Early on: my best and worst starting hands - Page 4

naphand · #31 07-27-2004, 09:48 AM

Terrible PF play. You have 30BB. WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THIS CRAP?

naphand · #32 07-27-2004, 09:49 AM

So K6s is a good hand to play from MP? Since when?

naphand · #33 07-27-2004, 10:00 AM

From the BB, and facing a 2BB possible steal-raise and 1 caller, this is just about playable. But you have to hit the flop hard to keep on (at least a pair plus other kind of draw).

You catch part of the flop, I like the raise to SB as this helps test Button, who bullet folds his overcards/steal-trash.

Turn Q is tricky, I think the Turn bet is OK, SB could be on a draw (some kind of straight). Chances are SB has hit the board in some way, you need to estimate how likely he is to fold here and bet accordingly. He probably does not think you have a Q. A half-pot-sized bet is enough to make an OESD correctly fold here; 3:1 on a 5:1 draw. He calls and either misses or is not folding his pair, so River check behind fine.

Bet here and check behind on the River, or check behind and call a small bet on the River.

I think a bet representing the straight in the River would not work, as it is clearly not an OESD-completing card.

I think you played this OK. SB's flop call was just terrible.

naphand · #34 07-27-2004, 10:00 AM

Now you are raising with trash? What are you playing here - first out wins?

naphand · #35 07-27-2004, 10:09 AM

You have the chip lead. Dump this trash, you can afford to be very selective.

Gad - you flop a flush. The small bet is OK, you want some callers, and it disguises your flush, look like the A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] or even a set playing scared.

Turn is very good for you, but you need to bet the pot here to reap the reward of your flop action and make any call by the A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] or a set incorrect. T55 is not enough.

River bet just terrible. The one suit you did not want to see, and NOW you heave in the chips. Who plays you here except the A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]? and it will be for an all-in raise. I think you have to bet here, to avoid an obvious bluff, but too much and too late.

naphand · #36 07-27-2004, 10:20 AM

I think you can still fold this PF, but you are getting low and this could be as good a chance you will see. I presume you dropped to 5 BB as a consequence of a lost hand previously, you need to be making a move sooner than 5 BB if you have the chance.

This is not a disaster hand to play, the limp is almost certainly wrong but not much choice, well 2 choices - push or limp. The limp is forgiveable, especially as you got away with it.

You get a great draw on the flop, esp. as the A gives you the nuts. You are better than 2:1 here most of the time (except for the times you are against K plus Q/J/T or any 9. Take your chance to go all-in? It is tempting but you are only going to double your stack at best, on a draw where you are 2:1. You might be better pushing in PF with a lot of hands that will offer you odds of at least this much. Any pair plus a draw, easy push. Given your stack, I think the push is OK, you were unlucky to be against one of the few hands that beats you with a K falling.

I think given the limited opponents I would be looking to triple up, and would rather push PF with anything reasonable. You do have enough chips to see off a a few more blinds yet.

naphand · #37 07-27-2004, 10:23 AM

Given your PF limp, you hope to take this pot down for a min bet on an A high flop. Come on....

Stop playing this trash from here, you have no problems chip-wise, no reason at all to play this PF, or any further past the flop, except if it gives you a free card to draw.

Your bet is fooling no-one, and yet you call the raise. This deserves nothing less than a jolt with the 5000V cattle prod I keep for such occasions.....zzzapppp!! [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? ARE YOU THINKING ANYTHING MORE THAN "Well it's suited, I might flop a flush and win a big hand!"
Everything about your play in these hands suggests you need to do some serious homework on your PF selection, your odds calculations, and your gameplay in general.

Texas Pete · #38 07-27-2004, 09:25 PM

So far I have seen that if I take my worst hands in terms of BB/hand lost, and go back and look at the individual hands, I find instances of terrible poker playing. Honestly in looking back at what I've posted so far, it's very, very embarrasing. It's sort of like being shown pictures of yourself the night before with a martini in one hand, wearing a lampshade for a hat, kissing a 350 pound woman wearing a tutu.

Anyhow, tonight I will look at KJo, AQo, KJo, JTo, J9o, and J8o, which have all showed up in my "hall of shame" for the early rounds (Top 10 t$ lost in BB/hand).

Texas Pete · #39 07-27-2004, 09:47 PM

You can fault me for playing the flop aggressively when UTG+1 raised preflop, possibly with AK, or KQ. Also a smaller bet (say betting the pot) would have taken care of the draws without risking my whole stack. But he was wrong to call and this ended up being a bad beat IMO. In any case, i'm interested to hear what people think about flop bets here.

Paradise Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t5 (10 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 (t970.00)
MP3 (t970.00)
CO (t1055.00)
Button (t1025.00)
Hero (t1010.00)
BB (t895.00)
UTG (t900.00)
UTG+1 (t1000.00)
UTG+2 (t890.00)
MP1 (t1285.00)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. Hero posts a blind of t5.
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to t40, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls t40, MP2 calls t40, MP3 calls t40, CO calls t40, Button folds, Hero (poster) calls t35, BB folds.

Flop: (t250) 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (6 players)
Hero bets t970, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 calls t930, (All-In) folds.

Turn: (t2150) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players)

River: (t2150) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)

Final Pot: t2150
Main Pot: t2150 (t2150), between MP3, CO and Hero. > Pot won by MP3 (t2150).

Results in white below: 
Hero shows Kc Js (one pair, kings).
MP3 shows Td Ad (straight, ten high).
CO doesn't show.
Outcome: MP3 wins t2150.

Texas Pete · #40 07-27-2004, 09:56 PM

I think semi-bluff check raises are good early on.

Paradise Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t5 (10 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

Button (t1465.00)
SB (t1032.50)
Hero (t990.00)
UTG (t1000.00)
UTG+1 (t990.00)
UTG+2 (t990.00)
MP1 (t1042.50)
MP2 (t515.00)
MP3 (t995.00)
CO (t980.00)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of t5.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls t10, MP1 folds, MP2 calls t10, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB (poster) completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t40) Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t30, UTG+2 folds, MP2 calls t30, SB folds.

Turn: (t100) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t40, Hero raises to t80, MP2 calls t40.

River: (t260) 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.

Final Pot: t260
Main Pot: t260 (t260), between Hero and MP2. > Pot won by MP2 (t260).

Results in white below: 
Hero shows Js Kc (high card, king).
MP2 shows Qs Jd (one pair, queens).
Outcome: MP2 wins t260.