Getting in In Good, Runner Runner and Flopped Straights

Two days ago over just 516 hands in just a little under an hour, I had 9 all in hands. This is actually pretty many over such a short time.

I got my chips in at the following clip:

91% (won), 84% (lost), 73% (lost), 87% (lost), 18% (lost), 87% (won), 82% (won), 100% (won) and 75% (lost).

The good news is that 8 out of 9 hands, I got my money in real good (at least 73%). The bad news is that I lost 5 of the 9. That kind of hurts.

If that wasn't bad enough, tonight I ran into 5 losses where I was ahead a lost to runner, runner plus a couple of losses on the river. Luckily, I was able to get back to break even before I called it a night. Cmitch was at my table tonight. It's always nice playing with people that you know. You can also catch Bruechips on the PL50 tables every once in a while when he feels like slummin'.

As of this writing, I was able to sneak into the top 13 PL50 players at FTP this month. This is kind of surprising giving the way I started out the month as I was mostly break even through the first half of the month. Things got better towards the end.

I continue to do well in Pot Limit. I just don't get as I actually lost money playing No Limit. It seems like there just shouldn't be that much difference in win rates. For me, there is and because of that, I will be sticking with Pot Limit.

Flopped Straights, do they ever win?


Villain is a fishy 42/1/2.2 over 119 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/306475
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $100.00
MP2: $149.70
CO: $40.00
BTN: $21.50
Hero (SB): $107.20
BB: $105.70
UTG: $63.60
UTG+1: $45.50
UTG+2: $104.05

Pre Flop: ($2.00) Hero is SB with 7d 6d
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, CO calls $0, 1 fold, Hero calls $0, BB checks

Flop: ($5.00) 8s 9c Ts (5 players)
Hero bets $4, BB folds, UTG calls $4, MP1 folds, CO folds

Turn: ($13.00) Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $9, UTG calls $9

River: ($31.00) 6s (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $15.75, Hero ???

Does anybody lead out on this river?
Call this bet?
What kind of hand can we put him on?

Just for fun, I'll post one of my runner, runner losses.. Perceived loss anyway as I folded the river.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/306477
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $28.00
BB: $70.90
UTG: $52.50
UTG+1: $100.00
MP: $12.60
CO: $85.00
Hero (BTN): $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with 4h Kh
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 1 fold, BB calls $3.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($10.50) Kd Kc Ad (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, BB calls $6

Turn: ($22.50) 4s (2 players) GIN!!!!!
BB checks, Hero bets $15, BB calls $15

River: ($52.50) As (2 players) ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
BB bets $45.40 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds


Have a nice day!!!!

Cowboys and a quick hand with overpair

OK, so the Cowboys won last night. I gotta say that I'm not really liking what I am seeing. Felix gets hurt... again. MBIII should be fine. Passing game (except to Witten) seems off. Timing in general seems off. They finally got a couple of interceptions; but who doesn't get interceptions from Jake Delhomme. Although, I have to say that they weren't really all his fault yesterday. I'll take the win and look forward to playing the "undefeated" Broncos.

Work continues to kick my butt so I haven't had a lot of time to post. Here is a quick hand.

Villain is a 56/10/4.6 over 40 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/303702
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $100.50
Hero (BTN): $125.45
SB: $60.65
BB: $104.55
UTG: $105.60
UTG+1: $30.60
MP1: $71.05
MP2: $305.15

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with Ad Ah
3 folds, MP2 calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.50, 2 folds, MP2 calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) 5d Kc 3c (2 players)
MP2 bets $4, Hero raises to $13.25, MP2 calls $9.25

Turn: ($37.00) 6s (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $23, MP2 calls $23

River: ($83.00) 4h (2 players)
MP2 bets $83, Hero ??

Seems like an easy call against this fishy type player; but is one pair good most of the time here? Can he possibly have a 2 or 7? I think that answer is yes given his states.

Have a nice day!!!

You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them and Flopped Straights

Flopped Straights, are they ever good? Below is a flopped straight with some pretty crappy turn and river cards. The question is what to do on the river?

