dsvw56

Here I'll be posting some of the bad plays that I make. We'll start with a hand I played tonight at $2/$5 NL

B&M Casino
$300 NL Full Ring
Blinds - $2/$5

Effective Stacks :
Hero (MP2) ~ $650
Villain 1 (UTG+1) ~ $350
Villain 2 (BB) ~ $220

I'll start off by saying it was a table full of regulars. There was only one player at the table I wasnt familiar with and he wasnt involved in this hand. Villain 1 is a fairly loose player. As far as I can tell, he has no concept of position. Plays many marginal hands when he shouldn't. Raises from OOP frequently with less than stellar holdings. Villain 2 is about the total opposite. He's very tight/passive. Only plays quality starting hands. Rarely raises, unless preflop with a big PP.



UTG Folds
Villain 1 raises to $17
Hero Calls with As-Jc
Villain 2 calls

Flop
Ad-10c-8h

Villain 2 bets $15
Villain 1 calls
Hero raises to $45
Villain 2 calls
Villain 1 calls

At this point I'm not really sure what to think. I was hoping my raise there would end this pot. And if not, get me heads up with the original bettor.I figure Villain 1 for some kind of straight draw, QJ or KQ most likely, or perhaps a weak ace. Villain 2 has me totally stumped at this point.

Turn 7c

Villain 2 checks
Villain 1 checks
Hero bets $120
Villain 2 moves all-in for like $150ish.
Villain 1 folds.
SHIT! At this point I knew exactly what he has. There's only one thing he could have. But I have to call, its only like $30 something more to me, even though I know I'm drawing dead.
Hero calls.
Villain 2 turns over 10-10


So what did I do wrong here? Well I definitely got out of hand on the turn. A smaller bet could have given me a chance to get away from this hand. Or I probably should have checked here. If I had the best hand on the flop, I still had the best hand. AJ isnt that strong of a hand to begin with, I let this pot get out of control with something as weak as one pair. Especially in a multi-way pot. I could have easily been out-kick by either of my opponents. I easily could have waited for a much better spot before getting that much money in the pot. I also ignored the bet by my tight and passive opponent. I think I did the right thing on the flop by raising, but after he called my raise, I should have been a little more wary.

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If I cared, I wouldn't be the don't care bear.

tomonbass

Calling with hands like AJ and the like after a pf raise is often a recipe for disaster...

Avoiding pf domination is a must in poker especially in cash games and calling with hands like KQ/KJ/AQ/AJ/A10 and the like after a pf raise is asking for trouble...

You have to think about what kinds of hands people raise with and then consider if there is a good chance you could be dominated..

AJ is dominated by AA/KK/QQ/JJ/AK & AQ hands that people would generally raise with ...

High card hands do cause alot of people alot of trouble... just be weary of your opponents possible holdings...

Also One Pair isnt a great hand... it only beats high card or lower pairs.. being out kicked etc is something to be concerned about.. just be weary of putting alot of money in...

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dsvw56

Well thanks for your analysis Tom. I agree with it for the most part. I know the dangers of AJ, the only reason I played it this time was because of my read on the original raiser.

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If I cared, I wouldn't be the don't care bear.

ryan1984

Ace Jack is a weak hand. There is not really much you can beat with that. I don't even like raising pre-flop with Ace Jack. It never works out. The other person either has a higher kicker for their ace or they pair their other hole card.

dsvw56

Another bad one. Whoops. On a side note, I ended up donking off a total of like $500 this night. A horrible night all around. Been a while since I had a night like this, I was making tons of bad decisions. This was by far the worst.

B&M Casino
NL200
$1/$2 Blinds

Effectiive Stacks :
Hero in CO with ~$150
Villain in MP1 with ~$75

Hero has QdQs

Folds to Villain in MP1
Villain calls
2 other limpers
Hero raises to $14
Villain calls.
2 limpers call

Flop :
Jh-8h-5h

Villain goes all in for like $63 I think it was
Both limpers Fold
Hero insta-calls (Now I have no idea why I did this, not something I'd ever ever do. Maybe I had a brain fart and thought I had the Qh instead of the Qd. Of all the possible hands he could have here, the only one I can beat is AhJ. I regretted making this decision as soon as the word "call" came out of my mouth)

Villain turns over AhAd

(Come on one outer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Turn :
5c

River :
Qc

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, so I won the pot, but it doesn't matter. I made a horrible play here and beat the odds. You can't get very far in poker leaving your fate up to a 4% chance to win. One saying comes to mind here : "Never go broke with just one pair". This is usually a no-brainer fold for me. I had only invested $14 in to this pot and should have easily been able to get away from this. There wasnt much he could have that I was beating and I ran in to about the worst possible hand. I should have been ready to toss this in to the much as soon as the action got to me.

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If I cared, I wouldn't be the don't care bear.

wotsupthen

One saying comes to mind here : "Never go broke with just one pair".

DSVW... Thnx for the insight. I learn something new every day and I'd like to change that saying for my personal use to: " Never go FOR broke with just one pair"

Cheers

vb_dave

well it was a bad play but
you still won the hand

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HOLD'em or FOLD'em

dsvw56

The outcome of the hand never matters, only the decisions made. Worrying whether you win or lose a hand puts you in a bad place.

__________________
If I cared, I wouldn't be the don't care bear.

Deco

with the first hand, I;d say the call was correct as villian 1 is loose and raises with marginal holdings OOP, once mr tight passive limped in though you couldn;t have been happy.

When the flop came you was correct to raise as Villin 1s bet was so small (would be worth noting down he bets tiny about 1/3 of the pot when he has a monster hand), but without knowing that a bet this small could be a passive oppenents meek way of trying to steal the flop.

But bearing in mind he's passive you could find out about his hand just by calling?
A passive opponent almost certainly not bluff a 2nd time if called or bet a meagre hand again if called as any ace he could hold would have you beat while a pocket pair that hasnt made a set wouldn't be bet again by a passive player.
Take advantage of your position next time and call perhaps?

Still the raise wasnt bad play but considering he called you theres nothing he could be playing you could have beat A9 is a long shot but he's tight so i doubt it. So checking then foldeing on the turn was probably best.

dsvw56

Whoops is all I have to say about this one. lol

I was playing $1/$2 NL with a table full of loose donks so I had been playing rock tight the entire night and manged to build a decent stack.

I picked up 2-2 on the button and it folded to me so I raised it up and got a call from the big blind. The big blind player seemed to one of tightest players at the table so I was glad he called as it gave me a chance to win this pot if I miss. So anyways he calls and the flop comes down A-8-6 with 2 spades. He checks to me so I figured this was a great spot to represent a hand like AQ so I bet about 2/3 the pot. He calls so I put him on the flush draw. The turn was another ace and he checks yet again. This time I bet about 1/2 the pot which was about 3/4 of this remaining stack. I chose this ammount as it was small enough to look like I had the 3 aces and was looking for a call but just big enough that if he wants to play, he's going to have to commit the rest of his chips. He then gives a sigh and says "I guess I'm all-in". Whoops, I know what that means. Of course he has the 3 aces, but it was only like $18 more to me in to a $120+ pot. So I of course make the call and he turns over pocket aces for Quads! Just perfect, I run one bluff the entire night and run in to quads. That will teach me to bluff lol. But here's the kicker, on the river there is a deuce giving me deuces full. Thanks dealer.

I don't really think I made any major mistakes in this hand. Given the same circumstances, I'd probably play it the same way. Just thought it was really funny that the only time I run a bluff the entire night I managed to run in to quads and thought I'd share.

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If I cared, I wouldn't be the don't care bear.