I think Hand 1 is a pretty clear fold on the turn. Most players that shove there do it because they have it and are deathly scared of the 4th diamond.

I thought so too until I stoved it (and yes, I agree this almost never a semi-bluff given the villain description):

We have 35% equity vs KT suited/TT/44/flopped flushes (realistic ones like suited connectors and one-gappers). If you add a hand like AxJd or something that's trying to fold out top pair, our equity goes up to 38%. We need 37% equity to call here (getting 1.67-1 to call or 1/2.67 = 37%). If you give him half of the TT combos (because he'd open some combos of it) and eliminate any semi bluffs we have 38%.

It's razor-thin, but its a call.

Played 2 1/2 hours of 1/2 this evening and made $155. Evening 1/2 is like taking candy from a baby, but I keep forgetting to bring my headphones when I play 1/2. The things that come out of these peoples mouths tilt me to no end.

Turn is defo a fold. Partly because you block like 100% of his bluffs and as you say, he's not the type of guy to really spazz out here: "Mostly standard ABC type guy. He doesnt slow play. He just plays decent cards and pounds people when he hits." Best case scenario he has a set - either way you have like 15% equity on the turn and he's overbet the pot...

Did you really stove it?



You don't have 35% equity here at all. I think it's also fairly optimistic to think villain will play all his KT this way.

Really? Lmao that's 100% never ever the case and you know it. Obv you're just looking for a way to increase your equity in this spot and feel better about it, but you and I both know this villain makes this play exactly 0% of the time.

It's okay to have made a mistake. **** I have made a few good mistakes over the past couple days myself. I just don't get why can't accept that and instead try desperately to rationalise your play.

Saying this adds no value to your game. You know it's a fold, you have 13% vs flopped flushes which is what villain will have here almost every time. There's a fairly big discrepancy between 13% and 37%, enough that you should perhaps consider the fact that you may have made a mistake here...

Meale, you know that wasnt me who said it was a thin call on the turn, right? You wrote that post like it was to me. Im certain the turn was a fold against this guy.

Oh, lmao mb mate.

As usual for a Tuesday morning, the games were terrible yesterday. I played 2 hours of 2/5 and decided to call it quits and come back later in the evening. I didnt have much to play. I did get 3 small streets of value against a total nit.

1) I open $20 KK. Nit calls in LP
Flop ($45) 763. He calls $25
Turn ($95) 9. He calls $50
River ($195) 4. He calls $50

Nothing earth shattering there. My guess is he had JJ/TT and I really dont thing this nit will call much more. Maybe I couldve bombed the river for $170 to see if he would "hero" me? Might've been worth a try.

I came back in the evening to play 1/2. On the surface it seems pretty dumb for a pretty good 2/5 player to be playing 1/2 but these evening 1/2 games are so soft I cant even describe them here. As ludicrous as this sounds, I think I can sustain $40/hr in these evening 1/2 games with no stress and relatively low variance. My friend was eating dinner at one of the nice restaurants in the casino with his wife. I texted him a few hands and begged him to join me after dinner but he declined. He has no idea what hes missing. Even when Im not getting any cards at all (like last night) these games are better than watching a comedy show.

There was so many ridiculous hands I can even remember them. It was pretty tough to see a flop for less than $15. I was pretty much folding everything but lost $15 a few times calling raises and missing. I lost $35 after 3 betting with KQs once and getting a pile of chips shoved in my face on a AKx flop.

I misplayed this one.

1) Someone raised to $6 and there was a few callers so I called Ah6h. We went 7 to the flop.

Flop ($42) Th7h6d. UTG leads $10. I really really wanted to raise this but I didnt think it would work so I just called and took the great odds. There was one more caller.

Turn ($72) 3s. UTG bets $10 again and only had $50 left. Again, my instinct was to put him all in, but I just called. HU this time

River ($92) some brick and he checks. I check back and he has 74. UGH!

2) Same guy limps UTG. I raise to $15 TT. He calls HU
Flop ($33) J73. He leads $10. I call.
Turn ($53) Q. He leads $10. I raise to $30. He calls.
River ($113) 4. X/X...He has J9. Blah. I thought my TT might be good based on his sizing.

3) 2 limps. HJ raises to $15. I call 87s OTB. We go 5 to the flop.
Flop ($75) 984. HJ bets $25. This guy has been betting and raising every flop. His neighbor called him a gangster and hes eating it up. I call and we go HU.

Turn ($125) 3 He bets $35. I call.

River ($195) 6. He bets $50. I call and he mucks JT. He said something like "hwo do you make the bull**** call?" I said "I had a pair. You know how hard it is to get a pair in this game?" LOL

4) 2 limps. I limp 99 in MP. Couple more limps and the BB raises to $6. Everyone calls. I thought about reraising to isolate the BB. He had $106 to start the hand and there was a fair amount of dead money but these guys just dont fold so I just called to set mine. 7 to the flop.

Flop ($42) Q96 Checked to a drunk guy on my left who bets $20. The BB calls. EP calls. I cr to $100. It folds back to the BB who calls $100 all in. EP thinks a while ad folds and we are HU.