Villain is a 24/8/1.5 over 1.1K hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/296005
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $104.25
UTG+1: $117.65
MP1: $23.70
MP2: $38.50
CO: $121.20
BTN: $104.00
SB: $100.00
Hero (BB): $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 2c 3d
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 5 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($2.50) 5h 4c As (2 players)
Hero bets $1.25, UTG+1 calls $1.25

Turn: ($5.00) 5s (2 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG+1 calls $3

River: ($11.00) Ts (2 players)
Hero ???

So not a real big pot; but the board pairs and the flush gets there. What do you do?

Check/Fold
Check/Call
Bet/Fold
Bet/Call

If you are betting, what amount are you betting?

You have to know when to Hold them and know when to fold them. What is them? In this case it is Pocket Kings. Last night happened to be one of those nights when I should have always played ABC poker; but in those hands that you don't, it is super important to know when you are beat. Here are two pocket Kings hands from last night.

Hand #1

SB is 18/13/3.9 over 10K hands
UTG+1 is 34/7/3.3 over 30 hands


Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/296007
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $188.40
MP2: $191.70
CO: $125.95
BTN: $386.45
SB: $100.00
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $96.95
UTG+1: $269.70

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Kd Kh
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 4 folds, SB raises to $6, Hero calls $5, UTG+1 calls $5

I've got position on the raiser and a bad player on my left. I want that bad player in the pot so I just called. Again, I am not ALWAYS doing this, it is hand specific and certainly don't want to polarize my 3bets and cold calls.

Flop: ($18.00) 7s 6d 3h (3 players)
SB bets $11, Hero calls $11, UTG+1 calls $11

This is where I made the mistake as I should have turned up the heat here.

Turn: ($51.00) Ah (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $5, SB calls $5, Hero folds

At some point, you need to give up when there is a big chance that you are beat. With such a small bet, folding here is probably wrong; but not wanting to take a chance on a two outer, I took the wimpy way out.

River: ($61.00) 4d (2 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $15, SB calls $15

Final Pot: $91.00
SB mucks 9c 9d
UTG+1 shows As 6s (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
UTG+1 wins $88.00
(Rake: $3.00)

As it turns out, a raise preflop or on the flop probably gets the weak ace out of there. It's hard to say though.

Hand #2

Villain is a 13/4/0.3 guy over 23 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/296008
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $108.60
BTN: $52.15
Hero (SB): $158.40
BB: $59.40
UTG: $20.00
UTG+1: $20.00
UTG+2: $50.10
MP1: $100.00
MP2: $29.70

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with Ks Kc
7 folds, Hero raises to $3, BB raises to $5, Hero raises to $15, BB raises to $59.40 all in, Hero calls $44.40

Flop: ($118.80) 5d 2d Qh

Turn: ($118.80) Ts

River: ($118.80) 4s

Final Pot: $118.80
Hero shows Ks Kc (a pair of Kings)
BB shows Th As (a pair of Tens)
Hero wins $115.80
(Rake: $3.00)

http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/296007-296008

OK, maybe ABC poker is better.

You want another example of why at my limits ABC poker is better. Here is a bonus hand.

Villain is a 64/0/3.2 over 14 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/296011
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $21.00
UTG: $101.50
Hero (UTG+1): $110.20
UTG+2: $25.45
MP1: $20.00
MP2: $95.50
CO: $82.20
BTN: $144.00
SB: $97.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with Ac Jh
1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, 3 folds, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($8.50) As Ah 4s (2 players)
Hero bets $8, CO calls $8

Turn: ($24.50) 3h (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Trying to induce a bet to check raise.

River: ($24.50) 2d (2 players)
Hero bets $18, CO raises to $36, Hero calls $18

Final Pot: $96.50
Hero mucks Ac Jh
CO shows 2h 2c (a full house, Twos full of Aces)
CO wins $93.50
(Rake: $3.00)


Have a nice day!!!

Whew Hand and thoughts on Button Hand

Nothing special last night as there was really no hands over 20bb which is OK by me. If I can keep a 14.31bb/100 rate and not win or lose big hands, I won't complain too much.

