Reviewing a Session:
After a pretty bad session (like I had
yesterday), it's good to go back and examine your play. One way to do that is to look at big pots that you've played. Yesterday, I lost 40 BB's or more in 18 pots.
Those 18 pots can be classified into the following categories:
1. Losing a flip (2). Completely standard and it happens. Yesterday I lost twice with AK vs. QQ in 4-handed situations (i.e. I raise from the CO, get 3B by the SB, and shove my AK).
2. Getting in a big PP preflop, find yourself up against a better one (2). For example, villain here is playing 27/20 over 30 hands:
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
MP2: $35.24
CO: $38.02
BTN: $31.82
SB: $27.36
BB: $25.00
UTG: $11.35
Hero (UTG+1): $12.50
UTG+2: $46.16
MP1: $56.38
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG+1 with Q
Q
1 fold,
Hero raises to $0.75,
2 folds,
MP2 raises to $2.25,
4 folds,
Hero raises to $12.50 all in, MP2 calls $10.25
Flop: ($25.35) 5
8
4
(2 players - 1 is all in)
Turn: ($25.35) 6
(2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($25.35) T
(2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $25.35
MP2 shows A
A
(a pair of Aces)
Hero shows Q
Q
(a pair of Queens)
MP2 wins $24.09
(Rake: $1.26)
Keep in mind that I only have 50 BB's which makes my decision fairly easy. I am 100% ok with how I played both of these hands and neither is particularly interesting.
3. Getting it in with 65%+ equity (2). Once preflop (KK vs. A6o), and then this hand on the turn (villain was 27/20 over 43 hands and I obv I felt he could have worse here with < 1/2 PSB on the turn):
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
CO: $21.35
BTN: $30.11
Hero (SB): $16.40
BB: $27.62
UTG: $25.78
UTG+1: $17.55
UTG+2: $22.30
MP1: $37.17
MP2: $17.54
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with K
Q
1 fold,
UTG+1 raises to $0.75,
2 folds, MP2 calls $0.75,
2 folds,
Hero raises to $3, BB calls $2.75,
1 fold, MP2 calls $2.25
Flop: ($9.75) 4
T
Q
(3 players)
Hero bets $5.25, BB calls $5.25, MP2 folds
Turn: ($20.25) 9
(2 players)
Hero bets $8.15 all in, BB calls $8.15
River: ($36.55) 3
(2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $36.55
Hero shows K
Q
(a pair of Queens)
BB shows A
K
(a flush, Ace high)
BB wins $34.73
(Rake: $1.82)
4. Slow-playing and then having villain get there (4). Those are the ones that need the most analysis. Sometimes slow-playing is a good thing as it allows villains to make second-best hands on later streets. In this case, villain was 23/18 and very aggressive. I decided to slow-play the flop, and then call down.
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
UTG: $39.43
UTG+1: $37.08
UTG+2: $10.00
Hero (MP1): $17.66
MP2: $11.50
CO: $29.70
BTN: $25.00
SB: $32.18
BB: $93.55
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP1 with 4
4
UTG raises to $0.75,
2 folds, Hero calls $0.75,
1 fold, CO calls $0.75,
3 folds
Flop: ($2.60) 8
4
K
(3 players)
UTG bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, CO folds
Turn: ($5.60) 3
(2 players)
UTG bets $4, Hero calls $4
River: ($13.60) 5
(2 players)
UTG bets $12.60, Hero calls $11.41 all in
Final Pot: $36.42
UTG shows 9
T
(a flush, Ten high)
Hero mucks 4
4
UTG wins $34.60
(Rake: $1.82)
5. "WTF was I thinking?" (1). I am ok with a river bet here, but once he raises, it's just a fold. I am 100% sure my mind turned off there for a few seconds.
