Great posts man

For the QQ hand I think its a slam dunk 4bet for value with the fish opening and against the described villain who should have a wide 3bet range as you mentioned. Are you sure he's a winning player and not just a more breakeven aggro lag? I really don't expect winning pros to take such high variance lines as to 5bet bluff you here. I Honestly don't hate the fold. The fact that he showed the J is some information we can use and adjust in the future so I wouldn't beat yourself up over it too much. Did you give up any information or get any other information from him while you were tanking before folding?

What would you have done with KK in that QQ hand?

I don't hate the fold because I've never seen a 5 bet bluff in a $5 blind game. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a 4 bet with less than QQ. It's interesting that he chose to bluff you without AK in his hand. It worked this time but I am not sure if it's a +EV play long term unless he has a specific read on you.

Regardless, I give him props for having the balls to make a move that 99% of the player pool (including myself) wouldn't/couldn't make. I would hate to play against him OOP for sure.

Thanks man! Appreciated.

So - I can't be 100% sure he's a winning player but I would bet that he is. Here's what I know about him:

He's a younger Asian guy, maybe late 20s/early 30s. Very calm, relaxed, and comfortable at the table, is fairly quiet - ie, doesn't go out of his way to make conversation with people (you can tell he's there to play, not to make friends or be social but he's not a dick or anything). Usually wears basketball shorts and sandals. Doesn't wear headphones or play on his phone at the table.

I hadn't seen him before a couple months ago, but then he started playing fairly regularly in my game. I didn't see him at all during the WSOP, so I'm guessing he was out in Vegas for it. I'm not positive he's a full-time professional player but I do think he plays at a professional level. I get the feeling that he's played 5/10 and maybe above, but that's just a guess.

He's very aggressive but he's not a LAG; he actually plays pretty tight. So I'd classify him as a hyper-TAG. Tbh he plays the way I try to play - he plays fewer hands than most players, but he plays them at a very high intensity. (As opposed to most players, who play a lot of hands, and at low intensity).

And I agree that most pros wouldn't make this play - most of the pros I know at 2/5 are just super solid ABC type players who value-bet well and fold well. This guy isn't like that - he's an aggressive barreler who looks for every opportunity to put pressure on his opponents. I'd describe him as fearless, which is a huge compliment.

I also have the feeling he wouldn't have made this move on anyone at the table besides me. He knows I'm the only one who would cold 4-bet him light, and because I was on the button I think that's what he thought was going on in this hand. I highly doubt he was intentionally trying to move me off a big pair like I was representing - I think he thought I was making a move. Even when we were talking a little bit afterwards, he said he thought I had something like A-5. I think that's why he showed me the J, not to punk me, but to discourage me from making moves on him. But I like that he did it, because the next time I put pressure on him, he won't know if I'm doing it for value or I'm trying to exact revenge for this hand.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.


Yeah, definitely just gotta give him props. Sometimes you're gonna get outplayed, esp vs other good players.

And I agree - you just never see 5-bet bluffs at 2/5. I did know that if anyone was capable of doing it, it was him. He just got a level up on me here, and you're right, we just need to use that dynamic to play better against him in the future.

If I'd have had KK here I never would have folded, 100% would have 6-bet/got it in. Against a player like him, you could never range him down to just AA.

But there's def a big strength difference between KK and QQ. Like if I give him a range of QQ+, AK, and a couple bluffs, say AJs (I'm guessing that's what he held in this hand) and A5s, QQ has 46.1% equity while KK has 60% equity.

Thanks for your thoughts man.

Really loving your blog and hand breakdowns. How do you recall your hands so specifically? Do you take notes while you play?

If you don't mind continuing on the discussion,

the reason I asked what you would do if you had KK in that hand is because I am always curious what good players would do with KK when they are super deep.

Here's an interview by late Bobby Hoff, in case you haven't seen it.
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...-hoff-1366113/

He basicallys says that KK is the most difficult hand to play in a deep stacked NL. That really was eye opening for me coming from a great NL cash player. Even prior to seeing that interview, I had always found KK difficult to play when stacks were deep but I thought that was because I wasn't good at playing really deep.

Back to the hand. I know it's all hypothetical but I was just curious whether you would've flatted or 6 bet with KK in that spot and whether you were willing to get it in if he came over the top.
I know you would never have folded, that wasn't even a consideration. I have yet to play KK when I am 450bb deep so I am not sure what I would've done.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We're only 230 bb deep and he 5 bet to 1/4 of stacks there isn't really a 6bet sizing that isn't all in.