Here is a hand where I was sad that I missed because I timed out; but ending being a good thing. I most likely would have lost a bunch.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/294292
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $102.60
CO: $37.25
BTN: $66.15
Hero (SB): $118.30
BB: $38.00
UTG: $113.80
UTG+1: $100.00
UTG+2: $157.35
MP1: $18.50

CO posts a big blind ($1)

Pre Flop: ($2.50) Hero is SB with 7s 7d
4 folds, MP2 raises to $4, CO calls $3, 3 folds

Flop: ($9.50) Qc 7h 3h (2 players)
MP2 bets $7, CO calls $7

Turn: ($23.50) Qs (2 players)
MP2 checks, CO checks

River: ($23.50) Qd (2 players)
MP2 bets $23.50, CO calls $23.50

Final Pot: $70.50
MP2 shows Ah Ac (a full house, Queens full of Aces)
CO mucks Jd Jh
MP2 wins $67.50
(Rake: $3.00)

And the next hand is where I just want to get general thoughts. Maybe not so much on the hand itself but the thoughts behind it. One thing I do at these levels is pretty much play the cards. Of course, position is a big factor in the cards I do play; but here is a hand based solely on position. Again, give me your thoughts on the hand and/or the theory behind it.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/294295
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $16.00
MP1: $185.90
MP2: $60.15
CO: $34.45
Hero (BTN): $94.85
SB: $47.75
BB: $53.90
UTG: $25.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 3c 5c
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.75, 2 folds, UTG calls $2.25, UTG+1 calls $2.25

Punishing the limpers...

Flop: ($9.00) Jd Th 4h (3 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $6, UTG folds, UTG+1 folds

Pretty bad flop; but I think I have to cbet.

Final Pot: $9.00
Hero wins $8.55
(Rake: $0.45)

Have a nice day!!!

What does he have?

A lot of the fun of poker even when multi tabling is putting your opponent on a range of hands. Does the line that he is taking make sense. Does the turn check raise make sense? Does the lead on the flop make sense or like in the hand below, does the River bet make sense?

The villain is a 39/3/1.3 guy over 40 hands.


Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/293219
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $100.00
MP2: $105.10
CO: $87.40
BTN: $30.00
SB: $19.00
BB: $123.90
Hero (UTG): $255.50
UTG+1: $67.15

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 7c 6c
Hero raises to $3.50, UTG+1 calls $3.50, 2 folds, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($12.00) 6h 7h 3d (3 players)
Hero bets $7, UTG+1 folds, CO calls $7

Turn: ($26.00) Kc (2 players)
Hero bets $17, CO calls $17

River: ($60.00) 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $30, Hero ??

What hand or should I say what range of hands do you put him on and does this 1/2 pot bet mean perceived strength or weakness?

Have a nice day!!!

Well, it WAS a good weekend

Isn't it funny how things can be going fine for the weekend until your team loses it's football game and it sours the whole weekend. The Cowboys losing last night just ruined my whole weekend which pokerwise, it went pretty well online and bad again live.

I played my monthly poker league and again was taken out early. I had steadily moved up in chips for the first hour and then I switched tables. My very first hand, I am in late position and somebody raises in MP. I look down to QQ. In position and my first hand at table, I just call. Flop comes, KQTr. Raiser checks. I've only played with this guy a few times; but this check seemed weird. Effective stacks are around 4 or 5K. Blinds were 50/100. There is like 1100 in pot and I decide to bet out and bet 825 and he immediately goes all in. It certainly smelled like a monster; but at the end of the day, I couldn't fold my set and the board didn't pair up and I was out early. Does anybody fold here?

As far as online goes, Friday was just one of those days where things went the right way and had a pretty big day. Saturday, on the other hand, started the exact opposite until this hand.





I didn't get too much for it; but it turned things around from being a 2 buyin loser to a 1/2 buyin winner by the end of the day. Sunday was an up day as well so I certainly can't complain for the weekend as I had a 31.39 bb/100 winning rate.

No realy interesting hands. Just the usual call on the river hand.

