I sat down w/ a few buddies at the Horseshoe in Shreveport this Good Friday. Here’s a brief hand recap for this 13 hour session. I got down early and borrowed a bill from my buddy after dropping 1.5 buyins, I was able to recover but at the expense of a lot of time. I got some good fortune by hitting a promotion by the card room that put me up to even.

Early on (around 10am) the table was very LP, but past 5pm the table turned very LAG, even to the point of being maniacal. I should have changed tables, but didn’t realize this until I was almost ready to go.
All opinions are welcome because I really want to improve my game. This will be more hand overviews and not very math intensive, so I apologize in advance for the lack of detail. Please think in terms of macro-game, Shania and playing style and let me have it!

1. Sat down and limped w/ 22, flopped a set and was immediately up by ~$100

2. Limp-called w/ 99 in MP. The flop came A-10-9. My cousin led out for 7/8’s of the pot from the blinds, I called trying to keep the pfr in. PFR folds. Turn is another 10 and my cousin leads for 2/3 of the pot, I call once again trying to just keep the pot small. The river is a total blank, and I lead for the ¼ of the pot in an attempt to keep it as small as possible. He turns over A-10 and rakes a big pot. Coincidentally, this 9s full won the $200 for me that I wrote about above, which is part of the reason why I stayed w/ the hand.

3. I limped w/ 6c-9c. The flop was A-K-x 2 suited in clubs, the middle aged man to my left bet $10 (pot but still a small lead bet) after being checked to. A Hispanic man (who I had seen at the 2/5 NL table 2 weeks prior) smooth calls and I call. The turn is another club, the Hispanic man leads out for $15 and I raise it to $45 in an attempt to build the pot. The middle-aged man smooth calls (alarm bells go off here) and the Hispanic man calls as well. The river is a dud and the Hispanic man and I both check hoping for a cheap showdown. The middle aged man bets out $97 and is all in, the Hispanic man calls and after much deliberation I call as well hoping that my flush is goot. The middle aged man shows the nuts and the Hispanic man shows the flopped str8. [Spewing, I know]

4. The seat opens to the left of the middle-aged man and I jump in it as he has won several big hands and has run up to almost $1k. I have 6d-5d and limp from MP behind at least 2 limpers. The flop comes 5 or 6 handed w/ the 3-4-7, 2 suited in clubs (again). The middle-aged man leads out for $15, which I recognize as a semi-bluff from the hand above. I raise him to $45, which is about a 2/3’s of the pot raise. We’re heads up and the turn brings the 3rd club. He checks to me and I don’t take the bait and just check-behind. The river is a dud, and he bets out a smallish $15 which I have to call just in case. He, of course, shows the flush.

5. I complete from the SB w/ 9-9, the flop hits low and I win a decent pot on a low flop and turn. The river is a K and goes ck-ck.

6. I have a long streak of unplayable cards, then hit a wave of cards. Not sure of the order of this hand and hand 7, but they came relatively close together and influenced my table image and preflop action. I had been making a standard raise to $11 and getting some respect, winning some and losing some. I’m dealt A-A in LP and make my standard raise, 3 callers (including a calling station who I’ll refer to as the lady and a LAG who I’ll call the old man.) The flop hits a very safe rainbow 9 high. The lady makes her standard weak lead bet of $10 and I elect to smooth call on such a nice board trying to keep some bad players in the pot. The old man and the Hispanic man both call, BONUS! The turn is another weak card and I raise the ladies $15 turn bet to $45 and take the pot down uncontested.

7. I having raised the 2 hands prior to this one, I elect to keep up my momentum w/ Q-Jo and make my standard raise again, 3 callers. The flop comes Q-10-9 rainbow, I’m checked to and make a pretty standard $25 CB. 2 folds and an old fishy man pushes in on me. I don’t sense much strength from him and I flopped a big draw plus my TPGK. I insta-call his $35 AI and he shows 2nd pair with a mutter that he thought I was just pushing.

