Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 18)

Long time no blog…Bruechips has been flat out DOMINATING the spritpot airwaves. I took almost a month off the game (the longest I have ever taken off) after a gross-ish June - the RNG just left me helpless. I played a mix of NLHE games ranging from my standard 2/4 game all the way up to a few hands of 25/50 cap and ended up getting tuned up by the RNG to the equivilant of 40 bi’s in my normal 400 game. Granted some of it was at higher stakes…but it just left a bitter taste in my mouth (that’s what she said!).

Off the whine train and onto our regularly sked’d program…poker!!!

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/226596

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $410.00

BTN: $561.00

SB: $559.50

Hero (BB): $803.00

UTG: $260.10

UTG+1: $456.00

MP: $180.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BB with 7c 7s

4 folds, BTN raises to $15, 1 fold, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $11

(this is pretty standard for me…although an argument could be made for a 3b. 77 is towards the top of my flatting range vs a CO open. It doesn’t play fantasticly postfrop oop, but I knew my villain to be somewhat passive and felt like I could wrestle the pot away in most spots. If there was another caller I’d be more inclined to sqeeze.)

Flop: ($32.00) 7d 5c Jc (2 players)

Hero bets $24, BTN calls $24

(Can you say nuts? If he has Jacks then FML…but I would never consider folding here for 100bbs. Considering my opponent is so passive and does not c-bet enough…its time to put some money in the pot, there are a multiple draws out…and I will certainly get called by ANY one pair hand.)

Turn: ($80.00) 6d (2 players)

Hero bets $64, BTN calls $64

(89 compretes here but I’m making another VB, I figure he has a one pair type hand at best…when he does not raise here I’m quite confident that my hand is best).

River: ($208.00) 8s (2 players)

Hero bets $144, BTN calls $144

(this decision actually was not at close as it looks. Granted there is a one liner straight out there…but I STILL have him on a one pair hand, and my hand does not look like particularly strong. Honestly in retrospect its tough for me to figure out what I was repping here, its quite rare when I call an open oop and donk the frop, turn, and river. I think he still calls my river bet with any one pair hand, and letting him check back QQ+, Jx, or a 2 pair hand would be pretty ghey.)

Final Pot: $496.00

BTN shows 8d 9c (a straight, Nine high)

Hero shows 7c 7s (three of a kind, Sevens)

BTN wins $493.00

(well he shows up with the second nuts, ROR! I flop the second nuts, he ends up with the second nuts and I loses a TON of value. Clearly he must have had me on 9T not to raise that river, ROR. I insta stack off on the turn without HESITATION…and its very thin regarding calling a river raise.)

-BRACKCHIPS

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 16)

Heads up at the end of a 90-man KO tourney on FT:

BB: t89354 M = 6.38

Hero (BTN/SB): t180646 M = 12.90

Pre Flop: (t14000) Hero is BTN/SB with 3s 6h

Hero calls t4000, BB checks (Usually I don't limp the SB HU, but I thought this guy was pretty bad post-flop, so I didn't want to lose the opportunity to take a frop in position against him, and he hadn't shoved on my rimps before. So I thought calling was better than folding. Our stack sizes make raise/folding a mistake, I think. The other option would be just shoving, and again I think the stack sizes are bad for that. It's still probably better than folding, but with my chip lead and what I perceived to be a skill advantage, I didn't want to risk him showing up with a decent hand.)

Flop: (t18000) 2c 6s 2s (2 players)

BB checks, Hero bets t12000, BB calls t12000 (Frop top pair, usually the nuts in a HU limped pot. If he had check/raised me, I would absolutely be just insta-getting it in, and getting shown 34/45/K-high all the time. His call was somewhat alarming though...it could be A-high, but you'd think he'd probably shove over my limp with a decent ace prefrop. I would think he'd check/shove spade or straight draws if he wanted to go with him, so the check/call represents a made hand. And what kinds of made hands other than A-high is he calling with?)

Turn: (t42000) 9c (2 players)

BB checks, Hero checks (My thought process above led me to check back this card.)

River: (t42000) Jh (2 players)

BB bets t16000, Hero calls t16000 (He bets 1/3 pot, I'm obviously not folding given the size of the bet and the fact that I have a pair. If he did in fact slowplay a deuce or rivered a J or something, so be it.)

Final Pot: t74000

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

Hero mucks 3s 6h

And there you have it, a recipe for fropping trips heads up and extracting the absolute minimum from top pair. I eliminated him to win the tourney a few hands later when I flopped top pair and he check-raised all-in with middle pair. True story.

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Parts 14 and 15)

We almost need a new category for how bad this donk played this hand. This guy seems to play pretty often, but he's just fawking TERRIBLE. All his pre-frop 3bs are min raises, and post frop he typically bets about 1/6th pot. Here's an earlier hand I played against him (this is not even the best one):

CO: $54.85

Hero (BTN): $50.00

SB: $48.40

BB: $21.45

UTG: $5.65

UTG+1: $54.10

UTG+2: $41.20

MP1: $46.80

MP2: $32.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 8h Qh

6 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.25 (Standard I think...I have position, I know his hand is strong, we're deep enough that I can get enough value when I flop the better hand often enough that I can call pre-flop given the odds he's giving me.)

