** If you would like to skip the back story, just scroll down to the hand review.

A bit of back story and introduction into the community

I just returned from a 2 month job working for Carnival Cruise Lines on a ship at sea. I'm looking to get back into the game and most importantly, looking to lean on the community for advice. I have played thousands of hours at Maryland Casinos over the last 6+ years.

Now about my game [these stats are ONLY from January 2017 to July 2017]

I have recorded every single stat from my first 6 months of 2017 [before I went to work on the cruise ship in July] at MGM National Harbor, and it is as follows [ I was not playing full time, as I was primarily making money from my business ].
I have recorded the time I started playing, the time I finished, the stakes I played, total buy in, rebuy amounts, rebuy counts, cash outs, personal grades, and notes. Also hourly rate, BB/hr and profits.

__________________________________________________ ___________

71 total cash game sessions and 1 tournament session.

The tournament was a $360 entry with 213 players. It paid the top 25. I lasted 6 hours and 15 minutes and cashed in 25th.

@ 1/3
45 Total Sessions
28 Wins / 17 Losses (62.22 Percent)
215.8 Total Hours
$7,695 Total Win
= $35.66 / hour
= 11.887 BB / hr
$13,284 Total In Winnings ($474 per win)
$5,589 Total In Losses ($328 per win)

@ 2/5
26 Total Sessions
14 Wins / 12 Losses (53.85 Percent)
158.5 Total Hours
$1,722 Total Win
= $10.86 / hr
= 2.172 BB / hr

6 Month Total:
380.55 Hours | 5.29 hrs per session
72 Sessions (inc. tournament)
$9,676 in winnings
$25.43 per hour | $134.39 per session

I also won an extra $1,300 in promos (not counted into the $9,676)
• This would make the hourly rate $28.84
Never lost more than 3 days in a row.
Most I ever lost was at 1/3 was $600.
Most I ever won at 1/3 was $1,794
Most I ever lost at 2/5 was $2,200 (4 rebuys)
Most I ever won at 2/5 was $2,200 (Two Times)
At 1/3 I rebought on 14 different days a total of 15 times. (13 days - 1 rebuy, 1 day – 2 rebuys)
At 2/5 I rebought on 11 different days a total of 18 times (6 days – 1 rebuy, 4 days – 2 rebuys, 1 day – 4 rebuys)


Since returning home on September 14th 2019, I have played every day and want to reach out for some help with some hands. I am knocking rust off and know I have made a fair share of mistakes already. Please provide decent insight into why something is the way it is or should be a certain way.

*** Pot Values take into consideration rake (10% up to $5 + $1 jackpot $1-$29 or $2 jackpot $30+)

Hand # 1
Hero $650
Hero UTG w/ KK
Bet $15, CO call, BB call
Flop K 10 7r [$40]
BB bet $25, Hero call, CO call
Turn 3d (2 diamonds) [$114]
UTG bet $60, Hero raises to $175, CO call, UTG all-in $330 total. [$737]
Hero re-raise all in $530. CO fold.
River As
KK > K10
• CO had been playing rather tight. Took about 2 minutes to call $175. Was playing about $1,000 to start the hand.
I believe I played the hand properly in terms of sequence.
My two questions are
a) Even though I got the ideal result, was $175 mathematically the ideal re-raise amount on the turn?
b) Do you ever call $330, let the CO call $330, and shove $200 on the river? My opinion is for $160 more the CO is calling to win $740. I don’t know what he had but I think raising all-in and either kicking him out or making him pay more is the ideal option considering the draws.

Hand # 2
Hero $1,100
V $400, brand new player at table
V utg call $3
Hero UTG + 1 raise to 15 w/ QQ
V calls [$29]
Flop J 10 9 (2 diamonds)
UTG leads $35, Hero calls [$97]
Turn 4c (2 clubs)
UTG leads $125 [$222]
Hero Folds.
If we gave the player 99-JJ, all the two pairs, KQ o&s, Q8s, 87s, QQ is 35.4%
If we subtract 99-JJ, QQ is 37.1%
If we take all and add 108s, J8s, J9s, J10s, Q9s, Q10s, QJ o&s, KJ o&s, K10s, K9s, QQ is 52.5%
If we subtract 99-JJ (because of the $3 limp) QQ is 54.3%
I would expect to see a big river bet and if I didn’t improve I don’t see myself calling. This is also a spot where I am not extremely experienced and would chalk up the hand to picking a better spot.
Thoughts?

