So its been a while since I played limit hold'em. I mostly play no limit, but this casino only has limit. The players are mostly fishy with a few being more maniacal and a few being good. I was playing with a friend and he was making what I thought were some big mistakes. But it has been a while since I played and I wanted to know your thoughts on these spots and how bad or good they are. On a scale of 1 - 10. 10 being that you would follow this person around to make money of them.

This is 20/40 limit.

The first play
Folds to a very lose player in MP who opens to 40, we call OTB with A8, BB raises all-in with only 50 total. MP calls, we call.

Flop: AQ7
MP checks, Hero checks,

Turn: 4
MP bets 40, hero?


Next play
UTG is an old man but pretty loose. Not crazy, but he will chase Gutshots on a few occasions where he is not getting the right odds. If he raises he usually has it.

UTG limps, Hero raises with K4

thoughts?

Hi OP.

Don't take offense but hand 1 is wicked poorly played. Can you describe the looseness of this player? Against a total nutcase maniac, I'd three bet this hand. If you can't bring yourself to three bet it, it must be folded. Cold calling first in, in general, is a major leak in FLHE, and it's even worse w/ a hand like this, that doesn't play well multiway (as cold calling invites more action behind). Once checked to on the flop, you should bet. By the turn, you may as well just call down and see if you accidentally induced a bluff.

Hand 2 is also bad. Depending on where you are in the field, it ranges from a downright no to just regular bad. This is more defensible in late position, but you still shouldn't do it.

Agree with everything above.

FLHE is a game where starting hand selection is really important. It's much tougher to make opponents fold. You want to hit strong hands and get paid -- better hands are more likely to hit strong hands.

A8o is not a very strong hand against a middle position raise. Consider if MP would ever raise A7o. or A6o. Consider how many of his hands dominate yours.
K4o is not a very strong hand period.

These were hands my friend played and I was berating him about how bad the A8o hand was. But he wouldn't believe me so I said I would post it to the forums.


More criticism please.

are you sure this wasn't actually a 2/4 hand?

Hand 1 is an absolute abomination. Most people should probably 3 bet preflop but because of your friend's postflop leaks, he should probably fold preflop and continue to play a tight range to prevent him from losing too much until he learns some fundamentals. Flop is absolute must bet.

Hand 2 might be defensible if limper is bad enough, blinds are tight enough and your friend is an expert on the button. However, because your friend is not an expert, this hand should also be folded even if the other criteria are met.

Thank you for your comments. My friend says that I should tell everyone he is a WSOP bracelet winner to see if their opinions change (He is not).

A lot of really bad players have won WSOP bracelets.

does your friend's name rhyme with Miss HoneyBaker?

Stopped reading at 'first play' preflop action

First play: 5
Second play: 9

What position is hero in for second hand?

grunch.

yes, based on how you relayed the hands, it's clear you play nl .

so your friend played these hands or you did? seems like your friend did based on wording, but not sure.

first, pretty funny that immediately a guy is all-in in limit poker and it's a nl player relaying the hand. just sayin'

in terms of how this was played w/ A8o, it's pretty bad. i'd give the overall play about a 1.5/10. i give it a 1 b/c at least you or your friend got to the flop w/ an ace. the 0.5 is because you may have gotten worse hands to bet the turn.

at this point, just call down since you prob earn more from the hands that you induced to bet than raising and having him c/d. btw, i'd say this is precisely how a nl player would play this hand. i think it's bad in nl but i can see the nl thought process (wa/wb, pot control, induce on turn etc.)

generally though, depending on how loose/bad the raiser is, this is either an easy 3b or an easy fold. shouldn't be cold called.

well this is just not good at all. not crazy loose old guy limps first to act and then hero raises w/ a sh*tty offsuit king? if the guy was terrible and i was first to act after him in later position (where is the hero in this hand?), i'd iso-raise A5o or A4o at the bottom of the range and maybe as low as K7s or so

that said, at least hero is in position and is raising rather than checking a flop w/ A8o lol, so i'd give this one a 2/10. slightly better, but not by much.

Yes my friend played them. I was telling him how bad it was and he kept defending it. So I said I would post it to the forums and I sent him the link.

hopefully there was a bet involved? did you win some scotch?

Pretty much what everyone said

Hand 1 - Complete fail 1/10. As you can see, I think you will find most people here to say 3 bet or fold pre-flop and if for some reason you thought you were raising pre and only flatted, then you MUST bet the flop. There is really no other commentary needed on this hand.

Hand 2 - ONLY if is he a really really good post flop player that reads villian like a book and is OTB, can this hand go from another 1/10 to a 4 or 5/10. He may be able to play it like a 7 or 8/10, but there is no need to really get involved with a hand like that unless you are playing HU or 3-4 handed.

10, 10, and tell Jamie Gold I send my best

Your friend must also be a NL player because I only see NL micro tournament players get to the turn like hand 1.