Hands that make me vomit - PART 3

Lately I have noticed a serious leak in my game - river decisions. Its a good thing that very few hands go all the way to the river...because I seem to continually BURN money on 5th street - whether it is not folding, betting, or calling a raise - I'm on a hot streak lately. It really pisses me off because obviously its the most expensive street to make mistakes on.

I absolutely BUTCHERED both of the hands below...

Hand #1



Ok this play is not exaxctly standard but based on the villain's stat's, on the flop it really smelled like he had two overs. Guys who play 16/7 often will not raise utg with strong hands like AK, AQ, 88-JJ.

So I opt to float in position to the gheyly sized check raise (giving me something like 4.5-1 to call) and I end up getting runner runner (i run gooooot!). He leads the river for a nice sized bet and have him on an A, maybbbbbe AA, but its more likely Ax (A8 is COMPLETELY out of his range and so unlikely I never considered it).

I just CALL with TOP 2, so ghey. If I ship...or make a nice raise, I think there is a shot I'm getting called down.

I think I EASILY lost half a BI here - GROSS.

Hand #2



BEAUTY of a frop here, and I will be bet bet betting every day and twice on sunday. I have a SHITTON of equity against pretty much every conceivable range other than a set. TPTK, NFD, backdoor straight draw, overcard...I'm living the dream here.

Frop - firing is standard here
Turn - firing is standard again
River - WHY THE FAWK did I bet here? His line is SO looking like a frush draw, 9T, and KT. When I bet, I am only getting called by KT (which beats me!). When the A comes, it is unlikely I am getting called by KQ...why not check to induce a bluff? I'm never folding in that spot if he ships...too much in the pot and the guy was a total donk.

I think I prolly lost quarter of a BI here (maybe half the time he bluffs his stack on the river) - more grossness.

Part of my problem with river decisions is the fact that autopilot mode occasionally creeps up on me...PF and frop play are relatively straightfoward - turn/river situations do not come up as often and thus I am more prone to make mistakes. Also, playing these streets optimally requires much deeper thought than pre/flop play...you are required to process more information and analyze in further detail indivdual spots/situtations.

Here's to better postfrop pray!!!

Hands That Make Me Vomit (Part 2)

Recently I have been on an absurdly bad run, finding pretty much any way possible to lose money. Happens, I guess. You always know it's gonna happen, it's part of the game, blah blah blah, but knowing it's going to happen doesn't make it any easier to take when you're experiencing it. Here's one hand that at first looks like a total cooler...and is, definitely, but at the same time, I don't think I played it very well. The villain is a 36/15 donk:

Seat 2: HERO (MP1) ($201)
Seat 4: MP2 ($229)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [8s 8h]
HERO raises to $8
MP2 calls $8

*** FLOP *** [Qd Qc Kd]
HERO bets $13 (Not exactly the flop I was looking for in terms of giving me a good hand, but I think it's a mandatory c-bet. I think he probably has to fold JJ-99, and I don't want to check and give hands like AJ/AT or underpairs a chance to either make a better hand or bluff me out of the pot)
MP2 calls $13

*** TURN *** [Qd Qc Kd] [8c]
HERO bets $35 (I was pretty much done with the hand until I hit a full house here. I think betting the turn is good because I do think he will pay to draw to a second best hand with some big diamonds or maybe even JT, and I think he will call with a hand like KJ. He might even have AK, although I think he probably would have raised either before or on the flop.)
MP2 calls $35

*** RIVER *** [Qd Qc Kd 8c] [Jh]
HERO bets $145, and is all in (This is a big mistake in the hand, I think. I think overbetting for value is a great tool to have -this is an overbet, pot is about $100- but this is not a good spot for it at all. He has a lot of missed draws in his range that I'd like to give a chance to bluff by checking. I don't think he would call this down with KJ or any other king. Maybe maybe he calls down with AdTd or perhaps AQ, although I think he would have raised earlier with AQ. So there aren't too many worse hands I could get value from. Secondly, he could definitely be slowplaying a better hand, specifically KQ. He could have QJ too, although again I think he might have raised earlier. I think a better line would be to either check-call or even bet $60 or so to try and get value from a K or AQ.  I think I would even have to fold to a raise. Maybe I'm just seeing monsters under the bed and I'm gunshy after taking so many beats in the last few days, but I don't see him raising worse on the river. In any case, he instacalled my shove and did in fact have KQ.)
MP2 calls $145

*** SHOW DOWN ***
MP2 shows [Kh Qh] a full house, Queens full of Kings

-BRUECHIPS

Hands that make me vomit - PART 1

I have been WAY behind the ball in posting lately...recently got a temp work gig that has left little time to PWN at the tables.However, when I have had the opportunity to play, I feel very fresh - I think I have really been sticking to my A game and not letting tilt/lengthy sessions cut into my earn. At the same time...I am definitely still making mistakes and the hand below highlights a hand that I absolutely BUTCHERED postfrop - thus I have decided to create a new series - "Hands that make me vomit."





I'm not sure what ya'll think of how I played this hand, but looking back on it, personally I do not think I could have butchered more. PF and the flop decisions are pretty much a no brainer...so I am not even going to go evaluate my play PF and on the flop. However, my turn and river play are pretty shitty IMO.

So what mistakes did I make here?
a) The turn check is attrocious. The villain in this spot is a pretty weak tight (something like 14/5) and when he calls on the flop he has one of the following - a set, a Kx, or a FD. I need to somehow get value from a FD's, and Kx type hands on the turn...I opted to check call for a combination of reasons - pot control/we were deeper than normal/oop.
b) I opted to check call here...granted it is not the WORST call by any means, but I don't really think the villain is value betting worse often enough to warrant a call. I don't think he is going to show up here with KQ often enough.

Honestly I do not know the best line for the turn, leading or CR'ing...the problem with the latter is that the stacks are a bit too large for a CRAI and if I make it say 400 - and get called...it will be VERY hard to lay my hand down on the river regardless of the card that comes.

In retrospect, my optimal line would have been to lead the turn and check fold a spade on the river. I could have saved the river bet that I called on the river and used it to get some more money while I was ahead on the turn. One bad decision on the turn lead to a bad river decision. That is the beauty of this game...while there are only FOUR possible actions if a hand gets to the river - it continually presents me with a challenge. Its a puzzle, mystery, clusterfuck, whatever you want to call it - I can't get enough of it.