Unlucky Against Donkeys

Playing in a few SNG's online this morning (testing my "luck") I run into two of the luckiest donkeys ever.  In the first one, I am in the small blind playing 7/9 suited, I limp heads up to a guy who knocked 2 players out first hand (this is a 5 player SNG) by raising preflop with Q/6 and calling an all-in with an overcall all-in!  He hit two pair.  So, now, he min-raises me and I call.  The flop gives me a gutshot straight draw, needing an 8.  I think the flop was K/6/5.  I figure he probably missed the flop, so I bet 30.....he calls.  Turn is another 6 so I bet 90 to represent the 6.  He calls.  River, bingo, bango, bongo the 8 for my straight.  Figuring he is a donk, and aggressive, I check to trap his bet which he predictably makes.  Great, I re-raise all-in figuring he will call which he immediately does with his Kings full of 6's.  WTF!!!!!

Moving to a second SNG I raise with AQ, am re-raised by AK, I go all-in, there is a king on the flop.
Who is the donkey here?  Me.

Third SNG, a guy doubles up first hand with garbage, second hand I have QQ under the gun.  I raise to 80, one caller, then the donk re-raises me 250.  I want to isolate him, so I re-raise all-in.  The other player folds, he calls to reveal.......10/3 offsuit.  No problem for him as there is both a 10 and a 3 on the the flop!!!

Dominated Hands

Usually I consider a dominated hand the second worse thing you can see when you get all of your chips in preflop.  The worst is the dreaded set over set which leaves you with only 2 outs and only random straight or flush possibilities.  The dominated hands that you tend to see a lot are:

AK vs. AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, K10 (all other Ax) etc, etc.
KQ vs. KJ, K10, K9, QJ, Q10, Q9
QJ vs. Q10, Q9, J10, J9

There are of course many other variations of dominations, but I want to focus attention on these as the most frequently occuring and most trouble.  If you notice that in all cases, you are in little trouble with these hands.  The flop has to be really ugly for you to be a big problem.  You are seldom going to lose many chips with AK, KQ or QJ on a flop of 9/10/J with significant resistance from the villain.  You can easily dump AK with only a gutshot draw, you have flopped the nuts with KQ, and you have top pair with an open ender with your QJ.  On the other hand, any "big card flop" gives your villain either a good draw or a two pair hand.  Thus, the value of "top pair, top kicker" should give you cause to slow down your play and be very careful about committing your entire stack.

In a cash game, I often see random dominated hands winning due to the poor habit of playing any two suited cards.  Big trouble for AK when playing against K/2 when the flop is 2/2/k, or even just 2/k/x.  Again, caution playing top/top too aggressively.

With all this said, lately I have been getting my ass kicked by hands that I dominate.  It seems like any weak kicker is a magnet for the other player.  But that is just me running bad.  Played too late last night, coming in second again (grrrrr) in a cash tournament with only one prize.  Also qualified for a bigger tournament (top 10, came in 5th when my program crashed).  Pretty good results, but SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!

New Winning On-Line Strategy

Playing very well, thank you, online at Card Players website.  Came in second on cash freeroll yesterday by employing my new favorite strategy:  only play really big cards & pairs (particularly big pairs).  Tripled up early with KK vs. top pair (jack) and two of a suite flop and never looked back.  Lost at the end despite 3/1 chip advantage on a couple of bad beats and one sick flop (raised with A/7 suited on button, other player with AQ).  Flop was A/7/Q.  Got it all in good with small pair with equal chips and his AJ, but he hit his 6 outer.

When I first started playing poker seriously an "experienced" young player who was very successful gave me these words of wisdom.  "Phil, you can't go wrong if you just play good blackjack hands".  When you think of that, it would be all pairs and all hands that equal 19, 20, or 21.  Not bad advice, simple and usable.  Sometimes I think we overcomplicate the game.  Stick with pairs and big cards and it is simple.  Just takes the patience to wait for them to come to you and experience to know when to fold them.  Also the experience and wisdom to know that some days you will just not be dealt "good" cards (realizing that any two cards can be "good" sometimes.

