pocket tens $40-80 hand

[Tommy Angelo]

I got to Bay 101 at 5:00 AM. I was fresh. Well not really fresh in the usual sense of rested. I was more like flowering. I hadn't played for two months. There was one seat open at $20-40, and seven seats open at $40-80. The $40-80 lineup was perfect for me so I sat there and made it threehanded, after I asked if either player minded, and they said by all means, sit.

My first button I raised and one player called. The flop was Q-9-x. He checked, I checked. Turn: 9, we both checked. River: ace. We both checked again. He turned over A-9, full house.

Another fun hand was when I had black pocket tens on the button and raised. Both players called. The flop was 10-8-2 with two hearts. SB checked, BB bet, I raised, SB folded, BB called, and not it was headsup. The turn was the seven of hearts. He checked, I bet, he checkraised, I made it three bets, and he called. I believed he would have made it four bets with any straight or flush, and I believed that with a pair-plus-a-draw hand he would not have bothered to checkraise the turn. He would have just checkcalled all the way unless improved. The river was the nine of hearts: final board was 10-8-2,7,9 with four hearts. He checked, and now I was sure he had two-pair or a set. I bet. He took forever but finally called and showed 10-7.




Tommy

[andyfox]

Hey Tommy,

What percentage of your poker income would you say has come from short-handed games? And is it usual to find passive players like these guys in short-handed games?

Regards,
Andy

[MHoydilla]

I enjoyed reading the hands, but I have one question. If you were check-raised on the river when you had the set of T's what would you have done? and is it close.

[DanZ]

Yeah, these guys seem like a couple fish...

Now, where did Tommy's opponetns make an error? I think the only place is check-calling the river instead of betting out in the 3 tens hand (or playing T7o in the first place, and T7s is marginal). The river check-raise vs. bet is close in the first hand also.

As evidenced by the 7 empty seats and the warm welcome for Tommy, I don't think these guys are who you want to be playing...

Dan Z.

[Tommy Angelo]

"What percentage of your poker income would you say has come from short-handed games?"

At least 50%, and maybe as much as 100%.

"And is it usual to find passive players like these guys in short-handed games?"

It is usual to find them in the games I anchor to. I try to help matters out by going to great lengths to passify them.


Tommy

[Tommy Angelo]

"If you were check-raised on the river when you had the set of T's what would you have done? and is it close."

Some paths in decision-space are too remote for me to rationally ponder. Here's a silly example. What would I do after I raised three times headsup on the river, holding seven-high no pair, and then the opponent reraised again?

Because I would never be in that spot, my answer is automatically meaningless.

It's pretty much the same with the 10-10 hand on the river. I was so sure that I had the best hand, and that I would not be checkraised, that that alone, in my mind, made the likelihood of a checkraise by him very unlikely. But let's say he did. I'd have folded and moved to the $20-40 game, lickity split.

Tommy

[DiamondDave]

What is it that you do (or make sure you don't do) to pacify them?

[SoBeDude]

My first button I raised and one player called. The flop was Q-9-x. He checked, I checked. Turn: 9, we both checked. River: ace. We both checked again. He turned over A-9, full house.

This is a beautiful example of two things.

Why position is so important in holdem.

Why it's silly to get 'tricky' when you have a big hand.

-Scott

[glen]

"Why it's silly to get 'tricky' when you have a big hand."

I don't think he necessarily got tricky, and I don't think he played it poorly, assuming he was going to checkraise the flop. Usually when it's heads up and your opponent doesn't bet the flop, he has ace high, a monster, or absolutely nothing. When the river is an ace, he's either not going to call a bet or pay off a checkraise. . .

[SoBeDude]

He tried for a Check-raise THREE streets in a row and you don't think he tried to get tricky?

hmm. perhaps we have different definitions of tricky?

-Scott

[glen]

No. Getting too tricky is when you do dumb stuff like slowplay when you would have been able to cap the flop and then still raise the turn. Tommy has given him no reason to think he has any kind of hand whatsoever. If he bets his boat, he will not get called, except if Tommy had an ace, in which case Tommy would bet and probably fold to a checkraise because he is such an astute poker player, or he would check it down because he sensed the guy had a monster. Against a typical player, however, i would try to checkraise the river and expect to get paid off by an ace, or just bet out if the player is the type to call with anything in this spot, like a pair of sevens, and was looking for a cheap showdown. . .