Why would you check/fold the NFD on the flop? This makes zero sense.

Sorry, just realized that the suits didn't populate from my LLSNL post for some reason. Will edit accordingly.

Ah ok that makes a lot more sense. I assumed it was rainbow flop and the suits didn't matter since you didn't include them originally.

Against a range of 22-TT, 98s,87s,A8s you have 25%

ProPokerTools Hold'em Simulation

2,288 trials (Exhaustive)

board: 8322

Hand	Pot equity	Wins	Ties
AhJh	25.57%	585	0
22-TT,8x7x,9x8x,Ax8x	74.43%	1,703	0

Definitely getting the odds to just call but I think the problem is when we do hit it's going to be hard to get anymore value against hands we beat. If the river is a heart or ace he is probably going to fold if we lead and just check behind if we check.

I think I'd go ahead and shove the turn, possibly fold out some of his weaker pairs and if he calls we are still live against everything but boats.

Only have 35 hours in so far for the month, so close to my goal of 40. I've been feeling a bit under the weather so I haven't played since a short session Saturday, but if all goes to plan I should hit the 40 hour mark Wednesday at the old man home game.

On Saturday I went to the Casino intending to take a shot at 2-5NL as the game should be softer on the weekend. I get to the desk and the floor immediately says "Table #17 Mike". They know me as a 1/2 reg obviously, so just insta sat me there. I decided to see what the table was like, walk around and look at the 2/5 games, then decide if I wanted to switch.

I ended up staying at 1/2 Saturday for two reasons. First, the game was really good. Second, I was feeling a bit run down. If I'm going to take a shot at a higher buy-in I want to go into it feeling close to 100%. Ended up only playing for 3 hours because of my cold but it was super solid. Finished +$420 for the night.

Only one real pot of note:

I raised to $10 over one limper from MP w/ AQo. Button calls, limper calls. Limper is loose passive, limping about 30% of hands, maybe more. Button is loose aggro, appears to be clicking buttons. Is drinking and has voiced frustration about the infrequency of "big pots" at this table. Effective stack is $200, I cover.

Flop ($30): A77 rainbow. Limper checks and I decide to take a non-standard line and check. I believe that checking on such a dry board serves several purposes in this spot:

1. Disguises the strength of my hand for future streets. I think If I lead out here these opponents will fold the great majority of their pocket pairs and only continue with Ax.

2. Allow an opponent to catch a piece on the turn, making a value-bet by me more realistic to be called.

3. Possibly induce a bluff from the Button with air.

Major downside is it's pretty unbalanced (will often want to c-bet boards like this as a bluff), but as this is live poker and I'm the only real thinking player at my table I don't think balancing here is that big of a deal.

So limper checks, I check, Villain on the Button bets $25. Limper folds and we make the call.

Turn ($85): A779 rainbow. Turn is the 9 completing the rainbow board. I elect to check as if the Villain had air they are unlikely to have improved, and if we were beat on the flop we're still beat. Villain bets $55 and we call.

River ($195): A7799. The 9 comes, double pairing the board. I check over to the Villain one last time, with the intention of evaluating based on bet size and physical reads. Villain very quickly bets $65, then gives me the old stare down. I'm getting a really great price and imagine if the villain had a 7 or 9 he would have thought a bit longer about his river sizing. I make the call pretty quickly and Villain mucks his hand.

I find that trying to pick off multi-street bluffs at low limits is generally -EV, but if the right spot arises I think it can be ok. What are your thoughts about how I played this hand?

May Recap
37.75 hours at 1/2NL
+ $1,298
$34.38/hr

Once again I missed my volume goal. I keep making excuses but they feel really valid. I had to leave the Old Man home game I play in early last week to take my Grandma to the hospital. She's fine, but after that visit and lack of sleep I got sick. Ugh.

Either way, another really positive month. I definitely made a point to utilize c/r semi-bluffs more in my game this month to great effect.

A little note about the Old Man home game I reference:

This week we were short a couple of guys and ended up playing a 5 hour session, 5 and then 4 handed. God I love short handed poker, I wish I had the opportunity to play it more at my limits.

I don't have a real sample size yet, but in 8 sessions of this home game so far I've left a winner 7 times, and when I lost it was $24. In 29 hours of that game I'm running at $55/hr. Yeesh!

