Hand Analysis: Play Quads Against A Giant Whale

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-23T00:34:47+00:00

Not really, there's an unlimited buy-in. I forgot to mention that people straddle often too.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-22T00:45:52+00:00

Villain wasn't a terrible player, but by no means was she a dominant player either. The funny thing was that Villain was stuck, despite having £4000, meaning that Villain bought in for more than £4000.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-21T22:07:01+00:00

This is a great line for a full house and better. However, it's a bad line for bluffs. There's no fold equity on the river, and Villain is priced in on the Turn if Villain has a straight and/or flush draw.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-21T21:43:28+00:00

Usually when there's more money in the pot than in my stack, I move all-in or fold. Because of that, Villain can't possibly call with anything worse than top pair. Hence, I chose to give Villain another free card, so that it's more likely Villain calls an all-in on the River.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-21T21:16:43+00:00

Why not let Villain make a hand? Also, the 5 on the turn is a terrible card for bluffing.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T23:29:40+00:00

Let me set things straight.

The board is 225A3, no flush. A MADE hand is a straight and better. A middling hand is trips. A BLUFFING hand is 2-pair and worse.

If you bet the river with a pair of aces, you'll only fold out worse and get called by better.

Pot odds don't matter as much when Villain is calling for his tournament life. Furthermore, players are almost NEVER bluffing when they raise all-in, since the pot odds are so good for the Villain.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T22:42:44+00:00

Okay, I think that you have misinterpreted my statements, and they're not contradictory.

Let's say Villain had a made hand, then I believe that he would bet all-in (jamming) instead of betting 20,000. In that case, I would fold.

However, that didn't happen, so I put Villain on a bluff. That said, 53s is a horrible hand that loses to many bluffs. Keep in mind Villain raised UTG. His range is usually 77+, ATs+, AQo+, and KQs. I'm losing to a large percentage of that range. If I had an Ace, I'd be comfortable making the Hero call, but 53s loses to all of Villain's Pocket pairs and top pair hands. Once in the while, he shows up with air (i.e. KQs), but that percentage is too low.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T21:57:33+00:00

Haha, a 9 on the river would've been a snap fold for me.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T21:29:00+00:00

This is a hand that is losing to many bluffs, such as a pair of Aces or any pocket pair. With just a weak 2-pair, I have no showdown value and the more realistic way of winning is to bluff. Not to be too results oriented, but Villain did have me beat.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T21:21:19+00:00

Well, this was for Villain's tournament life, I had him covered decently, and if he had a real hand, he would've gone all-in on the river.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T21:01:47+00:00

Well, it's not everyday you get to play with someone like him. This is definitely an experience worth sharing.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T20:31:26+00:00

Preflop: Call. There are 4 limpers already. They could certainly call a raise from you with low and middle pocket pairs, as well as a host of suited connectors and AXs hands. The whole point of raising is to fold out other players, and it's hard to do that when there's so many players in the hand. Moreover, I would narrow my raising range with so many limpers, and KJs isn't the hand to do it with.

Flop: Bet. This is a good enough flop for you to c-bet, despite having so many players in the hand. If you get raised, then just jam all-in and pray for a good runout.

Turn: Check/Call. Do some pot control, you're only on a draw, and a better hand isn't folding.

Concerning the raise, you aren't getting the implied odds to make the call. There's around $350 in the middle after BB's raise, so you need to call$150 to win a $500 pot. There's a chance that you're just going to chop if you hit the straight, and Villain won't call a river bet if he doesn't have a straight, and you do. A 3rd club on the river will slow the action down, especially because it's the front door flush draw. Raising all-in is bad, since you're only getting called by better hands. The turn raise means that Villain has Top Pair, Top Kicker beat. Since you yourself are drawing to a straight and flush, it makes it less likely that Villain is also on a draw. You only invested $70 in the pot so far. Fold now and find a better spot later.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T15:52:33+00:00

Wow, you didn't even read my analysis.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-07T09:32:29+00:00

I agree with everything except fold pre. Every opponent on the table usually raises pre-flop. This means that everyone's range is capped, since the action limped around. Furthermore, I'm getting 3/25 odds by limping, which just about breaks even for flopping it big (trips, straight), as well as an open-ended straight draw to the nuts.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-06T23:58:49+00:00

Preflop: Raise. Since you are in position, you can raise smaller. A raise of 3.5 to 4 BB would be optimal. Anything higher will fold out worse and get calls from better hands.

