NL big mistake: What was it?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I made a pretty bad mistake today playing 100$ NL on absolutepoker.com.

On the button with AK. Five limpers for 50c and I raise to $3.50. Two call.

flop is king high with two diamonds, I have no diamonds. Checked to me. I prepare to make my bet, then wind up betting 50c into a $12 pot.



OK. So the point really isn't the poll. The answer is obviously C.

So what went so horribly wrong here? Those that know my posts and my play know darn well that I violated my own advice about a million times over on this hand.

Well I did screw it up, that's for sure. But there's an explanation. The slide bar at absolute sometimes keeps sliding after you slide it to where you want it, then try to go to the "bet" button. If you're not careful, it might just slide all the way back down to 50c. that's what happened here. Despite the fact that I really intended to bet $13, only 50c managed to get bet. And we all know intentions don't count. Only money. And I didn't get it in the pot. I gave a "virtually" free card, one that was so cheap anyone with any two cards had the odds to chase a runner runner.

Realizing my horrendous error, I bet $15 into the pot on the next card, which was an offsuit deuce. I got called.

On the river I bet another $15 when an apparent blank fell. I didn't get called.

The real bummer is that I'm pretty sure my $13 bet would have been called on the flop, which would have led to my betting even more on the turn, which would have probably gotten called too. I think my opponent who called the turn was drawing to a flush. I woulda liked to have charged him. This mistake probably cost me in the neighborhood of $20-$25.

Don't let it happen to you.

BTW, I like the absolute $100 NL game because it has 25c+50c blinds. Good for the sharks. Like we.

al

[crockpot]

yeah, their software is horrible. it's really too bad because the games are loose and allow double the max buyin.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

They are working on the software. I like the site because (as you said) the games are loose. They are generally softer there than most other sites, even limit games. Hopefully their software will improve and they'll do enough advertising to boost their business some more. I do play there tho (just look for the fish) [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img], I really love that double sized no limit buy-in.

al

[1800GAMBLER]

The worst part about this is you have to put money in when they have card a card to catch you. Heads up it wouldn't have been much of a mistake.

That blind strcuture kicks ass.

[Eihli]

You know, a situation I get into often is that by the time I charge the draws on the flop and turn, once the flush card hits on the river, there is too much in the pot for me to fold. WTF am I suppose to do?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

ideally, those times they make the flush or str8, you fold and don't pay them off. Thay way they paid the max to draw but got nothing in payoff when they got there. Often they will make a big enough bet to where it's obvious, allowing you to fold.

al

[Eihli]

What should you do when you are first to act and the flush card hit? If you check, it's begging them to make a bet big enough to push you out of the pot no matter what they have. Bet the same amount you bet on the flop/turn?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

There's no easy answer. You could bet again and fold to a BIG raise, or you could check-bite-the-bullet-call. It helps to know your man. I generally don't bet again tho, it's just more money lost when you get raised. These kinds of decisions separate the merely proficient from the good and great players.

al

[1800GAMBLER]

If you charge them pot sized on the turn:

Say the pot is 2x. Where x was the pot size coming into the turn.

So 4 times out of 5, they'll lose x.
1 time in 5 they'll gain, 2x.

So they are down 2x (pot sizes on the turn), so on the river they have to get paid of a bet twice the size of yours on the turn to even breakeven here.

That way, they lose x 4 times.
Gain, 2x (pot size) plus 2x (twice the size of your bet) to breakeven here.

Same on the flop, they have 2 streets to cover their loses there though. You may have a redraw on them though.

I've started charging the flush stupid prices when i know someone is betting their draw now, they'll call easily 6 times the amount they bet, or 3 times the pot size. You just have to know which players bet their draws.

[Zag]

[ QUOTE ]
What should you do when you are first to act and the flush card hit? If you check, it's begging them to make a bet big enough to push you out of the pot no matter what they have. Bet the same amount you bet on the flop/turn?

[/ QUOTE ]

My choice in this case is generally to curse. A lot.

As Al said, you need to know the man. If he is capable of bluffing in this case, you have to consider calling it down. But first consider what else he might have. If it is me against you, for instance, you would want to look to see if there was a possible straight draw the whole way. It is a big part of my repertoire to call the straight draw but then bluff the flush when it hits, against someone I think is good enough to lay down top two.

According to game theory, if you have no knowledge of the other player, you should be calling a pot-sized bet in this case 2/3 of the time. This is the best defense against a player who can out-play you -- this minimizes his profit. Against a player who bluffs too often, you call more often, up to all the time if he is clueless. Against one who bluffs too rarely, you call less often. This, of course, is harder to do, because you can't be sure it wasn't a bluff if you don't call. That is why you have to keep track when others call him down. Of course, it doesn't mean that he isn't playing differently against you than against the calling stations, but it is at least an indicator.

Since you don't come up against the same situation against the same person all that often, the trick to call with the right "frequency" is to use a randomizer. If you know that you want to have a 2/3 chance of calling, then glance at the second hand of your watch. If it is between 12 and 8, then call, and if it is between 8 and 12, then fold.