just can't see this guy stickin around with a 9 after a preflop raise and an AQ on the flop.)

river is a blank, and SB bets again!!

UTG calls, and i think for a long time if i am overcalling here, but i think there is a good chance that SB has a weak A and UTG missed his broadway draw. i call with my last 2 chips. SB turns over QT and UTG turns over KQ. my AK takes the pot (pretty decent pot too). apparently i played the hand right, because i won the pot, and was able to decently put the other players on a pretty strict range of hands. but it was a crying call, and i thought id probably be paying off a 9. what are my mistakes here? how can i improve them?

Hand 1


If the Button player had a Jack, he almost certainly would have paid you off and you did lose a bet. But there are other hands he could have held as well such as 10,9 or 9,8 and he stuck around for his gut-shot straight draw. Perhaps he had something like A7s or A3s. With those other hands, I suspect he wouldn't have called on the river. I would have bet the river.


Hand 2


On the turn, if you didn't believe either player had a 9, then you should definitely be raising with Aces up and a King kicker.

Make any weak Ace pay an extra bet. And on the river as well.

On the first hand, you have been showing strength all along and even bet when the king overcard turned up. Nevertheless, your opponent stayed with you. Your opponent might have raised you on the turn if he had a pair of kings or some hand that beats your pocket queens. It is too easy for him to be hanging around with a jack and be planning to make a crying call hoping you have a hand like ace-queen or pocket tens. I think you should bet the river.


I like your play on the second hand. Obviously, the small blind learned poker in a forest. You correctly refused to let yourself get faked out in this low limit game populated by players who are basically unaware. Be happy they bet your hand for you.

Just for clarification, sin't the "cutoff" one to the right of the button, not one to the left of UTG? I may have been using the wrong terms.

Yes, the cutoff seat is just to the right of the button. Both the cutoff seat and the button constitute "late position" in a full tabled limit holdem game. In a four-handed game, the cutoff seat and the under-the-gun (UTG) seat are the same. In a five-handed game, the cutoff seat would act after the under-the-gun player.