However, I feel like this is a spot to flat your whole continuing range here. The SPR is going to be like 1.5 postflop and you have position. We have no worries about "trapping" with KK and AA, we can easily get the money in postflop. Moreover, flatting KK and AA protects the more marginal hands in our range that want to call like QQ and AKs.

After doing range analysis I think QQ does have to be a call in game because even if you range him as tight as AKs and KK+ you are getting the right odds to call, we only need 27% equity. However, you probably have to be willing to go with it whenever you flop an overpair.

Thanks dude! Glad you're enjoying it.

So to answer your question, I was actually blessed with an eidetic memory for cards, which is weird because I forget normal stuff all the time. Like ALL the time. So I just naturally remember hands really well - flops, the suits, all of that - sometimes even from years ago. The betting I tend to remember fairly well too, but not quite as well. So a lot of it I do by memory.

However (and this is the part that will be helpful) I also often use a free app called "Share My Pair" to log hands and share them with a couple of my poker player friends. You literally just plug in your hand, your opponents, the cards, and then log the betting.

It seems like kind of a cumbersome process the first couple times you do it, but after you do it a few times it's actually really easy, and I can log hands in there super quick now. Then you have a database of hands to look back on, and you can copy the link from any hand and text it to your friends so they can check your hands out, as opposed to writing it all down it a text like I used to.

So I will use that app a couple times per session, and then later I can look back at my hands to study and analyze them, and it also helps with the betting and positions etc when I post the hands here.

Hope that's helpful!



For sure - I remember that interview, it was originally in one of Harrington's books. I loved it.

Not all of it is germane to the modern game, but some of the wisdom in there holds up even today. My favorite line in that interview - one that actually made a HUGE impact on my game, was this:

"And I said — you know what? I’m going to go in today, and every time I see a play, I’m going to make every play I see. I eventually won $80,000 over a period of a few months in that poker game. I just killed it. I went overboard. I literally made every play I saw and destroyed that game.

You played without fear.

I totally played without fear. Every time I saw a play, a chance to take the pot, I took it. And I took so many of them I couldn’t believe it."

You can see echos of that theme ITT, and also in my previous thread from years ago (linked in the OP), the same. Basically the day I just decided I was going to start listening to that little voice that said "make this play, it'll work" in my head was how I made my biggest leap as a poker player.

As for the hand - I think there's a ton of truth to what Hoff is saying about KK in deep-stacked situations. ESPECIALLY against solid players.

I think tho against this specific player - who I know is willing and capable and often does make moves - I just have to play it like it's the nuts.

We were $2300 effective, so I would have click-back 6-bet to $1200, and called it off on a jam. I wouldn't have jammed myself, because I wouldn't want to take away his opportunity to go all-in on a bluff, just in case.

Usually he'd fold to that 6-bet, but if he did happen to just call, that's fine. The pot would then be $2400 and we'd have $900 behind, so I'm never folding the flop no matter what came.

Against most solid 2/5 regs I would def not want to get it AIPF for 450+ BBs with any hand besides AA.

Because of the straddle? So if there's a straddle to $10, a blind raise to $20 by the next player, another blind raise to $40 by the next player, is our stack considered 55bb deep now? Serious question because I didn't know you had to account for straddles when considering bb.

that would be correct yes

True true, I forgot it was a straddled hand when quoting the BBs

I think this is really good analysis. I never should have folded the hand, and I just kinda got lost and decided to bail out.

I'm going hard after my hours right now - like I've mentioned before I'd really like to get to 400 by the end of the month.

Early in the session, a hand came up that I feel like I misplayed:

PREFLOP:
HERO ($800) picks up AK in MP after 2 limps and raises to $35.
A meh reg (covers) on the button called $35, and everyone else folded.

FLOP ($80): A104
HERO bets $35
BUTTON calls $35

TURN ($150): K
HERO bets $80
BUTTON calls $80

RIVER ($310): 7
HERO bets $250
BUTTON folds AJ face up

I should be making a smaller bet here. I'm targeting weaker Ax hands, and by betting so big I'm giving them a chance to get away (which is what happened here).

Also, if villain happened to hit 2 pair (which is unlikely since he likely would raise if he flopped or turned 2 pair, so really only A-7s makes that), he'll be much more inclined to raise a small bet, but he'd just call this big bet.

My sizing wasn't appropriate for the hands I was targeting for a call. If I bet $150-$180, I get called here all day. Poor sizing cost me 30+ BBs. Bad job Sammy.


Then, for several hours I went ice cold. I was really card dead, and the few hands that I did play, I either missed or hit softy and got raised off of my hand.

4.5 hours into the session, I was down a few hundred and was ready to chalk it up to just one of those sessions.

