For starters I'd like to apologize for the bad format but the hand converters I tried to use didn't work. I tried making it as easy as I could for you guys.

So I'd like to try to explain why I did what because I guess that's a keen thing for you to know if you're going to help me. If you haven't figured already I'm a beginner. I'll try my best.

I do not have a HUD yet. This is because of many reasons, I just started and I don't wanna throw money on it right away. The site I play on probably don't support it either. I play on a Bitcoin site who doesn't really care how old you are. This is because I'm not 18 untill October. Please don't kill me, I just want to learn! I couldn't wait and play money is another thing because there's no value.

Also I know this is wrong but I'm going to throw it out here anyways because It's an honest mistake and I think I've realized how it affects my play. I play on a to short roll. Yeah, that's right I only have about 15 chips at the moment, bougth in for 30. It's kind of tricky because since I'm not 18 I can't just make a full deposit. So I took what I had in BTC. I'm guessing I was way to naive thinking that it would work despite every post/thread/whatever that I read that says BRM is key for EV+.

I think that this affects my play by being to afraid to lose a buyin that I make the wrong decisions while falsely thinking that I save my self from losing. Does this sound correct? A lot of thougths seems a lot more clearer writing them down.

This site has few players and few tables. Infact only one table on the lowest stake, 0.01/0.02 chips (1 chip is about 0.6$). Most of these people are pretty tight. A lot of times when I try to raise pocket pairs like the example down here they fold and I'll get the blinds. This can be from any position. So therefore I called the raise instead of 3-betting. (It would've been a 3-bet right? Still new on the terms.) I was trying to wait a little to make them pick something playable up.

Flop. My thougth is that it's a good flop for me.
1: I hit my set which is the nuts.
2: If any body is sitting on AK/KK they're most likely in trouble.

But again I call to assure that they do not fold so I can try to steal more of their money.


Turn I think that this doesn't change a lot for me.
Either he picked up a backdoor flushdraw or he's or A*/K*. AK/KK would have betted that flop.

Now I bet, my thougth is that he probably won't think AA would play this slow all the way here. So I bet 3 BB, he shoves. I'm thinking he's either bluffing trying to rep my hand or he's looking for the backdoor flush.

I call, he shows the straight. GG

After analyzing the hand writing it here my conclusion is that I played it way to slow. But why the hell did he call that far. He should've folded after the flop? I'm guessing that it's a combination of luck and me allowing him to be lucky.


River 4



Please bear in mind that I'm a beginner, constructive criticism is very welcome. I'm looking to learn and improve. Also, is Crushing the micros worth picking up? Thoughts on it?

This have become a wall of text at 5 am so there's a huge risk of spelling errors and weird sentences. If there's something you don't understand I'll try to explain it when I'm up tomorrow.


Hand #26411342-7052 - 2014-06-23 22:10:10
Game: NL Hold'em (0.40 - 4) - Blinds 0.01/0.02
Site: Seals With Clubs
Table: No Rake Micro Stakes
Seat 1: (4.63)
Seat 2: (3.64)
Seat 3: (2.12)
Seat 4: (5.15)
Seat 5: (1.28) - waiting for big blind
Seat 6: (2.14)
Seat 7: (3.98) HERO
Seat 8: (12.54)
Seat 9: (0.71)

SB posts small blind 0.01
BB posts big blind 0.02
** Hole Cards **
Dealt to Hero [A A]
UTG1 raises to 0.06
UTG2 folds
MP1 folds
HERO calls 0.06
CO folds
BU folds
SB folds
BB calls 0.04

** Flop ** [A K 5]

BB checks
UTG1 bets 0.12
HERO calls 0.12
BB calls 0.12

** Turn ** [2]

BB checks
UTG1 checks
HERO bets 0.06
BB raises to 3.46 (All-in)
UTG1 folds
HERO calls 3.40

** River ** [4]

** Pot Show Down ** [A K 5 2 4]

BB shows [4 3] (a Straight, Ace to Five)
HERO shows [A A] (Three of a Kind, Aces +K5)
BB wins Pot (7.47) with a Straight

For starters you express concern over 3betting AA because everyone is so tight, yet this guy just called 34 suited from the BB. Does that sound tight to you? I think your observations about the players at this level are probably very inaccurate, so you should stick to focusing on just playing your hand for what it's worth every time. If someone is playing 34s from any position then they are probably calling a 3bet because they came to play, not fold hands like this.

