Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbobwe00
Here's a fun one from friday night.
Hero ($200, UTG): 19, talkative, probably a winning-but-not-crushing image
Villain (covers, BB): in his 20s, has no clue, african-american, aligns all his chips so the little white parts are in a line.
I do this after about 4 hours at the table out of sheer boredom during the down time in between hands. Just sayin...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbobwe00
...I open T9 from UTG to $7
I hate this raise because it is simply too low. Too many villains at this level will call and then you are playing an inflated pot out of position vs calling station and droolers in which you have zero fold equity. So, either raise more to get heads up or don't make this sort of raise.
Or, this raise is fine if the entire table is 200bb deep and plays horrible post flop. But if this is the typical 1/2nl table, then there are probably a few 50bb and 40bb stacks so your raise in this spot is just -EV imo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbobwe00
....
I open T9 from UTG to $7, everyone folds to villain in BB (he's in the 10 seat and im in the 1 seat), who leans over the table and says "oh just him? he raised?" and throws in $26. i call (probably my first mistake but I WAS IN POSITION!!)
What you didn't say is what you thought V's range is when he 3-bets you. If we go with typical 1/2nl 3-betting ranges this is AQ+, QQ+ If we loosen up a bit then we can range V for AT+, KQ, JJ+
So, a call isn't necessarily terrible if we knew V c-bets flop and then shuts down 100% on all turns when he whiffs. Or, if we knew V is heavily weighted towards AK/AQ and then we could steal all non A, K, or Q flops.
But calling "just because" we think V is terribad is terribad in itself. This is by far my biggest leak so I'm super sensitive to this mistake. I have a recording on my smart phone reminding me that isolating terribad players when I'm holding terribad cards is terribad
and not to do it. It's hard because we want to be heads up and thrash the terribad players, but we have to remember we still need the right cards and situations to do so. We can't force a round peg in a square hole. So, barring that you really have no range for villain or post flop plan, you need to fold to the 3-bet. Snap fold to it.
As played, I would rather you 4-bet than call the 3-bet.
THis is just a huge mistake. I would expect V to make a weak as bet like this with Axs or Ax rag or even JJ/QQ and then the whole time he is betting weak because in his mind he is weak and you are calling him down thinking, "Yeah he's weak" and then come river he still has a weak hand that beats your even weaker hand.
I mean, do you think he's betting 99 or 88 here? Again, notice you haven't really put any effort into ranging villain besides "he's weak".
We need to remember that in 1/2nl villains just don't bluff enough for our bluff catching in these spots to be profitable. In fact, if villain is bluffing he most probably is bluffing with A3 weak sauce that he is convinced is a losing hand when in reality he is bluffing with the best hand that beats are terribad hand. So yes, you might be picking up on the correct tells but you are incorrect with your readings, that is, you are interpretting weakness for nothing and that is most likely not the case in this spot. What is more likely is that in villain's mind as relates to the board, he is weak, however he still beats you. Understand what i'm saying.
As a consequence, you level yourself into making a really bad call
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbobwe00
...
flop: AT7
villain leads $25 into me, seems weak since its smaller than his sizing pre, I call quickly.
turn: 5
villain leads $40. this is where, if i haven't already, I should probably fold. i thought about jamming for a bit, tank for a while, he says "just fold", and is throwing off those polarized tells where he's either got the complete lock or complete air. he never has AQ or JJ here, its like always top set or a flush or air. so i called.
villain checks river dark.
river: A
great card for me, i immediately check back and table my hand thinking its the winner. he then proceeds to table KQ OF CLUBS!! KQ !!!
HOW DOES HE CHECK RIVER DARK???
i was so happy because if he led that river card i can never fold, so i just saved lots of money as a result of his ridiculous river dark check!!
The bold is a leak. First off, in 1/2nl you should know that villains LOVE LOVE LOVE to check river when they are super strong so they can go for the check raise. Its one of the most ******ed things about 1/2nl. They will chase the nut draw, hit the nut draw on the river, check and then we check back our TPGK and then they show the nut flush and say, "Damn, I thought you were going to bet". This happens all the time so the fact you are surprised shows you don't really understand 1/2nl. Sorry if i'm coming off as an ass, but its the truth. The fact that he checked river with a super strong hand is par for the course in 1/2nl...
Second, if he has the flush he isn't going to be thrilled with the Ace pairing. And again, 1/2nl players aren't all that versed in value betting so again, his check back on river based on how most 1/2nl players play is not that bad. Yes, its bad from a 2+2 standpoint but in terms of the normal player pool, its standard.
Lastly, I absolutely hate how you've leveled yourself into hero calling in this spot. And the reason I hate it is because this is something I used to do all the freaking time. Easily my biggest leak by far.
I focus in on a terribad player and then I become an even bigger donk then him as I chase him down with mid or bottom pair on super wet scary boards pumping money into the pot like an idiot...
All of this was based on my ego and the ol' "I'm better than him, I'll just out play him" narcissistic trap of ego.
You need to take a step back and think about this mistake because if you don't understand the root causes then you are doomed to repeat it.
In my case, the root cause was ego and it is still something I struggle with. I have developed a whole series of rules and routines to combat this problem and I go 4 or 5 sessions in a row without making this making. I hope to eliminate it all together before I move up in limit....
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbobwe00
[x] i played this hand poorly
[ ] i'm a fish
moving on now
Not trying to brow beat you, cross posted this right after you posted. I just wanted to comment because this is easily one of my biggest leaks I struggle with.