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Jay's Trip Report #3 (06/22/04)
I went to the casino with the intention to just watch my Dad play in the Ultimate Poker Challenge tournament, but then I gave in and decided to play some.
I sat with $200 at a fresh new table.
Here are the hands I played past the flop:
I pick up KQ in the SB, there's 3-4 limpers so I just call. The flop is KTx, checks all around. The turn is a rag, I bet and get a couple callers. The river is a blank, I bet and no one calls.
I pick up 9h8h in the BB and check. The flop is 842, I bet and get a few callers. The turn is an 8, I bet and a couple stay in. The river is a blank, I bet and get called by one guy. I show and he mucks.
I pick up 94 in the BB and check. The is 94x, I check-call. I forgot what the turn/flop are but check-raised the turn and bet the river, and take the pot when no one called my bet.
I pick up AA UTG and limp in PRAYING for a raise but there isn't one. The flop is K high, I bet and get a few callers. I bet the turn and river, no one calls on the river. I know, I know. I shouldn't limp in with aces. If I raised preflop, I'm sure I wouldn't have got any callers since everyone figured that I only play strong hands after playing with me for a couple hours.
I pick up QQ in mid position, someone guy raised blind for shits and giggles before the cards were dealt out and I just called to invite a few callers. The flop is J high, the blind raiser bets and I raise. I bet the turn and river (both rags), no callers at the end.
I got AK three times in an orbit. Raised preflop all three times and folded all three times on the turn when the board was absolutely no help.
Then I got ice cold cards for a good 1-1.5 hours, lost a handful of blinds and bets from preflop limping which resulted in check-folding. I was down around $50 by the time this cold streak ended.
I have KsQs in mid position, limp and call a raise from the BB. The flop is AhQhQd, I raise a bet and there's a couple others left. The turn is a rag heart, my bet gets raised and I know for a fact that the raiser has a flush. I call because I have 10 outs, a 4 to 1 shot roughly and there's well over $40 in the pot. The river is a rag. I fold my hand face up when he bet and he kindly showed Kh5h. Was I correct in calling the raise on the river when I knew I was behind? I just couldn't fold it...
I pick up 63 in the BB and check. The flop is K65, checks all around. The turn is a 3, I check-raise and there's two others still in. The river is a Q, I bet and get raised. I call and muck when he shows top two pairs, I should've known that and folded.
I was down to around $40 when I bought in another $100 when a few fresh faces cames to the table. Then my luck changed.
I pick up KsJs in mid position and limp in, there's 3-4 other limpers. The flop is K high, I bet and get a couple callers. The turn and river are rags, I bet both times and won the showdown.
I pick up AhTh in the SB and call a raise. The flop is Jh 8h 7, I check-call 2 bets. The turn is a rag, I check-call. The river is a 9h, I check-raise. The caller was pissed off and mucked.
A little while later my Dad taps me on the shoulder and tells me he busted out of the tourney, and that he needed to get to work. So here's the last hand I played:
I pick up KcTc in mid position, limp in and call a raise from the blinds. The flop is KTx, I call the raisers bet. The turn is an A, I check-raise and there's a couple left. The river is a K, I bet and get called. I was afraid that the raiser had AK and was check-raising me but he just mucked.
I finished down $70 in about 5 hours. It's a shame that I had to leave when I was finally winning some hands and getting back into the groove. Oh well. Three losing sessions in a row, but at least this one was much less than the first two. :?
Comments and feedback are always welcome.
I sat with $200 at a fresh new table.
Here are the hands I played past the flop:
I pick up KQ in the SB, there's 3-4 limpers so I just call. The flop is KTx, checks all around. The turn is a rag, I bet and get a couple callers. The river is a blank, I bet and no one calls.
I pick up 9h8h in the BB and check. The flop is 842, I bet and get a few callers. The turn is an 8, I bet and a couple stay in. The river is a blank, I bet and get called by one guy. I show and he mucks.
I pick up 94 in the BB and check. The is 94x, I check-call. I forgot what the turn/flop are but check-raised the turn and bet the river, and take the pot when no one called my bet.
