Bad beat/good beat.

Unknown

In an attempt to quench Chris' thirst for more posts, here are two interesting 30/60 hands from last night on Stars. That game is quickly becoming 'PokerRoom Part II' for me.

Bad Beat:

I'm LP with J:diamond: K:club: . A few limpers and I limp as well to have a look at a flop.

Flop: J:spade: J K:spade: . Checked to MP who bets, I smooth-call, button raises, MP and me call. $360 in the pot.

Turn: 3:spade: . MP checks, I bet out fearing that it will get checked around in the unlikely event that neither of them has a flush, and hoping for a raise if one of them does. Both just call. $540 in the pot.

River: T:spade: . MP checks, I bet, button raises, MP folds, and then me and the button go back and forth until it's capped. $1020 in the pot.

He shows down Q:spade: 9:spade: for a one-outer rivered straight flush, and drags the pot. I of course show my hand. He says "wow". I say "that's what I was thinking". He says "bet you're glad we didn't play that hand in a live game." I say "yep".

(In a live game, the betting would be unlimited heads-up, as opposed to being capped at 4 bets. To be honest, I don't think I would have put more than one more bet into the pot.)

Good Beat:

I'm in MP with A:diamond: Q:diamond: and open-raise. LP re-raises and I just call. Heads-up.

Flop: 7:diamond: 9:club: 3:diamond: . Check, bet, call. $285 in the pot.

Turn: A:spade: . I check, he bets, I raise, he re-raises, I call. $645 in the pot.

River: J:diamond: . I check, he bets, I raise, he calls. $885 in the pot.

Of course MHIG. He shows A:club: K .

Regards,
all_aces

Chris

Ouch, that first one was a pretty tough beat.... interesting hand.

I had no idea you play 30/60. I might have to download pokerstars so I can watch you play sometime.

Unknown

Yeah man, it was a pretty tough beat. I was playing 2 tables though, and having a good night on both, so it didn't really phase me. It's amazing how a good session can desensitize you to bad beats. If I was having a losing night, I probably would have left after that hand and gone off to a corner somewhere and cried.

I don't normally post 'bad beat stories'... everyone's got one; they happen on a regular basis. I just thought it might be an interesting read for anyone who needed to kill a few minutes of their day.

As for watching me play, of course you're more than welcome to, but I tend to move around a lot. I'm not a person who likes to hit-and-run, but my sessions tend to be short-ish, at one or two or sometimes three tables. Then I leave for an hour or two, come back, and play for another half hour or so. I'm trying to avoid spending hours at my computer like I did last winter, but the 30/60 games at Stars are too good right now to ignore completely. There is--as has been widely predicted--a massive influx of players at online poker sites happening right now, and many of them are playing above their comfort levels.

Regards,
all_aces

ScottyZ

Yeah, I saw that AQs hand, but missed the other one.

At least you are getting some good practice with the :club: :spade: :diamond: by posting these hands. :cool:

I remember thinking that this was a nice check-raise on the river with the nut flush, but was surprised when the opponent showed a hand as weak as AK after betting the river.

I think I would have favoured simply betting the flush with the pot that big already, but it seems you anticipated well the fact that your opponent would bet again on the river even with that scare card. What hand does a your opponent put you on that can't beat AK on the river? I can't see you having a hand other than AQ or AK suited in diamonds or a slowplayed set that makes much sense. About the best he can hope for is you having AQ not in diamonds.

ScottyZ

Unknown

Agreed. I was lucky he bet the river. My spidey-sense was tingling, though... Because I check-raised the turn, he must have put me on a weaker ace than his... although most of my 'possible kickers' were out on the board, except for AQ and AT. I didn't think he could put me on a diamond draw alone with a turn check-raise, so I felt I could get away with a river check-raise when the diamond came.

Maybe he bet the river because he didn't think I'd go for a river check-raise with anything less than a flush, and he bet for value. And because of my turn check-raise, he didn't have me on a flush. As you said though, there aren't many hands that I would play this strongly that he could beat, besides AK which would obviously be a tie.

Regards,
all_aces
:club: :spade: :diamond:

ScottyZ

As you said though, there aren't many hands that I would play this strongly that he could beat, besides AK which would obviously be a tie.

Yeah, that's the main idea I think. At the time on the turn I actually put you on 99 myself, especially since the Ace falling looks like a good oppportunity for a 99 to open up the floodgates if you had been previously playing it slow.

But as you said, your checking the river again (particularly after not capping it on the turn) seems like an awkward play for you to make with some kind of real hand, so perhaps it was a nice "confusion" check-raise. :cool:

ScottyZ

Unknown

(particularly after not capping it on the turn)

This is an important point, I think. FWIW, would you have capped it on the turn? I doubt it, but I thought I'd ask.

so perhaps it was a nice "confusion" check-raise. :cool:

I think we were both confused... Bottom line is that after his 3-bet on the turn, I put him on a stronger hand than he had. Basically, I put him on a strong enough hand that he would bet the river for value regardless of the flush card.... (ie: AA or 99). It's a little far-fetched to put him on exactly two hands, because it was an aggressive game, so he could have 3-bet pre-flop and 3-bet the turn with a variety of hands... (33, 77, A9s, A7s, and the unlikely AJs), to try and isolate me and steal it on the flop. AKo was not the hand I was expecting to see, so either he thinks I'm a bit of a maniac (which would be nice), or he is a player who over-values his hand, and doesn't stop to think: what could he have that I can beat?

I may have been a bit guilty of over-valuing my own hand on the turn with the check-raise, but obviously the draw to the nut flush gave me courage. It's also worth noting that he read me perfectly on the turn as having a weaker ace. The river, however, was a different story.

Regards,
all_aces

ScottyZ

This is an important point, I think. FWIW, would you have capped it on the turn? I doubt it, but I thought I'd ask.

No with A :diamond: Q :diamond:, but yes with 99.

With A :diamond: Q :diamond:, I'd probably prefer the no-brainer approach of betting out the turn and river just to ensure that I am winning 2 big bets instead of one if my opponent is stuck with something like TT-KK. If raised on the turn, I just call, and then I feel like I can go for the river check-raise.

ScottyZ