Then a middle-aged middle eastern guy sat down, a guy I'd never played with before. He's the villain in both of the next two hands:

HAND 1: Hero gets put to the test with an overbet jam

PREFLOP:
4 players limp for $5
HERO ($600) has 77 on the button and raises to $40
Only the villain ($465) in the BB calls $40

FLOP ($100): 844
SB checks
HERO bets $50
SB calls $50

TURN ($200): 5
SB checks his cards, then jams for $375
HERO tank-folds

I almost called here. Villain's check of his cards indicated that he was checking to see if he had a diamond in his hand, which means he rarely has a flush.

Villain had been playing loose and aggressive for the short time he'd been at the table, and I thought he might even be doing this with something as weak as AJx. Or possibly 66x, or 22x.

But he could also have something like 8x9 or 9-9/10-10. If the bet was smaller I for sure would have called, but I for nearly 2x pot, I decided to let this one go.

----------------------------

HAND 2: Hero gets put to the test with an overbet jam, part deux

PREFLOP:
5 players limp for $5
HERO ($560) looks down at KK in the SB and raises to $40
The BB (decent player, covers) calls $40
Villain ($600) limp-calls $40 UTG+1
MP limp-calls $40

FLOP ($170): J102
HERO checks
BB checks
VILLAIN open-jams for $560
MP folds
HERO tank-calls all-in for $520
BB folds

I could easily c-bet this flop, something like $120 with the intention of jamming the turn for another $400 on safer turns. But I decided to take an alternate line, since anyone with a strong hand would surely be betting it for me, and then I could c/r all-in while seeing action from everyone else first, to make sure there wasn't a big bet and then a raise, something like that ... and then this ****ing guy just open-rips it in for 3x pot on the flop.

MP folded before it got back to me, and I wasn't worried about the BB - if he had a big hand like top 2 or a set, surely he would have bet out on this flop. So I was only worried about the villain.

Obviously he has a lot of hands in his range here, being the type of player he is. He can have flush draws, straight draws (unlikelier bc I block KQ, the nut straight draw), and combo draws with the 10x.

He could also just be smashing in top 2 or a set of deuces (I thought sets of 10s and Jacks were unlikely since he didn't raise pre).

In the end, even though I was sure he has plenty of equity no matter what, I just decided I couldn't in good conscience fold this hand to him. So I called it off.

TURN ($1210): 3

RIVER ($1210): 7



BOOOOM baby. This felt real good. I was having a crap session and had already been blown off a hand by this guy.

And I was staring down the specter of a -$800 session if he either hit his hand or had me beat from the get-go.

Fortunately he was drawing, and I ran good to hold up ... and I ended up a winner today. Feels good man.

------------------------------

Session results:
5 hours
+$442

Year-to-date results:
391 hours, 35 minutes
+$21,686

Great thread. Possibility one of the best on this forum.
Don't know why I haven't been following all this time
In!

Ha thanks man. Glad you're diggin it.

I always just show in this scenario. Especially if your opponent is a losing player, they will often be ashamed of their hand and how they played it, and desire to muck. We want our opponents to be comfortable making big mistakes against us, we don't want to shame or embarass them for doing so. Also, villain might have missed that he backdoored something. By forcing him to show we can actually cost ourselves the pot.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and I normally just show the winner too.

There was just kinda something about this guy that rubbed me the wrong way, real macho and trying to run over the table, and he'd already moved me off a hand. So I didn't much feel like giving up (or the rest of the table) information about my hand if he wasn't going to give me information about his.

Wow this thread is so good. 5 star thread. Cant believe if just seen it now. Subbed!

Keep it up! Love it!

I've also just read through the whole tread! Love the work ethic, keep it up!

Nah man it's hands down the best thread

Damn y'all are far too kind

Just an overall bad today today, my friends.

From the moment this day started, I was out of sorts. I have no idea why, just was.

I got up early to clean my car out near my condo complex's dumpster, and some lady accused me of being a vagrant that was going through the dumpsters. Like I was wearing basketball shorts and had just recently woken up but ... damn. Weird way to start the day off.

Then I went to a doctor's appointment ... only to find out when I got there that it's in 2 weeks, not today. I don't know why I thought it was today, but I did. Trippin.

Then I took my car in to get an oil change and a new tire (I had a blowout yesterday afternoon) at 10:30 am, planning to get it back in a couple hours at most and then go play poker the rest of the day.

Instead, they weren't done with it until 6pm, which meant I didn't sit down at the table until almost 7:30pm, leaving me with very little time left to play.