I pick up AA UTG and limp in PRAYING for a raise but there isn't one. The flop is K high, I bet and get a few callers. I bet the turn and river, no one calls on the river. I know, I know. I shouldn't limp in with aces. If I raised preflop, I'm sure I wouldn't have got any callers since everyone figured that I only play strong hands after playing with me for a couple hours.
I pick up QQ in mid position, someone guy raised blind for shits and giggles before the cards were dealt out and I just called to invite a few callers. The flop is J high, the blind raiser bets and I raise. I bet the turn and river (both rags), no callers at the end.
I got AK three times in an orbit. Raised preflop all three times and folded all three times on the turn when the board was absolutely no help.
Then I got ice cold cards for a good 1-1.5 hours, lost a handful of blinds and bets from preflop limping which resulted in check-folding. I was down around $50 by the time this cold streak ended.
I have KsQs in mid position, limp and call a raise from the BB. The flop is AhQhQd, I raise a bet and there's a couple others left. The turn is a rag heart, my bet gets raised and I know for a fact that the raiser has a flush. I call because I have 10 outs, a 4 to 1 shot roughly and there's well over $40 in the pot. The river is a rag. I fold my hand face up when he bet and he kindly showed Kh5h. Was I correct in calling the raise on the river when I knew I was behind? I just couldn't fold it...
I pick up 63 in the BB and check. The flop is K65, checks all around. The turn is a 3, I check-raise and there's two others still in. The river is a Q, I bet and get raised. I call and muck when he shows top two pairs, I should've known that and folded.
I was down to around $40 when I bought in another $100 when a few fresh faces cames to the table. Then my luck changed.
I pick up KsJs in mid position and limp in, there's 3-4 other limpers. The flop is K high, I bet and get a couple callers. The turn and river are rags, I bet both times and won the showdown.
I pick up AhTh in the SB and call a raise. The flop is Jh 8h 7, I check-call 2 bets. The turn is a rag, I check-call. The river is a 9h, I check-raise. The caller was pissed off and mucked.
A little while later my Dad taps me on the shoulder and tells me he busted out of the tourney, and that he needed to get to work. So here's the last hand I played:
I pick up KcTc in mid position, limp in and call a raise from the blinds. The flop is KTx, I call the raisers bet. The turn is an A, I check-raise and there's a couple left. The river is a K, I bet and get called. I was afraid that the raiser had AK and was check-raising me but he just mucked.
I finished down $70 in about 5 hours. It's a shame that I had to leave when I was finally winning some hands and getting back into the groove. Oh well. Three losing sessions in a row, but at least this one was much less than the first two. :?
Comments and feedback are always welcome.
Comments
You've got to bet the flop on both of these hands. Your hand is not strong enough to slowplay in either case. More importantly, the chasers will call you on the flop with as little as 2 overcards (often with only 1 overcard), but you are allowing them to get away from the hand if you keep the pot small on the flop, and they then face a big bet on a later street.
What is the x in the flop 94x? Kind of funny notation. ("The flop comes Five, Deuce, rag.")
Slowplaying the flop in low-limit will generally win you *smaller* pots than if you had bet out. This is a special case of ScottyZ's Fundamental Rule of Low-limit: Fancy plays don't work.
Some people like raising these kinds of hands (drawing hands) in late position or from the blinds, but I don't really. I would check here.
In order to make the limp-reraise play UTG with Aces, you have to be *expecting* someone to raise, not praying. I've never been at a Brantford 5-10 table where I would have called UTG with AA.
This is a very easy pre-flop 3-bet. Not raising here is quite a bad play. You've got a monster hand which plays much better heads-up than multi-way, and you are against a maniac who raised blind.
Once again, this is *not* a spot where you want to invite callers in.
No shame in folding on the flop either. Somtimes it's worth peeling off one more card to a 6-outer on the small bet round, but I'll fold AK almost every time when I miss the flop.
You mean calling the raise on the *turn*, right? This is a correct call based on pot-odds if the pot is over $40, which was certainly the case. I also like your betting out on the turn since you can't allow a single heart to draw for free, and you'll need to get an Ace out to free up a couple of your outs.