Think hand is played fine, although some of the logic is a little spotty imo. Your reasons for checking the flop are good, its a WA/WB spot. Where I disagree is that I think we should be pretty balanced here since we'll often check this flop with the intention of c/f sometimes 3-ways as well as times like this when we flop real good (good aces and sevens) and check to allow others to catch up.

If we decide to bet here which I think is also good, we need to size smaller which allows everyone to float, keeps dominated aces in, and should induce button's aggression sometimes.

Think turn is fine, river not sure since he's going to check back a lot of his showdown value, continue barreling with hands that have us dominated and some bluffs, but that's a frequency issue. Open shoving probably isn't great since he should be folding lots to that line. Like check more, but I think the river is probably a super thing value raise once he bets. Not sure how often he's calling, but since he's gotta have way more hands he can call with that we beat than beat us.

Hand is wp, keep it up

Edit: is 10$ open over a limper standard in your game? prefer making it more.

Thanks for the input. Always good to receive another point of view on not just the actions of a particular hand, but also the logic of each street.

My raise size is table dependent, but my default is open to $8 if folded to, +$2 for each limper to me.
That said though, if the table is playing looser I will up my opening amount to build bigger pots while I have a range advantage.

Although your flop check on the A77 flop is "non standard" for most everyone, you should really be checking there 75% of the time unless you're playing against total clowns who will call 3 streets with Ax. If you play this hand 1000 times, you will make more money by checking the flop and getting value later in the hand from fairly weak hands than you will by betting the flop (again, unless you have a moron in the hand who you know will call down with A4)

I would bet the turn though. Now he will call with lots of pocket pairs, 9x, things like T8 and 86, some gutshots like JT that also have overcards to the turn card...ect.

It's been a while since my last update but I've been a busy bee! This month I've been taking shots at 2/5NL with mixed results, although I'm in the black as of now.

Will have a full recap coming at the end of the month but I've really been enjoying myself at 2/5 and feel like my game is definitely growing quickly.

I play in a game similar to the home game you play where I am the youngest guy by quite a few years and I am not super young. I doubt most of them will remember that you called off a hand light or that you chase draws, etc.

My advice would be to just get to know each guy you play with and take an interest in some topic that you can discuss with each guy individually. This has worked for me well over the years in this type of game. If your home game is similar then these guys are just there primarily for the social interaction/aspect of the game. Its harder for them to dislike a guy for winning who can carry on a good conversation. Key is to be equally sociable whether winning or losing each session.

Good Luck with the grind!

Great advice Cckid.

June
1/2 NL 8.5 hours, +$760
2/5 NL 30 hours, -$158
Total 38.5 hours, +$602

June was a super swingy month, but I'm proud of my growth. I put in a decent volume at 2/5NL, and for the time being that is going to be my main game. I've also been putting additional time in away from the table studying and working on my ranges.

Even though my results for 2/5 this month weren't stellar, they're mainly colored by my biggest losing session ever. -$1270 in just 5.5 hours. For those of you who are 2/5 regs I'm sure this doesn't sound brutal, but for someone moving up from 1/2 it was.

After going over the big hands with some friends that are better than me, I felt ok about it though. My decision making that session was fine, and the spots I was in were pretty standard. Just had a bunch of second best hands in a row.

Since then I've become much more comfortable at 2/5. Objectively I've been pretty card dead, but the games I've been in have all seemed beatable. I'm excited to continue my growth at this stake.

Movin on up!

Played the Old Man Home game again last night and it was bittersweet. The host and 2 of the regulars are leaving town for a couple of months so it was the last night of the game for a while.

I've really enjoyed playing in that game and will definitely miss it. Not only is soft, but it lets me play ridiculously aggro and is just a generally good time. Everyone is really friendly to me even though I'm a clear winner in the game and 35+ years younger than all of them. Hopefully it starts back up as strong as ever in September.

One funny hand for the night, 1/2nl:

One limp to me on the button, I raise to $10 with AcTc.

SB calls, limper calls. Flop ($30): As8h5h.

Both V's check to me, I bet $15, SB calls.

Turn ($60): As8h5hTh

V checks, I bet $25, V calls.

River ($110): As8h5hTh2s

V checks, I bet $30, V calls.

I immediately expose my hand, self-congratulating getting max value from a weak A as my opponent looks at my top-two and studies the board. He held on to his cards for about a full minute (not unusual for him at showdown) then slowly exposes Ah3h for the nuts.

This game is good.