And when I finally did play, I played awfully. I wasn't there long, but here were the 3 hands of the session:

------------------

HAND 1: I completely cooler 2 people ... and manage to make no money

***It's a dealer change, so we're gonna play a bomb pot. However, two of the action regs aren't there, so there's some question of if we should play it or wait for them. I say that we should play it, since it's not fair to the button to not get the button in a bomb pot, and then we play it later and someone else gets it. The table agrees and we play the bomb pot 8-handed.

---HERO is UTG with KK---

FLOP ($200): K63
Two players check
HERO checks
Bad reg next to act ($485) bets $185
Everyone folds, including MP, who thinks, then shows his hand to his neighbor before folding
HERO calls $185

TURN ($570): Q
HERO checks
UTG+1 checks

RIVER ($570): J
HERO bets $300 to put UTG+1 all-in
UTG+1 tank-folds K6


Ok, there's a lot going on here:

On the flop, I think checking is totally fine, since I have the board so crushed.

The villain who bet $185 is the kind of guy who bets big with his good hands, because he's afraid of getting drawn out on. And he's always afraid of every card. So I should have just raised him all-in on the flop, and I would have gotten paid. I just thought if his hand was that good he'd for sure jam the turn, and he didn't.

So I definitely misplayed that, and it cost me $300.

But here's the kicker: MP folded AA to the villain's $185 bet

Which means that I had KK vs AA and K6 on a K-6-3 flop and got one ****ing bet out of it.

And even though I don't regret it because it's consistent with my beliefs, if I hadn't opined that we play the bomb pot anyway, I would have doubled up though the AA if we'd just played the pot regularly - which honestly isn't that big of a difference if I'd just played the pot correctly instead of the way I did play it ($800 profit if it's not a bomb pot, $660 profit if I play the bomb pot correctly).

So basically everything about this pot was tilting. Huge bulbous monster tilt.

-------------------------------------

HAND 2: Welp City, population: Me

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 UTG with AJ
4 players call

FLOP ($100): J93
HERO leads for $50
MP ($1000) calls $50
BUTTON ($200) calls $50

TURN ($250): 5
HERO bets $150
MP folds
BUTTON calls $150 and is all-in

RIVER ($550): K



--------------------------------------

HAND 3: I am bad and should feel bad

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
MP (an action reg with $1000) opens to $35
HIJACK calls $35
HERO ($655) calls $35 on the button with 99

FLOP ($115): J102
MP c-bets $75
HIJACK folds
HERO calls $75

TURN ($265): 5
MP bets $160
HERO calls $160

MP is a very happy, talkative guy, but he usually doesn't talk during hands. In this hand he continued to talk to his neighbor during the hand. It made me feel like he was trying to act natural, so I thought he might be bluffing here, esp with a hand like AK/AQ. So I called, and was planning on calling off my last $390 on the river.

RIVER ($585): 3
MP bets $200

Well, that isn't what I was expecting. If he were bluffing, surely he'd set me all-in. $200 isn't a bluff that is trying to get me off a hand, it's a bet that wants a call.

So I tank ... and I talk myself into a scenario where he's bluffing but doesn't want to lose too much on the bluff. "Stick with your original read" I told myself, which is completely stupid because that's basically ignoring new information that I now have, namely that he's making a "call me" bet on the river which is rarely, if ever a bluff.



-----------------------------

Sure, I had some unlucky circumstance both in the bomb pot and the 2nd hand where the guy turned 2-pair with his bs J5s.

But mostly, I played bad. I cost myself $300 in the bomb pot by playing it poorly, and $435 in the last hand calling down 3 streets with an underpair to two overs, including a river bet that clearly wanted a call. That's donkey ****. I really wasn't sharp today and deserved to lose.

Gonna play tomorrow and I'm gonna play a lot better than I did today.

Session results:
1 hour, 50 minutes
-$613

Year-to-date results:
393 hours, 25 minutes
+$21,073

That J5 hand is severely triggering me. WOOF. Poker's hard, man. I'm sure you played most of the hands in this session well, but I love that your focus is NEVER on taking the victory laps on the hand where you come out on top. What value does that add? It just sucks that poker is a game of little moments that make your entire night/week/month etc.

I especially identified the part where you knew that your call was wrong because you were ignoring new information by overweighing your "original read." It's always hard trying to balance your own intuition with board texture and whatever additional info you can glean from your opponents. We only get so much info to begin with so when we get any kind of read on someone it can be a challenge to properly weigh it against all other input. Like always, it's a balance with no clear-cut answer. Thanks for always putting these write-ups down for us on here to dissect. Makes me realize how emotionally weak I can be at times when after losing sessions I don't even want to think about my session at all until a day or so later, let alone do detailed hand histories immediately after where I'm brutally honest and self-aware in a public setting.

