More preflop (guess it won't matter much with the stacks but generally a good habit to get into at micro stakes cash with monster hands imo)! Just check/fold the turn now I think.

Full Tilt Poker $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: $5.81
BB: $5.00
UTG: $5.00
UTG+1: $2.74
Hero (UTG+2): $6.76
MP1: $5.00
MP2: $5.40
CO: $1.93
BTN: $7.74

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG+2 with K 9
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.20, 6 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.47) Q J 9 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.35, UTG+1 calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.17) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50

River: ($2.17) 2 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $1.69 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds

Villain had limp-folded to a raise a few times already, and it was a pretty passive table overall. Villains stats overall were 27/0 over about 40 hands, so I figured that this flop hits his drawing range spot on, but wasn't sure if he was drawing or slow playing. The shove on the river either signals, to me, I MISSED MY DRAW, or he has a set and he thinks I'll pay off with Qx. Not sure. Should I have just shut down on the turn?

I'd check the flop here damn near always. While he can have a lot of draws, he can also have a ton of better hands too.

Isn't pre a bit too thin in a FR game?

Way too thin imo. I probs ran 22+, AJ+, ATs+ from there. With the limper even tighter. I know there are places to break away from 2p2 dogma but I don't see raising K9o in MP being profitable.

this is the kind of stuff im trying to pick up on. in theory im using k9o as a bluff, but vs this opponent i was trying to just take it down pf, and wasnt sure how much of a bluff was worth it on this flop.

On the flop you are NEVER folding a better hand. Maybe A9 but that's highly unlikely. Same with the turn. You might get him to fold a jack occasionally on the turn but since it's micro there's really no value in turning an ok showdown hand into a bluff. Plus, you are f'ing yourself the times he checkraises with two pair and stuff you are currently losing to but have some equity against.

I hate saying this but the river is the only street that is played correctly. PF is really bad. I'd say you are giving away 2 bbs by raising here from UTG+2 vs a limper. If you were shorthanded and otb then raising sounds good. As is, there are way too many players left to act behind you(who can call and have position or raise in which case you just lost 4 bbs).

If you understand that you're not raising K9o for value then it should be clear why this is bad. Quite often you're going to get flatted by a player LP at 10NL so you lose your position and will likely be multiway. In this situation you'll have to play your hand face up, negating your skill advantage.

At FR you really need to pick your spots to get fancy. In general when readless at the micros I'd play very straightforward and expect to be profitable.

Inyaface,

The hand was an example of my twisted Shania. At the end of a session, if I'm at a tight table and my UTG image is tight, I will sometimes make an unusual size raise with atc. If called, and I have anything (incl a gutshot) I will c-bet. My c-bet stats are about 60%. I presented it as an unusual move, which (after reviewing my last 45k hands) when I've done it, is insanely profitable. Lots of advice from here, that it is just spew, and at the moment I'm not ready to disagree, given my sample sizes.

I posted the idea and example, hopefully, to prompt other people to share any moves they make to generate an extra BB here and there. I accept completely, that fixing my leaks would be a much better use of my time!

FWIW, I've decided I'm not a winning player at $1/2 - I'm marginally better than the other players, but not enough to beat the rake, and the variance is too scary, so I def need to study more before I try to move up again. At least I've now got some hands to study.

peru - save the FPS for when you're in position & you'll be a lot better off imo

Standard hand for most I guess but I was really confused.

Villain is 20/15 and 50% cbet over 55 hands .

Most of the time, should I be peeling flop and reevaluating on turn? And I'm guessing 3-betting some of the time also? Is folding here ever an option?


Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

UTG+2: $50.00
MP1: $53.00
MP2: $50.00
CO: $26.95
BTN: $50.75
SB: $63.60
BB: $51.45
Hero (UTG): $52.90
UTG+1: $51.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with A K
Hero raises to $1.50, 6 folds, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.50) 4 7 4 (2 players)
SB bets $2, Hero?

