i am embarrassed

[flopdanutz]

I played poorly today at a
Short handed UB table.
I lost about $40 from playing a bit too tight and an additional $40 tilting
Also earlier I won about %3 of my hands. I got drawn out on by the river. AQ (me flopping a pair) vs JJ for one hand and top pair vs gutshot+overcards draw that made it on the river.

hand 1: $2-4 table
I am sb, fairly loose passive player open raises at cutoff
I out him on a group 1 or 2 hand because he usually just open limps even in late position. I am in SB with AQs and flat call his raise, BB folds(we are heads up now). I think that if he has JJ I can flop him and make a nice profit. The flop comes KQ5 rainbow. I check call. The turn comes a blank. I check call. river comes a Jack. I cringe and realize that any group 1 hand now has me beat. I check call in case he is trying to make a move.
I now realize that I should have bet or check riased him on fthe flop or turn to see where I am at but I am sure he would not fold JJ or any hand he hit (I have been watching his play very carefully and he is a calling station) How do u rate my play on all streets?

Hand 2: same table.
I am BB with 84o. UTG open limps. there is one other caller besides SB. Flop comes eight high, 872 rainbow. SB checks, I bet I UTG calls, everyone else folds. I a, hoping he does not have an overpair/set/bigger kicker.
turn comes another 7. I bet and willing to fold to a raise if I think he has trips. he calls, I think to myself that is not good. river comes a ten (suit does not matter). I fear that he was chasing overcards ( i am just playing with fear that hand). I check, he bets I call.
He turns over J9o argg.
(play on all streets?)


Another play a few days ago $2-4 online
UTG raise with AdAc get multiple caller, one from a calling station, two from middle postion and the blinds. (yess!)
Flop comes Ten high all hearts (ACK!) (ACK!) (ACK!) checked to me, I bet and get two callers (ACK!) (ACK!)
turn comes Ace of hearts! (hmmm!?!?!)
I check, loose prelop caller #1 bets, loose preflop caller #2 folds, I call hoping to pair the board on the river!
river...blank, I check call
Losee preflop has JKo (jack of hearts for his flush) I muck my aces.
(Play on all streets?)

[flopdanutz]

btw the posted hands are at a full ring 10 handed table.

the shorthanded table hands are the ones I do not even want to touch because I was half asleep and I know that I did not have the best of it and should have left even though I was down. (where is my discipline)? I lost $150 today/yesterday that took me a lot of good hands to build up to! I WANT TO KICK MY SELF IN THE GROIN.

[huzitup2]

Hi there, FDN - how goes it ?

I never managed to master the art of being concise so I'll get to these hands in separate replies; I hate it when my fingers get all numb :-).

Hand #1 -

I would 3-bet pre-flop 99.9% of the time for several reasons; you would like to get the BB out rather than have him [correctly] call with a hand like T-9/off or the like.

Also, if your opponent's raising requirements are "group I or II" hands, you are favored over many of them (it might even be MOST of them - I've been up all night, I'll let you count up which hands you are ahead of and which you are behind) and the ones that are better than yours leave you only a slight underdog - JJ and TT.

Tack on the small advantage (although you did say he was a calling station) that you gain by raising and having the flop come down, K-rag-rag.

Unless he NEVER throws away a hand, a flop like this should get him to release QQ, JJ, TT and AJ/suited - either immediately or on the turn (assuming he doesn't turn a "miracle").

In general, when facing a raise from a late position player - even a "real" raise - if you are in the SB and your hand is worth a call, it's worth a raise.

On the flop I would bet out and (I hope I don't get slammed here) probably fold to a raise; there isn't a single hand in groups I or II that you can beat if he raises. You said he was a CALLING station, not a RAISING station.

If he calls on the flop, I play the turn the same way; even if semi-bluff raises with draws are part of his arsenal it's much more likely that he has a real hand given THIS flop. If you call his raise you are pretty much commited to calling again on the river - and there is not a card in the deck that offers you tremendous improvement; in other words it costs you two bets to "keep him honest" and the pot is not large enough to make this a worthwhile proposition.

Even a Queen only makes your hand a little better - you can now beat AA and AK, but don't expect to get more than one bet out of him even if you hit your 22-1 shot; an Ace doesn't help you a bit.

I'm assuming you can see why an Ace is useless.

If you bet both the flop and turn and were called but not raised you are PROBABLY better off betting the river if he is a GENUINE calling station; he will call you with alot of hands that you can beat that he would not bet if you checked. (This play is RIGHT out of the book).

However, once again you can't beat him if he raises; he either waited 'till the river to raise what was a big hand from the start or (DOH) he did spike a Jack.

I don't advocate betting and folding to raises in heads-up pots as normal procedure; if you're seen doing it enough you will become the target of every bluff imaginable, but this is a special case. Because you are "certain" as to his pre-flop raising requirements, any post-flop raise with this board tells you that you are beat - no questions asked.

