On Saturday and Sunday I punted off around
(-$700). Here are two representative hands.
Straddle: There are a lot of $5 straddles in the Las Vegas $1/$2 game. Prior to this, I hadn't read anything at all on how to handle this, so I'll admit to just calling the $5 a few times with small pair/suited connector type hands, then getting burned for my nickel when the straddler or someone else bumped it up to $20-$30.
I eventually became the "someone else," adopting a raise or fold policy on the straddle and choosing hands with top pair/overpair potential for the raise, due to the small SPR that it creates.
The most common (and least foolhardy) version of the straddle is done from the button. In some rooms, the SB is the first to act pre on a button straddle. This was the case for this hand. I was UTG and therefore acted third pre.
$5 straddle on the button, called by BB, I pick up A
T
and bump it to $30, as the button was an action player and was straddle/calliing quite a bit.
I get 4 calls, including the straddler and the BB.
(Pot $151) I have about $230 behind.
Flop: K
7
2
BB checks and I'm next. What am I going to do here, check/call or check/shove with a naked flush draw and not much behind? Half pot bet would be $75. Am I going to bet that or something smaller, then fold?
I shove.
Folds around to the BB, who had AK, had just called/called with it pre, and had checked it on the flop. He held. Nice hand, sir.
Second hand:
UTG opens for $8. I'm in MP with K
J
and call. MP to my left shoves for her remaining $24. Folds around to UTG, who calls and I call.
(Pot $75, three players: one player all-in)
Flop A
Q
T
It's a dry pot, but I have a straight and I want some more money. and I also want to charge any flush draw or set or two pair at least a little something. I bet $15 and get a call.
(Pot $105, three players: one player all-in)
Turn K
I bet $25 and villain raises to $100. I shove for around $300 effective and he calls.
River 9
Villain shows Q
J
for the flush. Nice hand sir.
These hands are splashy but not representative of my true problems and why I'm currently a losing player.
I have two days off. I'm going to write off July as my rookie month, pull out my books and videos, and get to work studying.
My working hypothesis is that I'm not ranging well, particularly on the river, which we know to be the most expensive street, and the street where I need to put my range work together and to have a concrete subset of what hands are left in the villain's arsenal, now that we're here at the river and the bets are big.
Again it comes back to my being an old tournament player, where we don't get to the river with substantial chips behind nearly as often as cash game players do.
So, if you have some links to good articles or videos on developing ranges on later streets, I would appreciate it if you posted them here.
Last edited by suitedjustice; 07-30-2018 at 12:53 PM.