I got thumped again last night. Most of it on one hand. I felt pretty in the zone, but it was a weird session where I had several monster hands that got no action, and then made a couple good but 2nd best hands. One was a 7 way limped pot where the flop checked around and I found myself in the CO with J9o on a Q8xTr board. I bet 15 and got zero callers. Really? No one has a piece of that board they want to continue with? bleh.
One of my favorite things about playing on weekdays is the opportunity to play a lot of 5 to 7 handed poker, which is my comfort zone where I can LAG it up a bit. I played about an hour this way last night and absolutely loved it. It took me back to my old 6-max online days. Another favorite monster with no action came when it was 5 handed, UTG limped, I made it 12 with A9o, BB called, UTG back min-raised to 25, I called and BB called. Flop came 992r, checks to me, I bet 25, 2 folds, with UTG showing AJo. I really considered checking back that flop but just couldn't do it.
Now the hand that kicked my ass. I feel like maybe I'm watching too many Doug Polk videos on youtube or something, because I think I focused on playing this hand the unexploitable way rather than the optimal way.
Villain in this hand is a younger solid player. I've played with him a few times over the years and he knows what he's doing. He's probably a bit more aggressive than optimal, but he doesn't just barrel blindly. I have about 400 and he covers by a lot.
I raise with K
Q
to $12 over 1-limper in MP. I get 4 calls including V out of the blinds.
Flop($50)K
T
9
Checks to me and I bet $30. Only V calls.
Turn($110)K
T
9
T
V donks out $75. This is an incredibly polarizing bet. His value hands are a T or better, up to QJ. Boats probably trap again, or would have c/r the flop. I don't think he calls the flop, or even preflop, with many AT/KT combos. I also don't think he plays KTs this way. I feel this is JTs/QTs/QJ or a club or straight draw he's now bluffing with. I feel that having a Q in my hand, and not the Q
blocks enough of his value hands while keeping a lot of bluffs in his range. I elect to call and see what gifts the river brings.
River($260) K
T
9
T
6
River bricks out and V fires out $200. I puke a bit. If I'm ever calling down top pair, this is the hand I'm doing it with and the villain I'm doing it against. It's a leveling war. He knows I'm sitting on a hand like AK, and almost never have a T. He knows I'm capable of folding it. I have just the right card removal in my opinion. I can fold AK here, but KQ w/o a club just seems so right. KJ is maybe a bit better here now that I think about it because JTs is likely a big part of his value range and i would rather block the J than the Q. Either way, I make the fishy call and get shown JTs. Expensive lesson I guess. The stars aligned to stack me on this one.
One really sick thought that crossed my mind was if I had another $100 or $200 behind if I could jam the river and get him to fold trips or a straight. I don't think he ever has a boat here, and couldn't like his hand too much if he had to call a big bet.
I had a clear cut opportunity to get away from this hand on the turn, but leveled myself into thinking this guy had enough bluffs in his range to call down. Maybe I'm being too results oriented, but I know making a habit of stacking off in these spots is not the way to beat 1/2.
I'm still up $1500 this run, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.