Hey Jace, good luck on your way through 2/5. Try to post any hands against good thinking players or just tough spots. I've heard the 2/5 games down there are the best so try to get in some volume!

Thanks Captain! Volume is definitely tricky for me as I have a full time job, but my goal is 40+ hours each month. I've fallen short a couple of times, but am trying hard to hit it this month.

Good luck! I'm basically doing what you're doing.

A couple interesting hands from last night's 2/5 session:

1.) 3 limps to me with 9s9h in the SB. I raise to $40, and get called in 3 spots. $500 effective.

Flop ($160) 5c3c3x

I lead for $75, folds to a regular who I believe is a pro, but definitely not a crusher. He raises to $240. I don't think I can ever call here, either rip-it or fold. I perceive this player as capable of raising with draws especially the nfd and any combo draw.

I move all-in and he snap calls. I ask "did you flop a boat?". Nope, open ended straight flush draw, 6c4c. Nothing like a cool $1.1K coin flip to get the heart pumping.

Hold. Hold!

We fade a million outs and take it down. In hindsight I think I should have checked the flop with the intention of CRAI.

2.) 2 limps to me, I make it $35 with TcTs from the HJ. Young rec player in the CO 3! to $75. I call, and we are $900 effective.

Flop ($165) 8c5h3c. Check, check.

Turn ($165) 8c5h3cAd. Check, check.

River ($165) 8c5h3cAd4h. Check, Villain bets $50. I call and Villain tables KK.

Well played hand by Villain, probably should just fold the river. Price was so good though that I talked myself into it.

3.) 2 limpers to me in the CO, I raise to $35 with Kd9d. SB fishy player flats, BB really really fishy player calls, one limper calls. 4 ways to the flop again.

Flop ($150) 9s5d2d. Everyone checks to me and I bet $65. Kind of small, but I have the board so clobbered. SB folds, BB raises to $150 with $350 behind. Folds to me and I have a decision to make.

Never folding here but I think it's a pretty close spot between ripping and calling. I think villain's range is super wide and includes all sets, a decent number of 9's, PP like TT, and other FD and combo draws.

I call.

Turn ($450) 9s5d2d4d. Villain rips it and we beat him into the pot with our flush. River doesn't pair the board and V shows 9c2s for flopped two pair, and we scoop a nice one.

I knew he was fishy, but I didn't know he was calling $35 out of the BB fishy. Yikes. Knowing this I'm not sure if my flop play should have been different.

What are your thoughts on these three hands?

Id say I'm pretty qualified to respond here....since I was at this table

But first, lets see if you can guess which seat I was in.

P.S....I have a ridiculously good memory and a few of your details are off on these hands.

Woah. Please let me know the details that were off as my memory is ok and not ridiculous at all.

Were you at the table for all 3 hands? The last one happened pretty late.

Were you in seat 10 for the first 2 hands?

If I tell you that, it will make it too easy for you to figure out who I am and ruin my fun.

1) I'm almost positive you raised to $35 from the SB with 99 (not $40). And it went 5 to the flop. I know because I added up the pot size in my head which I do in all big pots to look for bet sizing for certain people.

Most players would like your raise preflop. Personally Im not crazy about it from the SB in evening games when your going to get multiple callers. During tight daytime games its much better but even then I prefer to limp.

Think about how many good flops youre going to get. Not too many. Villains play was really really bad IMO. Also, not betting that flop would be a terrible mistake. You have a $180 pot preflop. You actually have an over pair, its very unlikely anyone else has a higher over pair and with the board paired its less likely anyone has a set. Fire away. I wouldve bet more than you did.

Yep. I hated to leave that table, but my back has really been acting up lately and I was in a lot of pain.

NICE! Yea I've seen you a ton in the casino but I don't think we'd ever played at the same table. I actually made note of a hand you semi-bluffed last night to mark you as capable. Up until that point I thought you were pretty tight.

Your table image, at least to me seemed pretty awesome for the kind of game I know you play from your posts. Whereas I don't shut up at the table, you seemed to be pretty quiet. Well played Mike, well played.

I was pretty card dead after the first 20 mins or so. I dont remember the semi bluff hand.

I do keep to myself for the most part but I can get a lot more talkative when Im around more regs that I play with every day.

We actually played 1/2 PLO together for a little bit about 2-3 months ago.

Yep you're right. My foray into PLO that day was quite brief and involved me making the second best hand a bunch.

Well now that you know who I am you have someone new to chat with at the tables.