I think the river has got to be one of those "pot too big" calls. While low-limit players are *generally* quite straightforward, I've seen enough players play a picked-up flush draw (say, the bare Kh, maybe even Kh Jx) this way to feel that I am winning often enough to call one more bet on the river.
I don't think there was any reason to get involved in this hand.
Edit: Wait a second... I didn't notice that you spiked 2 pair. That's a nice reason to get involved. 8)
Seems unusual that you went for a check-raise here after the flop was checked around. A nice play if you were pretty confident that someone would bet the turn. Were you seeing a lot of times when the flop was checked around, then someone attempted to pick up the pot on a turn brick?
Betting out and calling on the river seems fine. I don't see how you can fold for just one more bet on the river.
That's more like it. Maybe it seemed like your luck has changed, but could it have been that you simply played this hand much better than similar hands previously?
This is probably the most intersting hand for analysis. I'd be trying to isolate the pre-flop raiser on the flop (unless it was already heads-up). If the raiser was soon to act after me, I would have bet out, hoping he would raise to drive the rest out. If the raiser was in late position, I would have gone for a flop check-raise.
The Ace coming on the turn is troublesome, in that it is very likely to either kill your action, or put you into 2nd place. I'm not sure I would play it as aggressively as you did on the turn. I'd probably check-call the turn, and then bet out on the river. (I probably would not try a check-raise on the river because either I am losing, or a sensible opponent would check a losing hand behind me.)
Remember, it's one long game. However, I myself rarely like to put myself into a spot where my decision on whether or not to leave the game depends on someone else. Not to say that I will never do this, and when it happens you just have to realize and accept that you may have to leave an extremely juicy game, and just "get 'em next time".
ScottyZ
I like the limp-reraise attempt. I wouldn't do it every time you're in EP with aces, even if your table is very aggressive and you can pretty much count on someone raising after you. However, I think it's important to do it sometimes, so that people don't think that every single time you limp you have suited connectors or a small pair. Show down pocket aces after a limp, and you may see cheaper flops when you limp with your regular 'limping' hands.
That being said, the fact that you're afraid you won't get any action on your raise shouldn't be the reason you limp. They got you right where they want you if you're feeling this way. If you really think you won't get any action on your raise, you should be raising with more hands--including suited connectors--to get your table image to a point where it is a little less predictable. Not that you are predictable, but I think you get what I'm trying to say...
Nice laydown. I assume you mean 'was I correct in calling the raise on the *turn*'. Pot-odds say 'yes', and so do I. In fact, here's an almost identical scenario from my Casino Regina (limit) tournament report....
In my case, it was 800 to call into a 3700 pot, but I still had one guy to act after my call, who might have raised. In other words, it might have come back capped to me before I could see the river card. Here, I had to factor in implied odds... will these guys pay me off if I hit... and I made the call. The river was a bit more helpful for me than it was for you, though.
Instead of folding to the river raise, I prefer check-calling the river.
Overall, I think you played well. In general I'd say that a lot of the hands you were dealt (suited face cards, etc...) that you limped with, you could have brought in for a raise. I know that suited connectors generally play better in multiway pots, so it's often a good idea to let people see a cheap flop for that reason. If, however, your preflop raises are getting too much respect, you could start occasionally raising hands like Kd Jd, or 3-betting Ah Th with position.
If you are already playing a long-term, profitable game, ignore this advice, and carry on.
Regards,
all_aces
Regards,
all_aces
I don't think there was any reason to get involved in this hand.
Edit: Wait a second... I didn't notice that you spiked 2 pair. That's a nice reason to get involved. 8)
Seems unusual that you went for a check-raise here after the flop was checked around. A nice play if you were pretty confident that someone would bet the turn. Were you seeing a lot of times when the flop was checked around, then someone attempted to pick up the pot on a turn brick?
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The guy in the BB to my left likes to check-raise, I know that for a fact after playing beside him the whole time. He was the one who had top two pairs at the end of the hand.