Villain is 50/7/2.4 over 100 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/291660
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $144.70
BB: $182.35
UTG: $347.75
UTG+1: $102.50
UTG+2: $52.50
MP1: $140.70
MP2: $212.90
CO: $120.85
BTN: $158.30

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with Jd Kc
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls $1, MP1 calls $1, 1 fold, CO calls $1, BTN calls $1, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($7.00) 5h Tc Js (7 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $3, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls $3, CO folds, BTN folds, Hero raises to $11, BB folds, UTG folds, MP1 calls $8

Turn: ($32.00) Ks (2 players)
Hero bets $12, MP1 calls $12

I don't remember why the low bet. As I recall, I was trying to induce this guy to raise.

River: ($56.00) 4d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $56, Hero requests TIME, Hero ???

With AQ really being the only thing I fear, can I really fold this?

Have a nice day!!

Nothing too exciting and achilles heel pops up again

So, I'm playing along yesterday at a clip where I feel I am playing break even. I've continued to NOT look at my stats as I play. Sometimes when I get up to 100 pts, I'll take a look and see where I am at to see if there are any blatant adjustments that I need to do. Last night, I really didn't do that until I was almost done. Again, it just felt like break even poker.

I was kind of surprised to see that I had a steady down swing for the night which at one point I was down 2 buyins. How could that be? I had not lost many big pots and I knew I hadn't won any big pots (which is quite the opposite of how things had been going in recent days as it was up and down).

The short answer. The Big Blind. Now, of course, we most always are a net loser from the bb. For example, I am losing 34 bb/100 from the big blind which is actually pretty good. Yesterday... down 179.22/bb. I'll show one hand (either my biggest winner or biggest loser of the night)

My Achilles heel popped up last night. After poker, I decided to check my balance on AP to see if rakeback had been added to my account. It had. It wasn't much as I didn't play very much there last month so I just took that amount and opened up a blackjack table. Suffice it to say that it didn't start off very well and before I knew it my bet size had increased from $2 to $25. Not a good idea and BJ is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses. Some how, this has a happy ending as I made back the money I had lost and ended up with a $30 profit (after being down close to $300). I HAVE to stay away from those tables.

OK, onto the hand of the day from the BB.

Villain is 43/19/15 over 50 hands who has stolen blind 100% which of course in this sample size is only twice.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/287656
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $202.00
MP1: $98.50
MP2: $103.65
CO: $107.85
BTN: $117.75
SB: $103.05
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $105.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Qh Jh
2 folds, MP1 raises to $3, 3 folds, SB calls $2.50, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($9.00) 6h 9d Ts (3 players)
SB bets $6, Hero calls $6, MP1 raises to $12, SB folds, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($39.00) Js (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $19.50, Hero calls $19.50

River: ($78.00) 3d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $64 all in, Hero ???

Obviously, my decision has to be made on the turn; but what is your decision process on the hand even starting with preflop.

Have a nice day!!!

It's always better to be lucky than good, or is it?

Now, I don't mean to be lucky as far as sucking out on hands. That is never good to get your chips in behind. Even in cooler situations, it's not good.

Anyway, other than getting stacked on one of my first hands (are flopped straights ever good? Not last night when running queens came to fill the guy up.. at least I got my money in good).

Last night in 593 hands in about an hour, I ran 57.66 bb/100. I hit sets almost 18%. I had pocket aces 7 times (and won all of them). Kings once, queens 5 times, jacks 4 times and won all of them except for a queens hand where I folded post flop.

I had nine all in hands and won 6 of them. 7 of those times, I got my money in good. I lost twice when getting in good and I did win once on a 40/60 hand.

Another AQ hand OOP. When will I ever learn?

CO is 56/14/1.4 over 464 hands
BTN is 59/15/2.4 over 42 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/286299
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $52.75
CO: $35.95
BTN: $115.25
SB: $239.90
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $113.65
UTG+1: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Ac Qc
3 folds, CO raises to $2, BTN raises to $4.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.75, CO calls $2.75

OK.. I'm not folding against these two. In fact, raising might be better? thoughts?

Flop: ($14.75) 9d Kc Kh (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN checks

You gotta fishy players. Looks like air or monster at this point.

Turn: ($14.75) Jc (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $4, BTN raises to $8, Hero calls $8, CO calls $4

Royal flush draw, I can't fold, can I?


River: ($38.75) 7c (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets $38.75, Hero ???

