O-Poker

I mentioned in my last post how weak some of the players were at the cash games. I thought I would share some of the hands that occurred at the tables during my week in Las Vegas. (Some hands I was involved in; some I wasn't.)

Worst bluff ever (and he got rewarded)

5/10 NL Cash Game
Seat 2 - Me
Seat 4 - Playing about $1,800. Girl that had been playing fairly straight forward solid poker. She always bet her hands and it was usually very obvious when she had a monster. I hadn't seen her put of the brakes too much once she started betting.
Seat 6 - Playing about $1,700. Guy that thought he was the best player at the table and was quick to let everyone know it. (We have all played with a lot of people like this.)

I am on the button. Seat 4 is BB. Seat 6 is UTG+1.

Everyone limps to me. I limp along on the button with a weak hand since I am pretty sure the SB and BB won't raise. SB limps; BB checks.

Flop is 10,7,5 rainbow.

SB checks. Seat 4 (BB) leads out for $40. Seat 6 raises to $100. Everyone else folds. Seat 4 raises to $300. UTG+1 re-raises all-in for about $1,300 more. The girl in Seat 4 thinks for a minute and then says she has to call. UTG+1 says, "Good call. You got me. I was bluffing." BTW, he was bluffing with almost no outs.

Seat 4 - 10,7 (top two pair)
Seat 6 - KQo (two overcards)

Turn is a 5. River is a K.

The guy in Seat 6 gets rewarded for one of the worst bluffs ever. It may be debatable on whether Seat 4 should have called the additional $1,300, but she definitely made the right call in this situation. Seat 6 should have picked up on the fact that Seat 4 wouldn't lay down her hand there.

Horrible bluff and gets rewarded with runner runner suckout.

Giving up on a monster draw (no money invested in pot)
(Warning - you may consider this a weak, nitty play by me)

5/10 NL Cash Game
Seat 2 - Me ($1,200)
Seat 5 - Over aggressive player. Makes a lot of overbets when he has a hand. ($850)

My hand - Jh9h in the cutoff

Several limps to me. I limp along. Seat 5 in the BB makes it $40. Two players call. I call to close the action.

Flop - 10h7h6s (giving the gutshot straight flush draw)
BB bets $400 into a $160 pot - WTF?

Seat 7 thinks for about 3-4 minutes before folding. It folds to me. I am pretty sure that I am up against AA or KK. It is a shove or fold situation. I decide to fold figuring that I only have $40 invested in the pot and I would have to gamble on a coinflip (about 48% to win) or worse since Seat 7 probably had some of my outs for $810 more. I folded the hand face up to use it to my advantage later.

I didn't mind the fold because I felt like the table was weak enough where I could get all my money in as a much bigger favorite later. I know a lot of people would say it was a nitty fold, but again the table was very weak.

BB Special/ I am the worst player ever

5/10 NL Cash Game (same table as above)
Seat 1 - Weak tight player that has been getting frustrated. He just laid down the nut flush draw to me when I put him all in. ($600)
Seat 2 - Me ($1,400)

Limps (about 5 players) to me in the BB. My hand 3s7s. I check.

Flop comes 4s5sKh. I lead out for $50 with my gutshot straight flush draw. It folds to the SB who makes is $150. I call the additional $100.

Turn is the Js. SB insta-shoves all-in. I call figuring I pay him off if he happens to have had a flush draw also. (I really doubted that he had a flush draw.)

He flips up KQo - drawing dead and proceeds to tell me that I am the worst player ever. I am sure it had something to do with that being the last of his money - he left the table and watched one of his friends play for a while.

Calling a Fishy Size Bet Pays off

2/5 NL Cash Game - 6 or 7 handed
Seat 7 - Me on the Button ($1,500)
Seat 6 - Solid guy that was friendly to me at first but basically quit talking at all to me after I won a big pot off of him. ($700)

I Mississippi straddle on the button. A couple of limpers to Seat 6 who makes it $50 to go. I look down at KK and decide to wait until the flop to raise what looks like an obvious steal attempt. Everyone else folds.

Pot - $140
Flop comes AA5

Seat 6 bets $80. I am not putting him on an Ace. I think that this is the type of player that would check an Ace on that flop. I flat call.

Turn is a blank and he looks at me and says, "What could you have?" and checks. I check behind.

River is a blank.
Pot is $290.

Seat 6 overbets the pot - $350.

I think for a few seconds and his bet makes absolutely no sense to me. It screams of weakness - something like an underpair or a total bluff. He is betting a much smaller amount if he is betting for value.

I call and he shows 64s. My KK wins.

I think this is the perfect example of making a call based on the way the player has played in the past and the dynamics at the hand. He had never overbet so much when he had a monster in the past and it was completely out of character for him to overbet here with an ace.

There are some other interesting hands that came up. I'll post more in a few days.