*gives dap*

Thanks man. These days I'm really focused on keeping my ego out of poker; I think it can be a really destructive force for poker players and one of the ways is by us not being honest with ourselves about our play to protect our ego.

I think you see that all the time with players who constantly complain about their run-bad and how they played things perfectly, but are never able to talk about the things they are doing wrong. They blame everything but themselves - you know the type.

And they're destined to never get better because of it. I think the only way to get better at this game is to honestly analyze your play so you can work on your weaknesses.

Of course it's easier said than done. Poker attracts highly competitive people, and highly competitive people tend to have egos. But if you can realize that ego is going to keep you from winning and you're able to mostly set it aside, you're way ahead of the game imo.

Even tho I know I'm a good player, I'm far from perfect. I make multiple mistakes every single session. And it helps me to post them here and "talk them out" so I can continue to try to get better.

Good bounce-back session tonight, tho I ran well rather than play great. But while I didn't get quite as much value for a couple hands as I should have, I didn't make any bad calls and stayed out of bad spots. Sometimes, that's as important as anything.

I'll just post a couple quick hands:

----------------------

HAND 1: 4-betting light, and it works

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $15 on the button with A3
SB (an old surly reg who's solid overall but does make aggressive moves) 3bets to $50
BB folds
HERO 4-bets to $150
SB calls $150

FLOP ($300): KJ10
SB checks
HERO checks

TURN ($300): A
SB checks
HERO checks

RIVER ($300): 9
SB checks
HERO checks



---------------------------

HAND 2: I get pretty good value but didn't play it perfectly

PREFLOP:
2 players limp for $5
Aggressive pro ($2500) in the CUTOFF raises to $35
HERO ($1000) 3-bets to $125 on the button with KQ
Loose player ($700) cold-calls $125 in the BB
All other players fold

I liked 3-betting here since I knew the aggressive pro would be isolating wide against the limpers, and I block a lot of strong hands he can have even though I don't have an ace in my hand

FLOP ($295): QJ5
BB checks
HERO checks

I figure I'm in a way ahead/way behind spot here. It's going to be hard to get 3 streets from second-best hands, so I check to allow him to bluff when I show weakness (I'm basically feigning AK here), which he tends to do

TURN ($295): 7
BB bets $120
HERO calls $120

RIVER ($535): 2
BB checks
HERO bets $150
BB folds 99x

I was trying to get value from Qx and Jx, but I think I should have bet bigger to make it look bluffier, to continue the look that I had AKx and maybe get a hero call. I think the $150 looks a little too much like it wants a call.

---------------------------

HAND 3: I play AA weird and I'm not quite sure why

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
HERO limps UTG with AA
3 others limp for $10
BB raises to $40
HERO ($1600) back-raises to $160
Folds back to the BB (a looser, fishier player with $1000) calls $160

FLOP ($350): J96
BB checks
HERO checks

Don't ask me why I checked. I really don't know. I was kind of afraid of the guy having JJ, and I figured if he had worse it would be tough for me to get 3 streets all-in against him.

But this thinking is all bad. You should never be afraid of some cooler hand, and against a loose bad player you should be trying to shovel chips in here. Especially since there are plenty of draws available, including the FD, overs+gutters, and open-enders.

Not betting here is borderline criminal.

TURN ($350): 3
BB bets $100
HERO calls $100

The same things that were true on the flop are true here. However, his hand is more weighted toward cautious made hands (instead of semi-bluffing with a draw) with this small bet; usually a bluff is going to be bigger. Because of that I don't think a raise here is as mandatory as betting the flop.

RIVER ($550): 6
BB bets $130
HERO raises to $310
BB tanks for 2 full minutes ... and finally says, "Gah. I call, nice hand".



I don't know what he had, but guessing by his small pf raise oop (more of a pot-builder than a protection raise to thin out the field) it was a marginal pair, something like J-10, 9-10, or even 8-8.

Likely something I wouldn't have been able to stack him with, and my raise size on the river seemed pretty optimal for the time he took to finally call.

However, just because it (maybe) worked out ok in this specific hand doesn't mean I actually played it well. Checking the flop was very bad and I regardless of if I could've gotten stacks in, I never even gave him the opportunity to break himself. When you have AA against a bad player, that's simply something that must happen.