Anyway lets just say you call, fine whatever. You flop the nuts, and you said that you feel you can safely slowplay here because if he has a second nut hand he's in trouble. Well thats true, but how you need to look at it is if he has KK/55 is he ever folding to a raise? Hell no. From his point of view he thinks he's got you. So this is a missed opportunity to get it allin. While this is a pretty safe board, too often it can runout terribly for you like all hearts or something and someone might make a big fold with a set or top pair. You dont want this, so better to get it in sooner rather than later. This will also give you some leverage to bluff your draws on future hands by making small flop raises that dont represent a significant portion of your stack. It's good to be the guy always raising the flop and cbetting a lot. People get tired of it and start looking you up lighter.

But lets say you slowplay to trap him because he's actually a maniac, fine whatever. On the turn your bet is way too small. I mean .06 into whatever that pot size is is just silly. You arent accomplishing anything with this bet. If he's calling 6 cents on a AK52 board then he's calling 20 cents. Dont let him off cheap. You asked why he called with that hand in the first place, well because he's a loose fish thats why. He probably thinks chasing a 4 outer with a backdoor flush draw is a viable draw to chase. It's what makes him who he is, and something you need to exploit him for.

Of course you dont want him to fold on the flop so even if he called a much larger bet you would still be happy since he's going to be losing a ton of money like this in the long run. Either way you are never folding in this situation, so just take a note on him and start exploiting him accordingly. He's a huge calling station so make larger preflop raises and cbet full pot, this way you will make more money off him the next time he calls with 34s and fails to hit his draw.

He called on the flop because you gave him the right odds to call. Villain did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, a fold there would have been horrible.

To know whether he has the right odds to call we have to look at some of the math.

On the flop, his hand is 17% to win the hand vs AA.

In order to make a call of .12 profitable he needs to win a pot of at least .71.

Total Pot Amount = Call Amount / Odds
X = .12/.17 = .71

(note, the above equation is the same equation as below, I just moved the numbers around to solve for a different variable)

After he calls the total pot is already around .54 (.18 + .12 +.12 + .12 aka preflop amount + call + call + amount if he calls).

If the two other players were all in then he would need 22% direct odds to make this call.

Odds = Call Amount / Total Pot Amount .
X = .12/.54 = 22%

So, you can see he is not getting the correct direct odds, but as long as he makes .71 then he is breakeven. If he wins he is guaranteed .54 so he just needs to make .17 in implied odds on the turn and river to make this a profitable call. As you can see, he was able to make close to $4 in this hand.

(FYI Total Pot Amount is generally referred to as Pot Amount + call amount). I did not take rake into consideration.

As the bet size increases, it becomes less profitable for the villain to call. He was already getting bad direct odds but the implied odds were fantastic.

Imagine you had raised the turn to .40.

Odds = Call Amount / Total Pot Amount .
X = .40/1.10 = 36%
1.10 = .18 pre + .12 + .40 + .40 if he calls

The larger you make that raise, the worse his odds will be. If he calls Then the other player will have these odds to call:

Odds = Call Amount / Total Pot Amount .
X = .28/1.38 = 20%

So by raising to .40 we still may be giving the other player pretty good odds.

Keep in mind, by raising we are pretty much going to barrel all turns so a gutshot draw pretty much has to make their hand on the turn so really the original players odds to hit on the turn are approximately half their total odds so around 8% rather than 17%.

From just a high level strategic view of the hand, I love the way the villain played the hand and hate the way you played it. When villain had the right odds to call, he called. However, when he hit the nuts he just started shoveling money in there. That's what you should be doing. You have the nuts pre, so raise. You have the nuts on the flop so bet/raise. Don't slow play your hands. Don't play tricky. Don't worry about whether opponents might fold, just start putting money in the middle when you have the best hand.

I can't really comment on his bet size because I really have no clue how this game plays in regards to players calling shoves but in general I love his approach and hate yours.

Thank you both for your help.


From what I can see directly of your answers I need to work on a few things.
For starters I think ranges is important. If I understood really what he did and not just looked at the calls. I might have had a better idea of what he had.

It also seems like I have to not just look at my pot odds, but when I learn ranges, compare these to the pot/implied odds I give him by betting.

I have always had a hard time with things like this. When you really have to think bt your self. I'd say I'm pretty good or even great at just following instructions. But when it leaves that stages I often get lost.
Not just in poker often in real life too. It really takes time for me to think deeper. It may seem silly to anyone else but that's just me.
It really seems to help to write it down afterwards though. So I guess that's a key factor to progressing. That's kind of why I want to learn to be a good or atleast decent player, It's a challenge! So from now on I guess I'll write it down, If not in the forums atleast just write it and save it and maybe post it more often.

Also, ofc adding/questioning my thoughts on this post is very welcome.

One thing to remember...

When facing a large bet, think what 2cards beat u...

Fish do as sorts of whacky stuff... So don't say " no way can he can pre w 34s"

Think about the bet ur facing

Gl

Also.. A standard micro play is shoving the nuts to get max value

Cause guys will call