SpaceAce
07-01-2004, 11:21 AM
Last night's/this morning's session at the Mirage started out pretty lively but bogged down into a pretty tight and not-so-great game. The players weren't particularly good but the pots kept getting smaller and the table just generally tightened up a bit.
Hand #1:
My table image: Tight and aggressive for those who have been sitting there awhile. Mostly tight to anyone new to the table.
The table: A little tightish for a $3/$6 game but the other players are still calling way too much.
My opponents:
EP1 - Talkative and slightly obnoxious. He came down from a bigger game because his girlfriend was sitting at our table. EP1 kept up a running stream of chatter, making jokes about the game being too easy and often talking about his hands or calling out what he thought other people were holding. This player was definitely more aggressive than the other players at the table and certainly capable of trickery. He'd been there a few orbits and I'd been folding pretty much the whole time.
EP2 - Too loose by far. Not particularly aggressive but has shown himself to be tricky at times.
My main question: Did I go way too weak on this one? Normally I am pounding away at this hand but I backed off this time. I will explain why in my "reasoning" section.
The hand: I am dealt KK on the button. UTG folds and EP1 raises, saying something like, "Just in case one of you guys starts getting ideas." EP2 cold-calls and I say, "I just got an idea on you. I reraise," and throw in $9. Both blinds fold back to EP1 who keeps chattering and reraises me. EP2 cold-calls again, I cap and both call. Now EP1 is saying, "Your Kings are no good." The flop is 99Q rainbow and EP1 bets out. EP2 calls and I raise. EP1 babbles about my Kings being no good and how he has a full house already and just calls. EP2 calls again. The turn is a low rag completing the rainbow. EP1 checks, EP2 checks and I check. The river is the Jack of spades, EP1 checks and now EP2 wakes up with a bet. I just call and EP1 folds.
My reasoning: When EP1 four-bet me, I put him on AA-QQ and possibly JJ or AK (given his aggression and lack of respect for the other players at the table). On the flop I am way behind AA and QQ, way ahead of JJ and AK and splitting with another KK. I am way behind any random nine that EP2 is playing (entirely possible if suited with a big card) and ahead of almost anything else he might have. On the turn, I check through because I am now even further ahead or further behind and the only "draw" I think I will extract money from is someone trying to spike another Queen. I just call the river because EP2's bet after all that action seemed fishy. He was definitely the kind of player who might try for a check-raise on the turn with a nine and bet out on the river if he was afraid the action would get checked through. EP2 was also the kind of opponent who would not necessarily three-bet JJ pre-flop and was definitely the kind of opponent who would see the river with JJ no matter what.
Maybe I was seeing ghosts under the bed but between the two of them, I saw a lot of ways my opponents could have me in trouble.
Hand #2:
My table image: Same as above.
The table: Same as above.
My opponents:
UTG - A lady who is brand new to the table. Girlfriend/fiancee/wife/whatever of EP1 from hand #1.
SB - Pretty new to the table, looks a little bit like Stan Goldstein.
My main question: This is, like, a total train wreck, right? I actually liked this hand when I played it and felt good about it immediately afterward but much like uncooked chicken left out on the countertop, the older this hand gets the more it stinks.
The hand: I am dealt 62o in the big blind. UTG limps, folded around to the small blind who completes. I check. The flop is 346 rainbow. The small blind bets and I raise, hoping to lose UTG and possibly both of my opponents. UTG cold-calls two and SB folds. The turn was an offsuit ten. I checked and UTG checked behind me. At this point, I am putting her on a handful of nothing. The pre-floplimp, cold-call on the flop and the check behind on the turn looked like a draw or possibly a smallish pocket pair to me. The river is an offsuit Jack and I bet out.
My reasoning: I flopped top pair and a gutshot. Not exactly a monster given what my top pair and my kicker consisted of but not horrible for 62o. I raised the flop because I was hoping to lose UTG and take the pot away from the small blind on the turn. I checked the turn mostly to see what my opponent would do. I liked my hand a lot more when she checked behind me. I bet the river because no draws got there and I figured it was possible I could fold a better six. If I couldn't fold a six, I could probably get a call from unimproved big cards, a three or a four.