I'd fold. Even if 'he's seeing where he's at' will 66, 88 etc, he'll still likely call a raise. He can have good draws here too that aren't folding, and have great equity. I think to bluff here, u'd have to go for a triple barrel which commits your stack and is pretty spewy given he's leading into you when you opened UTG.

Yeah, that's not a great flop to peel. If there was a diamond MAYBE but in the end you are better off just folding and moving on to the next. If you are feeling gutsy I think you can raise flop and bet turn and get him to fold(since his stats indicate he's not going to stack off with a middle pair) but it's high variance. It probably works a ton if you have nitty stats.

Alright I feel like I butchered this hand.

Villain is 11/9 over 85 hands with a cbet% of 50

Should I be 3-betting turn everytime here given how scary the board was?
As played, river should be an easy fold?


Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (SB): $56.10
BB: $52.25
UTG: $77.00
UTG+1: $19.25
MP1: $92.85
MP2: $48.95
CO: $51.40
BTN: $50.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with A A
6 folds, Hero calls $0.25, BB raises to $2, Hero calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.00) 3 6 Q (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $2.40, Hero calls $2.40

Turn: ($8.80) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $6.20, Hero calls $6.20

River: ($21.20) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $16.15, Hero?

I mean your sample can't be big enough and that hand is just soooooo bad that you shouldn't be doing it ever. Also 60% Cbet seems very low

Seriously raise somewhere there. A 11/9 isn't going to go spew buyins at you when you have AA so you need to build a pot pre flop. If you miss your chance pre just donk out flop or raise his cbet.

As played, I'd call river. Does he really have a 7 here often? I think if he's valuebetting a set he's probably valueing AQ/KK as well.

Preflop seems pretty bad considering how much action you get when you actually raise from the SB. How does limping AA fit into your over all open limping game from the sb, why do you open complete the sb?

As played, I'd just call the river. Turn is probably wet enough that I'd c/r though.

Hi, thanks for your reply. What do you mean by this:

PF I just felt like by completing from SB I'd induce a bet from hands that would otherwise fold to a raise.

Raise pre bet flop bet turn bet river

AA is easy to play

I'll try and highlight a couple concepts w/o writing an essay.

Let's start with a super general statement. You want to get lots of money in the pot with big hands, and not so much with weaker hands. We accomplish this by raising preflop. The pot grows exponentially with each raise, the earlier you start raising (ie, preflop) the much faster the pot is going to grow.

Also, cash is more about your range of hands, than how to play a specific hand. So, you have to ask your self how you should be playing from the SB here, and that depends greatly on who is in the BB.

However, there is rarely every going to be such an opponent in the BB, that completing to will be the most profitable option. If he is really tight and just doesn't every call or 3bet, then you should be open raising like 100% of hands, which would make not raising AA silly cause he's eventually going to get sick of you.

You have to also ask your self what hands are you going to be open completing. I rarely rarely ever open complete, and it's for a very specific reason. It's because the BB 3bets a lot and the hand is too good to open fold, but I don't really want to call a 3bet with it either, hands like QJs, JTs, T9s. Worse hands I fold, better hands I raise and either 4bet his 3bet, or call and see a flop. However, in this scenario, because he 3bets so much, raising AA is still your best option.

I think open completing the SB often is a big leak. If it's good enough to limp/call with, it is definitely good enough raise with your self preflop for the most part. I see people (regs) open completing hands like 33/44, 76s, etc. All these hands require aggression and winning with out making hands, however open completely makes it much more likely you'll need to actually make a hand to win the pot.

Ah gotcha. Thanks!

Cross-post from cash forum, might be interesting hand:

WTF! I'd call out of sheer amazement.

Trapping with QQ+ from the small blind there is beyond horrible. I'd assume he is just massively tilting or pressing buttons in a seizure (which would also make this a call).

Also, Although I have no idea how FR-rush plays, I raise a bit more than pot there with JJ (this is less than pot).

I snap call JJ there. I think his range is mostly 77-->TT and sometimes AK/AQ.

+1

this is a middle pair so often saying "lol squeeze?! fu imo! i iz allin!".