Hi all,

This is literally my first hand of the session. I have never played against villain before. Any comments on the hand appreciated.

888 No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - 888 Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com/

UTG+1 ($13.58)
MP1 ($12.22)
MP2 ($10)
MP3 ($3.85)
Hero (CO) ($10)
Button ($10)
SB ($11.37)
BB ($10.16)
UTG ($12.73)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8, K
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 3 folds, Hero (poster) raises $0.25, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.85) 4, 8, 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.65, UTG+1 calls $0.65

Turn: ($2.15) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1.50, UTG+1 calls $1.50

River: ($5.15) 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $5.15

UTG+1 had Q, 6 (one pair, sixes).
Hero had 8, K (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero won $4.90

Preflop: If you're going to iso the limper you should be making it bigger. By making it so small you're guaranteed a call from him and also giving great implied odds to those acting after you. I'd go to 40c if I was going to iso with this hand. K8s itself isn't really a super hand. It can potentially make a second best flush and a lot of mediocre hands. If you're going to choose this to iso with all the more reason to bump it up bigger to increase your fold equity.

Flop: Not a great flop. The biggest danger here is to not overvalue your hand. You have top pair in a scenario where your opponent can easily have a set, two pair, a straight or a flush. "Small pots for small hands, big pots for big hands". You have a small hand. For that reason I wouldn't be trying to shovel money into the pot with my one-pair hand. I think a bet of closer to 50c would be better.

Turn: Same as above except that everything is even more true after that turn card. I think b/f is maybe ok but perhaps checking behind is better with the intention of calling a river bet on a non-spade. Maybe if villain is passive go with the b/f, if they're aggressive you can go with the bluff-catching line.

The hand-history converter dealt with my 10-cent post in an odd way. Pre-flop I posted 10-cents (my first hand of the session), UTG+1 limped in, and I raised 25 cents more making a total of 35-cents. The blinds folded and villain called. So the pot was 85 cents on the flop. Are you suggesting I should have raised 15 cents more for a total of 50-cents?

Thanks for bringing up iso-ing. I never think about that preflop. Usually I raise 3bb + 1bb per limper. If I'm UTG, UTG+1, or SB I add 1/2bb. If I'm HJ, CO, or BTN I substract 1/2bb. (I picked that up from a Splitsuit video). I've tried iso-ing a few times at 10NL by adding another 2bb. What usually happens is the person I want to iso rarely calls. In fact I may get a completely different caller! Maybe I'm just not doing it right?

Thanks, too, for bringing up the low-stakes maxim "small pots/big pots". I violated it on purpose, hence this post. Maybe I shouldn't have.

Because villain limped in I assumed he was a weak player (relative to myself of course). Weak players in 10NL play passively. That means he could have got a piece of the board and been chasing a draw - or slow-playing a great hand. More often than not it's the former so I went on that assumption. I used a larger bet sizing because of the bigger risk I was taking, since I felt I was somewhere in the middle of his calling range, and who knows, maybe I could have folded out A8, 99 or TT.

If he had check-raised me on the flop or turn I would have folded. If he had led out on the flop I would have called but folded to another bet on the turn. As played, probably would have called a river bet if it was small or an overbet.

If villain had raised a healthier amount preflop I would have folded.

Thought some more about your commentary preflop and I think I see where you're coming from. I shouldn't be substracting 1/2bb here because with a limper in the hand it's no longer a steal. And I forgot to consider my own 10-cent post - which isn't mine any more. So that's an extra 15-cents I should have raised.

Plus more if I wanted to iso, right? It's very common to have limpers in 10NL. So maybe I should be thinking differently about these situations, framing them in terms of iso-ing? For example, if I'd raised to 60 or 70-cents here and UTG+1 called, I'd probably have a better idea where I stood in the hand postflop. I could weight him more in the direction of stronger hands less likely to have hit that board unless he's drawing with a spade.

I personally do not believe K 8 (s) is a good hand to be isoing in the first place, you are in the cutoff which is a good position but it's not awfully uncommon for the button or BB to 4-bet with half decent pocket pairs or standard premium hands, in my experience. It won't happen too often, but you have 0 chance of calling a 4 bet.

Furthermore, a fair portion of the time you get a caller you'll be dominated. It's hard to narrow down the range of a limper and they can be really bloody weak, but seeing people limp with K 10 suited and above from UTG+1 is not overly rare in a loose player.

Last but not least, agree with the other commentator in that you definitely didn't raise enough. Given the weakness of K 8 you really wanna scare people off rather than get into hands with them, make 4-betting you a more risky proposition (as more money is in the pot) and make it harder for UTG+1 to call you OOP