Flop: ($6.50) 8c Ac Qd (2 players)

SB bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50 (OK, I flop bottom two, but this isn't really that great of a board to have two pair on given the preflop action because of the ace out there. If he's min 3-betting with only top 3 hands - AA, KK, QQ - I am ahead of only 60% of his range, since there are 3 AA combos, 6 KK combos, and 1 QQ combo possible. Also if I raise he'll fold KK. So I decide I'm just going to call down. I may be missing some value if he has AK, but I'm not sure if that's in his min 3-betting range at this point, and also I can valuetown the turn and river if he checks to me, indicating he doesn't have AA or QQ.)

Turn: ($9.50) 2h (2 players)

SB bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50 (He's still betting small, I'll continue to call down with basically a bluffcatcher, if you consider him to be bluffing if he's betting KK.)

River: ($14.50) 7c (2 players)

SB bets $7.25, Hero calls $7.25 (1/2 pot bet...at this point I really felt like he might have AK given his smallish bets but I resisted the urge to raise and just called.)

Final Pot: $29.00

Hero mucks 8h Qh

SB shows Qs Qc (three of a kind, Queens) (Yep, that'll win...)

Then later at a different hand I played this hand with the same dude:

UTG: $66.65

UTG+1: $19.50

MP1: $50.00

MP2: $27.20

Hero (CO): $159.70

BTN: $35.25

SB: $27.20

BB: $26.05

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Jc Ac

1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, BTN raises to $4, 3 folds, Hero calls $1.75 (This call is a little thinner since I'm out of position and he's shallower. But I am suited so there's frush possibility...plus by this point I had seen him min 3b a little more so I thought his range could be a little wider, giving me more equity, and plus he's shown himself to be such a terrible value bettor that I don't stand to lose too much when I frop a second best hand.)

Flop: ($9.25) As 4c Ad (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN checks (Gin!! I thought about leading three times here and hoping he'd call down with KK-JJ, but I decided to go for a check/call and then lead the river if the turn checked through.)

Turn: ($9.25) 2d (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN checks (OK, he checked the frop...I should probably bet here but I decided that check/calling again and leading the river would be the best way to get value from KK-JJ. Not sure about that one.)

River: ($9.25) 5d (2 players)

Hero bets $7, BTN calls $7 (OK, he checked the turn too, can't wait any more, gotta try and get at least one bet from his pocket pairs...)

Final Pot: $23.25

Hero shows Jc Ac (three of a kind, Aces)

BTN shows Kd Ah (three of a kind, Aces)

BTN wins $22.10 (ROR!!! That has to be the top TfNSM hand in spritpot history...At reast IMHO. How do you frop nut trips in a 3b pot and win ONE bet vs. an opponent with worse trips? And HE's the one who makes the bet?? All I can say is...thanks for that $25 you saved me, dude. You're the best)

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Parts 12 and 13)

How do these donkeys ever hope to make money if they don't stack players when they cooler them? I have no idea...but I saved about 150 bbs or so in these two hands due to their slowplaying, value-minimizing ways:

Hand 1:

Hero (CO): $58.70

BTN: $32.50

SB: $11.50

BB: $10.00

UTG: $30.00

UTG+1: $122.05

MP: $12.60

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with As Ah

3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, BTN calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 2d Qc Js (2 players)

Hero bets $2.75, BTN calls $2.75 (Standard up to here...)

Turn: ($9.75) 4c (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN checks (I checked here because his stack size is perfect for me to check/raise him all-in to stack a KQ/KT/JcTc type hand...And to punish a float from a hand that will just fold to a second barrel like AT or 88. I was pretty disappointed when he checked behind.)

River: ($9.75) 3h (2 players)

Hero bets $6.50 (I have to bet for value here. My line looks fishy, he could easily check behind a J or 88 that would call a river bet. I can't really count on him to bluff KTo and get value that way.)

BTN raises to $14

Hero calls $7.50 (This is a pretty thin call and I timed down a while before making it. It's pretty tough for the 3 to have helped his hand, unless he floated me on the frop with A5 or 33 or something. Either he slowplayed a fropped monster, or he's bluffing with KT or T9, hoping I will lay down AK. I ended up deciding to call since I'm towards the top of my range for taking this line.)

BTN shows JcJh (OK, so he took a tricky line, and got me to call a bet on the river somewhat thin. But remember that my plan was to check/raise the turn, at which point he stacks me. Really, any time you have 60 bbs and you flop a set vs. an overpair, especially on a non-gross board like this, and you DON'T get all the money in, you have to be pretty disappointed.)

But even that wasn't as bad as this:

MP: $57.95

CO: $56.75

BTN: $95.55

SB: $46.30

Hero (BB): $99.75

UTG: $58.20

UTG+1: $123.65

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 2d 2c

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1.50, 4 folds, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($3.25) Ad Jc 2s (2 players)

Hero checks

UTG+1 bets $1.50

Hero raises to $5 (Standard set-mining pre-flop, check-raising to build a pot and hope to get max value from AK-AJ. With the A and J on board, I'm definitely aware of the potential for a set-over-set situation, particularly given the size of his c-bet, but I'm not folding any time soon. AK-AJ make up 33 combos, whereas AA and JJ make up only 6 combos, so even if he only stacks off with AK-AJ 1/5 of the time, I'm still ahead of his range.)