Turn ($282) K
River 7.....BB mucks when I show. EP said he had KQ and was planning on getting his stack in on the turn and definitely would have once he saw the K. Oh well.

I won $125 in 2 hours of 2/5
I lost $90 in 3 1/2 hours of 1/2

I think this is a very interesting thread. I think the state of NLHE in 2017 requires some unorthodox lines in order to beat the game for a good clip, since you can't just flop a set and stack top pair every time like you could in '09. I'm def looking forward to reading more.

In hand 2, why the $30 raise ott? Do you think that sizing will fold out Jx? I don't mind turning our hand into a bluff vs that weak turn bet, but I feel like we prob have to bet more to get a fold.

People aren't as dumb as you think they are. At least some of them. I played a hand the other day in a way that was a little backwards. On the river I value bet it. The opponent said "I know you don't have **** but I can't beat Ace high" and folded.

Really made me think about things. Some players are still clueless. Some think about your hand but not beyond level 2. It is something that can be used to an advantage. The reason is that the better player realizes ranges and frequencies more than the weaker one. For me if a bad player plays predictable it is worth more money than playing against randomly spazzing callers which sometimes can fold. That is the difference. Generally vs the former you can bet for value and bluff. The latter you can pretty much only bet for value even though they fold more than in 2004. It's just enough calling to prevent big bluffs.

I'd rather sit at a table of predictable tighter players than one of loose spazzy. Less variance same money. But a mixed game is my preference with both in there. No matter the 3-4 way pot you have dead money in the middle. The loose player paying off value and the bad predictable player telling you what his hand is and playing face up.

yes.

44/TT/KT (I gave him 3 combos) plus 9 realistic flush combos (suited connectors & one gappers). if villain is in there with J9dd he's got other suited hands (maybe even more than the 9 combos i gave him)

I wasnt bluffing. I thought I had the best hand. This same guy bet middle pair into 6 other people a few hands ago so I have to assume he will bet a hand worse than TT HU. His turn size made me pretty sure he had a weak hand so I raised for value. Once he called the turn raise, I didnt figure he was folding to river bet.

Show me how that gets you 35% lol

Maybe my equity calculator is broken or it'd operator error but...

I notice you occasionally raise medium strength hands like that, seemingly for value. I wouldn't expect worse to call a raise there and I would just flat thinking there's a good chance I'm still ahead also, but maybe I'm wrong.

Nothing wrong with that either. Last time he checked the river with a weak hand. Assuming he checks this time with J9 or a hand that I beat, which is better? A turn raise to $30 or calling his $10?

I probably wont bet the river if he checks to me either way. So I guess it just depends on if Im more than 50% sure Im ahead or not on the turn right? Add whatever FE I have if he does fold a J to my turn raise when the Q hits and I think I only have to be ahead 35-40% on the turn for the raise to be correct.

I think you left out the turn card...

**** you're right!

yeah it's a fold OTT as we only have 21% and we need 37%. wow, I can't believe i missed that lol

Yesterday one of of regular pros said to me

Reg Pro: "You playing the tournament at the Hard Rock tomorrow?"
Reg Donk (me): I laugh and say "You know Im not. Why?"
Reg Pro: "Because I want a piece of your action"
Reg Donk: I chuckle "Why? You know I dont even play tournaments"
Reg Pro: "Your game is perfectly suited for them"
JaceTheMace (who happened to just have sat down at the table): "Yeah, everything except that part where he has to sit for 12+ hours"
Reg Donk: Shakes head, Yes

Conversation continues about the buy in and long lines

Reg Pro: "Im going down there tomorrow (Thursday) to buy in for Fridays flight to avoid being an alternate....and Im going to buy you in also, then when you kill it I wont have to work the rest of the year"
Reg Donk: <Chuckles>

Its very nice to be complimented by a very good pro (even though he spews like a volcano seemingly randomly about once every 10 sessions). Seriously though, Ive played one live tournament in my life and it was a small donk fest.

I had to pick my wife up at the airport last night at midnight and the poker room is closer to the airport than my house so I decided to play a long session that ended at about 11:30. My back has been feeling a bit better and I survived an 8 hour session that ended with me up $502.

For several hours there was a well known female whale at the table. She bought in for $200 six times. At one point she got her last buy in up to $600 and donked it all off in one donkatastic hand. In total, I believe I got zero of her $1200. OK, I may have gotten $15 when she limped and folded a couple flops that I won.

There was another guy who Ive never seen before who apparently everybody knows and he's a tourney legend. Hes won quite a few tournies but I think he also buys in over and over each time so who knows if hes even profitable even though you can find multiple pics of him online holding two cards up like they do when they win a tourney. Just about every good tourney player Ive played with sucks at cash games and this guy was no different. Here are a few hands just with him:

1) He limps in EP. I raise to $25 with AsTc. He calls HU
Flop ($55) Ts5c4c. He checks. I bet $45. He calls.
Turn ($145) 8d. He has $90 left. I shove and he folds.