-----------------------

Session results:
5 hours, 30 minutes
+$1,352

Year-to-date results:
398 hours, 55 minutes
+$22,425

Got a little Monday late afternoon session in today, played several really interesting hands - Here we go:

-------------------------

HAND 1: Flopping Quadzilla

PREFLOP:
A weak player limps in EP
HERO raises to $20 on the button with J10
BB calls $20
EP limp-calls $20

FLOP ($60): 101010
Action checks to HERO, who checks back

TURN ($60): 6
BB checks
EP bets $35
HERO calls $35 and BB folds

RIVER ($130): 3
EP bets $75
He only has about $90 more, so HERO puts him all-in
EP quickly folds

Pretty clear he was just trying to bluff at the pot


-----------------------------

HAND 2: Hero pulls off a nice little bluff

PREFLOP:
The same weak player from the previous hand limps in EP (he's reloaded to $300)
HERO raises to $25 from the HIJACK with A10
EP limp-calls $25

FLOP ($50): Q98
EP checks
HERO checks

I check because I don't rate to get a lot of folds on this board from his limp-calling range

TURN ($50): 6
EP checks
HERO bets $40
EP calls $40

I bet the turn since I turn a big draw - a double-gutter and the nut flush draw. Also, EP certainly would have bet the turn if he held a Queen (or maybe even a 9), so I think this bet gets through often.

I regretted my sizing as soon as I let the bet go - I think this is a good spot for an overbet against a non-thinking player, something like $65 would have been better.

RIVER ($130): 3
EP checks
HERO bets $85
EP folds

Since I felt he almost never has a good pair here, I put in a solid bet to get him off weak one-pair hands like 6-7, 7-8, and 6-5. It would be pretty bad of me to check back and let a BS hand like that win the pot.

---------------------------

HAND 3: Turning JJ into an all-in bluff

PREFLOP:
A rec player UTG ($850) limps for $5
HERO (covers) raises to $25 in MP with JJ
LP calls $25
UTG limp-raises to $75
HERO calls $75 and LP folds

I feel like when rec players do this, it's usually a big pair. I call with the intention of set-mining, but folding if I whiff and he put any serious money into the pot.

FLOP ($175): 955
EP bets $75
HERO calls $75

I can't in good conscience fold to one less-than-half-pot bet. It's possible the guy has AK, so I call to see if he continues on the turn.

TURN ($325): 8
EP bets $75
HERO calls $75

This ****ing sausage smoker bets $75 again. I just can't fold even though I want to. If the guy would just not be a cuckweasel and put in a legit bet, I could get out of this damn hand.

RIVER ($475): 9
EP bets $75
HERO jams all-in for $625 effective

And here ... we ... go. I was staring at that river card hoping it was a Jack so I could stack this dude.

But I realized that when it paired the top card, it created a tremendous bluffing opportunity. It's plenty credible that I was calling along with a 9, hands like 10-9s, 9-7s, J-9s, A9s, etc. And then I got lucky on the river.

The guy had just sat down a few minutes earlier, and no one wants to go broke right away. And the stack sizes were just right - it was a big raise over his small bet and for a lot of money, but because there was a good amount of money already in the pot, it was laying me a nice price to go for it. I just had to pull the trigger.



------------------------------

***The next two hands are against the same villain. If you've been following along with this thread, he's the same guy from a few posts ago that 5-bet bluffed me off of QQ. He's very good, VERY aggressive, but he's not very loose. Just super high-intensity and fearless - when he gets in a pot, he puts a lot of pressure on his opponents with big bets.

HAND 4: Homie puts the screws into me

PREFLOP:
Rec lady in MP opens to $15
Nitty prop in the cutoff calls $15
HERO ($1400) picks up AQ on the button and 3-bets to $55
VILLAIN ($975) 4-bets from the SB to $185
MP and CUTTOFF fold
HERO calls $185

This son of a gun. We both know that he 5-bet bluffed me pre not too long ago, so I'm wondering if he'd do it again ... or if he's doing it for value now.

Maybe I should be 5-bet/getting it in here, but in position, I'm cool with calling and letting my positional advantage work for me. If I hit my hand I can let him barrel off and get max value.

FLOP ($400): AK10
VILLAIN bets $140
HERO calls $140

I flop top pair, but I can't say I'm in love with this flop. The top end of his value range is still ahead of me - AA, AK, KK, 10-10. But, I do have top pair and a gutter, so things could be worse.

Either way, there's no reason to raise here - I only get called when I'm beat.

TURN ($680): Q
VILLAIN jams for $650
HERO goes into the tank

This guy just put me into the sickest spot. I hate him.

I made 2 pair, but I don't beat anything except a bluff - which I know he's fully capable of having.