UTG+1 calls $3.50

Turn: ($13.25) 6c (2 players)

Hero bets $8.75, UTG+1 calls $8.75 (Looks like I am indeed taking him to value town)

River: ($30.75) Kc (2 players)

Hero bets $26, UTG+1 calls $26 (Good river card for me b/c AK now makes two pair as well. If he shoved I wouldn't feel great about it because of AA/JJ/Acxc potential. I'm actually not sure what I would have done, but I think I'd probably call vs. this random NL50 donk. When he just calls, I thought for sure he had an A and the pot would be coming my way.)

Final Pot: $82.75

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

UTG+1 shows Jd Jh (three of a kind, Jacks)

Uhhh...wow! Thanks for not stacking me, bro! 200 bbs deep, you frop set-over-set and you only win 80 bbs??? I don't know if he's afraid of AA or what, but that is just terrible value minimization right there.

-BRUECHIPS

P.S. - Some funny stuff I've seen recently: Sucko showed me this, and I saw this on BustedJJ's brog...

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 11)

Today I managed to take down a 90-man donk-n-go. But I wouldn't have gotten there if I hadn't survived this hand early on:

Seat 1: bruechips (BB) (3,915)
Seat 3: UTG+1 (2,745)
Seat 9: SB (5,880)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [8d 4d]
UTG+1 calls 60
Button calls 60
SB calls 30
bruechips checks (Happy to see a free frop)

*** FLOP *** [Qd Ad 3d]
SB bets 60
bruechips calls 60 (I frop an 8-high frush. Many a time I would raise here. I decided to just call b/c the sb's small donk bet usually indicates a weak 1-pairish hand. I don't think he has a big-diamond kind of hand, which I think he'd either check/raise, check/call, or lead bigger. He might still call a raise and maybe a bet on a blank turn with his weak one pair though, which is why I'd often raise. But I also thought the limpers behind me would likely raise with their big-diamond hands, as well as sometimes complete air, which would squeeze the SB and allow me to get more value. Finally, I'm calling here a lot with a QsTd or A9o kind of hand, so I want to mix in calling with some flushes and sets, so that I'm not too vulnerable to raises from limpers or 3 big barrels from the SB.)
UTG+1 calls 60 (This is interesting and somewhat worrisome.)
Button folds

*** TURN *** [Qd Ad 3d] [As]
SB bets 60
bruechips raises to 390 (The SB min donks again and I raise, hoping to get value out of his ace, and protect my hand somewhat against the board pairing again or another ace coming.)
UTG+1 raises to 960 (Ridiculously strong raise here from this guy. I have a hard time even putting him on AK or AJ. He has to realize that I could easily have those hands beat and not want to bloat the pot too much. There are plenty of boats he could have, such as 33, QQ, AQ, or A3s. He could even have AA. Add in KJ/KT/JT of diamonds, and that's 18 hands I'm drawing stone cold dead against. Even adding in AK and AJ, 16 hands that have 10 outs to fill up or better on the river. So I'm well behind his range, assuming this is never a total bluff, which I think is absolutely accurate.)
SB folds
bruechips folds
UTG+1 shows [Kd 9d] a flush, Ace high (A flush I didn't expect him to have with his early position limp, but I was indeed drawing dead. And in case you're wondering, shoving as a bluff has approximately a -58% chance of being successful. Tourney donks aren't going to give you credit for a full house and fold a fropped frush 45 bbs deep.)

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks for not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 10)

This one isn't literally a thanks for not stacking me, since I don't think I would have gone broke with the worst hand here, but at least there was some big value missed.

Seat 1: MP1 ($375.35)
Seat 4: bruechips (CO) ($219.85)

*** HOLE CARDS **
Dealt to bruechips [Jh Ks]
MP1 calls $2
bruechips raises to $10 (Standard isolation of a limper in late position)
MP1 calls $8

** FLOP ** [8h Jd Ts]
MP1 checks
bruechips checks (I hit top pair, but this is not a flop I'm really excited about getting a whole lot of money in on. I could get check-raised by some hands I beat, such as KQ, T9, 89, J9, and QJ, and I'd be in a tough spot, because I'd also get check/raised by JT, JJ,TT,88, and Q9. I would be either way behind or a little bit ahead. I decided to play it safe and check behind.)

*** TURN ** [8h Jd Ts] [9d]
MP1 checks
bruechips checks (Now I'm behind most of the second-best hands I was ahead of on the frop. I also pick up a straight draw of my own. Best to just keep the pot small and check behind again, as there are very few hands I beat that would call a value bet. Maybe KT? I could be with the intention of making another big bet on the river to fold out two pair or AJ, but I think he might have made a smallish lead bet on the turn with those hands. I'm hoping he has pocket fours or something and I can just check down a win.)

*** RIVER ** [8h Jd Ts 9d] [Td]
MP1 checks
bruechips checks (Absolutely no reason to bet now. I no longer beat KT. He might somehow have slowplayed some weird backdoor flush. I now beat some of the two pair combos I might have tried to bluff.)

*** SHOW DOWN **
bruechips shows [Jh Ks] two pair, Jacks and Tens
MP1 shows [Ac Ah] two pair, Aces and Tens

ROR!!! Way to srowpray your aces into a monsterpotten of ZERO post-frop bets after I fropped top pair second kicker. Granted the board came out gross for him, but...just shows you the weakness of srowpraying a hand pre-frop out of position rike that. Anyway, enjoy that juicy $10 you won on that hand, bro. Take Tiffany's mom for a nice night out on the town.

