Brack is Beautiful (Part 22)

Wow, way too long since our last post. Some random stuff since last post:

1) Went to visit Russia with the gf, was pretty sweet.

2) Been doing a lot of work/research, not that much poker playing...trying to load up for the job market, which starts in the fall, and I hope will not end with me being unemployed.

3) What poker I have been playing has been of the Rush variety.

Anyway, what better way to break a long dry spell than to remind ourselves of the power of SPADES????

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/735772

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $65.00

BTN: $151.20

SB: $79.90

BB: $14.50

UTG: $150.75

UTG+1: $53.80

UTG+2: $65.40

MP1: $56.05

MP2: $58.05

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Ks 4s

5 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold (Pretty standard open for me unless the button is just a total 3b monkey)

Flop: ($3.50) 7c 3s 9s (2 players)

SB checks, Hero checks (Not my standard play, but I do include it, since 1) I will get check-raised a fair amount on this frop, and I don't want to get it in this deep with 2nfd 2) if I check here and make a frush later, I should get some good value for it, whereas if I bet here, get a call, and make a frush later, I might not get as much 3) I have the best hand at least some of the time, and most of the better hands are not folding to a c-bet, so I'll probably have to barrel the turn too to get him to fold any pair or a decent A-high...which I'm not averse to doing at all 4) protects me in other hands when I want to check down AQ or 44 or something and the board gets gross later, means that he can't blow me off my hands with marginal showdown value quite as profitably)

Turn: ($3.50) 5s (2 players) (I forgot to mention the other reason...spades get there EVERY TIME)

SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, (Great spot for me to bet, because I apparently rep so little after having checked the flop, it looks like I'm just stabbing, which I would do quite a bit with any random spade or six or something. Also it's a board that's supposed to hit a pre-flop caller, so he might think he can raise and try to represent sets/2prs/pair+sd, flush himself since he'd be much more likely to check the frop with a fd than I would)

SB raises to $6.50, Hero raises to $13.50, SB calls $7 (I get the raise out of him, and I decide to go ahead and 3b, and not that big. I could have made it a little more, but again, if I were bluffing, I'd make it pretty small too, both to lay myself a good price at getting him to fold complete air, and also because I wouldn't want to put him in a fold or shove situation with a bare As or 67 of 66 with a spade or something. I'd rather get him to call and then check/fold the river.)

River: ($30.50) 6d (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $34.50, SB folds (At this point, he either has a naked As, or something with some pretty decent showdown value, like 2pr+, maybe a straight. Also this card looks scary, like the kind that I might bluff, but not very credibly, if I had 3b the turn with an As. I say not very credibly because the reason it's scary is that it completes a bunch of straights, but I think he might think that I wouldn't overbet a bare 8, or certainly not a bare 4, for value here with the flush and higher straights possible. So I was hoping he'd think I have air or flush, and a flush not very often after I checked frop, and make a call with a worse hand. Brackchips said I should have bet less, but whatever, that's my reasoning. Anyway he folded after some contemplation, so I guess we'll never know.)

Final Pot: $30.50

Hero wins $29.00

(Rake: $1.50)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 21)

Can't really claim I played this hand particularly well, just counted on the power of spades to get me through it:

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/316714

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $100.15

MP2: $101.50

CO: $100.00

BTN: $109.95

SB: $79.00

BB: $112.00

UTG: $197.00

Hero (UTG+1): $166.85

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with As Ts

1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, MP1 calls $3.50, MP2 calls $3.50, 1 fold, BTN calls $3.50, 1 fold, BB calls $2.50 (A little bit of a loose open for sure, but it's spades...)

Flop: ($18.00) 8s 2h 4s (5 players)

BB checks, Hero bets $13, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, BTN folds, BB raises to $46, Hero raises to $163.35 all in, BB calls $62.50 all in (5-way pot not exactly what I was looking for, but I manage to frop the nut frush draw and bet into the field. Maybe a check here is better with so many people involved. I get a free card pretty often, can sometimes check/raise to take it down while winning more dead money, etc....anyway, this time I bet, got raised, and shoved it in. When the BB raises, he definitely has a set a huge % of the time, but I thought he'd have worse draws often enough for me to get it in. Lower spades, maybe the occasional 6h5h or 5h3h, I think he'd play those similarly. If I had a lower spade draw like JsTs or something I'd be instafolding...anyway he did indeed have bottom set, but the river gave me the inevitable flush.)

Turn: ($235.00) Td (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($235.00) Ks (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $235.00

BB shows 2d 2c (three of a kind, Twos)

Hero shows As Ts (a flush, Ace high)

Hero wins $232.00

(Rake: $3.00)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 20)

Hand played against a very aggro re-raiser from the brinds:

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/310307

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $224.45

MP: $110.75

Hero (CO): $100.00

BTN: $90.00

SB: $104.00

BB: $95.25

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with 4s As

2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 1 fold, SB raises to $9, 1 fold, Hero calls $5.50 (Spades, so obviousry I'm seeing a frop...in addition, this player was re-raising from the brinds quite a bit, so I kinda wanted to see a frop in position. 4b-ing is an option too, but getting 5b bruffed is def a possibility, and I trust my ability to make good decisions post-frop.)

