O-Poker

Wow!! Is it really Thursday already? I've kind of lost track of time this week. Working until 3 AM a couple of nights this week will mess with your mind more than just losing track of what day it is.

Enough about work, on to the follow up of the hand that I posted on, ummm, Sunday, I guess.

Here is the hand again:

I have no history with the player. I have only been at the table for about 10 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (SB): $226.10
BB: $530.20
UTG: $38
MP: $622.40
CO: $218.80
BTN: $210.10

Pre-Flop: A Q dealt to Hero (SB)

4 folds
Hero raises to $6
BB raises to $18
Hero calls $12 - 1. Anyone play this different? Flat Call? Re-raise? Fold?

Flop: ($36) Q T 4 (2 Players)

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero ???? -

2. What do you do here?

3. If you raise and he shoves what do you do? (edited)

4. If you flat call, do you lead a non-club, non-King turn? What if you do and he shoves?

5. If you flat call, do you check-raise a non-scare card turn?


I'm not sure which play has the best risk/reward associated with it against an unknown. Basically, are you ever getting away from this hand? If no, what is the best way to maximize your profits? If yes, when and why?


I got some great comments and some correction of my wording since I didn't proof read before posting.

Anonymous - corrected my wording and then decided to check-raise to not sure how much and fold to a jam.

Smokkee - Call the flop and c/r the turn if none of the draws hit.

Pokerpeaker - Fold or maybe raise and fold to a shove.

aposec72 - Call, then push if the turn isn't too scary.

LJ - maybe re-raise preflop

Fuel - "Don't do what LJ says"; Check/call flop for pot control

loretta8 - C/R small on flop and call a shove.; "Anon poster that says c/r and fold to jam hates money and likes to light it on fire."

Lucko - willing to play for stacks here almost 100% of the time. "With the Qc in your hand, I don't mind calling and checking any turn to him. If I didn't have a club, I would be checkraising to about $70 and calling a shove or shoving any non-Ace turn." plus Anon commenter is a douche.

RaisingCayne - great long reponse go read the comments on the last post for all his thoughts. Probably getting the money all-in.


What I did:

LJ - I would need some solid history with a lot of all-in situations vs. my opponent to get into a BvB battle where I am committing 100BBs preflop with AQo. Making a 4 bet would almost get me committed against an unknown.

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero calls $20

Turn: 6h

Hero checks
BB bets $42
Hero raises to $188.10, and is all in - could have made this less, but I am committing myself and if he is calling a raise to $100-$120, then he is probably even more likely to call the shove since it has the feel of a drawish type bet.
BB calls

Hero shows [Ad Qc]
BB shows [Kd Kc]

*** RIVER *** [Qh Tc 4c 6h] [5h]

BB wins the pot ($449.20) with a pair of Kings
Hero adds $200 - :(

Since this was blind vs. blind in a 6 max game, I pretty much decided on the flop that I was going to get it all-in on a non-King, non-club turn. It seems like most people that commented had similar thoughts. If it wasn't bvb, I would don't think I would be playing for stacks oop with TPTK, but the BB is showing up with a lot worse hands and air so often that I really don't think I would get away from the hand on that board.

I don't think I could get away from the hand and c/c the turn and river would be way too weak, so I'm not sure if I could have lost less.

Any additional thoughts on playing this differently? Also, let me know if I messed any grammmer or wordingg up?

I have no history with the player. I have only been at the table for about 10 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (SB): $226.10
BB: $530.20
UTG: $38
MP: $622.40
CO: $218.80
BTN: $210.10

Pre-Flop: A Q dealt to Hero (SB)

4 folds
Hero raises to $6
BB raises to $18
Hero calls $12 - 1. Anyone play this different? Flat Call? Re-raise? Fold?

Flop: ($36) Q T 4 (2 Players)

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero ???? -

2. What do you do here?

3. If you raise and he shoves what do you do? (edited)

4. If you flat call, do you lead a non-club, non-King turn? What if you do and he shoves?

5. If you flat call, do you check-raise a non-scare card turn?


I'm not sure which play has the best risk/reward associated with it against an unknown. Basically, are you ever getting away from this hand? If no, what is the best way to maximize your profits? If yes, when and why?

This is a follow up post to my last post with two AK hands against the same player.

