Monday, October 20, 2008

Livid a Loca

Determined to redeem myself after the debacle I related in yesterday’s post, I gathered up what was left of my bankroll and headed back to the 25NL games at Stars. Third hand I see is JQc on the Button. Sklansky says limp with hidden good hands like this. The turn gave me a flush and got into a raising war with the SB, who had the nut flush. Didn’t believe him.

Reload. AA, calling station to my right doubles me up. KK, followed the advice of all those who know better than me and had it all in before the flop against a $12 shortie with his AA in the hole. “nh” “been there” “We all have.” Calling station leaves, table clears.

I bounce around a few tables in 25NL and 10NL. Cardgrrl (see blog in sidebar: Raise or Fold: A tera of Risky Business) is on Skype regaling me with tales of her new adventure playing poker for a living. I find a juicy table. Unbelievably juicy. And I was catching cards. (I must have had pocket Aces four times last night.)

With that said, that is, I had a juicy table and I was catching cards, it wasn’t a walk in the park. When I had a made hand, loosey-gooseys were nowhere to be found after the flop. I had AA in late position when an early position player raised it up 5 x BB. I did what I have seen dear Mr. Gumpo do and raise it up to $7.50 or so, and got a fold. Also, I was missing 11, 12, 14 and15-outers while others were catching their 6 and 9 outers against me. Runner runner flushes, a better 2 pair hit on the river, that sort of thing. Ask Cardgrrl, I was very frustrated, fed up, pissed off, bitching and moaning, ranting and raving as I watched my paltry winnings from earlier in the evening disappear. I was playing strong poker, had a great read on these players, knew their ranges and tendencies and I was losing just as readily as I had donked off the previous session.

Then this:

PokerStars Game #21343541858: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) –
Table 'Amalia' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: mobtheman ($24.90 in chips)
Seat 2: yaf7 ($25 in chips)
Seat 3: saapo ($4.50 in chips)
Seat 4: excanuck ($48.50 in chips)
Seat 5: rapid0 ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: bastinptc ($22.45 in chips)
Seat 7: real maded ($26.15 in chips)
Seat 8: Burkinator99 ($38.85 in chips)
Seat 9: alessio 73 ($35.70 in chips)
excanuck: posts small blind $0.10
rapid0: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [Ad As]

I’m a bit excited. “Sis, I have pocket Aces UTG. (I call Cardgrrl “Sis,” as it seems we were separated at birth.) I’m limping, just like Mr. Gumpo does. Somebody raise! Please, somebody raise!”

bastinptc: calls $0.25
real maded: folds
Burkinator99: folds
alessio 73: raises $0.25 to $0.50

“One of my calling stations just put in a min-raise.”

Perfect. Not a big raise from this guy, yet he is one of my calling stations. Knowing that his range could be anything and everything (I had seen him 3-bet UTG with A4o), I wasn’t too excited. He might shut down if I go big, or suck out. He could always suck out.

Sis gives her advice. “Go all in.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure. See what happens.”

It made sense for two reasons: the bad beats I had received. If this guy had been paying attention, he’d have to think I was tilting, frustrated with having the best hand time and again, only to see it go for naught. And if he hadn’t been paying attention (admittedly, just as likely) he might think his hand is good enough and go for it, no different, really than his usual call-to-the-river if he catches anything that remotely resembles a hand.

mobtheman: folds
yaf7: folds
saapo: folds
excanuck: folds
rapid0: folds
bastinptc: raises $21.95 to $22.45 and is all-in

He goes into the tank. “Call! Call! Call!”

alessio 73: calls $21.95

*** FLOP *** [Ac 8c Qc]
*** TURN *** [Ac 8c Qc] [Qh]

Glory halleljuah!

*** RIVER *** [Ac 8c Qc Qh] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bastinptc: shows [Ad As] (a full house, Aces full of Queens)
alessio 73: mucks hand
bastinptc collected $43 from pot

Sis says, “That’s how you play the micros! If you had raised it just a little and he called, he wouldn’t have gone past the flop with that Ace there.”

Good point. Thanks, Sis.

6 comments:

Cardgrrl said...

Don't forget to link to me... :)

Glad you ended your session on a high note.

Forrest Gump said...

You could have done the '1-2 Teddy' that last hand! :)

I would normally raise 1/3 to half my stack, so basically there's no chance I'm folding but they're a little more likely to call.

When Sklansky said limp with QJs on the button was this a limit book? If there were alot of limpers I like the implied odds if a flop a monster so I'd limp there, but otherwise my preference would be to raise and get the blinds out, plus I get an idea where i'm at.


FG



DF

Memphis MOJO said...

I love poker. You can take the same hand and make a case for doing just abut anything.

If you raise on the button, you increase you chances of winning the pot:
1. you knock out the blinds
2. your CB has more credibility

Having said that, limping is fine too (imo). You have position and the limp might disguise your hand.

Forrest Gump said...

True, but i find a lot of the ugly spots I get into often stem from limped pots. I'm always looking to simplify my game and try to avoid tough decisions.

There was a hand I posted where I smooth called with QQ in position against a TAG with AA. Had I 3-bet, I would have most likely received a pretty loud response and dumped the hand much earlier. In this spot with QJs, I wonder how it would play out if Bastin had raised?


FG

Memphis MOJO said...

bastinptc: raises $21.95 to $22.45 and is all-in
alessio 73: calls $21.95
*** FLOP *** [Ac 8c Qc]
*** TURN *** [Ac 8c Qc] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 8c Qc Qh] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bastinptc: shows [Ad As] (a full house, Aces full of Queens)
alessio 73: mucks hand
===========================
In tournaments, when both pairs are all in, and there can be no further action, both hands get turned over. In cash games, they make you wait until all the board cards are played. It would be more fun (and exciting) to see both (all) the hands earlier (as in a tournament). I wonder why they set up the software this way?

bastinptc said...

The Sklansky was from T&P. I believe he used J 10 as an example. If I would have raised, I might have gotten a fold out of him. Maybe. In that I was new to the table, I didn't have a read on the player except for what Poker Listings had: I believe he was a "Rock." If he wold have called, and the hand played out, the results most likely would have been the same. I know me.

As for the hands being exposed if one is all in, at Poker Academy they show both hands, yet that may be because it is an educational tool. As the hand plays out, the software shows percentages for each hand's chance of winning, recalculating for each street. At PS, I sit there and wonder what the other person has that can beat me and imagine those holdings for each street. Ugh.