Flop: ($19.00) 3h 2d 5s (2 players)

SB bets $10, Hero raises to $27, SB raises to $95 all in, Hero calls $64 all in (Also, spades pretty much guaranteed to frop at REAST the second nuts. I think his bet/3b is pretty spewy. This is one of the crappier boards to c-bet, and there's not much that I would be raise/folding on this board. Maybe he thinks that I will raise/fold AT or 66 or something I don't know. More likely he's just aware that he has re-raised a bunch from the blinds, and therefore thinks that I am going to be fighting back on any frop, and therefore has just decided he's never folding. It's good to be aware of those dynamics, but you still have to look at your hand and the board and do a little thinking. If this frop were 6h2s2d, then I think his play would be a lot better.)

Turn: ($201.00) 8h (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($201.00) Td (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $201.00

Hero shows 4s As (a straight, Five high)

SB shows Kc Qh (King Queen high)

Hero wins $198.00

(Rake: $3.00)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 19), ATM FTW!

True HH, Bruechips was actually railing me at the time...no commentary/analysis necessary, this one plays itself out.

Full Tilt Poker $3/$6 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/252376

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $600.00

UTG+1: $652.00

MP: $1544.60

CO: $93.00

BTN: $1008.00

SB: $2330.15

Hero (BB): $858.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero is BB with Ts Ks

2 folds, MP raises to $24, 3 folds, Hero calls $18

Flop: ($51.00) 2s 9s Qh (2 players)

Hero checks, MP bets $24, Hero calls $24

Turn: ($99.00) 8s (2 players)

Hero checks, MP bets $99, Hero raises to $330, MP calls $231

River: ($759.00) 7s (2 players)

Hero bets $480 all in, MP calls $480

Final Pot: $1719.00

MP mucks Jh 7c

Hero shows Ts Ks (a flush, King high)

Hero wins $1716.00

(Rake: $3.00)

-BRACKCHIPS

BTW, how often is it that you frop no pair and have your virrain drawing that thin, even though he shares no cards with you? 93% equity on the frop with K-high vs. J-high ROR.

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 18)

Well, now that High Stakes Poker is over, it'll be back to your reguarly scheduled programming here at spritpot. And by that, of course I mean MORE SPADES. Let's get to the action:

CO: $42.60

Hero (BTN): $105.65

SB: $11.15

BB: $29.65

UTG: $16.55

MP: $40.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Js Ts

2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold (I had just stacked the big donkey at the table, and was going to sit out when the brinds next got to me, since there wasn't any other deep stacked donkey sitting. In any case, I didn't have much info on this guy raising in the cutoff. I decided to just call instead of 3b, happy to take a frop in position with the nut suit. I'd def 3b sometimes though.)

Flop: ($5.75) Kd Qs 3s (3 players)

SB bets $7, CO calls $7, Hero calls $7 (Amazing frop. Got the OESD and the frush draw. Given that my draw is to spades, I carcurate that my equity is ~99%. If the SB checks and the CO c-bets, I probably raise and get it in, but instead the SB, who is short, leads with an overbet, leaving himself $2.40 in his stack...if you can't tell, that guy wasn't too bright. Anyway, in this situation, there's really no point in raising. I'm going to have to showdown against the SB, and J-high isn't likely to ever be any good. Moreover, I'm going to have odds to call anything on the turn no matter what card it is, so it's not like calling instead of raising will prevent me from seeing the river. But the turn could brick and the CO could check, giving me a free river card, which would be tasty. So as ghey as it may seem with a monster draw, the correct play here is to suppress your button-mashing instincts and just call the $7.) 

Turn: ($26.75) Ad (3 players)

SB bets $2.40 all in, CO raises to $33.85 all in, Hero calls $33.85 (Bink!!! Turn the nuts and I've to two players shoving in front of me...hmm...I think I call...)

River: ($96.85) Jc (3 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $96.85

CO shows Qh Ah (two pair, Aces and Queens)

Hero shows Js Ts (a straight, Ace high)

SB shows Td Ks (a straight, Ace high)

Hero wins $61.55

SB wins $16.15

Hero wins $16.15

 

So unfortunately I got rivered for some of the pot...but I still win all of the big side pot vs. the CO. If I raise the frop, the SB calls, CO probably folds, and I just have to race with the SB for a smallish pot. But by calling the frop instead, I make much more when I do get there, and even have a shot at getting to see the river cheap.

-BRUECHIPS

Questionable Laydown...

Let's get right into the action...

Me folding the second nuts - lil strange huh?  Let me get into my thoughts on the hand...

When I bet and get raised, and then min 3b - I'm really in a tough spot vs 2 players here.  I don't have any reason to think either of this players are making a move on me.  Both player's raise c bet percentage were incredibly low which led me to believe they were strong (while technically this was not a c bet, I treated it the same in my mind.)  If this were a HU pot, I would simply be insta getting the money in (if get pwnd by an overset or a mega draw gets there, I would just chalk it up to a cooler.)  I had a good idea of my equity vs a single player whose range is 88, 22, A5ss, 45ss.  Both villain's were on the tight side and I really did not think that there were any two two pair combinations that fell into their preflop calling range.  

