Sunday, January 18, 2009

Saturday Night’s All Right for a Fight, Oh Yeah!

I had been sweating my buddy, Herb, in a 4500-person tourney, in which he finished 8th (great job!), and in turn got the hankering to try a little ring play before dinner. Scanning for an active 25NL room, I found one running at 44%. Actually, there were several running anywhere from 40% to 50% participation in a hand. Saturday evening, a few beers and some poker. Sure, why not? Oops, I forgot the beer. Good. Let’s play.

Right away I knew the villain was a special kinda guy, playing 80% or better, limping on occasion, otherwise raising anywhere from 8 to 20 x BB. He was getting some action, but usually he’d get folds no later than after the flop. I prayed for a hand.

>PokerStars Game #24008509739: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) -
>2009/01/17 20:35:22 ET
>Table 'Gudy' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
>Seat 1: diebels59 ($21.15 in chips)
>Seat 2: bastinptc ($24.10 in chips)
>Seat 3: royman0785 ($25 in chips)
>Seat 4: aintitkewl ($25 in chips)
>Seat 6: oll220 ($25 in chips)
>Seat 7: OutLaw200287 ($30.90 in chips)
>Seat 8: royloyo ($4.55 in chips)
>Seat 9: KONAN V11 ($26.50 in chips)
>aintitkewl: posts small blind $0.10
>oll220: posts big blind $0.25
>*** HOLE CARDS ***
>Dealt to bastinptc [Kd Ad]
>OutLaw200287: raises $4.75 to $5
>royloyo: calls $4.55 and is all-in

With this all-in, I knew I was calling.

>KONAN V11: folds
>diebels59: folds
>bastinptc: calls $5
>royman0785: folds
>NickDog22 joins the table at seat #5
>aintitkewl: folds
>oll220: folds
>*** FLOP *** [7d Qs Kc]
>OutLaw200287: bets $20

And with this flop, I knew I was all-in.

>bastinptc: calls $19.10 and is all-in
>Uncalled bet ($0.90) returned to OutLaw200287
>*** TURN *** [7d Qs Kc] [6c]
>NickDog22 leaves the table
>*** RIVER *** [7d Qs Kc 6c] [3c]
>*** SHOW DOWN ***
>OutLaw200287: shows [Th Ah] (high card Ace)
>bastinptc: shows [Kd Ad] (a pair of Kings)
>bastinptc collected $37.20 from side pot
>royloyo: shows [4c 7c] (a flush, King high)
>royloyo collected $13.30 from main pot

47c? Pretty funny. Of course, I wouldn’t think so if the guy hadn’t been playing short. Yet, it just verified that I was indeed at the table I needed to be at.

This is the very next hand:

>PokerStars Game #24008535712: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) -
>2009/01/17 20:36:14 ET
>Table 'Gudy' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
>Seat 1: diebels59 ($21.15 in chips)
>Seat 2: bastinptc ($37.20 in chips)
>Seat 3: royman0785 ($25 in chips)
>Seat 4: aintitkewl ($25 in chips)
>Seat 6: oll220 ($24.75 in chips)
>Seat 7: OutLaw200287 ($6.80 in chips)
>Seat 8: royloyo ($13.30 in chips)
>Seat 9: KONAN V11 ($26.50 in chips)
>oll220: posts small blind $0.10
>OutLaw200287: posts big blind $0.25
>*** HOLE CARDS ***
>Dealt to bastinptc [Tc Th]
>royloyo: folds
>royloyo is sitting out
>royloyo leaves the table --- Of course he does!
>KONAN V11: folds
>diebels59: folds
>OutLaw200287 said, "nh"

I’m far enough back in the field that I don’t want to go crazy with these tens, plus I have a feeling…

>bastinptc: calls $0.25
>royman0785: folds
>aintitkewl: folds
>oll220: folds
>bastinptc said, "thx"
>OutLaw200287: raises $6.55 to $6.80 and is all-in
Yep, just as I thought, and just what I wanted. I could go heads up with pocket tens, especially given his range.

>Emmess23 joins the table at seat #8
>bastinptc: calls $6.55
>*** FLOP *** [8h 7s 9s]
>*** TURN *** [8h 7s 9s] [Ad]
>*** RIVER *** [8h 7s 9s Ad] [Ac]
>*** SHOW DOWN ***
>OutLaw200287: shows [4c 4h] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
>bastinptc: shows [Tc Th] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
>bastinptc collected $13.05 from pot
>OutLaw200287 leaves the table

I didn’t stick around much longer myself. By now, I was talking to Herb about his tourney and had Poker Academy open. Then I remembered that I needed my hand history, so I found another loose Stars game, sat down, requested my HH, won $3 and I was gone in 3 hands. I played a little PA, and went upstairs to make dinner. While dinner was in the oven, I opened up another Stars room, won $5. I couldn’t wait to get back to the tables later when people would really be hammered. My bankroll was starting to emerge from the danger of too few buy-ins for a decent game, and I wanted to get at it while I seemed to be on a roll. (Instead, we watched several episodes of “Battlestar Galactica” from season 2.5. I still prefer holding DW’s hand over playing AA.)

7 comments:

Crash said...

Do you tell her, "vnh?'

bastinptc said...

Indeed, I do. Were the intimacy, the delicate nature of that touch to be made public knowledge, people would understand the depth of our love.

Forrest Gump said...

Damn, that's an ugly one with the 74s. I'm not sure I like the smooth call with AKs. Most flops you'll miss then you've dusted off a good chunk of your stack while still most likely folding best hand on the flop with ace high. Typically I'd either jam or fold in this spot.



FG

bastinptc said...

Mr. Gumpo,

I wouldn't mind hearing some other perspectives on this play. Indeed, most flops I miss, yet I'm looking to spend $5 to see if I might make more than the $10 already out there. I'm not too worried about the primary villain, mostly based on what I've seen of his play at this point. The other player cannot do any more damage to me than the initial call. If I hit, I beat one or both of them, and if I do in fact hit, I know I'm most likely taking down outlaw. And what makes you think I'm folding on the flop if I don't hit? I've got a read on this guy that says he is 90% full of it.

Forrest Gump said...

If the 3rd player wasn't involved and/or allin, would you still consider smooth calling the $5? Also, if you knew both hand holdings (AT/74) would you make the same play or jam? I haven't run the math but I'm guessing in a 3 way pot against those holdings you'd be a smidge under 50% to scoop?



FG

Forrest Gump said...

I'm not saying either method is right tho. I just really hating calling off 1/5 of my stack and needing to hit. Maybe it comes down to being rolled enough to push preflop with a 55-65% edge and roll with the punches?



FG

bastinptc said...

According to the PA Showdown Calculator, I'm 42.2% preflop, 62.2% on the flop, and 59.6% on the turn, with the club draw respectively at 31.5%, 21.3% and 33.3%. The A 10 lagged behind the whole hand.

As to your second point: yes, perhaps being better rolled would help in these situations.

It reminds me of my Queens earlier today up against AKo. The guy was tilting and committed way too much (90%) on the blank flop. What did he have to lose by putting in his last 10% to catch a K on the river? And that is precisely how he justified his play.

I may be mixing apples and oranges here a bit, yet I think seeing the flop gives me more information to work with than folding or jamming preflop. The information is: should I continue further with this hand, risk $20 more? That King made the decision pretty clear. If I chose to get involved the one time he may have a hand, then bully for him.