My poker life this year has been very disappointing. I have been plagued with bad beats, making the final tables often but with few chips, and then finding a new way to lose. I mentioned in the last blog that my "too tight" thing might not be working. So, determined to loosen my game up some and also ramp up my aggression, last night it paid off for me with a win at Wheeler. The highlights included making a very good call and a couple of good folds.
The good call came fairly early. Playing a J/5 from the unraised big blind, the flop came J/4/4. I bet out and was called. The turn was a 10, putting 2 diamonds on the board. I bet again, bigger, and was called again. The river brought a third diamond, the 5, giving me 3 pair. I checked, he bet big, and I thought it through. Did he runner runner a flush? Don't think so. Was he slow playing an A/4? Maybe, but think the 2nd diamond would have elicited a re-raise on the turn. My final conclusion was that he had a jack with a good kicker, but that I had just beaten him with my better two pair. Call!!!! He turns over KJ for the losing 2 pair hand. The player to my left gave me a nice compliment.
One frustrating hand was on the final table. I was in the big blind (150/300), when the UTG min-raised. With one caller (small blind), I considered calling with my 8/9 off, but he is a fairly solid player and with bad position decided to fold. Bad fold. The flop came 9/9/x and was checked. The turn was another 9, which would have given me quads, he bet all-in, she folded. I moaned audibly, and he said, "I had a full house". Yep, and you would have lost all your chips.
We discussed chopping at various points, but the chip leader was dead set against it, even later when he was about the same stack as the remaining players. He was playing lucky and aggressive, winning a couple of big pots when his bluffs went astray and were called, only to suck out. He was talking smack to the end about how he was going to win. Heads up he had me severely outchipped and he was playing aggressively. I played back at him and won a big pot to draw us even. The final hand was his move all-in with J/8, my call with Q/9. I hit the Q on the flop but also a 10 came. If I hit my 9 he would have beaten me with a straight. A king hit the turn, and I begged the dealer not to give me two pair, but she did anyway when a king rivered, giving me the winning 2 pair, kings and queens. Whew, always a sweat.
My loyal reader Don (how about more comments? Be more like 7 Dewey!!!), asked me to elaborate something we talked about. Basically, it was playing more aggressively by always raising if first to enter the pot. If there were multiple limpers, it is o.k. to call, but raising helps to thin the field, and buy better position by getting later players to fold. Also, if someone open raises before you, the best plays are to re-raise or fold. A call is usually not the right play here. That is about it, read a short article about this which is linked below. I was already trying this, so just reinforced my idea. Nothing earth shattering, just solid advice.
http://thepokeracademy.com/aggression-leads-to-position/
The good call came fairly early. Playing a J/5 from the unraised big blind, the flop came J/4/4. I bet out and was called. The turn was a 10, putting 2 diamonds on the board. I bet again, bigger, and was called again. The river brought a third diamond, the 5, giving me 3 pair. I checked, he bet big, and I thought it through. Did he runner runner a flush? Don't think so. Was he slow playing an A/4? Maybe, but think the 2nd diamond would have elicited a re-raise on the turn. My final conclusion was that he had a jack with a good kicker, but that I had just beaten him with my better two pair. Call!!!! He turns over KJ for the losing 2 pair hand. The player to my left gave me a nice compliment.
One frustrating hand was on the final table. I was in the big blind (150/300), when the UTG min-raised. With one caller (small blind), I considered calling with my 8/9 off, but he is a fairly solid player and with bad position decided to fold. Bad fold. The flop came 9/9/x and was checked. The turn was another 9, which would have given me quads, he bet all-in, she folded. I moaned audibly, and he said, "I had a full house". Yep, and you would have lost all your chips.
We discussed chopping at various points, but the chip leader was dead set against it, even later when he was about the same stack as the remaining players. He was playing lucky and aggressive, winning a couple of big pots when his bluffs went astray and were called, only to suck out. He was talking smack to the end about how he was going to win. Heads up he had me severely outchipped and he was playing aggressively. I played back at him and won a big pot to draw us even. The final hand was his move all-in with J/8, my call with Q/9. I hit the Q on the flop but also a 10 came. If I hit my 9 he would have beaten me with a straight. A king hit the turn, and I begged the dealer not to give me two pair, but she did anyway when a king rivered, giving me the winning 2 pair, kings and queens. Whew, always a sweat.
My loyal reader Don (how about more comments? Be more like 7 Dewey!!!), asked me to elaborate something we talked about. Basically, it was playing more aggressively by always raising if first to enter the pot. If there were multiple limpers, it is o.k. to call, but raising helps to thin the field, and buy better position by getting later players to fold. Also, if someone open raises before you, the best plays are to re-raise or fold. A call is usually not the right play here. That is about it, read a short article about this which is linked below. I was already trying this, so just reinforced my idea. Nothing earth shattering, just solid advice.
http://thepokeracademy.com/aggression-leads-to-position/
1 comment:
Yeah! You won!! Awesome :)
The article you linked to was good. I liked the sentence stating "You need a much stronger hand to call a raise than you do to make the raise yourself". This reiterates what I was talking about with you previously and what Chris Ferguson likes to do, i.e. raise based on your position and not your cards. If you are the initial raiser you should raise 2 times the big blind UTG and the next 2 spots, 3 times the blind in middle position and 4 times the blind in the last 3 positions. This applies if you have AK or 23. If you are going to play and the pot isn't raised before you - raise!
I also like Howard Lederman's advice in a book I read where he was talking about limit. His best advice when coming into a hand is to raise, re-raise or fold. Naturally, there are always situations where you will change your mind. Poker is very situational. But I think the more aggressive play really does work better.
Good job Phil. Maybe the rest of our poker year will go better. And yes, Don should comment more. I feel all alone out here!
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