thank you high stakes posters!! (long)

because of this page i won $643 in my first no limit session (2 hours). the things ive read here are the only thing ive read about playing no limit so far and that was enough for me to have some sense of how the game was played and how it greatly differed from limit hold em. im sure i made many mistakes, but i know i did some things right as well. ill post a couple of hands i played below:


blinds are $3-$5 and stack sizes range from $200-$2000. just one guy has $2000. the next highest is around $700. average stack size is around $300-350. i bought in for $300.


my first hand: i had 88 on the button. 4 people limp in, i limp, sb calls. bb (guy with $2000) makes it $50 more to go. everyone folds to me and i decide to call because i have position, i figure there's a good chance he could have AK or AQ, and i can decide to drop on the flop if i dont like what happens then. sb folds. the flop is J86. he puts me all in right away and i win. he shows TT.


2. i have 34o in the BB. 5 players limp in, sb calls, and i check. the flop is J65. sb checks, i bet $20, next guy raises to $40 (he has $500 or so and he has recently shown a couple of bluffs). everyone else folds to me and i call. the turn is a 7. i check, he bets $75, i raise $75 more and he calls. the river is a T. i bet $150 and he calls immediately. i win, he doesnt show his hand.


3. i have T8s in the cutoff. 3 players limp in. i limp. button limps in, sb calls, bb makes it $40 more. everyone folds to me, i decide to call, button folds and sb folds. the flop is KT5. the bb immediately goes all in $150. i think to myself "gee that's an awfully strange way to play AK" and i call for time. i look down but when i glance up he is looking away, but uncomfortably. i decide to call him down since i know he cant do anymore damage even if he has me beat. i call and the turn and river are blanks. he shows us AJs and i take down the pot.


4. i have K8o in the sb. utg live straddles for $10 (which is quite common in this game). 3 people limp in, i call, bb calls. UTG just checks. the flop is J84 two spades. i check, bb makes it $25 (guy with $2K again who plays a lot of hands and has shown a couple BIG bluffs), everyone folds to me, this sure looks like a spade draw to me, i decide to call. the turn is a non-spade K. here is where i screw up. i check, for some reason i become worried that he may have KJ. he bets $125 and i just call. yikes! what would the best play have been here on the turn? what size bet? then a spade comes on the river and i check and he bets $125 and i pay him off. he has Q7s. i really lost it on this hand...


5. i have AQs in the BB. 6 players limp to me (including the SB) and i raise it $50 more. they all fold. is this the right way to play this hand? i did a similar thing with AKo on the button, several limpers and then i just blew them all out by raising it $75. any comments? i was sort of afraid to play those hands any differently and i didnt mind making the small ($30 or so) profit.


6. i didnt play this hand, but i wanted to relay it and get your thoughts: a tight player limps on the button after a few limpers, the sb and bb call. the flop is 864 (86 are clubs). the

sb (guy with $2k again) checks, the BB who is loose and has shown a couple wild bluffs bets $125, the button calls, now the sb calls and makes it $400 more to go. then he gets up and goes to the restroom (!?). the table laughs and makes a few uneasy comments about taking a peak at his cards. the dealer tells the floorman to put sb on the clock, sb returns promptly with a smile on his face. in the meanwhile the button has shown me and a couple other players on our end of the table that he holds AA (with the A of clubs). the bb finally folds and the button thinks for about a minute at which time he asks the SB to show him one of his cards and maybe he'll call. the sb says, "ill show you both of my cards if you fold". then he says in a really sincere voice "fold danny (or whatever the guys name was), ive got you." the button takes a few more seconds and folds and the sb show T9o with the T of clubs. i think the button played this hand so poorly, what do you think?

mainly cause playing K8 is bad because it is dominated by many other K hands (like the KJ i feared. it's a trap hand.


other reasons:


--i have to pay $7 more.


--the straddler is likely to make it more to play.


--im in the very worst position.


were you thinking of something else?

mike

very good mike. i would not like to have you in my game if you are this fast a student.

Congrats on your first N/L win. That being said, I find it

rather amazing you were this successful. I have never heard

of a N/L with this much limping BTF in my life.


1. With 88, your choices are to see the flop for $5 and hope


for a set, or get heads up. As things turned out,the BB


did this for you by raising. Your logic for calling is a


little odd, your either a big dog or a small favorite.