Hand 1

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $211.75
UTG: $78.30
CO: $397.50
BTN: $251
SB: $79.65

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (BB) (AcKh - for those that can't see suits)

UTG raises to $6
CO folds
BTN calls $6
SB calls $5
Hero raises to $30 - Looks like a perfect squeeze - definitely callings any shoves
2 folds
SB calls $24 (leaving himself less than $50 behind)

Flop: ($72) 4 6 Q (2 Players) (all diamonds)

SB bets $49.65 and is All-In, - Insta-shoves; no hesitation
Hero ?????

This is an insta-call right? Can anyone make the case for folding here?

Most people said to fold. The reason that I posted it is because I felt like it was a very close decision and wasn't sure exactly what the right play was.

There is $72 in the pot before he shoves. He bets his last $50, so I have to call $50 to have a shot at winning $122. I need to win more than 29% of the time to call here (I think - correct me if I am wrong) to call here. I don't think he open shoves a flush, but there is a good chance he is open shoving every pair. I really felt like he had a middle pair and then went nutso when the flop came all diamonds.

I called, which looks like was incorrect based on my above assumption. According to pokerstove, I only hav 16% equity against any pair.

If I increase his range to any pair + any broadway hand then I am 35% to win, but I think this range is way to liberal.

He had 5c5d, so I only had a 15% chance of winning the hand and missed. Oh well, live and learn.


HAND 2
Against the same player as hand 1. He had built his stack up but didn't leave the table. I had only seen him over shove 3 times (other than the hand above) and 2 times he showed up with the nuts or very close to it. I really had the impression that once he built up his stack he was playing very scared. He would limp preflop almost every hand and I would raise with position with atc and follow it up with a c-bet. He folded whenever he missed and just called c-bets with hands like top pair, top kicker.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $318
BB: $226.90
UTG: $209.15
CO: $495
BTN: $208.95

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (SB) (AhKd)

2 folds
BTN calls $2
Hero raises to $12
BTN calls $10

Flop: ($26) Q T K (2 Players) (KsQdTd)
Hero bets $16
BTN raises to $196.95 and is All-In
Hero has requested time
Hero?????

Given my read on the player, what do you do here?

One thing that I forgot to mention was that the guy didn't like to fold anything preflop. I'm sure this would open up his range more than the above description implies.

Most people said to fold and look for a better spot against this guy. I used up all of my time bank and finally folded. Based on the way the guy was playing, I think that I am rarely ahead. If I am ahead it is only my a little bit. The only worse hands he is shoving are AdX, KdX, Jx type hands.

He tried to convice me that he had K5, but I really don't believe him. My analysis was the same as everyone else's, there would definitely be better spots against this guy.

New question

Same as Hand #2, but the villain is super duper aggro and you have notes on him that he over shoves most draws and big hands on draw heavy boards, is it still an easy fold? or do you call and gamble against that type of player?

I had a couple of AK hands against the same player over about a 1 1/2 hour session. I didn't really have a read on him in the first hand (other than he seemed very weak and bad in general), but had developed a read in the 2nd hand. I'm curious as to how everyone would play each of these hands.


HAND 1
Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $211.75
UTG: $78.30
CO: $397.50
BTN: $251
SB: $79.65

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (BB) (AcKh - for those that can't see suits)

UTG raises to $6
CO folds
BTN calls $6
SB calls $5
Hero raises to $30 - Looks like a perfect squeeze - definitely callings any shoves
2 folds
SB calls $24 (leaving himself less than $50 behind)

Flop: ($72) 4 6 Q (2 Players) (all diamonds)

SB bets $49.65 and is All-In, - Insta-shoves; no hesitation
Hero ?????

This is an insta-call right? Can anyone make the case for folding here?


HAND 2
Against the same player as hand 1. He had built his stack up but didn't leave the table. I had only seen him over shove 3 times (other than the hand above) and 2 times he showed up with the nuts or very close to it. I really had the impression that once he built up his stack he was playing very scared. He would limp preflop almost every hand and I would raise with position with atc and follow it up with a c-bet. He folded whenever he missed and just called c-bets with hands like top pair, top kicker.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $318
BB: $226.90
UTG: $209.15
CO: $495
BTN: $208.95

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (SB) (AhKd)

2 folds
BTN calls $2
Hero raises to $12
BTN calls $10

Flop: ($26) Q T K (2 Players) (KsQdTd)
Hero bets $16
BTN raises to $196.95 and is All-In
Hero has requested time
Hero?????