I ended up simply allowing myself to time out - usually when faced with a tough decision with a hand as big as this, I will just tiltship.  I also pondered a flatting the 3b and trying to fade a spade/quad up/boat up - but the B could easily 4b all in. 

So obviously folding the second nuts on this frop is EXTREMELY nittish (something I'm definitely not known for) but I was so thrown off by the situation I had to go back and stove it.  

Suprisingly I made a good fold given the ranges vs TWO players.  Again - had this been a HU pot my moolah goes insta in the middle.  

Text results appended to pokerstove.txt

 326,239,452  games     0.375 secs   869,971,872  games/sec

Board: 

Dead:  

equity win tie      pots won pots tied

Hand 0: 26.505%   26.09% 00.41%      85122024  1348562.00   { 3c3s }

Hand 1: 36.747%   35.39% 01.36%     115457253  4427180.00   { 88, 22, AsQs, AsJs, As5s, As4s, 6s5s, 5s4s }

Hand 2: 36.747%   35.39% 01.36%     115457253  4427180.00   { 88, 22, AsQs, AsJs, As5s, As4s, 6s5s, 5s4s }

-BRACKCHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 17), Tourneys are for donks

I RARELY play donkaments for a variety of reasons...

a) too much luck and gheyness required to win one

b) more often than not you will not cash/not final table and thus be kicking yourself for the 4 hours you played

c) cash games are a more reliable source of income and you have much more flexibility in your schedule.  

I'd say I play roughly 5 tourneys a month on average...but I can easily go a month or two without playing one at all.  Lately I have been targeting a superfish at some of the higher level SNG turbos and I've taken shots and cashed in 2 out of 3.  The only time I didn't cash was when I offered Bruechips a piece of my action, ROR.  Speaking of superfish, I sucked out on him with QJo vs AA all in prefrop when I got a bit short...SHIP IT.  It definitely propelled me to the chiplead and eventual win - see the final hand below...spades still rule for those of you who haven't figured it out yet!  (the ironic thing is i folded the exact same hand two hands prior to this one because it was NOT SPADES!).  ROR.  

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1919 M = 3.20
Hero (BTN/SB): t7081 M = 11.80

Pre Flop: (t600) Hero is BTN/SB with J 4
Hero raises to t7081 all in, BB calls t1519 all in

Flop: (t3838) T 2 Q

Turn: (t3838) Q

River: (t3838) T

Final Pot: t3838

BB shows 6 K (two pair, Queens and Tens)
Hero shows J 4 (a flush, Queen high)
Hero wins t3838

Brack is Beautiful (Part 16) - Straight Frush Edition

Well, it wasn't a royal, but spades worked some extraordinary magic for me yesterday. Even better, it was vs. a donkey trying to slowplay aces. Always a mistake vs. the nut suit:

Seat 5: bruechips (CO) (2,055)
Seat 7: SB (1,770)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [5s 6s]
bruechips raises to 180 (Obviously not an auto-raise for me at this point in the tourney, but the blinds had been pretty tight, so I decided to raise it up. Nothing wrong with folding.)
SB calls 150 (This guy had been pretty tight, so I give his call some credit.)

*** FLOP *** [3s 7s 4s]
SB checks
bruechips checks (Umm...stone cold nuts?? I just checked in hopes that he has overs and hits a pair or a single spade that he'll put more money in with later. I don't have too much experience playing fropped straight frushes...maybe I'm supposed to bet, I dunno. But also I've found that in donkaments especially, checking the frop will sometimes make even tighter players go nuts on later streets, so maybe I induce some random bruffs by checking.)

*** TURN *** [3s 7s 4s] [5d]
SB bets 210
bruechips calls 210 (I continue to srowpray even though his bet makes it pretty clear he's got something, although maybe not something he's willing to go broke with on this very gross board.)

*** RIVER *** [3s 7s 4s 5d] [4c]
SB bets 444
bruechips raises to 1,665, and is all in (Another bet from him, time to ship it in and hope he has a boat or something)
SB calls 936, and is all in

*** SHOW DOWN ***
bruechips shows [5s 6s] a straight flush, Seven high
SB mucked [Ah Ad] - two pair, Aces and Fours (Or makes a horrific call with AA...dude do you SEE that board? You think I'm shoving the river with QQ or a bare ace of spades?? ROR! C'mon dude, when you see spades on the board, find the ford button!! I guess vs. this guy it didn't matter how I played this hand, I was going to bust him.)

-BRUECHIPS

Deep Stacked Play - Part 4, Brack is Beautiful - Part 15

As you can tell from the title above...this hand fits into a few categories, check it out.



Preflop my open is def a BIT roose, but I rike to mix up my UTG opening range with sooted connectors.

