Ok so I played micro no limit for a while won a bunch and lost it all, so I decided limit would be more for me. Found you guys, bought SSH tried using it and lost my ass. So I quit playing for a year. Then one day I got bored and found a site that offered a free $25 for empire and said what the hell and tried it. So now I'm forced to play limit, and I'm not doing bad at all up a good amount (maybe just some luck though). Decided I needed to re-read ssh so I just did and really get a lot more of the concepts, but there is still so much I don't totally understand, so I'm gonna be here for a bit asking for some help if y'all don't mind. Anyway I'll start with this concept, "protecting your hand when the pot is big". First off I have a real hard time giving up control of the hand to try to get a raise in on turn, am I alone here??? So anyway here's a hand that shows that concept I think.
This was an insane game with about 3 maniacs (it was 5 handed and capped preflop a few times) It kinda seemed like everyone was slowing down but maybe that was just a coincidence.
Party Poker 0.15/0.30 Hold'em (10 handed)
converter
Preflop: Hero is UTG+2 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. UTG posts a blind of $0.15. MP2 posts a blind of $0.22.
UTG (poster) checks, UTG+1 calls, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#666666">
2 folds</font>, MP3 calls, <font color="#666666">
1 fold</font>, Button calls, <font color="#666666">
1 fold</font>, BB calls, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls.
Flop: (13.93 SB) Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(6 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">UTG bets</font>, UTG+1 calls, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, MP3 folds, Button calls, BB calls, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls.
Ok truble here, my scatter-brained thoughts- this raise isn't gonna make anyone fold...I think, and a turn raise isn't gonna do anything if they even bet into me... or will it...*start trying to figure out their pot odds*....beep beep, ah screw it 'Raise'. Prolly not a good thought process but I was trying to take in all of these concepts at once. So anyway is this one of those where I should wait for the turn or is it one that I'm not going to be able to force anyone out of so I should push my edge. This is a very strong hand according to SSH, right? Or do the two big cards and two diamonds reduce its value? Also I checked what the pot would have been if say I just called the flop, and villain or utg+1 bets and I raise the turn everyone is still gonna have about 6-1. So I guess that means I can't really protect my hand, huh? So another point how do I figure that out quickly enough to know what to do? Can you tell my head is spinning over some of this stuff???