8. I have JJ in the SB, and just complete the bet vs a table full of limpers. I don’t like JJ in this spot against a large field of calling stations unless I flop a set or get a really good flop. The flop comes K-10-4 and I ck’d blind. It checks to the lady 2 places to my right who makes her standard weak lead of $10. I put her on a pair of 10s and just call incase someone behind me is trapping. Everyone folds. The turn is a blank, and I check to her knowing she will bet out weaker than I would bet into her whether she has a big hand or a weak hand. She bets out $20 and I just call again. The river is another dud, and I give her the rope again, but she surprises me and makes a very big bet. She doesn’t do this much w/o a big hand so I go into an info gathering routine of counting out her bet plus a hefty raise. She doesn’t give her “crap I missed my hand and he’s gonna bet tell” of holding her cards in a folding fashion which I have seen her do several times, so I put her on a stronger hand. I ask her some questions and she answers strong so I fold my JJ face up and she shows K4 for top and bottom pair.

9. Raise pf w/ KQs and get 2 calls from some young guys who have just sat down. I take it down on a whiffed flop w/ a standard CB. About this time the table dynamic has changed with the addition of a drunk and a maniac.

10. I raise pf w/ QQ and get called by the drunk who I bluffed out in the hand above and the lady. The flop comes K high and they check to me. I make a standard CB and the drunk comes over the top of me and shows K-2 when I fold.

11. Standard raise of $16 w/ AQ from ML position. The old man on the button is the only player to call me to see this flop (I really wish that drunk guy or the maniac would have been in on this pot). The flop falls QQ6 and I know that I have a hand that won’t get much action unless my opponent catches up. So I give a little act and ck-ck, the flop and ck-ck the turn. The river brings a beautiful 6 which looks like a great bluffing card. So I grab $100 in $25 chips and fling them out into the pot like I am buying it. The old man unbelievably calls the $100 bet into the $32 pot. He shows a 6 for a smaller boat. (I didn’t bet those $25 chips all day long either, I always used $5 chips when making bets. I still can’t believe that guy called here!)

12. I raised w/ KJs from LP after several limpers. A fish in the SB reraises AI for $17 more and gets 3 callers. He had shown K-6s earlier when he reraised AI but got his money back due to a dealer error {dealer mucked his cards}. So I elected to call with huge odds despite my holding. Missed the flop completely and dumped my trap hand.

13. I had KK in MP, raised to $15 after some limpers, 2 callers. The flop comes A high, the drunk cks, I bet $25 and the old man raises all in for $37 more. The drunk folds and I fold my Kings face up. He shows A-2.

14. It’s a limped pot and I call w/ J9s from the cutoff. The flop hits 9-3-4, 2 suited with hearts. The drunk bets $20 and the maniac calls. I don’t figure them for much and feel that a raise will take the pot down, so I make it $50 to go (a bit small I know). They both call. The turn brings another heart and they come out swinging, I of course, fold. The drunk shows a pair of 3s on the hand but is trumped by the maniac’s 4s. Not sets, pairs…

15. I called a small pre-flop raise w/ 77 and flopped a set w/ the 6-7-10 board. The lady makes it her standard $10 on the flop, the maniac calls and I make it $50 to go, they both call. The turn is a horrid 8 and the lady goes all in for $65 total and the maniac just calls. I’m tired and on tilt at this point and decide that I’m getting enough odds to call for full house odds. The river is a worthless K and I make a huge error of thinking the hand went ck-ck and show my set of 7s. The maniac mucks his hand and the lady shows 10-6 for 2 pair. I don’t feel that this hand was played well, but it had a good result.

16. Finally, I feel that my biggest leaks for the day were set-mining, calling pfr’s w/ AQ and AJ hands. It’s not so bad when the A is suited, but these are leaks otherwise.

17. I raised w/ AK off and got reraised, but still elected to call w/ plenty of pf callers and the size of the reraise wasn’t huge. The flop missed and I had to dump Anna.

All criticism is welcome, please comment on aggression and plays. This is a $1/2 game, so I don’t focus as much on the math since the other players don’t have any idea what a shut out bet is anyway. Mostly it’s reading players and showing down the best hand. I recognize now that all of my reraises were quite small. That is probably an area to improve in.

Thanks in advance,
Landlord79

EdmondDantes says

Nice report. Thanks for posting. Thought I'd offer some thoughts on the hands. Overall, I think you can step up your aggressive both in your pre-flop play from the blinds (see hand #8 below) and your betting in this game. Here's some thought...just one man's opinion...

