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Wes
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11 months ago
in Filthy Dirty on Empty Pockets
The Taj room is full of people like that. I've never had a pleasant experience there. The dealers have no control and the players are jackasses.
In that situation, of course you can't fold AA. You're 77% to chop, 2% to win pre-flop. And even though your reads were dead-on, you can't defend a hand against an idiot. Poker is a game of logic and luck, and people like Thug Donkey don't have the logic part. Chalk it up, and know you played it right. It will bear out.
In that situation, of course you can't fold AA. You're 77% to chop, 2% to win pre-flop. And even though your reads were dead-on, you can't defend a hand against an idiot. Poker is a game of logic and luck, and people like Thug Donkey don't have the logic part. Chalk it up, and know you played it right. It will bear out.
1 reply
iflyhigh
Absolutely. I would make the same move again, but I am satisfied with the fact I knew I was in a fucked situation. I love those moments of pure clarity.
12 months ago
in What’s your most memorable hand? on Empty Pockets
Maybe not the most memorable, but currently dominating my analysis:
This past Friday at the Borgata, playing 1-2, sat with 100, had run up to 270 only losing one showdown and cultivating a very tight, very solid table image against some loose-aggressive players 3-5 to my left. Been playing well and winning without having any strong pockets, but never getting caught having to show a bad play.
Having folded more than a full round in succession, i look at 7s8s in the button with 2 limpers. I bump to 10, my standard open raise thus far. BB calls, limper in MP calls. Flop comes Q 5 6 all spades. I've flopped a flush with a draw to the stone-cold nuts. BB bets out 20 into 30+ pot, MP raises to 100, I move in for 160 more, sure I have the best hand but wanting anyone with a naked high spade to have to pay for it. I put the BB on top pair, MP raiser on a pair with K or A spades.
Right now, would you have played this any differently? Only other option i see is smooth calling the 100, but with a player behind who could re raise (though his stack was smaller than mine), and be ready to fold if a 4th spade comes. This play is against all of my instincts, however, especially in a cash game, but I also had a time limit and did not have much time to buy back in and build back up before I had to leave the tables for at least 4 hours.
So, yeah, without knowing the outcome, how would you have played this? BB was loose but unpredictable, I had a good read on him most of the time, though. MP limper/raiser was decently solid, but had a backwards hat w/ sunglasses on top and a poker-themed shirt, and gave me an impression of thinking he was better than he was but could hide it with confident-seeming aggression.
This past Friday at the Borgata, playing 1-2, sat with 100, had run up to 270 only losing one showdown and cultivating a very tight, very solid table image against some loose-aggressive players 3-5 to my left. Been playing well and winning without having any strong pockets, but never getting caught having to show a bad play.
Having folded more than a full round in succession, i look at 7s8s in the button with 2 limpers. I bump to 10, my standard open raise thus far. BB calls, limper in MP calls. Flop comes Q 5 6 all spades. I've flopped a flush with a draw to the stone-cold nuts. BB bets out 20 into 30+ pot, MP raises to 100, I move in for 160 more, sure I have the best hand but wanting anyone with a naked high spade to have to pay for it. I put the BB on top pair, MP raiser on a pair with K or A spades.
Right now, would you have played this any differently? Only other option i see is smooth calling the 100, but with a player behind who could re raise (though his stack was smaller than mine), and be ready to fold if a 4th spade comes. This play is against all of my instincts, however, especially in a cash game, but I also had a time limit and did not have much time to buy back in and build back up before I had to leave the tables for at least 4 hours.
So, yeah, without knowing the outcome, how would you have played this? BB was loose but unpredictable, I had a good read on him most of the time, though. MP limper/raiser was decently solid, but had a backwards hat w/ sunglasses on top and a poker-themed shirt, and gave me an impression of thinking he was better than he was but could hide it with confident-seeming aggression.
1 reply
jawngee
I'd be thinking almost the same thing. BB is feeling, MP is protecting.
It's a fucked situation, MP is going to call you any which way you
go. If you push, he calls, if you smooth call, he gets his flush.
The math says to push, you are ~75% to win (4% chance to hit that
straight flush) but, on the other hand, it's possible that this guy
has a J or T high flush and is protecting it against the K. But if
all he has is a flush draw he can't call if you've made it 270 to
roll, but in 1/2 anything is possible. So, yeah, you have to raise
here. It's really the only thing to do.
