I played 15/30

for the first time last night. I was up 400 at 4/8 so I took a shot. In the first 1/2 hour I lost 200. I lost a big pot when I made a set on the turn. I had 9's in middle position. LP player raised btf. 4 players see the flop for 2 bets. Flop comes KT8 rainbow. Checked to raiser, who bets. I make a loose call. Turn is a 9 (no flush possible). I bet out and get 2 callers. River is a 7. I check. LP raiser bets. I fold. LP has JJ. Other player has J7s.


I ended the 2 hour session up $35. I had AKs twice, JJ twice. Both times I had AKs I raised BTF. I won the first AKs at showdown with A high when I stopped betting on the turn and it was checked through the river. I lost the second AKs when I bet through the river with no improvement. I lost that one to 5c3c who had a pair of 3's on the flop. High card on the board was a J. I picked up the blinds with JJ when I raised from early position. The other time I had JJ, I was in early position. UTG raised. I called. 5 players saw a flop of AdQd5d. UTG bet out. Everyone folded. Any advice would be helpful.


Thanks,


-Michael

Well you don't do a very good job in detailing your position. Was the loose passive player before you or after you?


I think you made a big mistake in taking one off on this flop. If the loose passive player was before you then your calling him leaves two other players behind who can raise you. If you check to him and then take one off, your mistake is not as glaring but still bad. Its normally pretty bad to take one off and go for the two-outter and especially bad when the board is KT8. What did you want to see? Even if someone doesn't have Q-J giving them the nuts, then anyone with a J is openended. Also you could be up against a larger set. Why draw to hit a perfect card and still be in this tough position. Just lay it down on the flop.


As far as the guy who beat you with 5-3. He is obviously very loose calling down with a small pair/no kicker. In the future, should you play with him you'll be able to get the max out of even your most marginal hands.


Tough luck but you'll get them next time.

The problem with seeing the turn with the pocket 9s with that flop is hitting a 9 puts you in danger as it would make a 3-straight on board. Plus there were already 2 overcards to your pocket pair. Were the flop, say, K-7-3, this would be a more opportune time to take one off. But you already know this.


With your A-Ks hands, on one you checked the turn and river and on the other you bet the turn and river, each time without improvement. Without more details, hard to comment, but the turn is where you make money in the bigger games. I'd feel better about things if you told us you bet the turn and checked the river both times.


JJ can be tough to play, but again you know this. There's an argument to be made for reraising or folding, rather than calling when UTG raised. You shouldn't be cold-calling many raises in any position. Your fold on the 3-diamond, 2-overcard flop (unless you had the Jd) was obvious.


It can also be tough to play when you lose half of your night's winnings in the first half hour after moving to a bigger game. Hopefully this did not make you play timidly.


The best two pieces of advice I can give you? 1)Focus, focus, focus; and 2) Position, position, position.


Good luck.

Thanks Andy. I like your advice. Both 1) focus focus focus, and 2) position, position, position. My mind was definitely inhibited by the fact that the game was much bigger than what I'm used to. So the focus wasn't as good as I'm capable of. A couple of times I even missed the fact that turn and river made a flush possible.


On the JJ hand where I called the UTG raise. I did not have Jd. But I had to check to make sure. That's another indication that my focus was hindered by the size of the game. I usually look at my cards once and that's it.


Thanks again, I look forward to taking your money one day :). J/K - If I know that any twoplustwo-er is at any table I'm looking to play on, I'll likely look for a different game!