Hand #1. I like it as played!

#2: You flopped a set and turned a boat. Unless you've got history with your cousin hammering a two pair flop in the face of a pre-flop raiser, I wouldn't necessarily think I'm beat when the turn hits and probably end up stacking off. Sure he could have AT or T9 (T9 less likely because you have the case nines) but I'd be thinking AJ or AQ. Your cousin did you a favor not re-raising your river bet with the second nuts, because you never have aces full here. You lost the minimum you could lose here.

#3: I might try a blocking bet here, but with the pot and stack amounts where they are, it's probably not that effective. Depending on what club came on the turn and your experience with him, you might narrow his range and possibly pitch the hand, but it's a flush, and in a $1/2 NL game live that's not that deep, a flush is a good hand. Therein lies the peril, though, with the suited connectors. You can and do run into higher flushes, and that get expensive.

#4: You lost the minimum again based on a good read. Congrats.

#6: I hate the flop call with 4 people in the pot, one of whom is a calling station and the other a LAG. Calling a $15 bet into a $45 pot? You're pretty much begging them to outdraw you. I raise that flop bet hoping the calling station comes along with a piece of it and then work the turn. Three things can happen on the turn...1) someone catches something big enough to play, 2) someone outdraws you (catches some random two pair or set on the turn) or 3) a card comes that kills your action. I like a nice raise on the flop and hope someone caught top pair and rolls with me. Again, you have 3 other players in here and you have a good, but vulnerable hand (you're likely not improving from here). Assume that someone got a piece of it and bet harder.

#7: I like it as played.

#8: I think you need to raise JJ pre-flop. I hate JJ out of position, but I hate it even more with multiple players. You have the 4th best starting hand but one which HATES multi-way action. "Table full of limpers" says about a $10-12 pot. I make it $20 to go, ruin any set or drawing hand and hope to see one caller. I continue bet any flop with a 2/3 pot bet and re-evaluate the turn, if called. As played, it's a easy fold.

#9: Standard.

#10: Ditto. And I'm high-fiving myself that there's a guy at the table who's proudly showing his inclination to play K2 to a raise.

#11: I toss out a smallish bet on that flop and, if called, check the turn to feign weakness. You probably got max value as played, but if I'm villain here your flop check looks suspicious to me. You've been raising and continuing, but now you're scared all of a sudden? A weakish bet looks like another pair or AK-AJ. The check, to me, looks like AQ, KQ, i.e. you nailed it and don't want to scare me off.

#12: I'm ok with it. Given the pre-flop limping, I don't see someone (other than the pusher) showing AK, AJ or KQ here. More likely hands like Ax suited, QJ and small to medium pairs. That's not a horrible range for you and you have position.

#13: Good fold. Quit showing, though! By folding, you said "I'm behind. I don't have an ace." That's enough, IMO.

#14: Your raise on the flop gives them odds to call if they're chasing a flush. I like a nice $60-70 bet here or, if that leaves you with less than $50 behind, a shove. You've got a drunk and a maniac showing real interest (the $20 bet is an overbet here, yes?) in a limped pot with a draw heavy board. Bring it!

#15: The turn's a bummer but I call here and am thrilled not to see 69 (a favorite of a lot of players), 97, 89 or T9.

#16: Agree with you that AQ and AJ can be a money loser to a pre-flop raise. I'm careful opening or calling with AJ from anywhere. AQ, less so, because plenty of guys open with any Ax hand, AT, AJ, etc. like it's an EV+ move. That said, there's a reason why Brunson hates the AQ. Careful.

#17: Raise with AK...with multiple callers...and then reraised? Depending on how deep we are, I re-raise and narrow it down to the initial re-raiser hoping to see QQ-JJ with dead money from the other players. AA's a bummer, but we've got one in our hand with other callers (maybe an A in there somewhere). If he shows KK, ugh...but I'm still 30/70 with dead money. It's an aggressive play but remember Anna won plenty of matches but only a few titles. Against all but the top players one-on-one she had a decent shot; against the field though, it was a different story.

Edmond

04/14/07

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