Classifying Players

Just thinking this afternoon about how I am starting to classify players.  Last Friday a pretty good player pushed from the button with A/2 suited.  He was definitely not one of the shortest stacks and the big blind tanked for a long time before finally calling with A/8 offsuit.  When the shover questioned his call, he commented that "it seemed like you wanted a fold".  I failed to see his logic, both on his call with his weak holding and why he wouldn't have folded it (the hand ended up chopping).  Anyway, I got to thinking about the caller and how good a player that I would classify him.  Here are some "rankings" I came up with:

1.  Pro player.  Consistently cashes, reads players well, plays position and "plays the player", capable of making big laydowns and great calls.  Uses advanced plays like isolating, squeeze plays, 3 barrel bluffs. Tiltproof.

2. Advanced player.  Usually a final table participant.  Will play position as well as cards.  Thinks about what the other player might have, and what his opponent thinks he has.  Careful about limping out of position.

3.  Average player.  Plays too many pots, calls raises out of position with marginal hands.  Must have the deck run over them to win. 

4.  Calling station.  Lots of people in this category.  Seldom raises to find out where they are in hand, and if they do, usually ignore the information.  Limps with easily dominated hands in early position.  Calls with any pair against any bet hoping to hit trips, two pair.  Will also call with gutshots, backdoor straight or flush draws, and overcards to board.

5.  Ace master.  Plays any weak ace in any position, often against raises.  Particularly partial to suited aces.    Will bust you if he hits his kicker along with the ace. 

6.  Flushmasters.  Will play any suited cards in any position, often against raises.  Often wins when he hits his well disguised two pair or makes a straight with gapped connectors.

7.  Clueless.  Lots of these.  Can't read a board, player or often their own cards.  Will call to the river with gutshots, bottom pair, etc.  Can never be bluffed on any board if they have a pair.  Like a calling station but worse.  If they get lucky will rack up lots of chips but ultimately (usually) give them all away.

Pressure Dealing

Friday night at the Legion I am asked to deal due to an extreme shortage of players which later turned into 3 full tables.  I agree and deal table #2 which is good because I don't have to stay until the bitter end if knocked out yet still get 30% of tips which should almost cover my buy-in.  Unfortunately seated at my table is the regular dealer for the final table who scrutinizes my every move and "helpfully" offers dealing tips, side pot values, etc.  This sucks!!!  As if it is not tough enough for me to deal and play at the same time.  I almost knock him out early with my flopped trips and rivered full house vs. his top pair great kicker.

I lose most of my chips when I raise with AK, a short stack player re-raises all-in with a significant stack and "Mr. Loose Calling Station with a lot of chips" calls with pocket 3's.  We see the flop after I flat call and it is low 2/2/x.  I check and Mr. Loose goes all-in.  I fold and his hand holds up.  He later knocks me out when I check my option in the big blind with 8/10 suited, flop comes 10/7/x and I shove with top pair only to see his pocket 7's.  Turn is the 9 giving me the open ender.  River blanks, shitty dealer.  

Words of Wisdom

Why I am Definitely Done With Checking It Down

This week was a horrible cash game week for me (didn't do so hot in tournaments either).  One of the observations that I made was that the "friendly checkdowns" were a big loser for me.  Let me explain.  First of all I play significantly fewer hands than some of my regular friends.  That is because I am a lot choosier about starting hands, position, etc. than many of them.  Thus, when I am in a hand, particularly heads up against someone, I probably have the better hand and they have to  catch up.  By checking it down, I let them chase for free.  Now, sometimes I am way behind, like when they catch a set and are trying to make quads, but that is fairly rare.  In this game, big hands are tough to catch, and when you have one you must maximize your profit.  You can't do that by checking it down.

To be fair, I plan to inform those that I have soft played before that I will be betting my hands, and advise them that they should do the same.

Another observation was that I was chasing too much.  I identified two hands from Tuesday that cost me a total of over $200.  The first one was against a made flush and I only had the second nut draw with top pair on the board.  Bad decision as he had turned the nut flush.  The second one, I had a draw to the third nut against a made flush (which granted was lower).  Again a bad decision.  Even against some of the most outrageous bluffers, it is better to save your chips until you have a very strong hand.

The last thought is that I should not play when tired.  Played way too late three nights in a row and it affected my decision making process.  Just not profitable to play when you are too tired to think straight.