Others may disagree with some, most or even all of what I've said, but IMO this is actually an easy hand to play against an opponent who is this predictable.

I hope I was able to be of some help; I will get to hands 2 and 3 shortly.

Best wishes,

- Chris

[huzitup2]

Hand #2 -

Bet the flop, be inclined to call a raise if it's from the limper but I'd usually (make that almost always) fold if I get check-raised by the SB. I would DEFINITELY fold if the limper called and the SB [check] raised.

When middle pair gets "promoted" on the turn it's hard to say what to do; I'd have to know more about the player who called the flop but betting out and folding to a raise is reasonable, however, checking and folding to a bet is probably better; the pot is small enough that you don't need to be the sherriff here. As with hand #1, although there is a reasonable chance that you are ahead - and a free card is dangerous - it allows your opponent to draw to his overcards without paying for the priveledge, plus it makes you very vulnerable on the river, checking is IMO the better choice. If you check the turn you are vulnerable on the river to being bluffed and you are simultaneously at risk of having to pay off a better hand. In other words you relinquish control of the hand - this is seldom ever a good thing.

Since you did not get raised on the turn, I think you played the river the only way it can be played.

Your hand is too good to bet as a bluff and too weak to bet for value.

What hand could he call with and lose if you bet the river for value ?

What better hand could he POSSIBLY fold if you bet the river as a bluff ?

Checking and calling here is also right out of the book; your hand is a bluff catcher, and not a very good one at that.

Still, since you DID get this far, you [almost] have to call when he bets; this pot is big enough to try to snap off a bluff - I'm just not sure what hand(s) your opponent could have called with twice and is now trying to bluff with.

There are a few players out there who might try this with BAD overcards - KQ, KJ, etc. - but there aren't many

Bottom line: I think you played every round of this hand reasonably. Any mistakes made were small - you got drawn out on by a player who should absolutely not have called the turn and who made a questionable call on the flop.

Tough break - better luck in the future,

- Chris

[huzitup2]

The second paragraph was stated in a somewhat convoluted way.

I advocate checking and folding to a bet over betting and folding to a raise.

I was trying to point out the disadvantages of checking, in spite of the fact that I DO believe checking is the better play.

What to do on the turn is a fairly close decision; I was merely trying to point out that if you DO check, you are essentially saying, "I'm no longer interested in contesting this pot".

If you check to a lucid opponent on both the turn and river you have a predicament if HE bets the river - almost any card that comes is going to make it hard for you to call a bet - this is the only downside to checking the turn.

Still I think it is the better of the two choices.

I can't imagine anyone advising you to check and call; I'd love to hear the reasoning behind that choice.

IMO, THAT would be the worst of your options - by far !

- Chris

P.S. Allow me to ammend that; betting and CALLING a raise would be the WORST choice you could make - but you already said you were planning to fold on the turn if raised.

[huzitup2]

Hand #3 -

Was the flop T-9-8 of hearts or T-6-2 of hearts ?

If it was the more like the former I MIGHT not even bet; there are WAY too many cards that can come off on the turn to beat you if you are not already behind, and someone is almost sure to bet for you. Check, and if it's bet and called, call; if it's checked and bet you could consider raising and shutting out the player in the middle, but chances are that if he has any piece he'll call while if he missed completely he'll fold for just the one bet.

If it's bet and raised, fold.

*

BET THE TURN when the Ah comes.

You can't possibly be raised by more than one of them and if you do get raised you can lay your hand down if the board doesn't pair on the river without any worry that you were bluffed.

It's also a [small but existent] possibility that there is no heart out there, or that neither of your opponents has one that is large enough that they are going to want to call twice.

* From their perspective, if you bet the turn you are probably going to bet the river.

Again, I don't know whether in addition to the 3-flush the board was straight-coordinated as well.

If it was, and someone did have a small heart that was also part of a straight draw (or for that matter, a flopped straight with NO heart) he MIGHT lay it down for the reason mentioned above (having to call twice).

You had 10 outs if one of them did have a flush (or straight) and called; you had 40+ outs if neither of them did.

I'm aware that you referred to both callers as loose, but NOBODY is going to call with a straight DRAW with 4 hearts on board; they will, however, take a free card and if they hit their straight you blew a nice sized pot.

As the hours go by I grow more and more tired - if I missed something that should be obvious I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me - but this seems like an automatic bet.

If you do bet the turn and get called, you are beat; check the river and fold.

If I had only $1 in front of me I doubt I'd use it to call a bet on the river after you bet the turn and now check.

2/4 players - even the good ones (and there are a few out there) are not going to call the turn without a flush or a lower set, and they're not going to bet a set on the river with 4 to a suit on board.

Better luck - sorry the board din't pair :-),

- Chris