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 9)

This one almost speaks for itself...

This may very well be one of the most entertaining hands I've played in a while...a player with a BEST hand prefrop...extracts the MINIMUM for a 2nd best hand prefrop (both hands were an overpair to the board through the river!).  Ok so yes, he raised more than the minimum, preflop...but you get the point.  Seriously folks...this has to be a record of some kind.  This is not a brag so much so as it is a testament to the fact that this player was INCREDIBLY passive postflop.  

Now you may be wondering why I didn't 4b preflop with Kings here...but as evidenced by the HH, the villain was VERY passive and me 4b'ing was NOT going to get any action from anything other than the nuts.  Getting in 200bb's vs a nit is not exactly my idea of +EV.  

How can you not bet AT LEAST one street to exact value from worse hands?  Clearly he was uncomfortable playing that deep IN POSITION with a one pair hand...ROR.  

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 8)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! More small stakes 6-max donkery....

Seat 1: UTG ($26.80)
Seat 6: bruechips ($100)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [5h Th]
UTG calls $0.50
4 folds...
bruechips checks

*** FLOP *** [7h 9c Kh]
bruechips bets $1.25 (I frop a frush draw with and some backdoor straight draws. UTG has a 50 bb stack and open limped, so I'm just assuming he's a donk. My bet is intended to get a fold out of underpairs and A-high hands that missed.)
UTG calls $1.25

*** TURN *** [7h 9c Kh] [Qh]
bruechips checks (I make my frush. At the time I thought I would be better off trying to get varue on the river from a worse hand, because he probably wouldn't pay off two bets with anything less than a king, and if he had a king he probably would have raised the frop. But looking at it now, I think vs. a donk a bet is probably better because I do think he'd pay off two bets with QJ or certainly JT for a turned straight. Also there are some hands that will pay off a turn bet but NOT a river bet, like hands with one heart in them or T8. So although checking turned out to work out well this time, on average I think betting for value is best.)
UTG checks (I'm kind of thinking he has some T9/QJ kind of hand for a pair and a gutterball.)

*** RIVER *** [7h 9c Kh Qh] [7d]
bruechips bets $3 (Now put in a value bet)
UTG raises to $6 (This bet by him is pretty retarded. It's possible he's trying to get some thin value out of trip 7's or a straight or even a lower flush and I'm missing value by not shoving, but with all the possibilities for full houses and higher flushes, I decided to just call, as I think I am not ahead of his range for calling my shove.)
bruechips calls $3

*** SHOW DOWN ***
UTG shows [Jh 9h] a flush, King high

Thanks for not stacking me, bro! I think his flat calling my frop bet is OK, since I'd often be firing more barrels with a worse hand, and I'd probably never be folding a K given his stack size. But I think he should bet that turn. And certainly if he's not betting the turn, he should raise more on the river. You can't flush-over-flush somebody and win just 12 bbs.

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 7)

Personally this is my first installment of this series since I (unlike bruechips) tend to stack off much lighter and thus do not have as many canidates for this series. Check out the HH below...




Preflop...we have a UTG limp (who I already have pegged as a donk), and a raise from MP. I have a pretty easy 3b here with rockets here. It's a little puzzling when UTG flats and the OR folds...but I definitely prefer getting the pot HU IP. The question I have to ask myself preflop is...WTF is his range here? AK? A weirdly played KK? A random pocket pair?

Flop...my thoughts - HOW QUICKLY CAN I GET THE MONEY IN? Seriously, a 922r flop? He needs to have exactly 99 or a 2x combination (extremely unlikely) to have me beat here. He xc's the frop bet and I am able to narrow down his range a bit, 9x, TT-QQ? Air? Honestly I never considered a deuce...maybe that's a leak/mistake but its just so unlikely bc there are already two in the board.

Turn...another stone blank - my thoughts again - HOW QUICKLY CAN I GET THE MONEY IN? I was VERY tempted to just overbet ship the turn for a few reasons...there were a ton of turn cards that could scare him. If he has a 9x hand...any picture card may slow him down. Also, the average donk DNF (does not fold) so I figured I could get some sicko value from a hand like A9, TT-QQ.

River - an overcard, kind of an innocent card, but suddenly the villain shows the first bit of aggression by betting out...which is INCREDIBLY strange. WTF. Let's review, UTG limp call a 3b, xc, xc, bet. Also, his bet sizing is WAY GHEY - I'm tempted to raise it just on principle...but now I am behind a super strangely played QQ, but not raising would lose value from AQ. at the same time...could he have xc'd to big bets with AQ high? That would be even weirder. Maybe he has a deuce? He also could have turned TT-JJ into some sort of weird bluff.

My decision between calling/raising was super thin. While I'd like to attribute my decision to call go my online soul reading abilities - it really just came to down the fact that his line made no sense...and there weren't enough combinations of hands that he would call with that I beat.

Through a mix of slowplaying and ghey bet sizing, the villain missed out on the remainder of his effective stack.  I am playing this hand for stacks on the flop and turn no questions asked.