The SB 3bs me…and the first thing that comes to mind…AA or KK. This villain is one of the nittiest regulars at this level, and his range is incredibly polarized to just these two hands. My thoughts are when facing the 3b, call or fold. A combination of factors went into my decision to call here…the raise size is NOT pricing me out enough this deep, especially since I have position. If he makes it in the 55ish+ neighborhood, I’m going to be folding much more often. We are 200bbs deep…I’m getting great implied odds, that coupled with the fact that my hand is very well disguised, I opted to see a frop.

Pretty much a dream frop for me, pair and a FD. When playing 100bbs deep vs most other villains…I’m looking to get money in on this frop. I can honestly say that I would be raising this frop 95% of the time, looking to fold out better hands...and gamble with big made hands. But in this SPECIFIC spot, 200bbs deep vs a supernit…calling is the best line here. If the villain has AA or KK...he’s not folding! I need to wait for spades to come in on the turn, see if I can turn trips/2 pair (which obviously are no good vs top set). His c bet is so weak…again I’m getting great odds to call, thanks for making it so cheap!

So my money card rolls off on the turn…and this where its time to go to valuetown. I bet BIG, large enough that if he xc’s…I will have a little less than a pottish sized bet so I can do my favorite thing in NLHE…SHOVE. LOL.

He checkraises me arr in and boom we get it in for 200bbs…I fought off the boat redraw and raked a monsterpotten.

Cutting back on variance, Brack is Beautiful (Part 14)

I've been falling on the wrong side of the RNG of late...combination of some coolers and overaggression. In an effort to cut down in the variance and leverage my postfrop knowledge, I've cut down on the aggression - both post and prefrop. Here is a perfect example...




Ok, so I guess you could say I sucked out here...and granted I was a dog on the flop, but my opponent let me get there on the cheap.

Here are my thoughts on the above hand...

On the flop...I have such a powerful draw that I will definitely not be folding it. When I lead into the field...and I get min raised by a donk. Folds back to me and this is where I face a big decision. Do I want to put more money in right here or should I call and wait for a good turn? I have a HUGE draw, my equity is probably in the hood of 50%.

Folding is obviously not an option...but 150bbs deep, I felt like my villain was not FOLDING. That's a huge factor in my decision. He definitely has at least an Ace, maybe two pair...possibly a set. He's definitely not folding any part of that range...and he probably shouldn't be either. Do I want to get 1500bbs in the middle with a mega draw where I have no FE? Meh...pass on the variance, I call.

Turn strengthen's my hand...but not relative to my villain's range...I bet and don't get raised...SWEET! Nice cheap river card for me...

River - BOOM! Money card...I have the nuts vs his range. I bet big and get paid off...I do regret not sticking in a little overbet though, definitely lost some value...dagger.

Brack is Beautiful (Part 13)

There's nothing more satisfying that putting in a beautiful overbet for value (OBFV). This one was at a deep-stacked 6-max table. This guy and I had been tangling quite a bit already.

Seat 5: SB ($235.50)
Seat 6: bruechips (UTG) ($152.90)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [As Qs]
bruechips raises to $1.75 (Raise spades for varue)
BB raises to $5.95
bruechips calls $4.20 (While we had been going to war with each other, him 3-betting my UTG open is still pretty strong. In any case this deep, with position, I'd rather call and take a flop than 4-bet and risk getting 5-bet and having to fold a nice hand.)

*** FLOP *** [4c Qc Ah]
BB checks
bruechips bets $8 (One thing you don't want to do here is slowplay. AA, QQ, and 44 are the only hands that beat me. I doubt he'd 3-bet me when I opened UTG with 44, and I have an A and a Q, making AQ very unlikely. Also I'm pretty confident he would be c-betting a set with the draws out there and given how aggressively we had been playing each other. I think he would c-bet if he missed completely too. What pre-flop raiser can resist betting at an ace-high flop when given the opportunity? His check tells me that he's trying to play pot control with a medium strength made hand, like AJ or worse.)
UTG calls $8

*** TURN *** [4c Qc Ah] [4h]
BB checks
bruechips bets $18 (I am still very confident I have the best hand. I continue to valuetown. The 4h is actually a great card because all aces below AK now chop, playing the Q kicker that's on the board. He may now be more willing to give action if he has a weakish ace, AND he may think that I put him on a bare ace and am trying to bluff him where it looks like he'd be calling only for a split.)
BB calls $18

*** RIVER *** [4c Qc Ah 4h] [9d]
BB checks
bruechips bets $120.95, and is all in (Part of my decision here involved a timing tell. He QUICKLY check/called both my flop and turn bets. This is very indicative of a weak made hand. I think villains feel like the quick check/call might disarm someone from making a bluff or a thin value bet on later streets because the speed of their call indicates confidence that they have the best hand. I could bet $35-$40 here and be pretty sure I'd get paid off, but I decided to go for it all and make a massive 240 bb bet on the river and hope he'd get curious. There are some similarities between this hand and one that Foucault posted a few days ago. His post and my comments talk about optimal calling frequencies in river overbet situations.)
BB calls $120.95

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 5: BB mucked [Kd Ks] - two pair, Kings and Fours

I was just hoping he'd get curious with AK/AJ/AT. KK? Wow. If only I had AT instead of AQ and made the same play. Man that would have been sweet.

