Re: Need advice on these hands
Hand 1 with KJo: I do not like how you played this hand. First of all, I think the limp PF is debatable. There are a lot of solid SNG players like Frozen_Fish who love to limp PF with a lot of hands. The edge they have postflop, combined with the implied odds of deep stacks early, make this profitable. You need to be able to play postflop well to make a limp in MP with KJo. I limp with KJs here all day long, but I am not a huge fan of KJo because it is so hard to play postflop. Dumping it isn't a bad idea.
But on the flop, there is no excuse for not raising. You flopped a J76 rainbow, you have TPGK, your hand could very likely be good. You must raise here the pot. If someone reraises, you can probably fold. If someone calls, make a good bet on the turn and fold to a raise. (player dependant) Sitting there and calling passively is bad poker. I love playing against people who play this hand the way you did. Don't be someone people like to play against.
Bascially, you were just lost this hand. There is a great shot your hand was good at showdown IMO, but you didn't play it correctly. The fold at the end isnt horrible, but you shouldn't put yourself in that spot.
Hand 2 with ATs: Yikes. Don't raise preflop. Bad idea, at least when I play. Especially from early position. Reasons why you dont raise:
1) Blinds aren't worth stealing.
2) If people call you, especially passive players, you will be lost on the flop if it comes ace high and there is action.
3) You are looking for a very specific flop with ATs, and it doesnt necessarily involve an ace. You want lots of people in the hand, because ATs does well mutli-way.
Limp. Raising will only create problems. I limp AJs here too, and raise AQo and AQs, although many will say to limp with AQo in EP which I can't really argue with.
The flop again is terrible.
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I checked/called because I thought he might have AK or AQ.
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So if that is true, then you are either drawing to a runner runner straight, or a runner runner boat, or you are drawing to a 3 outer. If that is your read, check/fold. But then again, how could you have this read? If you are going to raise ATs preflop, and flop top pair, you should bet this flop. If you limped, then this hand IMO is much easier to get away from. This is a situation where problems compounded, and check calling is not a good place to be.
The read you made on the turn was solid. I'd value bet a little more on the river. But again, I don't like this hand. And a tricky player like me may even check the river with a hand like a set of kings. Although that would be an auto-reraise preflop (as with QQ).
You played this passively, and I guess you could say you "induced a bluff". But to me it looks like you were just lost in the dark with no plan.
Hand 3 with KTo: This may be one of those rare spots where playing passive is good. I certainly think the check on the flop is good. I hope you were not planning on check/calling, but check/folding if the limper had bet the flop. When the SB bet 30, it could be an ace-no kicker, but more likely a weak king or a turned jack. You have a weak king. You could raise here, but if you get called go check/check on the river. I don't mind your plan of calling the 30 on the turn though. It's rare to hear me say that, but I think calling here is appropriate.
I like your river value bet. It is fairly clear you are ahead, although there is a tiny chance he has KJ, but its doubtful.
Hand 4 with AK: Oh the joys of playing AK. I feel the pain with you here. You raise with it out of position, which is good because weak aces and hands you beat will call you, but you don't get a pretty flop at all. I would very much consider check/folding on the flop, but when it got back to you, you had great odds to call the bet of 40 to try to spike a king. An ace here isn't great, as you could be up against a weak ace that has caught the flop. I would say 40-50% of the time in this game an ace on the turn would give u the best hand, because of the potential for a straight or a two pair. A king to me looks like a clean out, although I guess there could be some weak king mixed in there. I like the flop call.
The river is good, as I said, there is no reason to expect that you are ahead. This type of hand sucks, but I think too many players tend to flail away at this type of flop with AK, which I think is a terrible play. This river would be a borderline value raise if there wasnt a possible straight in play...
Hope that helped. I really think you need to work on your aggression a little bit. When you are done with a hand, let it go. If you limp with KJo, which you really don't have to, then play it aggressively when you get an ideal flop.
Good luck,
-Jason
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