Hand # 3
Hero $1,700
UTG + 1 $185
SB $500
UTG + 1 call $3, Hero raise to $15 with 56s on button, SB call, UTG+1 call
Flop A 4 7 (One Heart, heros suit) [$42]
SB bet $25, UTG Call [$92]
Hero Raises to $80, SB folds, UTG re-raises all in $170
Hero Calls
56s v AK
What is the ideal re-raising amount (percentage of pot) if you’re going to take the angle of raising with an open ender + back door flush draw? [I raised $55, into a pot that was $92, they now have to call $55 to win $172]
I think my raise was a little low in the general sense of the hand. In this hand it didn’t matter so much because it was going to play out this way either way as I wouldn’t expect the UTG to fold with top-top.

Hand # 4
Hero $300
V $300+
Hero bet $15 in MP w/ 78s [ not an automatic bet / raise, but the table was rather tight, quiet, and I like to mix things up ]
CO and SB call
Flop 9 10 J rainbow [$42]
SB check, hero bets $30, CO calls w/ slight hesitation, SB folds
Turn 5s (two spades) [$101]
Hero bets $70, CO raises to $170 [$341]
Hero re-raises all in for $256. CO calls
River 4c
78s < KQo
Understandably you don’t ALWAYS play 78s in middle position. You also don’t ALWAYS NOT play 78s in MP.
Besides for folding 78s, does this hand ever play out any differently?

Hand # 5
Hero $500
UTG call 3, UTG+1 raise to 12, MP and CO call [$43]
Hero calls on button with J10 Spades
SB, BB and UTG call.
Flop J 7 4 (two diamonds) [$77]
UTG + 1 Bets $35 all-in. CO Calls. [$147]
I call [$182]
Turn 4c
CO checks. I bet $75. Co calls.
River 2c. [$332]
Co Check. I Check
J 10 < 77
Obviously in some instances you are going to raise preflop with J10 of spades on the button. At this specific table I should of.
On the flop, rather easy call to see what card comes.
On the turn when he checks I lean towards him being on a flush draw or a weak Jack like QJ J10 J9s J8s
What would you have done on the turn here facing a CO check?

Welcome to the forum, OP.

Very few folks are going to comment on five hands in one post, and if they do, I'd expect pretty surface comments and without much conversation being generated, due to difficulty following multiple strands.

In the future, please just post one hand per thread. Also, please don't post results. Just get up to the decision you most want to discuss and stop there. Results bias advice.

Hand one is fine, imo

Hand two bigger pre in EP over a limper. AP, raise flop. AP fold turn is OK.

Hand three is pretty spewy.

Hand four is fine with a disguised hand, but gonna get the result you got fairly often.

Hand five is fine.

Thanks for the reply.

For hand number 3...

What is specifically the spewy part? Playing 56s. Raising 56s pre. Raising 56s on the flop?

It's not something I do frequently. But I do like to keep the hand in my button range specifically when no raises have been made yet.

I don't think Hand 3 is spewy at all. However, I would make the flop raise bigger.

Hand 1: You could raise flop. There is no flush but there are lots of straight draws floating around. But BB bet enough I don't think it's required. When CO comes along you need to plan on hammering turn, either BB or CO is almost always drawing to something. Turn raise is mandatory and should be bigger. At least $200 and $250 is better. If stacks where deeper something close to $300.

As for question (b), no never at that point. Pot is too big and way too much interest in the hand. The flop was the time to risk some slow playing with top set. It's too risky that somebody has two pair or bottom set and will find a fold when a draw comes in.

Hand 2: Lots of ways you can go on this. Without knowing anything about villain I'm actually likely to make a very tight fold when he over bets the pot. But seeing turn is also OK and raising flop is fine also. Raising flop and committing if villain comes over the top is likely the highest EV in abstract against entire playing pool but suicide against certain players and super high variance. Without knowing anything about villain the best play here is live read and guesswork.

Hand 3: Raising preflop is fine but flatting would also be fine. Raising flop after a bet and call is too aggro unless you have a good read on villains. Your not likely to get both to fold and your draw isn't monster strong. Raising size of around the pot after you make the call is generally a good starting point. Here pot will be $117 after you call so $100 or $125 looks good.

Hand 4: Depends on villain. If you know villain will only raise if they already have a straight you might even find a fold on the turn. Against a more aggressive one that might have sets/two pair and various draws then shoving turn is fine.

Hand 5: CO played this badly by not betting or check/raising turn. If your not occasionally owning yourself by betting aggressively against such passive villains you not betting aggressively enough and are missing value. That said, depending on what I know about UTG and CO I may be trying to keep this pot small and just check it down.