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 12)

Standard spade power...

$24 + $2 Sit & Go, Table 3 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: Button (5,719)
Seat 9: bruechips (CO) (3,905)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [8s 4s]
bruechips raises to 800 (As I have stressed before, at these stages of the tourney you really have to take ANY chance to be able to accumulate some flop-less chips. Here it's folded to me in the cutoff, and I'm raising a very wide range, incruding spades FOR VARUE. Usually I'll raise somewhere between 2.25-2.75x the bb, depending on what kind of players are behind me. The button was a little on the loose side so I raised on the bigger side to discourage him from calling.)
Button calls 800

*** FLOP *** [Kc Js As]
Button chats: uh oh
bruechips bets 1,500 (Obvious bet...and obvious call if he shoves for my last 1600. To some players a shove from me would look weak and make them more likely to call with pocket nines or something. I pay pretty much no attention to his donkey chatter.)
Button calls 1,500

*** TURN *** [Kc Js As] [6s]
bruechips checks (At this point it doesn't really matter what I do, the money is just going in. I decided to check and call just in case he had something like JTo that he might fold if I shoved. But even that I think he'd probably call at this point.)
Button chats: gg
Button bets 1,605
bruechips calls 1,605, and is all in (I don't know why this donkey is telling me "gg" already - he has me covered, so he's trying to say I'm done if I call. Whatever, I'm obviously calling.)
Button shows [Qh Kd] (GG?!?!? How about DD for Drawing Dead!! ROR!!! Nice try on the leveling, donk!)

I really hate everything about how he played this hand. Flatting KQs on the button only 12 bbs deep...hate it. Just shove it in like a man if you want to play it. Flop...I guess it doesn't really matter. Turn once checked to...again it doesn't matter that much since there's not much less behind compared to the pot size, but not much reason to bet there. If I had a hand worse than his that I were going to call with....like JT or QJ...then I probably would have just gone ahead and shoved it in first. But he's not close to beating my calling range, the rest of which is flushes, straights, and maybe some two-pairs.

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 11)

Got back into the full ring action tonight which produced this hand....I'm still not completely sure about the way I played the hand....please comment with any suggestions. I give my reasoning for playing this way, but I am willing to be convinced that other lines are better. The main villain in the hand seemed fairly solid with TAGish stats. We had tangled twice before, once where he had 3b my open, I 4b and he folded, and another time where he cold 4b my 3b of another player and I folded.

Seat 3: bruechips (CO) ($208.70)
Seat 5: SB ($206.25)
Seat 6: BB ($239)
Seat 7: UTG ($74.70)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [8s 9s]
UTG calls $2
bruechips calls $2 (This seems kind of ghey. Maybe my donk-n-go experiences are starting to infect my cash game pray. But the reason I limped behind instead of raising was that UTG is short, and I had seem him limp-re-raise once before. If he were full-stacked, I'd definitely raise to isolate him, but with stacks this shallow and him limping UTG, I decided to just limp behind. The button was not a very aggressive player who would be raising a lot, and the blinds are full-stacked, so I'm happy to take a flop with them. In general, my range for limping right here is suited connectors, smaller pocket pairs, and the occasional suited ace.)
SB calls $1
BB checks

*** FLOP *** [Js 7s 4d]
SB checks
BB checks
UTG checks
bruechips bets $6 (This is pretty standard, everybody checks to me and I bet my straight flush draw.)
SB folds
BB calls $6 (I'm pretty sure this does not represent a monster hand, as big hands would probably raise on this drawy a flop. I'm thinking he has something like a weak jack, maybe an 8d7d for middle pair and some backdoor equity, A7 is possible, 56, and spade draws, although I think most of the time he'd be playing draws more aggressively.)
UTG folds

