Looks like I won't be able to play today, so I'm gonna post some analysis and hands from previous sessions. Here are my graphs on "river check/call", "river bet/call" and "river bluffs" (bluffs with air-type hands, high cards, sometimes bottom pairs etc).
Spoiler
As far as I can tell these are my biggest black holes in my game. I wouldn't say "leaks" because I'm sure there are more smaller leaks beside these huge holes. And the biggest one is "check/calling river" with a bluff catch hand. "Bet/calling" is a bluff-catching as well, so I will probably name them both as a bluff catch move (BC).
So what is the problem? one might ask. I dunno. Most of the time I realize that I am at BC spot if I face a bet or a raise on the river. But for some reason(s) I talk myself into a call. Sometimes I have some good reason, like "aggro-bluff-happy opponent" or "his value range is pretty thin, he might have more %% of weaker hands" etc. But most of the time it's a pure BC with relative garbage.
Now it would've be pretty easy to learn to fold if everytime I call I see the nuts. But I've seen so many crappy hands people shove that I am always suspicous. Here's an example:
Spoiler
Hand #1
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]MP2$25.00:///////;MP3$7.80:///////;CO$30.39:///////;BU$42.49:///////;SB (Hero)$48.65:///////;BB$15.70:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is SB with A:s, T:c.
3 folds, BU calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.00, BB folds, BU calls $0.75.
Flop: ($2.25) 3:d, J:s, T:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $2.14, Hero calls $2.14.
Turn: ($6.53) 7:c (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $6.21, Hero calls $6.21.
River: ($18.95) 4:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $18.02, Hero calls $18.02.
Final Pot: $54.99.
Results follow:
Hero shows a pair of tens(A:s T:c).
BU shows high card king(6:s K:c).
Hero wins with a pair of tens(A:s T:c).
I don't want to bring up stats at this point, because it's not about decisions right now, I just want to draw the whole picture. Of course stats at the table are very important and I will put them later with the hands I would like to share.
Anyways, I can give some more examples like this, here're some more:
Spoiler
Hand #2
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]MP2 (Hero)$25.00:///////;MP3$25.00:///////;CO$33.59:///////;BU$9.76:///////;SB$23.22:///////;BB$26.08:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A:s, J:s.
Hero raises to $1.00, 3 folds, SB calls $0.90, BB folds.
Flop: ($2.25) 2:c, J:h, 3:c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.60, SB raises to $3.20, Hero raises to $8.30, SB calls $5.10.
Turn: ($18.85) J:d (2 players)
SB bets $5.50, Hero raises to $15.70, SB calls $8.42(All-In).
River: ($48.47) T:s (2 players)
Final Pot: $48.47.
Results follow:
Hero shows three of a kind, jacks(A:s J:s).
SB shows two pairs, jacks and sixes(6:c 6:h).
Hero wins with three of a kind, jacks(A:s J:s).
Then it comes to silly calls like this:
Spoiler
Hand #3
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]CO$31.38:///////;BU$40.14:///////;SB$25.10:///////;BB (Hero)$26.18:///////;MP2$25.12:///////;MP3$20.25:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is BB with K:h, K:c.
2 folds, CO raises to $0.75, BU raises to $2.60, SB folds, Hero calls $2.35, CO folds.
Flop: ($6.05) A:s, 3:d, 5:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $4.25, Hero calls $4.25.
Turn: ($14.55) J:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $8.00, Hero calls $8.00.
River: ($30.55) T:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $14.25, Hero calls $11.33.
Final Pot: $56.13.
Results follow:
BU shows a pair of tens(7:h T:h).
Hero shows a pair of kings(K:h K:c).
Hero wins with a pair of kings(K:h K:c).
And here we go. I don't trust them anymore. It can be one hand in a tens/hundreds but I still remember it very well. And I start calling too much again, no matter how hard I worked before to stop that. Now, I realize deep inside that if I just fold everytime I will be doing better. Even if I fold all the spots I'm ahead and lose some value, still those when I'm behind cost me much more when I end up callin.
