How should I have played this hand?

esool

I played a 10 player one table limit hold'em tourny today at pokerroom.com
$5+$1, big blind starts at $15 and increases every 10min or so.
The game starts at 10:50am and I get eliminated at 11:45 with me plus 2 others left.
This is my last hand. I am big blind at $200


Seat 3: wildjokers ($4,430 in chips)
Seat 5: esool [QD,KH] ($1,085 in chips)
Seat 8: sk8terac ($2,485 in chips)
(sk8terac is the dealer)
(Small blind posted by wildjokers, big blind by esool)

PRE-FLOP
wildjokers posts blind, esool posts blind, sk8terac calls, wildjokers calls, esool checks.

FLOP [board cards: QH, 6H, 9D]
wildjokers bets, esool raises, sk8terac folds, wildjokers calls.

TURN [board cards: QH, 6H, 9D, 7S]
wildjokers checks, esool bets, wildjokers calls.

RIVER [board cards: QH, 6H, 9D, 7S, 5D]
wildjokers bets, esool is all-in, esool calls.

SHOWDOWN
wildjokers shows [8H,8D]
esool shows [QD,KH]

SUMMARY
Pot: $2,685
wildjokers collects $2,685


As soon as I checked pre-flop I was kicking myself that I should have raised. (I was distracted temporarily)
After looking at the way the hand went down I do not know if it would have made much of a difference, 88 was staying in, but I feel that was my biggest mistake.


What do you guys think? Scotty?

esool

Oh yeah let me add that players were winning lots of games with rediculous hands.

One hand there was a possble straight flush, quads, full house, flush, staight, and the winner has 2 pair! Lots of raising in this hand also! :?

vinsanity

Nothing wrong with the hand except for the check preflop. But like you said, he would've stayed in with 88. Just unlucky. If anything, I think he made the error being chip leader and not raising with 88 preflop and letting you catch that Q.

ScottyZ

I'd suggest playing at PokerStars because their $5 sit-n-go's only have a $0.50 fee. It's pretty hard to beat a 20% house drop.

I don't see anything wrong with the way you played this hand.

I don't see anything wrong with checking on the flop, although raising is good too. It depends to some degree on your opponent. If this is the kind of opponent you will fold to if you miss the flop, you should check. If this is an overly aggressive player whom you are planning to call down with KQ, you should raise. Or, if this is a player you think you can push out by raising pre-flop and betting after the flop, this is another reason to raise.

Although raising is good in many cases, checking allows you to save money on flops as poopy as Axx or 678 suited.

However, I do see a problem with you not paying attention to the tournament. This is an easy trap of online play.

ScottyZ

ScottyZ

After looking at the way the hand went down I do not know if it would have made much of a difference, 88 was staying in, but I feel that was my biggest mistake.

The fact that you have seen your opponent's cards when the hand is over doesn't change the analysis. This is due to the same reasoning as to why it is not wrong to have folded 72 when the flop comes 772.

Our decisions in poker made when we don't see our opponents cards do not become more or less correct when we do see the cards afterwards.

Also, in this particular case, I would expect your opponent to call 1 more with with pretty much any two cards. This is *limit* after all...

ScottyZ

esool

ScottyZ wrote:

1. I'd suggest playing at PokerStars because their $5 sit-n-go's only have a $0.50 fee. It's pretty hard to beat a 20% house drop.

2. if this is a player you think you can push out by raising pre-flop and betting after the flop, this is another reason to raise.

3. However, I do see a problem with you not paying attention to the tournament. This is an easy trap of online play.
ScottyZ

1. I am now set up at pokerstars and will be checking it out. I was tight for time so I just went to pokerroom where I am ready to play..

2. Yes that was my thinking at the time, raise to limit the playing field further...Too bad I had my head up my :oops:

3. I have now explained to the girlfriend that when I am playing online it is "quiet time".

esool

ScottyZ wrote:

After looking at the way the hand went down I do not know if it would have made much of a difference, 88 was staying in, but I feel that was my biggest mistake.

The fact that you have seen your opponent's cards when the hand is over doesn't change the analysis.
ScottyZ

I agree.

I won a multi table home tourny this weekend after 8 hours and many hours of having the low stack. So I am now feeling better about my ability to play the game. I have another regular home game coming up which I had won previously also.

After analyzing my situation further I believe I WAS probably playing too loose pre flop at my on line games. Now that I reconize my weaknees I should be able to make an improvement.

Are all the $5 "sit n goes" no limit? (I prefer the no limit game.)
Anything I should know before trying pokerstars?

ScottyZ

Are all the $5 "sit n goes" no limit? (I prefer the no limit game.)

They have all kinds of sit-n-go's at PokerStars.

They have limit, pot-limit, and no-limit holdem, and no-limit is by far the most popular for sit-n-go's.

They also have stud, stud8, omaha, and omaha8 (both omaha variations are also available pot-limit).

Anything I should know before trying pokerstars?

I have found the low-limit (2-4, 3-6) cash games to be tougher then usual. Stick to PartyPoker for cash games.

You'll find a wide variety of skill levels pf the tournament players at PokerStars, especially that there are quite a lot of skilled players at the higher buy-ins. However, I think there is more than enough dead money in the lower buy-ins to make the games soft enough. On the same note, watch out for "wackos" (most often ultra-loose at calling large bets early) at the $5 level. Even though you are playing tight at the beginning of the tournament, pay close attention if there are any super-bad players with bizzare habits. I once noticed an extreme calling station who had called all of something like 15 of the first 15 hands pre-flop to various size raises (or limping in if possible). With the blinds at 15-30, I moved all-in for 1470 in MP with this player behind me. He called with 94o, gave me a heart attack by flopping two pair, but then I caught a running pair on board to win the cookies.

I love these "must see the flop" types.

ScottyZ

esool

ScottyZ wrote:

I moved all-in for 1470 in MP with this player behind me. He called with 94o, gave me a heart attack by flopping two pair, but then I caught a running pair on board to win the cookies.
ScottyZ

That is wild! It is always good to be reminded that these players are out there.:)

Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know how I make out.

Anonymous

ScottyZ wrote:

I'd suggest playing at PokerStars because their $5 sit-n-go's only have a $0.50 fee. It's pretty hard to beat a 20% house drop.

Sorry I'm a bit of stickler but that's a 10% drop. Which is even better than the suggested 20%.

ScottyZ

I meant that it is better to play at PokerStars ($5 + $0.50 = 10% drop) as opposed to PokerRoom ($5 + $1 = 20% drop).

ScottyZ