*** TURN *** [Js 7s 4d] [Ac]
BB checks
bruechips bets $14 (Some would argue for checking behind here to be sure you get to see the river with your monster draw. But I decided it was worth betting here to try and take him off a weak one-pair hand, or get him to just call with that hand and let me win a bigger pot on the river, either by firing a third barrel or making the best hand and getting value. Also my draw is not to the nuts (unless the Ts hits), and I want to maintain the betting lead against bigger draws, again either to fold them out now or fire again on the river. This is certainly what I would do with 77, 44, A7s, A4s, and AJs, which are all in my range, although AJs probably less so as I'd usually raise it pre-flop.)
BB raises to $28 (This is a very odd min raise. I almost think misclicks make up a significant portion of his range. What really strong hand would he slowplay on this flop and then give such great drawing odds on the turn? This feels more like a kind of informational raise to see if his J9 or whatever is good. Or maybe he's taking some very weird line with QsTs or 2s3s for a flush draw that picked up a straight draw. The only way I could see the ace improving his hand is if he has A7, or if he has an A-high spade draw. The A-high spade draw would be a particularly ugly scenario for me. But again, I think it's highly unlikely that he'd play a big draw like the nut flush draw so weakly on the flop when he's up against somebody who limped preflop and bet when checked to. I'm definitely not folding to this raise, the question is whether I should call or raise. I decided to raise for a few reasons. First, there are big hands that I can very easily represent here, mainly sets and aces up. If he flopped bottom two and decided to take a cautious line of waiting for a safe turn card before raising. Is he really excited about getting it in here? Second, he probably expects me to fire a second barrel at the ace with my entire range, so there's a good chance that he's trying to make a cheap rebluff with a pretty weak hand. Third, if I just call and miss, I can't represent much on the river. I think he's a pretty good player who is not going to just check/fold a blank river. He will probably be firing another barrel, and I can't represent much if I raise to try and rebluff. If I had a big hand already on the turn, I'd raise it there. If I had a mediocre hand like AhTh and decided I didn't want to fold, I'd just call the turn and river instead of raising. If I do hit a spade, it's pretty obvious what I have if I bet or raise. Getting value will be difficult unless he has a better flush, in which case he'll be the one getting value from me. The only really great card would be a T. That would give me a well disguised hand that I could get paid off with.)
bruechips raises to $96 (As far as the sizing, I want to raise an amount that appears to commit me to the pot, so he won't feel like he has any fold equity at all with KsQs or something like that. I want those hands to fold, or even better, call and check/fold the river. At the same time, I think shoving or raising too much looks kind of weak and he might just get really curious and decide QJ is gold. If I had a set, I'd raise to about this amount to charge the draws and force him to make a decision for his whole stack, so that's the amount I choose here.)
BB has requested TIME
BB folds

He tanked for a while. He could have been just Hollywooding, not wanting to let me and the rest of the table know that he just tried to pull one over on me with complete air. Or he could have made some huge laydown. It's such a weird line for him to take. I'm still kind of wondering what he had there. My best guess is still that he had a weak made hand, and he wanted to try and end the hand there rather than check/call or check/fold the river. Any other ideas?

-BRUECHIPS

P.S. - One other interesting tid-bit, just to show you how many draws there are on this board, EVERY unpaired suited connector or one-gapper has a straight draw by the turn.

Brack Is Beautifur (Part 10)

For those of you looking forward to further analysis of The Shortstack Game, don't worry, that will come tomorrow. But I just had to post this first, especially because of the side action I had with Brackchips, who was watching me pray this hand. This was down to two tables of a DNG that started with 5 tables.

Seat 1: MP (600)
Seat 7: bruechips (BB) (5,860)
Seat 8: UTG (13,765)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [Qs Js]
UTG raises to 480
MP raises to 600, and is all in
bruechips calls 360 (This call is a little bit loose, but I did it for two reasons: 1) UTG was a megadonk, and I wanted to play hands with him, even OOP, and 2) MP was a shorty, and his less-than-min re-raise all-in meant that UTG couldn't re-raise, and I might get to check down and see the whole board for free.)
UTG calls 120

*** FLOP *** [5s Ks As] (Spades are gold)
bruechips checks
UTG bets 1,920
bruechips calls 1,920 (Looking back, maybe I should be raising this instead since UTG was a total station and his bet into the dry side pot indicates he has at least a pair and therefore would probably call if I shoved, whereas he might get scared if another spade rolls off on the turn.)

*** TURN *** [5s Ks As] [7s]
bruechips checks (Another spade...kind of kills my action...maybe he has like 8c8s and will shove all-in, but betting here would be bad as he might be able to fold some pairs.)
UTG checks

*** RIVER *** [5s Ks As 7s] [8s]
bruechips bets 3,340, and is all in (Here is the main interesting decision in the hand. The question is, is he more likely to call a shove or shove if I check? If he has a spade he MIGHT check behind but will definitely be calling if I shove. Actually this guy is such a donk, I think he's calling a shove with any two cards, thinking I'm bluffing and hoping for a split. Even though this is a bet into a side pot and I'm going to have to show down for the main anyway. So I shoved and he called. Before looking back into the 'Last Hand' tab to see what he had, I bet Brackchips $1 that he did not have a spade.)
UTG calls 3,340

*** SHOW DOWN ***
bruechips shows [Qs Js] a flush, Ace high
UTG mucked [Tc Ac] - a flush, Ace high (PWND!!! Ship the pot AND the $1!!!)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 9)

I usually don't open suited connectors in early position, but I do it occasionally just so I'm not so totally predictable when I'm in early position, and also take advantage of a nitty table. If they're going to give me credit for a big pocket pair every time I raise UTG and set mine, great - I will win many pots from them when they don't hit a set. Also they might try to slowplay something since they think my range is so tight, and pay off when I have an unexpected hand, as here:

Seat 6: HERO (UTG+2) ($203)
Seat 7: MP ($398.15)
Dealt to HERO [7s 6s]
HERO raises to $8
MP calls $8