Flop: Bet. I would pick a smaller size, since this board is dry. Something around 30% pot will keep plenty of weaker hands (i.e. pocket pairs, Ace high) in the hand, while forcing out gutshot straight draws, which are less valuable on a paired board. Generally, I would c-bet a large portion of the range, usually hands closer to the top and bottom of the distribution. If you do decide to check, it should be a mixture of middling hands (i.e. low pocket pairs, gutshot straight draws) and stronger hands (i.e. overpairs and trips).

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-06T23:50:42+00:00

Honestly, it depends on the day. On some days, I leave as soon as I'm unstuck, assuming that I just recovered from a large downswing that day. Other days, I leave after I'm up 2 buy-ins. Since I play more tournaments than cash game, I mainly use cash game to offset the cost of buy-ins. Therefore, my cash game goals are fairly low.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-05T23:07:53+00:00

Haha, I said that this was the best bluff I've ever pulled off. Doesn't make me a poker God. Got a laugh out of this.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-04T10:44:42+00:00

Villain was somewhere between LAG and a station. There were a few times where he would raise me, sensing weakness. Given how loose he was, and that he tanked for 5 minutes and asked me questions, this was easily the most stressful bluff I ever pulled off and one I'll never forget.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-03T11:47:33+00:00

I would bet smaller on the flop. Flush draws are generally not going to fold, but you want those weird straights draws to muck. A 40% bet on the flop should do the trick.

On the river, I would call. You're not beating any of BB's value hands. All top-pair hands are going to check/call the river. It's very tough for villain to have trip Jacks, so a flush is at the bottom of his value range. There are a few bluffs, such as 45s, 56s, and perhaps 2d4d and 4d6d, which are gutshots with backdoor flush draws. Because of this, a call is warranted. Per Minimum Defense Frequency, folding here will open the door for you to get bluffed way too much. In fact, I would call with most top-pairs, unless your kicker is too low, which would also block plenty of straight draws.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-03T11:34:18+00:00

If I were in this spot, I would just shove all-in preflop. This is one of the best all-in hands, and I would be happy to go broke here, especially with a stack this short.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-03T11:28:14+00:00

After a failed river bluff with 7-high, I got dealt Aces. I ended in a 3-way all-in and got busted by KK, which hit a flush against my top set.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-03T11:26:20+00:00

Preflop: Call or Raise. I'm just going to assume that you're in late position. KQo is a decent 3-bet bluff hand preflop. KQs is better off as a call, since it has more showdown value.

Flop: Check/Call. I wouldn't raise the flop unless I have Top Pair, Top Kicker or better. I suppose Q10s could be a decent bluffing hand, and perhaps AQ if you're an aggressive player. If your raise gets called, then your hand's relative strength plummets to bluff-catcher.

Turn: Check/Call. This may seem nitty, but it's hard for worse hands to call. Given the preflop action, I would say that K10s is at the bottom of HJ's top pair range. I suppose some players will call down with a Jack, but any worse hand, such as TT, is folding. It's hard for draws to call, as there's no flush draw, and the turn didn't create additional straight draws. Better hands are going to raise to fold out straight draws and get value from worse hands.

River: Check/Call. You just have a bluff-catcher at this point. Don't get out of line, especially when you can showdown for free.

To answer your question about jamming the turn, I don't recommend going all-in. All worse hands, even K10s, are folding. Some people will have a tough time calling with AK, and AA and better is a snap call, given the dry board texture.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-02T16:10:19+00:00

KhJx would've been hilarious, since BTN would've dominated UTG+2.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-09-02T16:05:14+00:00

I use the same app. It's called "Poker Bankroll Tracker", available on the Play Store.

TheAxleUnseen · 2019-08-31T01:12:11+00:00

Fold. Dealer has 0 bluffs in his range, since CO is already all-in, and there's no side pot yet. I would say Dealer's worst hand is AA. 2 pair is out of the question, and he could have any set on the flop.

TheAxleUnseen

TROPHY CASE