So, I do think there is anyway I'm folding; but should I be calling or raising? If raising, how much? I have about $50 behind after the call and he has me covered.

Have a nice day!!!

Sometimes it doesn't matter what your cards are and Another early Decision

I am very guilty of making plays based solely on stats. Here is one of my first hands of the night.

Hand #1

Villain was 18/13/3.7 over 226 hands
steals blinds 75% and Cbet 81%


Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/284826
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $385.40
MP1: $100.00
MP2: $103.50
CO: $103.15
BTN: $20.00
SB: $166.25
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $179.65

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 8d Th
4 folds, CO raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($6.50) 5s Ah 9h (2 players)
Hero checks, CO requests TIME, CO bets $4, Hero raises to $13, CO folds

One could argue that I should just 3 bet; but I often like to pick up the extra bet on his flop Continuation bet.


Hand #2

Villain is 50/50/inf over 2 hand.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/284827
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $384.40
BB: $100.00
UTG: $103.50
UTG+1: $99.00
UTG+2: $100.00
MP1: $20.00
MP2: $165.75
Hero (CO): $108.80
BTN: $179.65

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with 5s As
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2, 2 folds, MP2 calls $2, Hero calls $2, 1 fold, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($9.00) 5d 3c 2s (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $9, MP2 folds, Hero calls $9, SB folds

Turn: ($27.00) 4s (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $27, Hero calls $27

River: ($81.00) 3h (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $61 all in, Hero ??

Have a nice day!!!

Tom Terrific

No poker last night as I continue to work tons of hours. I'm not complaining as I feel blessed to have a job.

Is there any doubt that Tom Brady is the best quarterback ever. I have said it for at least 3 or 4 years now. There is Tom Brady and then there is the rest.

I didn't get to watch the games last night; but luckily, I do work at a cable company so I was able to find some TVs to watch the end of both games last night. Boy, I love this time of year.

Disturbing Trend and Bad Weekend

I watched at least 5 or 6 full football games this weekend and have watched a few more before that. I am seeing an alarming trend of officials deciding games instead of the players. In football, I'm not usually that guy that cries foul on officiating (now college basketball may be a different story); but calling a taunting personal foul at the end of the game for telling the crowd to be quiet by putting your finger to your mouth is utterly ridiculous. If he does it to a Michigan player, then by all means throw the flag. Anyway, loving football season. How 'bout them Cowboys!!!!

Running short on time so here are a few hands (two from 1/2 and one from 50c/1) from the weekend that pretty much went terribly losing 18.7 bb/100 over 3200 hands.

Hand #1

Hero is 25/13/1.8 over 90 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/280829
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $226.00
UTG+1: $200.00
MP1: $291.35
MP2: $280.10
CO: $113.40
BTN: $202.00
Hero (SB): $200.00
BB: $100.60

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is SB with 7s 7c
2 folds, MP1 raises to $7, 3 folds, Hero calls $6, 1 fold

Flop: ($16.00) Kh 7h Ks (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $12, Hero calls $12

Turn: ($40.00) Qs (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $20, Hero raises to $60, MP1 calls $40

River: ($160.00) Ah (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $70, Hero ??


Hand #2

Villain is 24/14/5.4 over 300 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 Pot Limit Hold'em - 6 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/280830
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $165.45
MP: $167.00
CO: $40.00
BTN: $195.80
Hero (SB): $218.55
BB: $220.50

CO posts a big blind ($2)

Pre Flop: ($5.00) Hero is SB with As Qs
UTG raises to $4, MP calls $4, CO calls $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $3, BB raises to $24, 3 folds, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($60.00) Ac 2c Td (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: ($60.00) Tc (2 players)
Hero bets $34, BB calls $34

River: ($128.00) Jc (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $40, Hero ??


Hand #3

Villain is 13/8/4.1 over 1.2K hands

Note; This was one of the first hands of the day's session.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 6 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/280831
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $120.85
Hero (SB): $100.50
BB: $100.00
UTG: $48.00
MP: $106.05
CO: $109.55

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with Js Ks
1 fold, MP raises to $3.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $3, 1 fold

Flop: ($8.00) 6s 3s Jh (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $5, Hero raises to $14, MP calls $9

Turn: ($36.00) 8h (2 players)
Hero bets $20, MP raises to $88.55 all in, Hero ???

