Well, we went to our regular Thursday cash game last night. Not a horrible night for me, but it took a while to find myself with anything I'd consider playable hands. The first hour and a half were very slow going for me. Eventually, I picked up a lousy Q2 in the big blind. I was down to around $120 or so and checked my option. I happened to flop 2 pair, made a $10 bet and was eventually able to get the rest in on the river and doubled up. The guys who play there all thought it was hilarious that I won with such an awful hand. (I'd say I'm one of the tighter players.) Ah... breathing room.

Quite a while later, I picked up 88. It was limped around to me, and I followed suit calling the $3. I try to mix up my play, but usually end up limping or calling a raise pre-flop with small or middle pairs. I got lucky this time, flopping a set. It seemed like nearly everyone was in the hand still. It was checked around to me and I bet out $15. Picked up a couple callers. There was a flush draw out there, but the turn was a blank. I bet out again, I think it was $50 and picked up 1 caller. The river was also a blank and it was checked around to me again. Once again (like last week's blunders) I bet – too much – $100. The guy hadn't made his flush, I suppose, and he thought about it for a minute and folded. Of course I realized right away that I had bet him out of the pot. My husband reminded me that I should bet for callers there, when I'm pretty sure I have the hand. (I wish I could remember that when it's going on.)

Throughout the rest of the night, I was still struggling with decent starting hands. Occasionally, I'd pick up a big pocket pair and only manage to win the blinds. One hand I had pocket jacks and raised to $20 picking up 3 callers. The flop was a little raggedy straight draw. It was checked to me and I bet $40, which, afterwards, I thought was a small bet for that pot. I picked up 1 caller. This guy is an aggressive any-two-cards-guy. On the turn, which paired the board, he bet out $80. After the quick call on the flop and knowing the way this guy plays, I thought about it for a minute and layed down my jacks. Looking back, I really don't think he had any part of that board. There, I think I should have raised to really find out where I was in the hand.

The next big hand I was in was when I looked down at AA on the button. There were at least 3 limpers in the pot already. It came around to me and I raised to $20. I got 3 callers. The flop is 5-A-5. Hallelujiah! It was checked around to me and I meekly checked as well. I was thinking that I could make a lot of money in this hand. The turn is a 10. First 2 guys check. Any-two-cards-guy bets out $80. Now, here is the part where I should have smooth called his bet. He was bluffing (and even if he wasn't, I had the nuts!). But, I let my eagerness get the better of me. I raised him the rest of my stack which was around $95 or so. Nearly a min-raise, still... big mistake. Everyone folds immediately. I realize what I've done. Once again, I'm learning a bunch as I play. Now I have to concentrate on applying it correctly. I'm not sure he would have bet again on the river or not, had I just smooth-called his turn bet. He knows I'm a fairly tight player, so he may have checked it to me and who knows, I may have been able to squeeze a little bit more out of him, but I kinda doubt it. Next time I'll be sure to try.

We started playing around 8 pm and ended up leaving around 1:30 am. It was a strange night at the game. Over the course of the evening, 4 different people turned over quads to win their hands. It was insane. I've never seen anything like it. Last week it was the night of $1,000+ pots (none of which involved me and my short stack, unofortunately), this week was crazy card night. But, after all of my ups and downs last night, I ended up $105 ahead. I can't help thinking of what might have happened if I had just smooth-called that turn bet...

EdmondDantes says

BW,

I'm not sure I agree that you're over-betting. In the hand where you hit the set of 8s, you're betting what looks to be 2/3 of the pot at the river. I think that's fine. Remember you're maximizing expected value at the river; a $100 river bet that has a 70% chance of getting called is higher EV than a $50 bet that gets called 100% of the time. Furthermore, if you think he was on a flush draw and missed it at the river, it didn't matter what you bet. He might have just paused before folding to save face. In any event, I wouldn't beat myself up too much.

I hate the fold in the JJ hand. If he turned trips, why would he lead out and scare you off? Seems like he'd check and let you come to him. I see this a lot online and I think it's very transparent--big bet out when the board pairs. I'd have shoved and let him show me the trips.

As for the last hand, I think you can go either way--smooth call or raise. I'm not sure you're getting more money from him either way. Run the hand forward. You can smooth call his turn bet, but is he really going to value bet/call the river with just a T when you've called with two 5s and an A showing? With your pre-flop raise and that board, you're not on a draw, obviously. Your hope is that he called you pre-flop with a 5 and it'll all get it in with your raise. It didn't happen. Oh well. My point is, don't be afraid to play your big hands aggressively. You make your most money not by slow-playing but when someone else has a monster that's a bit smaller than the one you hold and it all gets in.

Just my thoughts,

Edmond

05/11/07

Anonymous says

I don't think your raise on the turn with the AA/boat hand was bad. You most likely aren't getting more out of that pot anyway, unless the guy is very loose and isn't paying attention. The JJ fold seemed a bit weak given your read. Also, I agree that you probably needed to bet less on the river when you had the set of 8's.

Two points. 1) try to pay more attention to what is going on. I'm assuming you are writing this blog pretty soon after you played but you often don't appear to recall how many people were in the pot, how your bets were in relationship to the pot size, etc. Good players pay attention and recall these things. Try to really focus on the # of players in the pot before you, how big your bets are in relationship to the pot size, etc. 2) try to loosen up a bit, or more to the point, try to make it appear that you are loosening up more. I seems that you have a very tight rep in this game, therefore your bets often don't get the action you are looking for. Your opponents need to 'think' that you're capable of bluffing from time to time and that you will raise with less than monster hands. So don't be afraid to bluff when you miss the flop or miss you draw on a later street. If you get caught think of it as 'advertising' and it will more than likely help you get paid off down the road. Also, mix it up with hands like 89s -- for example if there are several limpers in front of you and you look down at a hand like 89s try to raise. Then if you miss and it's checked to you, fire away. It seems that your big pairs are not getting enough action. If you want action, you need to give action. Good luck and keep us posted.

05/12/07

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