-BRACKCHIPS

Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 6)

OK, granted this guy almost stacked me, but I just found this hand representative of general donkey play, where they play draws loose/passively out of position, and then fail to get full value when their draw hits.

Seat 2: UTG+2 ($152.55)
Seat 5: bruechips (CO) ($289.20)
Seat 6: Button ($303.25)
Seat 7: SB ($223.20)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bruechips [Ah As]
UTG+2 calls $2
CO raises to $10
Button calls $10
SB calls $9
UTG+2 folds (This was a pretty juicy table. I wasn't crazy about my seat because the button was a LAG who, while I think is a losing player, could put me in some tough spots. The SB was a complete donkey, playing very loose. This UTG+2 idiot was limping in early position and then folding to a raise in a 4-way pot where he's closing out the action. Donkerrific. In this hand I'm obviously feeling good with aces, but I'm also going to have to be aware that I could lose a big pot.)

*** FLOP *** [8d 9h 4d]
SB bets $22
CO raises to $58 (I would be SHOCKED if the SB were leading out here for 2/3 pot with a set. Shocked. I would even be surprised if he did it with top two pair. I think he has some one-pair hand like J9 or K8 or a draw like every time. I'm way ahead of his range and I don't want to call and give the button good odds to call with QT or something....although the button is aggro enough to try a squeeze play with a pretty wide range if I just called, and I'd have a sweet opportunity to come over the top. In any case, I decided to charge the draws and second best hands by raising for value.)
Button folds
SB calls $36

*** TURN *** [8d 9h 4d] [3c]
SB checks
Button bets $92 (Beautiful turn card and he checks. I'm pretty sure he's drawing to somewhere between 5 and 12 outs. There is about $145 in the pot and he has $155 left in his stack. I could just shove, but I thought he'd be more likely to call, or maybe even shove over top of, a smaller bet. If he were guaranteed to double up when he hits, then if I bet an amount x, he calls that amount x to win 145 (the amount already in the pot) + x (my turn bet) + 155-x (what's left in his stack after calling the turn bet). So the implied odds would be (145 + x + 155 - x):x = 290:x. So if he has 12 outs (for instance if he has QdTd) for 12/44 = 3/11 equity (i.e., an 8:3 dog to catch up on the river), he makes a mistake by calling anytime 290/x is less than 8/3, or x > 109. If he has 8 outs for 8/44 = 2/11 equity, he should not call if 290/x is less than 9/2, or x > 65. And remember these calculations assume that he gets all-in on the river anytime he catches up on the river, and never puts in another chip if he misses. So by betting $92 I do give him implied odds with his biggest draws, but I force him to make a big mistake with any lesser draws, and if he ever shoves in over the top of a $92 bet where he would have folded to a shove, that's just gravy. Also note that there are a lot more 8 and 9-out draws than 12-out draws. Any JT or 76 gives 8 outs, any two diamonds (including A-high diamonds, since I do NOT have the Ad) except for QT, 75, and QJ of diamonds makes 9 outs, whereas only the three diamond hands mentioned there give 12 outs. If he had more than 12 outs either on the flop or turn, for instance JT of diamonds, 67 of diamonds, 9x of diamonds, I think he'd just shove either the flop or the turn, in which case my bet sizing doesn't matter, as long as I bet. If he would be calling a shove very often then obviously shoving is better, but he timed down for a while before calling this bet, which makes me think he probably would have folded to a shove. If I had it to do over I might bet just a touch more, like $99, but I think anywhere in the $90-100 range is good, as it is tempting for him to call, while still being a bad mistake, and might give him the illusion of some fold equity.)
SB calls $92
*** RIVER *** [8d 9h 4d 3c] [Qs]
SB bets $18
bruechips calls $18 (ROR!!! He has $63 left in his stack, the pot is now $330ish, and he bets $18. I considered going ahead and putting him in as he could be putting in a blocking bet with Qx of diamonds, but I decided to take the safer route and just call to avoid value-owning myself vs. JT.)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
SB shows [Th Jh] a straight, Queen high

OK, so he won this hand by getting the straight on the river, but he played it absolutely atrociously. His bet/call on the flop is terrible. His check/call on the turn is terrible (the math I did up there to show the biggest bet he can call, remember, assumes that he will get full value on the river), and his small river value bet is even worse. I guess he's trying to induce me to shove for another $45? I'm pretty much NEVER shoving that river to try to get a calling station to fold for another $45 in a $350 pot. If I ever shove over the top of his bet, it would be for value, in which case I'm calling if he shoves anyway (I would definitely have called if he had shoved the river). His inability to get value on the river makes his turn call even worse. Well played donkey!!!

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 5) / Red Cards Never Win

This is a very different kind of Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! post. In this case, the villain's decision to not stack me came before the hand even started. 

For most good cash game players, one of the major annoyances of most internet cash games is the proliferation of shortstackers, also known as ratholers. These asshats have no idea how to play poker. They may have come over to cash games after playing a few donk-n-go's. But their plan is basically to push premium hands, and maybe re-steal with some hands that run well hot and cold, such as A8o, etc.. If you're familiar with short stack tourney play, then you know roughly what these guys are doing. With a decent plan of attack, these nimrods can eke out a meager win rate and pile up the rakeback by playing 389 tables at once with their robotic (perhaps literally) style. If you're a good player playing with 100 bbs or more, this really limits you. When you try to steal or isolate a limping donk, you always have to worry about having the shorty shove over the top of you. This makes stealing or isolating with high implied odds hands like suited connectors much less profitable. You also can't use your post-flop skills against them, because they're either putting all their money in preflop or on the flop. There's just not enough room for multi-street lines. 