Have a nice day!!

Losing Streak and Great Flop, Bad Turn and Terrible River

Boy, was it nice to see football on again last night even if my hated Steelers somehow pulled it out in overtime. I bet Rob Bironas isn't feeling to well today. Darn kickers!!!!

I've now had 3 losing sessions in a row now on Full Tilt. While none of them were bad losing sessions, it still messes with you. I really just need to stick to the plan of how I play and hopefully things will work out.

I have two hands today. One fairly standard; but another river decision and one hand that started good; but kept on getting worse and worse.

Hand #1

Villain is a 25/2/1.2 over 260 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/276381
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $78.65
UTG: $33.00
UTG+1: $52.05
MP1: $57.25
MP2: $63.20
CO: $18.50
BTN: $25.45
Hero (SB): $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Kc Ac
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1.50, CO calls $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold

Suspect call (as opposed to raising); but multi way, I just wanted to see a flop first. I believe this is wrong; but I'm OK with it.

Flop: ($6.50) Tc Jh 5c (4 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $1.50, CO calls $1.50, BTN folds, Hero raises to $7, MP2 calls $5.50, CO folds

Love the flop and now will show strength. I suppose I could have / should have led out.

Turn: ($22.00) 8s (2 players)
Hero bets $16, MP2 raises to $54.70 all in, Hero ??

OOps... standard call at this point, right?

Hand #2

This is a little more tricky.

Villain is 24/13/1.0 over 50 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/276382
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $198.95
BTN: $108.50
SB: $112.80
BB: $108.90
UTG: $103.00
UTG+1: $66.45
Hero (MP1): $100.00
MP2: $100.65

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is MP1 with 7c 7h
2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 1 fold, CO calls $3.50, 1 fold, SB calls $3, 1 fold

Flop: ($11.50) 2s 2d 7s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $7, SB raises to $18, Hero calls $18, CO folds

Sure I could lead out; but with a monster, I'm playing this one a little slower to perhaps let someone get a flush. With people showing strength, I don't think I need to re-raise which would definitely polarize my range; but might get some big overpairs to call. Thoughts?



Turn: ($54.50) 2c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! This is where I had a non thinking moment. I have to lead out here, I think.

River: ($54.50) Ac (2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???

In retrospect, I see my mistake on this hand. Thoughts?

Have a nice day!!!

Fantasy Draft and Dealing with Blind Stealer

OK, one of the days I look forward to the most in the year. And, as usual, it kind of ends up disappointing. Yesterday was our Fantasy Football draft. We have a 12 team league and this is unbelievably our 15th year together. We don't really do a standard scoring system so positions like QB are a little more valuable. We start 1 QB, 2RB, 3WR/TE, 1K and 1 DF. My goal when I set up this league was for each position to be equally valuable. In other words, the 1QB would equal the 2 RBs which would equal the 3 WRs. Kickers and Defense would be a little less valuable; but something you just can't ignore. Anyway, here is how it went. I had the #3 pick.

Round1
Adrian Peterson went #1 and then #2 went to Drew Brees. That left me with the MJD/Turner/Forte decision. I had even thought about LT in this spot. It was a pretty quick decision and I went with Forte. I think this season is one of those potential seasons. On the surface, I don't look real strong, but some of my guys have some pretty big upside.

Round 2
By now, 9 RBs, 5QBs, and 6WR had gone. I decided to go QB and homer with Tony Romo (I'm a big Cowboys Fan). Obviously, some question without the name WR corps at Dallas; but with Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd, Jason Witten, Martellus Bennet and the RBs, there will be plenty of passing.

Round 3
After my pick, 2RB and 2WR went. I decided to take a gamble and go with Bryant Westbrook and hope that he can stay healthy. This is one of those picks that has some upside potential.

Round 4
By the time it got back to me, 21 RBs, 16 WR, and 8 QBs had gone. I needed a receiver and went with Dwayne Bowe. Again, upside potential

Round 5
Now we are getting down to the important picks that make or break a season. I decided to go another RB and took Thomas Jones as the 22nd RB.

