Lost and Found

I was playing $1-2 No Limit at Santa Fe Station two nights ago and the following hand provided an excellent example of a situation where you DO NOT want to disguise the strength of your hand.

This was an extremely loose game so (as I often do at this limit) I was playing almost everything pre-flop unless there was a raise. Then I would evaluate my criteria on a case by case basis. I called $2 from late middle position with 7-10 off suit. The player immediately to my left raised to $10, the button called, both blinds called, and an early position limper called so I threw in the extra $8 as well.

The flop came 10 - 9 - 4 with two clubs. The SB checked and the BB bet $15 into the $60 pot. The early position limper called the $15. At this point, I had a decision to make. I considered the following factors: My hand is likely not going to improve on the turn. Given the weak bet by the big blind, I am inclined to put him on a draw of some sort and the same with the limper who called him. The player immediately after me is the original raiser and if he entered the pot with two big cards, I definitely don't want to flat call and give him odds to call for overcards. So my options at this point are to make a significant raise or to fold. I decide that there is a very good possibility that I currently have the best hand and that if I am wrong about the original raiser and he is holding a big pocket pair I will find out in short order. So I raise the pot to $60.

The original raiser thinks for a few seconds and then mucks. What happens next is what really surprised me...the button cold called my $60 bet. As soon as he did this, the SB mucked and the BB started hemming and hawing about whether or not to call. While the BB went through his considerations I tried to figure out what in the world the button had. Here was my thought process: At this point, if the button has a bigger 10 than I, or even two pair or a set, he would be very foolish not to raise. With open ended straight possibilities for such popular cards as 7 -8 and J - Q, with a flush draw on the board to boot, and with two early position better/callers, he needs to protect a made hand at this point. If he just flat calls my $60, he is giving both other players the odds to call with any straight or flush draw and even a hand as strong as a set would then be very vulnerable. Following this train of reasoning, I decided that it was most likely that the button held a big draw like a flush draw with straight possibilities and/or overcards. This would make it correct from a pot odds point of view to flat call my bet and his hand would not be hurt by other players also calling. So even though I wasn't at all sure about my read, that's what I decided was most likely.

The BB eventually mucked, but not before stating that he thought he was probably laying down the best hand at the moment. This led me to believe that he held a 10 and that seemed to only strengthen my thought that the button was on a large draw. The other limper also mucked and we saw the turn heads up.

The turn came a K of hearts. If I was right about what the button held, this card could be trouble, but it wasn't as bad as a club falling. I checked to see what he would do. (I'd like to note that my check here was admittedly pretty weak, but I was hoping to get some sort of help with my read when he bet or checked behind me.) The button came out and bet $50. Now this bet was extremely confusing for two reasons: 1. The pot at this point was over $200 and 2. I only had about $75 left in front of me. When he bet this amount I really struggled to figure out what was going on. Did he have JQ and he had just turned the nuts so his $50 bet was his way of enticing me to call? Did he not notice how little I had left? Did he miss his draw but saw the $50 as some sort of value bet? I couldn't figure him out, and because I couldn't figure him out I reverted to my original read. I decided to continue acting on my assumption that he had a big draw. Since the K only hit a small number of drawing hands and since my remaining stack was quite small in relation to the pot, I decided that I had to call him, and since I was going to call I might as well push all in, which I did.

The river came a 10 of clubs...double whammy. If he was on some sort of combo club draw, as I thought was most likely, he just hit it, and if he had a big 10, he still had the best ten. He hesitated and since I was the first in order, I turned over my hand. He made a disgusted noise and threw the 9 4 of diamonds face up into the muck. He had flopped bottom two pair and the river had, of course, killed him.

Now obviously I made an incorrect read on this guy, but I wanted to point out that it is the fact that he misplayed the hand badly that allowed me to win. After I raised to $60 on the flop he ABSOLUTELY NEEDED to protect his hand. Bottom two pair is always vulnerable and should be bet strong, but even more so when there are straight and flush draws on the board. What did he think that I had? What did he think that the other two players had? He ended up with the best case scenario for him, both other players mucked and I had only top pair. But even so, his bet of $50 on the turn was so weak that it gave me the odds to call him even with my limited outs. Think about it: On the turn I have outs to two tens, three sevens, and three kings. That's 8 outs...I need 4 to 1 on my money, which I was easily getting. My point is that had he shown strength on the flop by re-raising me, I would have folded and he would have taken down a nice pot.

Remember, slow playing and tricking players into thinking that you have a weaker hand than you do only works if your hand is strong enough to deserve to be slow played. Protect your weaker hands! Especially those that are unlikely to improve but have a significant chance of worsening.

Until next time...remember, if you always go in with the worst hand, no one can ever suck out on you!

