Hi all, this is my first post on the forum and I'm really just starting on my journey to learn to play better poker so please let me know if I've posted in wrong way/place etc. and sorry if my thoughts seem obvious/basic..

Both of these hands I had a strong hand pre-flop and on the flop, but I was wary of possible straights/flushes. At the same time I find I'm not often getting paid off with these kind of hands, AA, AK. I'm positive without showdown but very negative at showdown so I need to improve this asap.

Hand A - Seeing straight/flush draws I overbet the pot on the flop, after they called I didn't believe they had a draw, but looking back now, I think re-raising all in on the flop was silly regardless, their stats were VP46/PR25 but maybe I shouldn't have expected them to call an all in with top pair or worse.

Hand B - Reviewing now, I think I just played this one badly. I was trying to bet to make it unprofitable to call with a draw but I didn't calculate it right at all. I should have raised more on the flop and bet more on the turn... Villain had 5-1 odds on the flop for the flush draw and backdoor straight (I gave them exact odds to call this), and on the turn with both flush and straight draws my bet gave them 3-1 odds to call.



HAND A
PokerStars - $0.05 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 233.4 BB
BTN: 97 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 46.2 BB
Hero (UTG): 145 BB
UTG+1: 100 BB
MP: 104.4 BB
MP+1: 131.4 BB
MP+2: 210.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A A

Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, MP calls 3 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop: (13.4 BB, 4 players) T J 5
Hero bets 16 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 16 BB, fold

Turn: (45.4 BB, 2 players) 7
Hero bets 41 BB, MP+2 raises to 82 BB, Hero raises to 126 BB and is all-in, MP+2 calls 44 BB

River: (297.4 BB, 2 players) K



HAND B
PokerStars - $0.05 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 231.6 BB
SB: 70 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 165 BB
UTG+1: 156.6 BB
MP: 100.8 BB
Hero (MP+1): 101.4 BB
MP+2: 105.8 BB
CO: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K A

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 3 BB, SB calls 2.6 BB, fold

Flop: (10 BB, 3 players) 8 6 A
SB bets 3 BB, Hero raises to 7 BB, fold, SB calls 4 BB

Turn: (24 BB, 2 players) 7
SB checks, Hero bets 16 BB, SB calls 16 BB

River: (56 BB, 2 players) 4
SB checks, Hero bets 44 BB, SB calls 44 BB and is all-in

Just my opinions:

Hand A- PF is obviously fine. On the flop, a 1/3 to 1/2 pot sizing is pretty standard. I do not see a good reason to deviate from that. The cbet itself is obviously ok, but your sizing was too big IMO. Such large sizings actually make life easier on your opponents. You want draws and other lesser hands to call. Betting large like that generally has the opposite effect— opponents will call more tightly with stronger hands on average. Turn is a tough spot. Again, I don’t think betting was a bad play, but that min raise should have raised red flags. As a general rule, opponents at micro stakes are not bluffing when they make big bets in later streets. I am not sure I would have folded there, but the reraise seems bad, although villain likely just shoves otr if you flat. The straight draw there is certainly not an obvious draw; had the flush draw hot instead and the hand played out the way it dis, I probably do fold to villains turn raise. Villain called a UTG raise PF. I would not have expected to see that hand, so maybe you just make a note on that villain that he calls very loose PF and try to exploit that tendency later.

Hand B - Again PF is fine. Otf sb sinks into two opponents. I am certainly not folding TPTK at this point, but that is very much a show of strength. I am not raising otf after that action. I am calling and evaluating the turn. OTT I could see either checking or betting as viable. An obvious straight draw hits and villain checks. If he is a tricky type who you have seen slow play, I could see a check. The bet is not bad though IMO; the check might well indicate a lesser made hand for villain. The river bet is not good IMO. Any 5x now has a straight, and having played out the way things did, A5 is certainly a hand villain could have. Additionally most of villains range consists of busted flush draws that will fold to a river bet and better hands that certainly will not. Since there are few lesser hands that will call in his range, and no better ones that will fold, the river bet seems counterproductive

Agree with the above.

OP - welcome to the forum. Two pieces of advice. 1) One hand per post. You'll get responses over a period of time, and it might be more difficult to relate later replies to specific hands. 2) never show results, even in spoiler tags. Results are a) 100% irrelevant to whether or not a hand was played well and b) knowing results can lead to tainted responses.

Hand A: I agree that the postflop bet sizes are too large especially on the turn. You have the best one pair hand, but if 100+bbs go in, you're not going to be good very often unless villain is a complete donk (which is possible sure). That said, I would raise larger preflop (4-5bbs) especially from the earliest positions, where we are raising less often and want to thin the field. When you do get multiple callers, you really have to play cautiously with one-pair hands when the flop goes multiway. When they are trying to get the money in, your one pair is not going to be good very often. In those situations, make a practice of bet/folding, especially in multiway pots (not as much in heads up pots). After betting the 45bbs on the turn, you're pretty near committed having put almost 1/2 your stack in. Getting yourself committed with a single pair on the turn for 120+bbs in a multiway pot is not good. Think in terms of how may streets of value your hand is worth. You can certainly get 3 streets with AA and sometimes even get an entire stack in over 3 streets, but only in the weakest games and usually not in multiway situations. If the flop goes multiway and you get 100+bbs in by the river, your overpair is not going to be good very often imo.