All in all it comes to this kind of embarassing calls. Sometimes it's not that obvious fold:
Spoiler
Hand #4
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)
Known players:
[tg]MP3 (Hero)$27.14:///////;CO$26.37:///////;BU$41.33:///////;SB$37.49:///////;BB$20.70:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J:c, A:h.
Hero raises to $1.00, CO calls $1.00, BU calls $1.00, SB calls $0.90, BB folds.
Flop: ($4.25) A:c, 6:c, 7:s (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.80, CO calls $2.80, BU folds, SB folds.
Turn: ($9.85) J:s (2 players)
Hero bets $6.30, CO calls $6.30.
River: ($22.45) Q:h (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $16.27(All-In), Hero calls $16.27.
Final Pot: $54.99.
Results follow:
Hero shows two pairs, aces and jacks(J:c A:h).
CO shows three of a kind, sevens(7:d 7:c).
CO wins with three of a kind, sevens(7:d 7:c).
But most of the time it goes like this:
Spoiler
Hand #5
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]SB$121.77:///////;BB$25.89:///////;MP2 (Hero)$176.18:///////;MP3$29.61:///////;CO$26.45:///////;BU$128.61:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:s, K:c.
Hero raises to $1.00, 2 folds, BU calls $1.00, SB folds, BB calls $0.75.
Flop: ($3.1) J:h, 6:c, 6:h (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.80, BU calls $2.80, BB folds.
Turn: ($8.7) 8:h (2 players)
Hero bets $5.80, BU raises to $13.50, Hero calls $7.70.
River: ($35.7) 8:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $30.80, Hero calls $30.80.
Final Pot: $97.3.
Results follow:
Hero shows two pairs, kings and eights(K:s K:c).
BU shows four of a kind, sixes(6:d 6:s).
BU wins with four of a kind, sixes(6:d 6:s).
Spoiler
Hand #6
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]SB (Hero)$85.72:///////;BB$60.53:///////;MP2$61.15:///////;MP3$71.45:///////;CO$67.03:///////;BU$87.47:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q:c, Q:s.
3 folds, BU raises to $0.75, Hero raises to $2.50, BB folds, BU calls $1.75.
Flop: ($5.25) J:s, 7:d, 2:c (2 players)
Hero bets $3.30, BU calls $3.30.
Turn: ($11.85) T:d (2 players)
Hero bets $6.20, BU raises to $14.50, Hero calls $8.30.
River: ($40.85) 6:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $19.00, Hero calls $19.00.
Final Pot: $78.85.
Results follow:
Hero shows a pair of queens(Q:c Q:s).
BU shows three of a kind, tens(T:s T:c).
BU wins with three of a kind, tens(T:s T:c).
Spoiler
Hand #7
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand
$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]BU$62.05:///////;SB$62.00:///////;BB$72.27:///////;MP2$69.23:///////;MP3 (Hero)$64.79:///////;CO$158.41:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 9:s, 9:d.
MP2 folds, Hero raises to $1.00, CO folds, BU calls $1.00, 2 folds, BB folds.
Flop: ($2.35) 5:c, 9:c, 3:c (2 players)
Hero bets $1.80, BU raises to $4.50, Hero calls $2.70.
Turn: ($11.35) 8:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $7.50, Hero calls $7.50.
River: ($26.35) 2:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $26.00, Hero calls $26.00.
Final Pot: $78.35.
Results follow:
Hero shows three of a kind, nines(9:s 9:d).
BU shows a flush, nine high(4:c 2:c).
BU wins with a flush, nine high(4:c 2:c).
In those last spots opps were pretty eager to value-bet me with strong, but not the best hands. And I found myself able to paid them off even with worse hands. Which doesn't help to feel good about my game.
Well, of course it doesn't happen all the time. But that's enough for me to be a losing player. What kind of mental trick do I need to control my actions in those spots? I wouldn't say I do it in a fog or something. I usually stop before clicking, consider my actions, ranges and odds, sometimes I even come to a conclusion that I'm too often behind to make this call +EV. And still I hesitate a little - and call.
I'm going to start posting some hands tomorrow, today I took a break.
hands in previous post.