2) He limps in EP. I raise to $25 Ts9s. He calls HU
Flop ($55) JdTd9h. He checks. I bet $60. He calls.
Turn ($175) Ks. He has $120 left. I shove and he folds.

3) He limps in MP. I raise to $25 KK. He calls HU
Flop ($55) Jh8h3d. He checks. I bet $40. He calls
Turn ($135) 6s. He checks. I bet $75. He folds.

4) He changed seats. He now on my direct right. Hes won a few pots and has about $350. He limps UTG. I limp Ac8c UTG+1. Kinda meh. We go 5 to the flop

Flop ($25) Qc6c3d. He bets $25. I min raise to $50. Folds back to him and he reraises to $150. UGH! This min raise works like 95% of the time but every now and then this happens. I make a loose call and miss the turn. He shoves and I fold.

5) He limps UTG+1. I raise to $25 8s6s. It folds back to him and he calls.
Flop ($55) Qd4s2h. X/X
Turn ($55) 9c. X/X
River ($55) 6h. He checks. I bet $30. He calls and mucks. A player at the other end of the table who thinks Im tight makes a WTF? face like he cant believe I raised 86s. I swear these people I play 100s of hours with dont pay attention. I busted this same guy a few weeks ago after making a $35 preflop raise OTB after 3 limpers with 9c8c and busted his 22 on a 7c4c2dJhAc board.

6) Hes now been blind raising to $15 occasionally UTG and also making a ton of other $15 raises from any position. He opens to $15 in EP. I 3 bet him to $55 with KhQd. He calls HU
Flop ($115) QcJc4c. He open shoves for $110. I call. The board bricks out and he says "I missed" and goes home.

That's a good idea 👍😂 when you bink it,you can start a new thread "taking unorthodox lines to Tournament live poker".. sounds great 👍

Ps. Not trolling

Even for the best players, tourneys are just a +EV lottery ticket, but I will say in 2017 the only place you can sit at a NLHE table where 7 of the 9 players are absolutely atrocious are in tourneys and thats been my experience with them every time (although I don't play many either).

In hand 4, do you min raise the flop to try to see a free turn and river? He seems like a guy who I'd wanna barrel a lot (especially with good equity) based on his play in the other hands but obv he's gonna play back eventually so I don't mind this play(if thats what you were trying to accomplish) after he folded the turn to you 800 times already.

Yeah, I was gonna take the free card. He had folded the turn to me over and over but that was when he was short and I kept putting him all in but the bets weren't that big compared to pot size. He was deeper this time (not deep, but deeper).

I agree completely. Not my cup of tea. I did play online tournies back in the day so its not like Im clueless, but no mater how good you are, the amount of luck needed to get super deep into one of these things boggles my mind. Not my cup of tea.

subbed and gl sir.

I'm in the same boat as you by not playing v many live tournies, yeah lots of luck is needed but it's always a dream to ship something big ha

I played about 3 hrs today. The games are always pretty bad during the summer on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and today was no different. Its all regs and most of them are pretty nitty. They are easily beatable but just not for a very big clip because the pots are mostly all small.

Very first hand of the day.

1) I open to $20 QhJh in EP. An unknown young guy to my direct left calls. One more in MP
Flop ($65) 5h4h4d. I bet $35. Young guy calls HU.
Turn ($135) 9c. I think I can bet here a lot of the time but lately Ive been trying to check in spots like this and Im finding a lot of guys are checking behind. This guy bet $65 though. Ive never seen the guy before so its just a guess but Im putting him on a middle pair. I call.
River ($255) 3s. I check. He bets $150. I fold.

2) The table sucked so I moved. The new table is loaded with tight regs who all know me. The only way to beat these guys is to run them over and raise a lot of hands in position.

Reg limps in MP. I raise to $25 9d7d. He calls.

Flop ($55) Kc9h7s. He check/calls $35
Turn ($125) 3s. He leads $60 with $165 behind. I shove. He folds and says "AK?". I said "No Sir". He said he had a big pair. Obviously his big pair was lower than a K. He does limp things like QQ/JJ all the time

3) Solid TAG opens to $20. I 3 bet to $75 AcKc. He calls.
Flop ($155) Qc9c4d. X/X
Turn ($155) 9s. X/X
River ($155) Qh. X/X. I chop with AcJc.

4) Table broke so I am at another different table.

I open to $20 in EP AhKd. A total fish calls and then the same TAG from hand #3 call in LP
Flop ($65) Qs7s4h. Checked around
Turn ($65) Kc. I check. Fish checks. Solid guy bets $25. I call and fish calls
River ($140) 5c. I lead $60. Im pretty sure I have the best hand. The fish probably has a FD. Im putting the solid guy on something like KJs or a pretty weak hand that he tried to steal the pot with on the turn after it got checked to him twice. I doubt he will bet again. I dont think hes going to bluff again into 2 people. They both folded.

No big hands at all today. I was stuck $165 at one point and ended up $145.