A FABULOUS Read and a BAD Call Lead to a Big Pot

Here's how it went down: When the tight/conservative player went all in I started evaluating what I thought he had and I narrowed it down to 10-10, J-J, or Q-Q. I was leaning more heavily to J-J or Q-Q. The reason for this is twofold: I did not think that this player would risk his entire stack unless he had a made hand. This is the case with many more conservative players. This analysis enabled me to eliminate AK and AQ from the possible holdings. I further believed that this player would not push all in in that situation with A-A or K-K, he certainly might have re-raised at that point, maybe to something around $100, in order to isolate against one player, but I didn't think he would go all in. Moving all in at that point was a large overbet of the pot and it indicated to me that he #1: had a hand that he felt needed protection and #2: was willing to take the pot down right there with no further action. These factors combined to make me eliminate A-A and K-K as options. I did not think that he would risk that much money on anything lower than 10s and so that left the three middle pocket pairs, with me leaning more heavily towards J-J or Q-Q. After speaking with Happy Donkey later in the evening, I discovered that his thought process had been almost identical to mine except that he had settled on either 10-10 or J-J. Therefore he made the call believing that he had two live, suited overcards and was coin flipping.

The other player ended up having just that...J-J. So my conclusion is that Happy Donkey made a GREAT read but a BAD call. Even though he correctly identified the hand that his opponent most likely held, he made what was, in my opinion, a donkey call. Here's why: First, there is the Q-Q factor. Q-Q could not be eliminated as a possible hand. If you look at 10-10, J-J, and Q-Q as the most likely hands, two are coin flips and one has you dominated. Second, you have to give yourself a little wiggle room in your calculations for mistakes...if Happy Donkey's read had been off, it was much more likely that it was off and the raiser had a better hand than jacks than it was likely that the raiser had a worse hand than jacks. Lastly, CALLING an all in bet is much more passive than MAKING an all in bet because you have no fold equity when you call. Therefore, while I do MAKE all in bets that I think might result in facing a coin flip situation, I rarely just call if I think that I am coin flipping. I would rather get my money in the pot when I have the best of it. If I had wanted to flip a coin for my money, I would have bet red or black.

Until next time may all your coin flips come up heads!

A _____ Read and a _____ Call Lead to a Big Pot

Last night I went to play some 1-2 No Limit with a friend of mine. We headed out to Sunset Station and just happened to be seated when the jackpot was hit at another Station casino. With poker room attendance at a typically light Monday night level, the players' share was $615...so we each went away for the night with a nice little bonus. I also observed an interesting hand that I'll share with you:

My friend (we'll just call him Happy Donkey...his choice, not mine) and I were sitting at the same table and it was a very good game. There were several tight, conservative, rather predictable players and three loose, aggressive donkeys...perfect mixture. Anyway, it was my live $4 straddle and one of the conservative players made it $12 to go from early-middle position. Two LAP called from middle position and my friend, Happy Donkey, raised to $25 from the button. I mucked and the original raiser pushed all in for $252 total. The two LAP mucked and Happy Donkey called time and went into the tank. As my friend was contemplating what to do, I evaluated what I thought the all in pusher most likely held. I'll tell you next post of my conclusion. After thinking for around a minute, Happy Donkey called. Both players flipped over their hands and Happy Donkey showed the KQ of spades.

My question to you for today is to weigh in on the following: What do you think the original raiser had? Was Happy Donkey dominated, coin flipping, or in the lead? All things considered did he make a good call or a donkey move? Answers and outcome on the next post.

Protecting Yourself from Questionable Ethics

The other night I was playing in one of my typical No Limit games (the exact casino is not important, but let's just say that there are a lot of canals involved) and two situations arose within the space of an hour invovling players using strategies that I felt were unethical.

The first incident occurred when the player to the immediate right of me came out with chips before the flop. He held a large stack of ($5) red chips in his hand, about 20 chips or so, and as he brought the chips over the bet line he began quickly cutting them out on the felt. I had seen him come out with the fistful of chips and as I looked at my hole cards, in my peripheral vision I saw him cutting out several chips. I had a starting hand that I would not play to a raise, so I quickly mucked. When I looked up, I saw that the chips he had cut out were ($1) white chips, not red chips. He had stacked five white chips below the large stack of red chips, purposely held them in such a way that they were concealed, come out with the large stack of chips and then cut out five white chips one at a time in order to make it look as much as possible like a raise. When he saw that I had mucked my hand he started laughing as if this was all part of a secret joke. I didn't really care as far as my hand was concerned because I wouldn't have played it anyway, but the intent of the player was far from honorable and that disturbed me. I asked the dealer what the rule was since he had taken a large stack of chips over the bet line and in many casinos where I have played the player is then forced to at least put in a minimum raise and in some cases I have seen all the chips in the bettor's hand go into the pot. When I asked what the rule was in this casino the dealer just laughed.