*** FLOP *** [4d 5c 8h] (Uhh...can you say NUTS???)
HERO bets $15 (Slowplaying here would be terrible)
MP raises to $41 (At this point, I thought he had a set. I almost thought about just calling and shoving a turn card that doesn't pair the board. But I knew he wouldn't be folding, and maybe if a 6 or 7 comes on the turn he won't call. Also I might have ended up folding the best hand. It's close though, I think either play is good.)
HERO raises to $195, and is all in
MP calls $154
HERO shows [7s 6s]
MP shows [Ks Kd] (I guess he was hoping I was going nuts with QQ or 66/77?)
*** TURN *** [4d 5c 8h] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [4d 5c 8h 3s] [Kc] (Good thing I didn't have a set!!)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 8)

Always sad to see brack on brack crime:

Seat 5: UTG ($141.30)
Seat 6: HERO ($240.10)
Seat 7: SB ($301) (<-- megadonk)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Qs Js] (spades!!)
UTG calls $2
SB calls $1
HERO checks (no need to raise, just check and watch the brack magic unford)

*** FLOP *** [Jc 8s 3d]
SB checks
HERO bets $4 (Pretty good frop, with top pair and backdoor frush and straight draws)
UTG calls $4 (His range is now something like JT-KJ, TT-99, T9s, and 89-87. Not too worried about this call. If he had raised, I'd probably fold because it would represent a set or AJ)
SB calls $4 (His range is basically any random hand. Top pair plays well against that range)

*** TURN *** [Jc 8s 3d] [As] (Spade me one more time!)

SB checks
HERO bets $14 (No reason to stop betting...possible UTG has KJ and will now fold, also possible SB will call me down with a worse hand)
UTG folds
SB calls $14 (Ideal)

*** RIVER *** [Jc 8s 3d As] [4s] (Giving me the 2nd nut frush)

SB checks
HERO bets $220.10, and is all in (A few reasons I decided to overbet for value here: 1) The virrain is a donk and hates to fold. 2) My hand is well disguised since the frush came through the backdoor. 3) There are a bunch of possible second-best hands here. He could have a lower flush, J4, A4, 34, even 52 for a straight. Whereas there aren't that many hands that will call only 40 but not 220. If he has T9 or KQ for a busted straight draw, he's not calling anything. Maybe with a lower jack like J7 he'd call just 40. But he doesn't have exactly one pair that often here, I think.)
SB calls $220.10

*** SHOW DOWN ***
HERO shows [Qs Js] a flush, Ace high
SB mucked [6s 9s] - a flush, Ace high (Nice call on the flop, buddy!)

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful! (Part 7)

If there's one thing we here at Spritpot love even more than Fuel loves Clay Aiken, it is SPADES. Even in PLO, spades are gold. I'm just learning PLO, so my commentary won't exactly be expert, but here goes. First, I'm playing .10-.25, since I'm in the nascent stages of learning this game. And the play at this level is often abominable.

Seat 1: bruechips ($27.95)
Seat 2: button ($5.95)
Seat 3: SB ($14.25)
Seat 4: BB ($1.55)
Seat 5: UTG ($47.80)
Seat 6: MP ($27.20)
SB posts the small blind of $0.10
BB posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [Ks 2c 5s Kh]
UTG calls $0.25
MP raises to $1.10
bruechips calls $1.10 (No reason to re-raise at all. Very good chance the raiser has aces. I'm calling mainly for set value, as I had seen this player stack off with top pair and a backdoor frush draw earlier, so I thought I could get all his money if I flopped big. The button being short and unable to put in a re-raise that would allow the original raiser to re-raise is good, too.)
button calls $1.10
SB folds
BB raises to $1.55, and is all in
UTG calls $1.30
MP calls $0.45
bruechips calls $0.45
button calls $0.45 (We've got a 5-way raised pot. VERY standard in .10-.25 PLO ROR!!)
*** FLOP *** [8s As Ts] (Nuts!! Spades are gold!)
UTG checks
MP checks
bruechips bets $3.90 (Bet to protect my hand vs. a full house)
button raises to $4.40, and is all in
UTG folds
MP calls $4.40 (Confirms that MP does in fact have aces)
bruechips calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [8s As Ts] [6c]
MP checks
bruechips bets $21.05
MP raises to $21.25, and is all in (If you're a hold 'em player, his call here with top set looks completely standard and it's just a cooler, but in PLO I think this call is terrible. I'm going to have a flush every single time. I'm never going to have middle set. I can't have a flush draw because you have to play two cards out of your hole cards in Omaha, so if I have just the Ks, I don't have a flush draw. If the turn had paired, I would have folded)
bruechips calls $0.20
MP shows [Jd Ah Ad Ac] (Him having another A in his hand makes it an even worse call)
bruechips shows [Ks 2c 5s Kh]
button shows [2s 6s 6h 5h]
BB shows [Th 4c Kc Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8s As Ts 6c] [Qd]
bruechips wins side pot #2 ($40.55) with a flush, Ace high
bruechips wins side pot #1 ($12.50) with a flush, Ace high
bruechips wins the main pot ($7.50) with a flush, Ace high

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! Ship the monsterpotten my way! Too bad there were a couple of shortstackers there....

-BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 6)

Here's an example of what I rike to carr "the donk method of playing big pairs". Usuarry it's AA, but here it turned out to be KK. That method is to make a very smarr 3-bet pre-frop. A couple of reasons this is terribre, especiarry deep-stacked and out of position: 1) it gives your opponents great pot odds and impried pot odds to carr and try to hit a frop hard, and 2) it pretty much terrs your opponent (if he's a good prayer) exactry what you have. Usuarry when I ROR at some donk for making this pray, they defend it by saying, "sure, why not re-raise a huge amount and telegraph the strength of my hand?" My response is, rook homeboy...you're telegraphing it way more by re-raising smarr, and you're arso arrowing me to exproit that knowredge. In my experience, the min re-raise is armost ALWAYS AA or KK, usuarry AA. If somebody starts to exproit my berief in that fact by re-raising smarr with 7-high and betting me out post-frop when I don't frop huge, I wirr then note it and pray accordingry. But until I see otherwise, I assume a smarr re-raise is the nuts pre-frop. OK, onto the HH:


Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $101.50
UTG: $22
UTG+1: $101.50
UTG+2: $49
MP1: $92.25
MP2: $62.40
CO: $23.35
Hero (BTN): $100
SB: $125.30

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (BTN)
6 folds, Hero raises to $4, SB raises to $9 <--note the donk method!, BB folds, Hero calls $5 (We're deep, he re-raises small, so I can narrow down his range a lot, and prus...I have SPADES!!! Prepare to go down in flames, big pocket pair!!)

Flop: ($19) (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks (Pretty good frop here. Got some spades as expected, pair on the board, and he checks. I'm pretty sure he's looking to check-raise his AA or KK here, so I'll check behind and expect to make my frush on the turn.)

Turn: ($19) (2 Players)
SB bets $5, Hero raises to $18, SB calls $13 (Hmm...no spade is a big surprise. However, I did pick up a couple more outs and he makes a very small donk bet. I just can't let that bet go un-raised. Maybe if he's rearry nittish he wirr ford QQ since I'm repping a seven or fives/jacks furr, or maybe he has AK. If he re-raises, I have to ford though, which is a dagger, so maybe I should just carr this bet. Suggestions wercome.)

River: ($55) (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $35, SB calls $35 (I nail the unexpected out. Definitely the most profitable card in the deck for me. I think it would be harder for me to get paid if a spade hits. I'm not the slightest bit worried about a seven. Jacks full is the only hand I'm slightly worried about. But I'm just trying to make the biggest bet that QQ-AA will call. I ended up settling on $35 in a $55 pot, but I might have been able get more.)

Results: $125 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed (a full house, Fives full of Sevens) and WON $122 (+$60 NET)
SB mucked (two pair, Kings and Sevens) and LOST (-$62 NET)

BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 5)

God I rove it when donks rimp aces in my big brind...


Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $113.85
SB: $118.40
Hero (BB): $105
UTG: $100
UTG+1: $18.55
MP: $24.45
CO: $145.20

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $1, MP folds, CO calls $1, 2 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($3.50) (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, CO bets $3.50, Hero calls $3.50, UTG+1 calls $3.50 (I could lead, but I chose to check-call multi-way and try to get more players involved to give me better odds to draw. Since it's a deuce that's paired on the board, it's not too likely anyone has it and will then check-raise the CO with me in the middle. Downside is I only have the Q-high draw...I hope nobody has As3s!!)

Turn: ($14) (3 Players)
Hero bets $10, UTG+1 raises to $14.05 and is All-In, CO folds, Hero calls $4.05 (Gold. Spades come through every time. I lead, because even though it's completely obvious what I have, I find that this doesn't deter most NL100 prayers from carring me down. Arso UTG+1 is short, so I want to be sure and get his money in there.)

River: ($42.10) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: $42.10 Pot ($2.10 Rake)
Hero showed (a flush, King high) and WON $40 (+$21.45 NET)
UTG+1 showed (two pair, Aces and Twos) and LOST (-$18.55 NET)

ROR!!! Two spades are better than one!! Ship it!!

BRUECHIPS

Brack is Beautiful (Part 4)

We may have to stop making Brack is Beautifur posts...it seems that virrains are starting to understand the power of spades, perhaps as a resurt of our anarysis. Here I made an ambitious steal with one brack card, one red card (always a donk move to push with a red card in your hand). I definitery made a bad misread, mistaking my opponent's rimp for weakness. Unfortunatery I couldn't suck out, and he took down a decent-sized pot.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: $39.25
BTN: $124.30
SB: $82.25
Hero (BB): $108.65
UTG: $37
UTG+1: $110.20
UTG+2: $17.35
MP1: $55.30
MP2: $44

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $1, 4 folds, SB calls $0.50, Hero raises to $17, UTG+2 raises to $17.35 and is All-In, SB folds, Hero calls $0.35

Flop: ($35.70) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Turn: ($35.70) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: ($35.70) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: $35.70 Pot ($1.75 Rake)
Hero showed (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$17.35 NET)
UTG+2 showed (two pair, Tens and Sixes) and WON $33.95 (+$16.60 NET)

BRUECHIPS