The only time I'm glad I'm at the table with a shorty is when they cooler me and I only lose 20 bbs. Classic case:

Seat 1: HERO (MP2) ($200)
Seat 9: Ratholer (MP1) ($41.80)

*** HOLE CARDS **
Dealt to HERO [Kh Ah]
Ratholer calls $2
HERO raises to $10
Ratholer calls $8

** FLOP ** [4s Kc 5d]
Ratholer checks
HERO bets $12
Ratholer raises to $31.80, and is all in
HERO calls $19.80
Ratholer shows [4d 4h]
HERO shows [Kh Ah]

*** TURN ** [4s Kc 5d] [Ts]

*** RIVER ** [4s Kc 5d Ts] [9s]

Ratholer wins the pot ($83.60) with three of a kind, Fours

The fact that this guy would limp-call 25% of his stack to set-mine is just hilarious. This is approximately 5x worse than calling a 3-bet to set-mine. This guy is obviously not a good shortstacker. I don't mind having him to my right, although it's not my favorite thing in the world. If he were to my left, certainly if he were a good short-stacker and to my left, I'd probably leave the table pretty soon. 

My pre-flop raise is standard. On the flop, I usually like to c-bet a little smaller against the ratholers, for a couple of reasons. First, I want to induce a shove from some hand like 88 or A4s. Second, I don't have to protect against giving high implied odds because the effective stacks are so short. Say this were a drawier board like if the 4 were a diamond instead of a spade. Put aside for the moment the fact that diamonds never get there. If my opponent were full-stacked, I'd want to put in a good-sized bet to make him pay to draw to diamonds or a straight, since he stands to win a lot of money if he hits. Here, once I bet, the pot is already as big as the amount the villain has left, so I don't have to worry about the shorty hitting a draw and pwning me for 100 bbs. Once he shoves, I'm obviously calling with TPTK, even though it is hearts and hearts lose almost every time.

The final part of the hand is that he left once the big blind got to him again. Another classic ratholer move. Once they get above 20 bbs, their head explodes because they might have to make some kind of decision after the flop, so they just leave and find another table to buy in for 20 bbs at.

It should be clear from this post that I hate playing with these guys, I have absolutely zero respect for them, I think they ruin the game, they have no idea how to play poker, and are basically a waste of skin. I try to play the Full Tilt deep tables as often as I can, which require a minimum buy-in of 50 bbs. But when I lose only 20 bbs with TPTK to a set, I'm willing to just laugh at them.

-BRUECHIPS 

P.S. - Also want to give a big shout out and gl to Andrew Brokos (Foucault), who is making a run in the Main Event as I am typing this. It would be really awesome to see him get to the final table. Those of you who follow his blog know what a great player he is. Pwn it, Andrew!!!

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 4)

How do you flop a J-high flush vs. a Q-high flush and lose only $28? Slowplay-on-slowplay donkery!!

Seat 1: MP ($299.55)
Seat 3: CO-1 ($219.05)
Seat 4: CO ($152.30)
Seat 5: Button ($91.75)
Seat 6: HERO (SB) ($211)
Seat 7: BB ($203)

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to HERO [Jh 5h]
MP calls $2
CO-1 calls $2
CO calls $2
Button calls $2
HERO calls $1 (This is a pretty neutral EV call. In general I don't like completing from the small blind with weak hands, even with a lot of limpers. I  completed due to sooted-ness, but folding is a good play here too IMO. If the BB were a more loose-aggressive player with a tendency to punish limpers in a situation like this, I'd probably fold.)
BB checks

*** FLOP *** [4h Ah 6h] (Looks good...)
HERO checks (Well, here's part of why folding pre-flop isn't a bad play...I got the best flop possible and...what do I do now? Not going to get too much action from just an ace...I checked with the intention of raising to protect my hand and get value vs. a draw to a bigger flush, a set, or two pair. My thinking at the time was that this would probably be my line with a draw, and I've noticed that a lot of players assume you have the draw when you take this line, so I thought I could get it all in vs. A4 or A6. A lot of the time I would be leading here, though, esp with the ace on board.)
BB checks
MP checks
CO-1 checks
CO checks
Button checks

*** TURN *** [4h Ah 6h] [5s]
HERO bets $11 (Unfortunately nobody took the bait on the flop, so now I have to bet myself on the turn. This is one of the best turn cards I could hope for. There are now some straights out and more two pairs that might give me action.)
MP calls $11, everyone else folds

*** RIVER *** [4h Ah 6h 5s] [2h]
HERO checks (This is obviously not the best river card as if MP were drawing to a bigger flush he just got there, and if he had two pair or a straight, he won't call another bet. I decided to turn my hand into a bluff-catcher ad hope he would turn 67 into a bluff or something like that. I like betting and folding to a raise here too though.)
MP bets $15
HERO calls $15
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MP shows [8h Qh] a flush, Ace high

Thanks for not stacking me, bro! If you bet at any point in the hand before the river, you will get all of my money. If you are making $26 when you FLOP A FAWKING FRUSH OVER FRUSH after limping Q8s in MP, limping pre-flop is definitely not a good play. But whatever, he's a donk, so probably the most +EV thing he could do is to leave the table. Thankfully this time his donktastic play saved me a bunch of money. It's also a good thing he didn't have Th9h, because then I would really be kicking myself, and he would probably be writing a "Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro!" post.