The second incident involved two other players and was much worse than the first. Two players were in a pot that had been raised pre-flop and then bet on the flop and the turn. The river was checked and as soon as it was time to turn over hands the second player to act announced that he had an ace (which would have been top pair on the board.) This player was already racking chips getting ready to leave the table and he announced the ace without picking his hand up from the table as if he was too busy racking the chips to turn it over right that second. The first player started to muck his cards as he heard that the racker had an ace, but apparently thought better of it when he saw that the second player had not yet made a move to turn over his hand. The first player held his cards face down over the muck and said, "Let me see it." The second player picked his hand up off the table, still facing down, and as he said again, "I've got the ace man," he made a little flipping motion with the cards as if he was starting to flip them over...but stopped short. Now the first player was definitely suspicious and demanded again that the second player show his hand at which point (a little late in my opinion) the dealer stepped in and asked for both hands to be turned over. The first player tabled his King high no pair and the second player mucked his hand face down then turned and left the table.

I have played casino poker for years and have occasionally heard players misrepresent their hands on the river, but have never seen it taken that far or be that blatant. This kid had just won a huge pot about 5 minutes prior for around $1200, why try to cheat his way into $150 more?

I respect all the angles of our great game and agree wholeheartedly with the axiom, "It is immoral to let a fool keep his money." But I believe that a legitimate poker player will pride him or herself on taking that money through superior poker playing, not through questionable angles, unethical pot shots, or just plain cheating. This needs to serve as a reminder to all of us to never muck our hand until the winning hand is tabled and to always keep a sharp eye out for those who feel they need a little extra advantage in order to win.

Until next time...when you sit down at the table, may the sucker not be you!

"Why Did You Choose to Get Agressive There?"

Last night I played the 2-5 NL game at the Venetian. It was one of those nights where I couldn't hit a flop if it was the broad side of a barn. After playing for three hours, I was just above even, due only to the fact that I had pulled off three huge bluffs. Only once had I actually flopped a pair in three hours, and that hand ended up losing when a flush came on the river. None-the-less, I felt like I was playing well, and was happy to be ahead when I hadn't been catching any cards.

Finally, I ended up catching a flop. I was dealt A 5 off in the big blind and we had two limpers come in. The button raised to $20. Usually, I don't like playing Ace rag in a raised pot, especially out of position, but this guy was very loose, raising a lot of hands pre-flop and the table had been playing very agressively, so I thought that there was a pretty good chance that any of the three limpers would have raised an ace coming into the pot. I made the decision to call the extra $15 and the rest of the limpers followed suit.

The flop came down 5 - 5- 4 rainbow. I was first to act and I checked. The table checked around. The turn came an 8 of clubs putting two clubs on the board. I checked again, but this time, with the intention of check raising. This table was far too agressive for it to be checked around again. Villian bet out from middle position for $30. The button folded. I felt I needed to raise here for two reasons. First, to get the person out between myself and Villian in case he had a flush or straight draw. And second, to get a little more information as to what Villian could be holding. I raised and made it $80 to go. The player in between us folded, Villian called, and we saw the river heads up.

The river brought a 3 of hearts, which was essentially a blank. At this point the list of hands that Villian could hold is quite varied. He could have a five with a weaker kicker, an eight with some kind of re-draw, a busted flush draw, a straight, or a full house. I decide that this player is strong enough that if I check he will bet out with any of the above, either for value or to steal the pot. If he does so, he will most likely bet the size of the pot, which as it stands, is $240. I decided to make a blocker bet in order to pay less for the same information, so on the river I bet $100. I felt that he would not be able to raise me if he had anything less than a full house. If he did have a full house and raised, I would muck. He flat called the $100 and then said, "Do you have the full house?" I immediately knew that he must have turned the straight. He won the pot, but as he was dragging it he felt obligated to critique my play. "I can't believe you raised me with just a five," he said. "And then you picked a weird time to get aggressive on the river." Interesting that he saw it that way. I guess he didn't understand that I wasn't betting $100 on the river because I was convinced I had the best hand, I was betting it because I was worried that I didn't have the best hand.

Sometimes the largest victory you can claim on any given hand is not to win the most money, but to lose the least. Until next time...remember...a chip saved is a chip earned.

To Flip or Not To Flip

When I'm not out playing live, my favorite online game is the Heads Up Tourneys on Full Tilt. At the moment, I am playing the N/L Hold 'Em and Stud H/L varieties almost exclusively. I have developed a strategy that seems to work well when it comes to decisions in potential coin flip situations.