If you wanted the dead money, why not raise with 88 in the


first place? A trap for you to think about. What do you do


if the flop is 7 6 2 and he bets?


2. I try NOT to bet open-end draws into a large field. Especially when you are out of position. When you call the raise on the flop, you have to decide what to do if you


miss. Remember, you are always taking the worst of it with


a draw.


3. You got very lucky here. Although you did a good job reading


your opponents body language,which led to a correct call.


4. I think you should have folded BTF. That being said, put


more money in on the turn. I would have check-raised here (about $400). In N/L, you can raise a lot more money and it has a greater impact on others than in a limit game. My other


choice would have been bet about 2/3 the pot.


5. Yes, this is a common move. The idea is to pick up the


extra dead money in the pot. However, you are taking a risk


by doing this. If you get re-raised, it is almost certain


you are beat. Also, you would prefer to make this play


in position, not in the blinds. You must be ESPECIALLY careful if the first limper jacks it up after your raise.


6. Totally silly play by the button. First, he was in a perfect


position to raise to win the dead money BTF (about $50 would have been good). Then, he CALLS a flop bet when an all-in move MIGHT have got called by a worse hand. If you see this guy,and he even BREATHES on the pot, fold ASAP unless you


have the nuts.

when i glance up he is looking away, but uncomfortably.


Remember this guy and how he acted. Other players will stare at you in the same situation, but look away when they're strong. I think what was important here was the "uncomfortably." Good read.

1. Your stack size is not big enough to make this call. the odds of flopping a set are about 7.5:1 and your maximum implied odds are 4:1. you get 5:1 with the money in the pot. If you think the blind is making a move with a big ace then you should re-raise. with 88 you are hoping that he folds.


2. I'm not sure what the purpose of betting $20 was. much of the equity from semi-bluffing comes from making everyone fold. rightly or wrongly you decided to make a bluff here. fine. bet an amount that will make people fold. On the turn notice that you don't exactly have the nuts. but you are probably ahead. with 225$ already in the pot you can raise alot more than $75 and still get called. In fact, if you think you are ahead I would set the other guy all in.


3. 10-8s is an another implied odds hand. even though you are on the button you are playing against the short stack. this means you have very little in the way of implied odds and your positional advantage has gone way down as he will very likely go all in. In this situation I prefer to play pairs or hands with reverse implied odds, i.e. big unsuited cards .


4. nothing to add


5. good play. beware of early position limpers. some players will always limp with KK and AA in early position. Also watch out for short stacks who might very well call or re-raise all in. but even if they do you don't really mind.

OK, I've never played a real NL game, but I have a few thoughts -


1) Your hand with 88 is marginal. you are heads up, and do you have a plan to fold if you do not make a set or an open ended straight draw? If so, you can't play because you are not quite getting your odds. If not, you are probably a money loser on this hand, as you certainly have no leverage. His raise is just large enough to deny a small pair with a $350 stack odds to draw to a set - this may not be by accident.


3) This hand stinks heads up here. OK, he bluffed with 10 outs. You are a small favorite. Things came perfectly for you, but I don't think you should play it here. Why is that strange for AK - he goes in on the flop with bluffs, he should do it here, too.


4) K8? $10 was too much, and you know the BB raises a lot. toss it in the muck.


5) I think you should be thrilled to get all this money with these hands. You take a risk by raising here, if the other player have noticed the BB's behavior and have started trapping with big pairs and AK. But you can always fold if someone moves in on you. BTW, these players seem to fold to a raise a lot, so you might loosen up some if you get a good read. Do this more with an ace in your hand to reduce the chances someone is trapping with aces. If you can outplay them a lot post - flop (no reason to think so, given that you are new), then knocking out everyone has less merit (see my post on middle stakes forum for more discussion).


6) I think it is embarrassing that these ploys are part of some poker games. I am not sure what the correct strategy for the button is, but why he is limping with aces after several caller when the money is not super deep I am not sure - is he hoping for set over set. It seems like he let the bully in the pot for free, and then lets the bully make him fold. He shows weakness, then folds when a seemingly very aggressive player bets. This seems like a losing strategy.


Good luck. Glad it went well.


Dan Z.