Two straight hands

#1 12-03-2005, 11:45 PM

Hello, a couple of hands from my last session.

Hand 1:

The Villain (UTG) is a very loose/aggressive player, playing any hand with a picture card and betting/raising liberally both before and after the flop. MP2 is a player in the same category, albeit somewhat calmer, but still a rather loose one. I have no reads of the rather recent entrants to the table, SB and BB.

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Preflop: Hero is Button with T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG (Villain) calls, 2 folds, MP2 calls, CO calls, Hero calls, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (6 SB) A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Villain bets, MP2 calls, CO calls, Hero calls, SB folds, BB folds.

I got 9-to-1 odds with 5 opponents in the hand for my gutshot draw. However, the K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] would bring three to a flush on the board, so I guess only three of the Kings were good. I wonder if I should have raised here to try to force the two remaining opponents out? Raising would have given them 5,5-to-1 odds, which would still have been enough for a flush draw. The pot was 9 small bets and I had about three outs. Here I just decided to call, and was fortunate that the blinds didn't go for overcalls.

Turn: (5 BB) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (4 players)
Villain bets, MP2 folds, CO calls, Hero calls.

A mixed blessing. I think the CO didn't have a flush here, because he would have raised for sure. Villain on the other hand would have reraised me with most holdings. Most likely I would have called down a reraise, after spending a while thinking about folding.

Here I felt that I had CO beat, and very likely the Villain too. I decided to call and let them bring more money to the pot on the river. Raising here, giving my opponents 9-to-1 odds, would have not protected me against a flush draw.

River: (8 BB) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
Villain bets, CO calls, Hero raises, Villain 3-bets, CO folds, Hero caps, Villain calls.

A fortunate blank. The Villain bet as usual. Evidently my read on CO was correct on the turn; he didn't have a hand and just called. It was then I heard the chime of a cash register inside my head, and promptly raised. At this point I noticed a clear tell on the Villain. He hesitated for a three or four seconds, clearly puzzled of my holding. Then he continued what he could do best, and decided to try to force me out with a reraise. I was only glad to cap.

Final Pot: 17 BB

Results in white below: 
Villain has Kh As (two pair, aces and kings).
Hero has Tc Jh (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins 17 BB.

Another lesson learned about limping with AK preflop from EP.


--

Hand 2:

Here's another hand against the same Villain.

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
UTG (poster) checks, 2 folds, MP1 calls, Hero calls, 3 folds, SB (Villain) completes, BB checks.

Flop: (5 SB) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (5 players)
Villain bets, BB calls, UTG calls, MP1 calls, Hero raises, Villain 3-bets, BB folds, UTG folds, MP1 calls, Hero caps, Villain calls, MP1 calls.

A beautiful flop. The Villain bet out so I put him on a gutshot draw with an Ace-rag. Two-pair or a set could have also been possible, but likely he would have slowplayed them to the turn, even with this board. After he 3-bet, I started to suspect that he had also hit the straight. Having the best hand, I capped, knowing that the Villain would come out betting the turn.

Turn: (9.50 BB) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players)
Villain bets, MP1 folds, Hero raises, Villain 3-bets, Hero caps, Villain calls.

A blankish card. The worst I could do here was to lose to a flush or split the pot with the same straight. I guess there was no other line here than to raise and cap.

River: (17.50 BB) 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Villain bets, Hero raises, Villain 3-bets, Hero caps, Villain calls.

Although the board paired here, I didn't have a reason to put the Villain on full-house or quads. He would likely have folded or started to call down earlier with the evident straight + cap on the flop. He sure was loose and aggressive, but not insane.

Final Pot: 25.50 BB

Results in white below: 
Villain has Ac 2h (straight, five high).
Hero has 7c 6c (straight, seven high).
Outcome: Hero wins 25.50 BB.

milesdyson · #2 12-03-2005, 11:52 PM

hand 1 - raise the turn. forget "protecting." think "raising with the best hand."

hand 2 - fold preflop with an overaggressive player to act behind you.

don't post results. they don't matter.

everything else is fine.

#3 12-04-2005, 12:03 AM

Hand 1: Flop call is okay, having the SB/BB overcall is fine. You're drawing to the nut straight.

Raise the turn. There is no need to 'protect'; your hand isn't vulnerable, and you're not forgoing a small edge in order to exploit a larger one on a later street. You're offering the other players 'infinite' odds by not betting the turn, in addition to letting them get away from a missed draw for free when they miss on the river (i.e. you only have one street to extract from draws).

Hand 2 is standard, although river play is read dependent. The villain can easily have a set/rivered boat here.