Given my read on the player, what do you do here?

I had been pretty active at this table and had been 3 betting the button player a ton. He was starting to flat call a lot and usually folded to c-bets. I 3-bet his button raise from the SB with QQ. What do you do on the turn?


$1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (SB): $255.95
BB: $370.65
UTG: $286
CO: $81
BTN: $214.35

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (SB) (suites spade and diamond)
2 folds
BTN raises to $7
Hero raises to $24
BB folds
BTN calls $17

Flop: ($50) T K 8 (2 Players) (TcKc8h)
Hero bets $32
BTN calls $32 - not a good sign, but there are 2 clubs

Turn: ($114) J (2 Players) (Js)
Hero ???? - Very draw heavy board with 1 over

What do you do? (This is another example of why playing oop sucks.)

I'm going to try to start posting more interesting hands again. I saved this one from last night because I think it shows that you don't always have to 3 bet a hand like AK out of the blinds.

I think that there are a few of reasons to sometimes just call with AK out of the blinds instead of 3 betting a player with a high steal % (sometimes varies depending on your opponents, stack sizes, # of players in the hand, etc. Obviously, there are times when 3 betting AK pf is the most +EV play):

1. To balance your range. If you just flat call late position raises from the blinds with hands like small/mid pairs and suited connectors and 3 bet your big hands then your range is going to be more predictable to your opponents. A lot of people balance their range by 3 betting oop with some of these type hands, but you can also add some balance by just calling late position raises out of the blinds with big hands.

2. If you 3 bet, most hands that AK beats are going to fold and hands like AA-TT are going to 4 bet you or shove on you and then you are flipping a coin at best. There aren't too many hands that would 4 bet or shove that you are a favorite against. You are going to have to commit a lot of chips and possibly all of your chips.

3. Your hand is disguised. If you flop an Ace of King you may be able to stack your opponent with a weaker Ace or King, especially on a draw heavy board. The hand below is a great example of a hand where my opponent read my hand as a draw and shoved.

4. It allows you to get away with check raising some flops with draws out of the blinds on later hands. Players will have a harder time putting you on a hand when you flat call from the blinds. You can c/r your draws against the aggressive late position raisers and take down a lot of pots or often get a free river card if called.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $458.15
MP: $384.45
CO: $200 (pretty aggressive with high steal %)
BTN: $219.35
Hero (SB): $232 (2nd hand at this table, 4 bet the CO all-in with AK on my 1st hand)
BB: $78.90

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (SB)

2 folds
CO raises to $7
BTN folds
Hero calls $6
BB folds

Flop: ($16) A T 5 (2 Players)

Hero checks
CO bets $8
Hero raises to $22 - I made the raise kind of smallish to hopefully look like a draw.
CO calls $14

Turn: ($60) J (2 Players) - Not the best card in the world for my hand

Hero bets $42 - about 70% of pot
CO raises to $171 and is All-In - In most spots this might be a tough call but my hand looks so much like a draw that I have to call here.
Hero calls $129

River: ($402) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $402 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed J 9 (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$200 NET)
Hero showed K A (a pair of Aces) and WON $399 (+$199 NET)

I know some people will argue that you always need to 3 bet AK from the SB against a CO opener in a 6 max game, but I think that always is probably -EV and more value can be gained by sometimes cold calling with AK out of the blinds.

This guy would never bet out with an Ace here. He was calling everything preflop and usually folding to raises.

6 High for the win!!!


Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


SB: $322.10
BB: $218
Hero (UTG): $425.80
CO: $400
BTN: $391

Pre-Flop: 4 6 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $7, 3 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) A Q A (2 Players)
BB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Turn: ($45) 3 (2 Players)
BB bets $45, Hero raises to $90, BB calls $45

River: ($225) Q (2 Players)

BB checks, Hero checks

Results: $225 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB mucked 2 3 (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-$112 NET)
Hero showed 4 6 (two pair, Aces and Queens) and WON $222 (+$110 NET)


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!