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
CO: $26.45
Hero (BTN): $21.22
SB: $17.27
BB: $17.91
UTG: $10.35
UTG+1: $21.06
UTG+2: $48.80
MP1: $25.38
MP2: $40.53
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with 7
9
5 folds,
CO raises to $0.75,
Hero raises to $2.50,
1 fold, BB calls $2.25,
1 fold
Flop: ($5.85) 5
7
8
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($5.85) J
(2 players)
BB bets $3.50, Hero calls $3.50
River: ($12.85) 9
(2 players)
BB checks,
Hero bets $6,
BB raises to $11.91 all in, Hero calls $5.91
Final Pot: $36.67
Hero mucks 7
9
BB shows J
J
(three of a kind, Jacks)
BB wins $34.84
(Rake: $1.83)
6. Overplaying hands postflop (2). Villain is a nit, I took AK out of his range preflop and shouldn't have. I blame me having 50 BB's on this.
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
BB: $25.70
UTG: $26.25
Hero (UTG+1): $12.50
UTG+2: $12.98
MP1: $32.17
MP2: $19.17
CO: $30.24
BTN: $35.71
SB: $25.71
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG+1 with A
Q
1 fold,
Hero raises to $0.75,
3 folds, CO calls $0.75,
3 folds
Flop: ($1.85) A
7
3
(2 players)
Hero bets $1,
CO raises to $2.70,
Hero raises to $11.75 all in, CO calls $9.05
Turn: ($25.35) 4
(2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($25.35) 9
(2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $25.35
Hero shows A
Q
(a pair of Aces)
CO shows A
K
(a pair of Aces)
CO wins $24.09
(Rake: $1.26)
7. Bad bluff (1). Meh ... sometimes you get owned.
8. Bluff-catching gone bad (1). Sometimes they got it. This one is close:
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
BB: $42.27
UTG: $9.55
UTG+1: $10.35
UTG+2: $32.39
MP1: $23.58
Hero (MP2): $12.50
CO: $24.48
BTN: $9.91
SB: $6.14
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP2 with J
A
4 folds,
Hero raises to $0.75,
1 fold, BTN calls $0.75,
1 fold, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($2.35) T
6
K
(3 players)
BB checks,
Hero bets $1.50, BTN folds, BB calls $1.50
Turn: ($5.35) Q
(2 players)
BB checks,
Hero bets $3.50, BB calls $3.50
River: ($12.35) 9
(2 players)
BB bets $36.52 all in, Hero calls $6.75 all in
Final Pot: $25.85
BB shows J
Q
(a flush, King high)
Hero mucks J
A
BB wins $24.56
(Rake: $1.29)
9. Raising due to fold equity, calling it off (or shoving) with actual equity (2) (there has to be a better name for this). An opportunity arrives which screams "raise" and then you call it off with equity:
Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter By
DeucesCracked Poker Videos
SB: $47.34
BB: $10.28
UTG: $25.00
UTG+1: $22.65
UTG+2: $36.15
MP1: $25.10
MP2: $25.00
Hero (CO): $12.50
BTN: $6.60
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with 4
A
5 folds,
Hero raises to $0.50,
2 folds, BB calls $0.25
Flop: ($1.10) 2
3
9
(2 players)
BB bets $0.75, Hero calls $0.75
Turn: ($2.60) K
(2 players)
BB bets $1,
Hero raises to $2.75,
BB raises to $9.03 all in, Hero calls $6.28
River: ($20.66) 6
(2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $20.66
BB shows 9
7
(a pair of Nines)
Hero shows 4
A
(Ace King high)
BB wins $19.63
(Rake: $1.03)
10. Cooler (1). TT < 55 on 556T8 board.
What to take away from this:
You want most of your losing pots to be due to coolers, flips, or bad beats. The slow-playing can go either way and is very villain dependent. The ones that you don't want to be losing a lot of pots in are overplaying your hands post-flop and "wtf was I thinking?" (I need a better name for this as well).
Also, if you guys have any other categories in which you lost a big pot, please let me know - I would like to refine this list for the future as a session-evaluation tool.