Hm, parts of these hands look like sheer buffoonery in retrospect. Oh, well, that's why I am posting them.
SpaceAce
Hand #1:
My table image: Tight and aggressive for those who have been sitting there awhile. Mostly tight to anyone new to the table.
The table: A little tightish for a $3/$6 game but the other players are still calling way too much.
My opponents:
EP1 - Talkative and slightly obnoxious. He came down from a bigger game because his girlfriend was sitting at our table. EP1 kept up a running stream of chatter, making jokes about the game being too easy and often talking about his hands or calling out what he thought other people were holding. This player was definitely more aggressive than the other players at the table and certainly capable of trickery. He'd been there a few orbits and I'd been folding pretty much the whole time.
EP2 - Too loose by far. Not particularly aggressive but has shown himself to be tricky at times.
My main question: Did I go way too weak on this one? Normally I am pounding away at this hand but I backed off this time. I will explain why in my "reasoning" section.
The hand: I am dealt KK on the button. UTG folds and EP1 raises, saying something like, "Just in case one of you guys starts getting ideas." EP2 cold-calls and I say, "I just got an idea on you. I reraise," and throw in $9. Both blinds fold back to EP1 who keeps chattering and reraises me. EP2 cold-calls again, I cap and both call. Now EP1 is saying, "Your Kings are no good." The flop is 99Q rainbow and EP1 bets out. EP2 calls and I raise. EP1 babbles about my Kings being no good and how he has a full house already and just calls. EP2 calls again. The turn is a low rag completing the rainbow. EP1 checks, EP2 checks and I check. The river is the Jack of spades, EP1 checks and now EP2 wakes up with a bet. I just call and EP1 folds.
My reasoning: When EP1 four-bet me, I put him on AA-QQ and possibly JJ or AK (given his aggression and lack of respect for the other players at the table). On the flop I am way behind AA and QQ, way ahead of JJ and AK and splitting with another KK. I am way behind any random nine that EP2 is playing (entirely possible if suited with a big card) and ahead of almost anything else he might have. On the turn, I check through because I am now even further ahead or further behind and the only "draw" I think I will extract money from is someone trying to spike another Queen. I just call the river because EP2's bet after all that action seemed fishy. He was definitely the kind of player who might try for a check-raise on the turn with a nine and bet out on the river if he was afraid the action would get checked through. EP2 was also the kind of opponent who would not necessarily three-bet JJ pre-flop and was definitely the kind of opponent who would see the river with JJ no matter what.
Maybe I was seeing ghosts under the bed but between the two of them, I saw a lot of ways my opponents could have me in trouble.
Hand #2:
My table image: Same as above.
The table: Same as above.
My opponents:
UTG - A lady who is brand new to the table. Girlfriend/fiancee/wife/whatever of EP1 from hand #1.
SB - Pretty new to the table, looks a little bit like Stan Goldstein.
My main question: This is, like, a total train wreck, right? I actually liked this hand when I played it and felt good about it immediately afterward but much like uncooked chicken left out on the countertop, the older this hand gets the more it stinks.
The hand: I am dealt 62o in the big blind. UTG limps, folded around to the small blind who completes. I check. The flop is 346 rainbow. The small blind bets and I raise, hoping to lose UTG and possibly both of my opponents. UTG cold-calls two and SB folds. The turn was an offsuit ten. I checked and UTG checked behind me. At this point, I am putting her on a handful of nothing. The pre-floplimp, cold-call on the flop and the check behind on the turn looked like a draw or possibly a smallish pocket pair to me. The river is an offsuit Jack and I bet out.
My reasoning: I flopped top pair and a gutshot. Not exactly a monster given what my top pair and my kicker consisted of but not horrible for 62o. I raised the flop because I was hoping to lose UTG and take the pot away from the small blind on the turn. I checked the turn mostly to see what my opponent would do. I liked my hand a lot more when she checked behind me. I bet the river because no draws got there and I figured it was possible I could fold a better six. If I couldn't fold a six, I could probably get a call from unimproved big cards, a three or a four.
Hm, parts of these hands look like sheer buffoonery in retrospect. Oh, well, that's why I am posting them.
SpaceAce