As any of you who have played these tournaments have probably noticed, there is a particular set of players that enjoy pushing all in on a semi-frequent basis after the pot has been raised pre-flop. It typically goes something like this (for me.) I will triple the big blind (often with a hand like A-8, KQ, JQ, 55, you get the idea) and then someone will push all in over top of me. What to do? Well the answer depends on a couple of factors. First, let's assume that the villain is not doing this ALL the time. There are players who will raise all in anytime you raise or (in extreme cases) every pre-flop. I deal with them a little differently, so for the sake of this evaluation we will assume that villain is not raising all in all the time, but just occasionally or even semi-frequently.

The first thing that I evaluate when deciding whether to call all my chips into the middle is the skill level of the person I am playing. At the limits that I play, I feel that I am definitely the dominant player 95% of the time. Therefore, I believe that I can grind the other player down and I don't need to try for coin flips. Because of this, I will usually fold anything but Qs, Ks, or As pre-flop in this situation. Now, obviously, the more often someone is making this move, the more lenient you need to become with the hands you are willing to call. If it starts happening more frequently, I will sometimes add AK or AQ to the mix of hands I am willing to get all my chips in with. Another way to adjust to many of these maniacs is to start playing small pot poker. Stop raising with your big hands pre-flop and try to win in unraised pots. It takes longer to finish the match, but if you are the superior post-flop player it should not be a problem.

My strategy begins to change as the limits go up. If you get to the 60/120 blind level and above, and you still have not vanquished your opponent, you can no longer afford to pass up solid opportunities to secure the win. You then must consider getting all your chips in the middle with progressively less spectacular hands. I also adjust my requirements substantially when I feel that I am facing a tough opponent. I played a tournament last night against a player that was surprisingly good. I had what I felt would be a coin flip situation in the 40/80 blind level when I held AJ suited and I took it. He had pocket 9s and I lost, but I felt ok about the decision because I was a little low on chips and I was facing an opponent that was not easily dominated. I did come back and beat him in a re-match.

Well that's it from the virtual felt today. Good luck and may all your cards be live!

An Almost Awesome Bluff

Last night was a lot of fun and I had the pleasure of playing at one of the more interesting tables I've encountered in the last several months. My buddy Ben and I went to Ceasar's at 5pm to play in the PLO tourney. We were both knocked out fairly early so I ended up playing 2-5 No Limit. The game was reasonably tough when I sat down with a few decent players, so I played tight the first hour or so to get my bearings. Around that time people started leaving and the fabric of the game changed dramtically. It got softer by the hour. We had a visit from some famous basketball player (wasted on me) and I ran into three old friends. I cashed out up $1100 so it was a good night overall. I'd like to share one really interesting hand that I watched:

I wasn't able to get the names of the two players involved (I'll do better next time), so we'll just call them Small Blind Boy and Button Man.

The table folded around to Button Man who limped in. Small Blind Boy put in a decent size raise, I think he made it $40 to go. The big blind mucked and Button Man called. The flop came down Q 9 7 rainbow. Small Blind Boy bet out $100. Button Man thought about it for a moment and then called. The turn came another queen. At this point, I was putting Small Blind Boy on something like AK or AJ and figured that he had made a continuation bet on the flop. I didn't see how he could continue bluffing at it at this point, so I wasn't surprised to see him check. Button Man was evidentaly waiting for this as he promptly bet $250. I should note here, that I didn't put Button Man on a Queen at this point, as I think he would have slowplayed the turn with no draws on board and hoped that Small Blind Boy hit something on the river. I wasn't sure exactly what Button Man might have but I was almost certain he didn't have a Queen. Apparently Small Blind Boy must have been thinking the same thing becasue he called for time to contemplate his options. Finally, after looking like he was going to muck, he moved all in. I was surprised and so was Button Man as he let out an involuntary cry of "Man...I know you have the queen." He finished this thought with, "but I have to call you now." With this exclamation, Button Man put his remaining chips (only about $180) into the pot. Now, before you go any further, care to speculate on what both of them had?

I doubt you guessed it. Small Blind Boy turned over a J 5 offsuit for a whopping jack high. And...believe it or not...he was the dominant favorite in the pot at that point! Button Man flipped over a 6 8...he had flopped the open ended straight draw. The river was suitably dramatic as a 6 came off giving Button Man the pot.

I was super impressed with the read and the chutzpah of Small Blind Boy in attempting to steal the pot on the turn with a check raise holding Jack high. And it would have worked...if only Button Man had had more chips. As it happened, it was a great reminder that you always need to have your opponents stack in mind when you bet. Pushing all in when his opponent was pot comitted turned Small Blind Boy's brilliant read into a donkey play. He admitted that he didn't put Button Boy on an 8 high, he just felt that he didn't have a Queen and, as such, he might be able to push him off of his hand. I think he would have succeeded, but he neglected to notice that Button Man was almost out of chips.