I lose to everything he's betting for value: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 10-10, AK. Plus now a couple of preflop bluffs that made a straight, hands like AJ, KJ, QJ, J-10 ... He basically has to be doing this with complete air for my hand to be good.

The problem is that he could absolutely be bluffing here. This is the 2nd time he's made a big play back at me when I've 3-bet from the button - he read me as light the last time, so he could easily be doing this thinking I'm light again. And as long as I don't have a Jack in my hand, he's got me in a huge bind.

And I know this is one of his favorite plays: Re-raise pre, down-bet the flop, jam huge on the turn. I've seen him do it several times before, and he's shown down both value and bluffs. I haven't played with him enough to gauge his true frequencies, but I know he does this as a bluff far more than most people.

I count out the $650 and almost call. But then I just think, this would be such a good spot for him to be value-owning me considering our history ...





--------------------------------

HAND 5: Hero gets a little bit of sweet revenge

PREFLOP:
HERO ($1080) opens to $20 in MP with 78
VILLAIN (covers) is next to act and 3-bets to $60
HERO calls $60

FLOP ($120): 762
HERO checks
VILLAIN c-bets $100
HERO calls $100

TURN ($320): 3
HERO checks
VILLAIN checks

Interesting large bet-sizing by villain on the flop, and then a check-back on the turn. If villain held an overpair, I don't think he's ever checking back on the turn, so I'm confident I'm ahead now.

RIVER ($320): K
HERO checks
VILLAIN bets $400
HERO check-ships for $920
VILLAIN folds

Since I put villain on air, betting the river for value when I back into a flush doesn't make any sense.

A check is way better; it gives him a chance to bluff, and the King is a good card for him to bluff since he can now put a lot of pressure on smaller pairs, repping AK. And he obliges.

The problem for him is that I wasn't going to give him credit anyway - if this was an offsuit K, I'm calling his bet. But since I backdoor my flush, I give the obligatory check-ship, but he folds since he didn't have a hand.

------------------------

Overall, a really fun and intense session.

Session results:
3 hours, 10 minutes
+$829

Year-to-date results:
402 hours, 5 minutes
+$23,254

Tonight was a wild session. I got into a lot of big pots and to be frank, ran into a lot of cold-deck situations. Maybe a couple of them I could have played better but no doubt the deck was mostly unkind to me today. I can't complain because I've run pretty true all month, but sometimes luck - good and bad - runs in streaks.

-------------------------

Early on, I was down about $200 and I looked down at 75

A weak player limped UTG, and I raised to $25. The button called and EP ($475) called.

The flop ($75) came KQJ
EP checked
HERO bet $35
Button folded
EP check-raised to $100
HERO called

The turn ($275) dropped the 8
EP bet $100
HERO called $100

The river ($475) came the A
EP jammed for $250
HERO snap called, with his trap set perfectly



---------------------------

Hero reloads to $800 and soon after, goes to take a break. Hero comes back in time to get dealt in UTG ... and looks down at AA

Hero opens to $20, and an average reg UTG+2 3-bets to $60.
Hero 4-bets to $160, and the reg calls.

FLOP ($320): 456
HERO bets $140
AVG REG raises all-in to $600
HERO snaps



---------------------------------

A bit later, MP opens to $20, and a loose-passive ($500) in CU calls $20
HERO is in the BB with KK and decided to just flat to trap

FLOP ($60) comes J73
Hero check, MP leads for $20, and CUTOFF calls $20
HERO check-raises to $70
MP folds, but the CUTOFF calls $70

TURN ($220): 7
HERO bets $150
CUTOFF calls $150

At this point, I think he must likely be chasing the flush. He could have a straight draw to go with his FD or something like Jx

RIVER ($520): J
HERO checks
CUTOFF bets $105
HERO calls $105

This dude was a loose-passive, this is almost never a bluff. But getting better than 6:1 I was like **** it, and called.



----------------------------

Soon after, HERO opens to $20 in the cutoff with KK
3 other players call - The button, the SB, and BB

The flop ($80) comes 1086
After 2 check, HERO bets $40
The BUTTON calls $40 and the other two fold

TURN ($160): 4
HERO bets $95
BUTTON calls $95

RIVER ($350): 9
HERO checks
BUTTON bets $150
HERO folds

Pretty much the worst card in the deck. Villain in the hand wasn't the bluffy type anyway, he tended to play his hands cautiously and straightforwardly. Even though I held the K, I didn't really consider calling at all.