You could fold, you're only in for $10 at this point, but the $100 bet
from MP is fishy. I'm trying to think what would prompt me to overbet
the pot like that in MP with a flush draw on board. By raising here,
I'm giving two people the opportunity to reraise me. I'm guessing
that $100 was 25% of his stack? For me to make that bet in MP I'd have
to have second nuts or better or top pair/overpair with a high spade
for the flush draw. Or trips. I'm not going to raise 55 or 66, but
I'll call $10 to see a flop. I hit a set and I'm going to bet to
protect it. But in this case, I'd make a safety bet to see where they
are at, so I'm not going to put 25% of my stack out there, maybe a pot
sized bet, ~$60. I've reraised the initial bettor, which signals some
strength, but with two to act, I need a clearer picture of where I'm at.
But, if I'm in MP and I do have second nuts, I'm going to smooth call
the original bettor, or min raise him to generate some action. So I'm
going to have to say the chances of him having trips are pretty small,
having second nuts or better is about the same. So the only likely
hand this guy has is top pair with a high spade, maybe JJ or 10-10,
but he would have raised from MP pre-flop unless he was trying to
replay a WSOP episode, which might be likely considering his poker t-
shirt.
So yeah, I'd push.
It's a fucked situation, MP is going to call you any which way you
go. If you push, he calls, if you smooth call, he gets his flush.
The math says to push, you are ~75% to win (4% chance to hit that
straight flush) but, on the other hand, it's possible that this guy
has a J or T high flush and is protecting it against the K. But if
all he has is a flush draw he can't call if you've made it 270 to
roll, but in 1/2 anything is possible. So, yeah, you have to raise
here. It's really the only thing to do.
You could fold, you're only in for $10 at this point, but the $100 bet
from MP is fishy. I'm trying to think what would prompt me to overbet
the pot like that in MP with a flush draw on board. By raising here,
I'm giving two people the opportunity to reraise me. I'm guessing
that $100 was 25% of his stack? For me to make that bet in MP I'd have
to have second nuts or better or top pair/overpair with a high spade
for the flush draw. Or trips. I'm not going to raise 55 or 66, but
I'll call $10 to see a flop. I hit a set and I'm going to bet to
protect it. But in this case, I'd make a safety bet to see where they
are at, so I'm not going to put 25% of my stack out there, maybe a pot
sized bet, ~$60. I've reraised the initial bettor, which signals some
strength, but with two to act, I need a clearer picture of where I'm at.
But, if I'm in MP and I do have second nuts, I'm going to smooth call
the original bettor, or min raise him to generate some action. So I'm
going to have to say the chances of him having trips are pretty small,
having second nuts or better is about the same. So the only likely
hand this guy has is top pair with a high spade, maybe JJ or 10-10,
but he would have raised from MP pre-flop unless he was trying to
replay a WSOP episode, which might be likely considering his poker t-
shirt.
So yeah, I'd push.
1 year ago
in The Power of Negative Thinking on Empty Pockets
Haha. Pritesh.
I'm not sure that $20/flop at 2/5 is really out of hand. I mean, I'm used to standard 1/2 preflop raises being 10-15 in live games, so any preflop raise at 2/5 should be to 20 or more. Yes, it's annoying when one guy is constantly raising preflop with anything, but it's not a terrible spot to be in, and, like you said, sometimes it just takes stepping back from being annoyed and realizing that it's a good spot to make some money if you just play it right.
I'm not sure that $20/flop at 2/5 is really out of hand. I mean, I'm used to standard 1/2 preflop raises being 10-15 in live games, so any preflop raise at 2/5 should be to 20 or more. Yes, it's annoying when one guy is constantly raising preflop with anything, but it's not a terrible spot to be in, and, like you said, sometimes it just takes stepping back from being annoyed and realizing that it's a good spot to make some money if you just play it right.
1 reply
jgmassify
Yeah, the raise isn't out of hand, it's a standard sized raise. It's the constant barrage of them that's annoying. But you're right, I totally let myself get sucked into his action when I should have pulled myself back and let him run his course.