Round 6
It's gets a little dicey from here. We do NOT have a TE position in our league. They are treated the same as WR and part of the 3 WR/TE that you need to start. I decided to take a TE here anyway and took Dallas Clark. Jason Witten had already been taken. I thought about Gates as well.

The Rest:
Round 7: Braylon Edwards as WR #26
Round 8: Fred Jackson as RB #33. Gamble here. Again upside if he impresses while Lynch is out.
Round 9: Derrick Mason as WR #36. This is somebody I planned on drafting from the beginning. Again, a gamble; but with some upsdie
Round 10: Nick Folk as #6 Kicker. Solid Kicker. Again, our point structure dictates taking K/DEF sooner than other leagues.
Round 11: Seahawks as #12 DF
Round 12: Patrick Crayton as #51 WR
Round 13: Kyle Orton as #22 QB. Solid Backup I feel.
Round 14: Matt Prater as #18 K
Round 15: Cardinals Defense as #17 Defense
Round 16: Sammy Morris as #53 RB. Our wildcard draft pick.

Thoughts?

This hand deals with a habitual blind stealer.

Villain is a 19/13/1.8 over 171 hands
Steals from Button 47% and Cbets only 43%

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 6 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/273884
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $100.00
SB: $99.00
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $87.50
MP: $112.00
CO: $112.85

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 5s 6c
3 folds, BTN raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $1

I'm calling here with any suited, connector or 2 broadway cards here against big blind stealer. I'm re-raising with an even wider range.

Flop: ($4.50) 3s 7h 2s (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $3, Hero calls $3

He doesn't fire a lot on flop; but I'm floating here alot.

Turn: ($10.50) 6s (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN requests TIME, BTN checks

River: ($10.50) 8d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8, Hero ??

Do I give up? Call? Raise? What kind of hand do we put Villain on?


Have a nice day!!!

I'm OK with Losing Value here and going with Feelings/Reads

Not such a fun holiday weekend as I had to work both Saturday and Monday. I'm not complaining as I knew about the busy times going in when I took this job. I'm still enjoying it... well as much as anybody can enjoy an office job.

My fantasy football draft is tonight. I have the #3 pick. I have a few options. We'll see how it goes.

Fortunately, I ran a little hot this weekend finishing up $350 while my EV adjusted number was $189. It does feel good to have good fortune every once in a while.

Even playing online and playing multiple tables (usually 10-15 tables), I still can go with reads. Now, most of them are stats reads; but it also accounts to how a player has been playing previously. I have two hands to show the illustrates this.

Hand #1

Villain berated me on this one and it is partly justified. I'm going to show the whole hand on this one. I just go with my reads sometimes. Am I losing value in the long run. Absolutely; but if I feel something is strange, I'll play it weak passively.

Villain is a solid 14/9/2.1 player over 2.3K hands.
3bets 3.6%

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/272680
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $223.80
Hero (MP2): $100.00
CO: $100.00
BTN: $110.15
SB: $156.00
BB: $51.90
UTG: $211.25
UTG+1: $50.00
UTG+2: $167.75

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is MP2 with Ad Ks
4 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 2 folds, SB raises to $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8.50

Flop: ($25.00) Kh 9h 4c (2 players)
SB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Turn: ($55.00) Ac (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($55.00) 2h (2 players)
SB bets $25, Hero calls $25

Final Pot: $105.00
Hero mucks Ad Ks
SB shows Ah As (three of a kind, Aces)
SB wins $102.00
(Rake: $3.00)

So, yes, probably should have gotten stacked there and losing overall value; but truthfully, I felt good after the hand and was able to move on whereas, I may have tilted a little bit if I had got stacked. I know if tilted is the right word; but certainly would have dwelled on it.

The next hand was again read dependent. This was a 1/2 game so I tend to give a little more credit... well sometimes. Thoughts?

Read #1: stats
Villain is 39/5/6.7 over 44 hands

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/272681
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $200.00
MP: $84.30
CO: $231.35
BTN: $62.00
Hero (SB): $215.60
BB: $83.70
UTG: $266.95

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is SB with Td Kc
4 folds, BTN calls $2, Hero calls $1, BB checks

Read #2 limps from button

Flop: ($6.00) 4s Qh Th (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets $4, Hero calls $4, BB calls $4

Read #3 High AF so I expect bet when checked to.