-BRUECHIPS

Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 3)

Well, just after my post a few days ago about keeping your ego in check, guess what? NOT a good day yesterday. Some of it was just some gross spots, but I also played a little impatiently. I realized later that a lot of it was due to two factors: 1) the AC in my apartment is broken, and 2) I couldn't find my wallet earlier in the morning. These two things had frustrated me and put me in a bad state of mind to play poker. It's a constant battle to keep accurately assessing my state of mind until you can focus and keep things like that from affecting my play.

To make matters worse, something unexpected happened on Friday. I was coming back to my apartment, and all of the sudden just had an urge to have a smoothie. I don't know exactly why. It's probably been a year since my last smoothie. But I followed my instincts and went to Jamba Juice for some kind of mango whatnot. I was walking back home, listening to music on my iPhone, and "Flake" by Jack Johnson came on. So there I was, walking down the street in sunny SoCal, listening to Jack Johnson and drinking a smoothie. Don't get me wrong, all of those things can be acceptable, on their own, in certain circumstances. But taken together, at that moment I had to consider the possibility that I am a giant douchebag. At least I didn't have my hair dyed with blonde highlights. Yech. Luckily, the next song was a nice Nas song, so I felt better. But I'm going to have to be on the lookout for similar situations in the future. You gotta keep yourself in check.

But, on the bright side, here's a hand from the weekend where I didn't lose nearly as much money as I should have because of the terrible play by the villain in the hand:

Seat 6: SB (HERO) ($274.80)
Seat 7: BB ($134.60)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Ac Ad]
folds around to me...
HERO raises to $6
BB calls $4

*** FLOP *** [6h 6c Kc]
HERO bets $10
BB calls $10 (Pretty good flop, and a call. At this point, opponent's range is KQ-K9, 77-99, crubs, and maybe a 6, so I'm pretty happy about this call. If he had raised, I'd absolutely by putting it all in.)

*** TURN *** [6h 6c Kc] [Ks]
HERO checks
BB checks (Bad turn card, as now the Kx hands are ahead. I don't think the flush draw or middle pair hands would be calling a bet, so I'm just going to go for a cheap showdown.)

*** RIVER *** [6h 6c Kc Ks] [2s]
HERO checks
BB bets $10
HERO calls $10 (2s changes nothing, I just go for the check-crying call to turn my hand into a bluff-catcher from the missed flush draws. Occasionally people try to "value bet" 88 here to get a call from A-high I guess. He could even have ATo or something really dumb like that.)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
BB shows [6d As] a full house, Sixes full of Kings (Way to get full value when you outflop AA with A6o, buddy!!)

-BRUECHIPS


Smoothie/Jack Johnson/Frake...sure rooks rike someone is coming out of the croset...suprised you made the announcement pubricry. ROR.

-BRACKCHIPS

Tourneys Are For Donks, Plus Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 2)

I spent the first couple of days of this week playing a few single- and multi-table Sit 'N Go's, after reading David Sklansky's book on tournament poker. While explaining much of the intricacies of tournament poker strategy and how it deviates from proper cash game play, he also confirms this page's intution that tourneys are for lucksacks and donkeys. In all seriousness, he does show that the capability of going all-in before the flop can negate much of the advantage an expert player has over a novice. A finely tuned all-in preflop strategy can come pretty close to doing just as well as any tourney pro. Which is kind of dumb. Of course the best players win more often than the bad players, especially players that are bad in the loose-passive way rather than the shove pre-flop way, but again, simple strategies can take away much of that edge.

One of the concepts Sklansky pushes is the "Gap Concept" - first, that you should call less often in tourneys, basically play tighter, since your expected tourney cash is concave in your chip count, forcing you to play in a risk-averse fashion, and second, that you should raise more often, i.e., play more aggressively, because your opponents will be facing the same problem and therefore are less likely to call. That's probably true at the large buy-in MTTs that Sklansky focuses on. But anybody who has played at the $10-$20 Sit 'N Gos I played this week would get a big ROR out of that second statement. There is very little folding going on at these things. It is quite comical. Here's an actual HH:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): 3,910
BB: 3,300
UTG: 3,165
UTG+1: 2,605
MP1: 5,185
MP2: 6,475
CO: 2,690
BTN: 2,910

Pre-Flop: (60) dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls 40, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to 180, MP2 calls 180, 2 folds, Hero raises to 560, BB calls 520, 2 folds, MP2 calls 380

Flop: (1,900) (3 Players)
Hero bets 3,350 and is All-In, BB calls 2,740 and is All-In, MP2 folds

Turn: (7,380) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: (7,380) (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: 7,380 Pot
Hero showed (two pair, Aces and Kings) and WON 7,380 (+4,080 NET)
BB showed (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-3,300 NET)