---------------------------

Not long after, MP raises to $15 and the LoJack, Hijack, and Button all call
HERO looks down at AJ in the SB and calls $15


We go 5 ways to a flop ($75) of JJ2
HERO checks, and action checks through

TURN ($75): 3
HERO checks, and action check to a rec player in the cutoff who bets $25
The BUTTON calls $25
HERO check-raises to $100
Only the CUTOFF calls $100

RIVER ($300): 4
HERO bets $200
CUTOFF calls $200



Very nasty cold-deck, and I'm lucky to not have lost more.

-----------------------------

In the next orbit, MP limps for $5, the HIJACK raises to $25, and the CUTOFF, BUTTON, and SB all call $25.

HERO looks down at KK in the BB and 3-bets to $145
The original limper in MP goes all-in for his short stack of $58
The original raiser in the HIJACK calls $145
The CUTOFF and BUTTON both fold
The SB (an unknown player with $655) calls $145

So we go 3 ways (with a 4th player all-in) to a flop ($493) of A73
Action checks around

TURN ($493): 5
Action checks around

RIVER ($493): 5
SB shoves all-in for $510
HERO folds and CUTOFF folds



That's right, this dude called a raise, then a big 3-bet, out of position in a multi-way pot with Q5 offsuit, then went runner-runner against KK to win $500. Sickness.

----------------------------

A weak player limps for $5 in MP, and the loose fish that won the last pot limps in the Hijack

HERO raises to $30 in the cutoff with KQ
The BUTTON (a prop player with $206) calls $30 on the button
The two limpers call $30 as well

FLOP ($120): K85
MP and HIJACK check
HERO checks
BUTTON bets $85
MP and HIJACK fold
HERO puts BUTTON all-in for $174 total, and BUTTON calls

TURN: K
RIVER: 3



Welp. Homie called 15% of his stack to set-mine and hit it against my top pair+2nd nut flush draw. Of course haha.

-------------------------------

A strong pro sits down 2 to my left, and soon after we get into a pot.

A loose-passive ($1500) limps in MP
HERO raises to $25 with 99
Pro on the BUTTON 3bets to $80
MP cold calls $80
HERO calls $80

FLOP ($240): KKQ
MP checks
HERO checks
BUTTON bets $105
MP folds
HERO calls $105

I have the sense that villain is light here. He could easily have an underpair or a hand like Ax suited. I'm not giving up that easy, so I call.

TURN ($450): J
HERO checks
BUTTON checks

RIVER ($450): 8
HERO checks
BUTTON checks



He was making a light move and got there. Would have been a lot cooler if he didn't.

----------------------------------

Then this hand came up:

HERO ($900) opens to $25 UTG with AA
4 players call, including the loose fish in the BB ($1200)

FLOP ($125): Q104
BB checks
HERO c-bets $60
Folds around to the BB
BB quickly check-raises to $300
HERO tanks

This is such a sick spot. I'm stuck, I'm getting beat on left and right, and now this guy makes a stack-committing raise on me when I have AA.

I just wanna shove here for my $900. But deep inside, it just feels like I'm beat. The way the quickly flicked the three $100 chips out there. The fact that I hold the A, so he doesn't have the nut flush draw. And even if he doesn't have two pair or a set, he's got a massive combo draw like KJ or 10x.

Bottom line is, he's not doing this with KQ.

So even though it's tough as hell to do ... I fold.



I avoid going broke with AA, and manage to only lose $85 on the hand. Pretty happy with this one, though the cold-decking is just getting ridiculous at this point.

--------------------------

I did manage to win a couple pots after that.

On one hand, I raised 3 limpers to $35 with KQ
Of course, they all limp-called

The flop ($140) came the A95
The three players checked
HERO bet $60
Only the middle limper ($460) called $60

TURN ($260): 10
VILLAIN checks
HERO bets $200
VILLAIN tank-folds

I felt like this guy had a weak ace and I put his stack at risk to see if he was willing to take it to the felt. He wasn't.

-------------------------

Later, I flopped the stone cold nuts in a freakin' 7-way pot that had been raised to $35

I had 87 and the flop ($245) came 1096

I led for $175 ... and every last one of these MFers folded. Dammit all.

--------------------------

There were other hands of course, but that's all I really want to post, this is long enough.

Bottom line is I battled hard in this session, and even though the deck was mostly against me, I didn't let it kill me.

I could have easily stacked off with those aces and left $1400 in the hole. Instead I made a really good fold and won some money back, and what could have been a disastrous session was only a little bad. To only drop a couple hundred tonight feels like a big win.

Will try to get back it again tomorrow and finish the month off strongly.


Session results:
6 hours, 15 minutes
-$319

Year-to-date results:
408 hours, 20 minutes
+$22,395