Turn: ($18.00) 3d (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets $16, Hero calls $16, BB folds

Read #4 bet sizing. Is he just trying to buy it?

River: ($50.00) 7c (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $40 all in, Hero ??

Do I have to give up now? Even when getting over 2 to 1?

Have a nice day!!!

Another Bubble and another Top Pair Hand

Nothing like playing 5 hours for nothing. I played my monthly poker club tourney last night. 36 players. 6 pays. I finished 7th. That's all I have to say about that.

As for the hand of the day, can we really talk about top pair hands too much? This is where our bread and butter is right? Playing these hands well can make a huge difference. That means raising some times, calling sometimes and even folding.

Villain in this hand is 25/14/6.3 over 106 hands
cbets 63%.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/265600
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $23.70
Hero (MP2): $103.00
CO: $20.90
BTN: $144.95
SB: $118.50
BB: $85.10
UTG: $118.80
UTG+1: $99.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is MP2 with Ac Tc
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $3, 1 fold, BTN calls $3, 2 folds

Flop: ($10.50) As 5d 5h (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $5, Hero calls $5, BTN folds

Turn: ($20.50) 6s (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $12, Hero calls $12

River: ($44.50) 7s (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $25, Hero ??

Half potting almost every street (a little more than half). What does that mean to you? Almost 3 to 1 to call here.

Have a nice day!!!

Blog List Addition and is this Standard?

I have a couple of blogs to add to my top 15 which now turns into my top 17. I've always said that if you are one of my top 10 commenters, I will link you up.

The first one, I'm not sure how or why I missed it so long. It is none other than Memphis MoJo. He is a poker playing / bridge playing Mid Westerner. He just recently visited our fine city of St Louis to watch the Birds. I hope they won for you.

The second one really needs no introduction. Hoyazo writes mini posts that take about 4 hours to read. ;-) He writes some really in depth stuff and is definitely worth taking a look.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to comment on blog. My top 10 commenter list is on the right side. You just need to scroll down a bit.

I started off my night running Queens into Aces against a known loose player. Minus one stack right on the very first hand. That leaves a mark for sure.

I believe this next hand is standard; but wanted to make sure.

Villain is 34/10/1.3 over 30 hands.

Absolute Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/264137
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $82.69
CO: $48.75
BTN: $149.66
Hero (SB): $48.75
BB: $226.85
UTG: $27.50
UTG+1: $54.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Kd 7d
4 folds, BTN calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($1.50) 4d 6h 5d (3 players)
Hero bets $1, BB raises to $4.50, BTN folds, Hero raises to $13, BB raises to $40.50, Hero raises to $48.25 all in, BB calls $7.75


Opened ended and flush draw, I'm always happy to get it in? Agree or disagree? What do you expect Villain to have here?

Have a nice day!!!

Setless and Facing pressure from a Rock with one pair

Yesterday was one of those days. It's the last day of the month so you don't want ruin a good month. And then it happens. Your kings run into Aces, Your two pair runs into higher two pairs a couple of times. I didn't hit a set for the first 763 hands last night. All in all, I was able to battle back just to lose $36 which was actually .08 bb/100. I'm not sure how all that works playing the different levels.

Here is a hand from a strong winning player. I've been trying not to get too attached to my top pair hands. After all, they are just one pair; but it is sometimes hard to let them go.

Villain is 14/6/1.8 over 405 hands.
Key stat here is his AF is 3.8 on turn.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/260240
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $129.50
UTG: $58.25
UTG+1: $21.30
Hero (UTG+2): $109.30
MP1: $35.35
MP2: $252.95
CO: $274.85
BTN: $50.00
SB: $172.75

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+2 with Ks As
2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 2 folds, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($8.50) Qh 4d Ah (2 players)
Hero bets $6, CO calls $6

Turn: ($20.50) 2s (2 players)
Hero bets $12, CO raises to $37, Hero ???

What kind of range are we putting him on? What's your action? Did my bet sizing induce anyting on turn?


Have a nice day!!!!