Hi guys,
Recently, I have made it a habit to save some of my interesting hands on Pokerstar's boom hand re-player and I would watch them after my sessions. Problem is, I would not be able to record the thought process of my plays so I have decided to create my own thread here and use it as some sort of a diary. Feel free to drop by and comment on my plays if you find it worth your time. I play at 5NL in pokerstars.
After cutting down to 6 tables, I have learned to appreciate poker even more and able to see profitable spots that I could have never seen before while 12 tabling.
Below are two examples of big plays I made today, along with my thought process. These plays might be common to some of you guys at higher stakes but at my level where regulars play mostly straightforward, I find these hands a little bit interesting.
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Hand#1
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)
Known players:
[tg]SB$4.75:///////;BB (Hero)$5.74:///////;MP3$9.51:///////;CO$3.71:///////;BU$4.93:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is BB with T:h, Q:h.
MP3 raises to $0.15, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.10.
Flop: ($0.32) 6:c, 3:s, 7:s (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks.
Turn: ($0.32) 2:s (2 players)
Hero bets $0.25, MP3 raises to $0.80, Hero raises to $1.65, MP3 calls $0.85.
River: ($3.62) 5:d (2 players)
Hero bets $3.94, MP3 folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Final Pot: $3.62.
Reasons and thought process when I pulled the bluff:
1. I was up against a thinking player who is capable of folding.
2. The flop texture hurts his first-in open range in MP3 as he opens tighter here according to my HUD.
3. His flop check shows weakness or he may intend to pot control hands with showdown value. I am sure that he is not checking back any flush draws here.
4. I lead turn and his 3bet seems like an info raise, so I went ahead and 4bet.
5. He called my 4bet and I thought he likely has a big over pair with a flush draw. I discounted all sets and two pairs as he would not play it this way, so I was not worried if the river card will pair the board and he improves to a full house. Hence, I was comfortable representing a flush.
6. River is another good card for me, and my stack is still big enough to bluff shove.
Interesting situations like this happens a lot of times at the tables. Spots where we could take advantage of villain's tendencies and breaking point.
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Hand #2
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]SB$23.13:///////;BB$5.20:///////;MP2$12.17:///////;MP3 (Hero)$12.66:///////;CO$8.01:///////;BU$5.15:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Q:s, 9:s.
MP2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, CO folds, BU raises to $0.45, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.33.
Flop: ($0.97) 9:d, J:h, J:c (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $0.61, Hero calls $0.61.
Turn: ($2.19) 6:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $1.61, Hero calls $1.61.
River: ($5.41) 4:s (2 players)
Hero bets $0.50, BU raises to $2.45, Hero raises to $4.40, BU calls $0.03.
Final Pot: $12.29.
Results follow:
Hero shows two pairs, jacks and nines(Q:s 9:s).
BU shows a pair of jacks(K:s Q:c).
Hero wins with two pairs, jacks and nines(Q:s 9:s).
My thoughts on villain:
Villain is a very good player, in fact he is the only player I labeled "red" (dangerous players) for the day. He is about 17/14 and really knows how to punish weak players. I have him on four of my tables and is already up ~50BB on three of them. I usually give credit to his 3bets because of his TAGish VPIP/PFR and will only fight back with strong hands. I carefully studied his play and was able to accumulate 300+ hand samples. I realize that he is 3betting 25% BTN and about 12% at the CO. He is trying to create a tight image by not opening wide, but he is actually a 3bet happy in position... squeezing and 4betting clueless players.
My thought process of this hand:
1. I started to adjust by 2.5BB open-raising hands with good post flop playability instead of my standard 3BB open, hoping to build a smaller pot on the flop if he chooses to 3bet. However, in this hand villain made it 9BB, still I decided to call to see the flop.
2. I figure that I could be ahead a lot of times on this dry, paired flop and he will likely cbet 100% of his range here, so I decided to call.
3. Turn card does not change anything that much so I decided to call. I thought about 3betting (but he might shut down), so I decided to call and let him bet river for me since he is likely to 3-barrel based on his tendency. The only cards that would make my situation shitty are A and K. I block a Q so I am not too worried about it.
4. But my biggest surprise for him is my plan once a brick hits the river. I decided to donk minbet to create a somewhat questionable play. I am a big fan of donkish river min-bet if I believe I beat villain and if I think his hand is too weak to pay another bet. At 5NL, people seems to have a problem with this kind of play. There is no way a 2nd pair would fold to to a 10-15% river bet thus we could extract more value from our winning hands. On top of that, missed draws and A-high hands may decide to 3bet as what happened to this hand.
