About hand #1, this may be a fold to seriously consider pre here
however, the villain in MP is one I've tagged to be playing rather aggro and often with nothing, I would have folded KTo here. MP was the official table fish.

Villain UTG was the usual tight/reg, and it was reasonnable here to put him on something rather strong, but his raise sizing was somewhat small and stroke me as odd

So I found the MP 3bet rather interesting and at this point, my call was somewhat out of curiosity as it was clearly a hand intended to be played between UTG and MP, no rational reason to call here, and KTo would have been a sure fold.


Once I get to see the flop, I was rather happy with a good chance of a flush, the flop hitting MP's "range" (if he had any) more often than not, and most likely being a miss for UTG, unless he had paired premiums (in which case, I would justify trying to go for the flush, if the price were right.

So being OOP here, still with nothing, I thought if UTG has a strong pair or something like AK, he may very well bet the flop, trying to get some cash from the villain in MP

With or without a hand, I expected MP to bet, if not 3bet wildly if not shove, should UTG bet before him, in which case I would have run like the wind.

But UTG checks, and MP bets a somewhat "affordable" enough amount that I decided to continue.

I don't have the exact numbers here, but I know I looked it up after winning a similar hand previously, but I thought that the chances of hitting a flush are fairly decent if 2 cards are already on the flop.

It was a gamble tho, but given the context, I thought it was worth the price I got asked.

So I call, and I was kind of surprised that UTG called also, somewhat concerned about a big pair.


The turn was good for me, MP could very well have one or two pairs, a set, or even a straight here, I don't think he's letting go so I bet 2/3 pot
UTG calls and is all in (but I think he would have done something on the flop with AQd, he might have a diamond or two, and there was still the Ad out there so I was somewhat concerned here), there are plenty of hands that pay me here, and only Axd that beats me and at that point, I think it's not a longshot to think that I got this in the bag (but I know anything can happen, MP could very well have 8Td, why the hell not? I've seen him raise with way worse than that)

Had a little scare on the river, but everything turned out to be A-OK

UTG call on the turn was kind of a longshot IMO



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hand #2

now it's important to know that I know this villain very well as we're real life friends, I know his style and I would say he's LAG, plays a lot of hands with a ton of aggro, he loses as big as he wins, but I know for a fact that he's bluffing a lot.

He also knows for a fact that I pretty much never bluff (actually I do in some spots, but rarely and I don't think he realizes that)

I would not try this sort of things against someone I don't know

Now I raise UTG with KK

The flop comes with a straight draw and somewhat of a flush draw (with, again, somewhat of a backdoor flushdraw for me, but that's rather a longshot)

So he may have hit some sort of pair or something, or maybe even not, I have no idea at this point.

I know that he knows that I only open with strong hands and rarely raise if I don't hit anything.

So he raises, somewhat smaller than I expected, which leads me to believe he has a piece of that board, maybe pair

By calling here, rather than 3 bet, I wanted him to believe that I had a strong holding (he knows that I most often play with premiums) but that didn't hit, something like AK or AQ

and if he hit a pair, he probably would make me pay for each card
maybe he did hit a set, but in that case, the price was decent for me to buy another card

the turn is somewhat concerning, but I know he bluffs alot, not quite sure where I am here, but I think I'm most likely ahead, if I am, I need to make sure

so I 3bet and he pays

Then he checks the river, I raise, he snap calls and shows trips

got outplayed here

But this was somewhat an exceptional case (not that I got outplayed, happens all the time, but that particular villain), given the fact that we know each other IRL and all we talk about together is poker, so it's a kind of " he knows that I know and I know that he knows" situation

I'm not bitter about it, and had fun playing, even if I lost that hand


He still sometimes plays kind of fishy so I'll get my money back eventually



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I wonder if he knows the difference between a set and trips?

Listen mate, i don't want to troll you, so I'll just lay it out and then clear off.

Most of what you write in you over-long posts is just spraff and nonsense and of almost zero relevance to 2nl. Referring to other players as "fish" is just kidding yourself that you are not one...you totally are and until you get your head round that you'll get no better.

Using whatever training resources you have available, start to build your game based on solid concepts, not all these nonsense "reads" of 2nl villains.

I would post your hands in the correct format in the microstakes forum (and ffs cut out the wall of text!!!). You will get shorter, more brutal feedback, which will benefit your game much more.

Anyway GL...I'm out.

no worries man, again here to learn, and I'm not expecting to get much right at that time, just trying, trial and error, you know. Not taking this as a troll, you obviously took the time to write it down, and I appreciate it. don't worry about hurting my feelings here, say it like it is, this is what I expect from this forum.

I'll get it right eventually, and very few people do get it right right away, I'm not expecting to be any of them.

However, please do develop, if you have the time and motivation.

one of the reasons I write so much is so that you guys can pinpoint as much as possible.

and if it's overwhelmingly bad, just pick a spot and start shooting


But I'm not gonna stop trying, even if it's that bad, I'm not one to give up and I'll keep trying until I get it. Don't care if it takes a week or a lifetime, I know I'll get it eventually if I keep trying and never give up.

everybody sucks when they begin, there's no reason to be hurt when stated

I would be suspicious if everyone was congratulating me on how perfect my game was

I put it all out there, not because I want to pretend I'm good, but so I don't hide anything


edit: thanks for pointing out the set vs trips, I thought the language there was looser than it actually is