Yes, that is a cold call of my 3-bet by the BB with QJo, and then a call of my shove with bottom pair and a gutter ball. I guess this donk put me on TT! Ror!! I could show plenty more HHs that would be quite similar. Anyway, unfortunately, I couldn't win enough races to get any big scores, so I ended up down a little bit after playing 20-25 or so Sit N' Gos of various sizes. Luckily I made that back and then some with a little bit of furr-ring pray tonight, thanks in part to this donk's srowpray:

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

UTG: $100
Hero (UTG+1): $112.85
UTG+2: $118.20
MP1: $114.15
MP2: $100
CO: $37.85
BTN: $305.75
SB: $183.95
BB: $103

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $4, 5 folds, SB calls $3.50, BB folds

Flop: ($9) (2 Players) (I don't think there's much reason to bet this flop. Maybe to get value out of a T, but that's pretty thin, and since that hand won't put in more than one street's worth of betting anyway, I can wait until later to try and get that value.)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($9) (2 Players) (Gin!!! Hopefully this donk was slowplaying AQ or now has a flush or a straight, definitely betting this one. He just calls, which makes me think he has one of the aforementioned hands and I'll try to get another bet in on the river.)
SB checks, Hero bets $7, SB calls $7

River: ($23) (2 Players) (Hmm....not a good card for me, really. Now AK beats me. KK beats me - even though it's an unlikely hand for him to end up with, it's possible. Obviously I'm not folding. The question is whether my hand is worth a small raise. If I raise here, after checking the flop and betting the turn, it really looks like I have a monster hand. I certainly don't think I'm getting called by just a naked Q for the nut straight. Probably not a flush either, unless, of course, it's a royal. Tens full probably. But if I get re-raised I would have to fold, and that would suck barrs. So arr in arr, I think just carring is right.)
SB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Results: $53 Pot ($2.65 Rake)
Hero mucked (a full house, Jacks full of Aces) and LOST (-$26 NET)
SB showed (a full house, Aces full of Tens) and WON $50.35 (+$24.35 NET)

Aaaand thanks for not stacking me, bro!!! Bet your spades, dood!

BRUECHIPS

Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro! (Part 1)

In the spirit of blog continuity, we will be running several series. This will be the first installment of 'Thanks for Not Stacking Me, Bro!', in which we will show our gratitude towards villains for slow-playing their monsters and extracting minimum value.

Here's a hand I played against a 17/5/0.75 villain. It's kind of a counterpoint to the 98s hand I posted about earlier where I missed a bet on the river.

*** STACKS ***
BRUECHIPS ($101.35)
UTG ($98.50)
BRUECHIPS posts the big blind of $1
 
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BRUECHIPS [7c 6d]
UTG calls $1
MP1 calls $1
MP2 calls $1
SB calls $0.50
BRUECHIPS checks

*** FLOP *** [6s 6h Jc] - (Obviously, looks like a great flop. No reason to get fancy here, just lead right out and start to build a pot.)

BRUECHIPS bets $4
UTG calls $4 - (I'm pretty happy about this call. His UTG limping range definitely includes all the pairs 77-TT, as well as a bunch of jacks, probably AJ-JTs and AJ-KJ or QJo. 56s rounds out the range of his hands that I beat. The hands I'm worried about are A6s - players at NL100 LOVE to see flops with suited aces, no matter their position - and JJ. His UTG PFR% is less than 1, so he's definitely limping JJ. With an AF under 1, he's probably flat calling ALL of these hands.)
MP1 folds
MP2 folds
SB folds

*** TURN *** [6s 6h Jc] [9s]  - (Somewhat of a blank, only hand that this card improves is 99. No reason not to lead out again.)
BRUECHIPS bets $8
UTG calls $8  - (Now I'm beginning to get somewhat wary. I'm kind of no longer worried about A6s, since I think he would raise the turn with that hand, with the board starting to look more suited and coordinated. I think he would fold 77-88 and maybe TT at this point. I could see him continuing with a J, and flat calling with 99 for a turned full house.)

*** RIVER *** [6s 6h Jc 9s] [8h] - (Now I'm behind 88 as well, if he did call the turn with it. I'm not crazy about my check here, for the same reasons my check in the 89s hand was really bad. I should try to get value out of a jack. Against this player, I could bet and easily fold to a raise. I think when I play it this way, he checks behind all the hands I beat and only bets the hands I don't, which is exactly what happened here.)
BRUECHIPS checks 
UTG bets $12 - (He bets half-pot. This is a crying call, but I can't fold trips for that amount. Hopefully he has 65s and we can chop.)
BRUECHIPS calls $12

*** SHOW DOWN ***
UTG shows [Jd Js] a full house, Jacks full of Sixes
BRUECHIPS mucks
UTG wins the pot ($50.35) with a full house, Jacks full of Sixes

Aaaand....thanks for not stacking me bro! I guess I can see flat calling the flop with three players yet to act. They could raise and build a big multi-way pot for you. On the other hand, a lot of turn cards kill your action. Any overcard is going to scare someone with a pair of jacks, or a middle pp. So I would favor a raise here to try and build a pot big enough to stack someone with trip sixes by the river, but a flat call on the flop is defensible, particularly at an aggressive table. But you HAVE to raise the turn to build a pot big enough so that you can get all-in or close to it with a river bet. As played, he flopped top boat vs. trips and won only 25 bbs. Terrible.  

BRUECHIPS