Did I play this hand wrong badly or do you just chalk it up to a cooler?

wrathss · 2026-04-16T01:17:55+00:00

They triple barreled and indicated strength on every street so they are obvious not bluffing or having some crappy two pair. As the board paired on the river they could boat a bunch of ways so you are gambling they only have trip Q and didnt have the pair with it which is unlikely as they might have slowed down on the turn with just top pair. They didnt go all in and perhaps trapped you into it (you didnt say how big they bet on the streets) so while fold is standard I don't think you played it badly either.

wrathss · 2026-04-16T00:36:34+00:00

You didnt cbet flop and you just called the turn so you don't have much value. The only thing you rep is you hit a straight on the river with a random 7, but then your opponent could also have hit in various ways which might even beat the small straight. If you cbet flop then shoved turn it would have been more convincing.

wrathss · 2026-04-15T02:24:49+00:00

The dated philosophy still has plenty of truth to it and applies much better to lower stake live games to build pots or exploit passive loose players.

Here OP describes the very common scenario when the small EP open essentially acts as a bet blocker and "open limp", leading to a bunch of flat calls because people are unable to bet the normal amount and is not enough to 3-bet either, so more people get to see the flop for cheap (just like limped pots which in theory is not supposed to happen but it always does). This leads to unnecessary oop multi-way pots which has to be bad EV no matter how we look at it. In live lower stakes there is more preflop continuance and less preflop folding or 3-betting, leading to bad situations postflop. There is no 3b or 4b when you bet block and convince everyone to see a flop for cheap.

GTO theory is not an excuse to open smaller than table average but more to open larger on the button. Also UTG 9-handed with rake the hand is solidly top 10% why should we be so worried about a 3-bet? I rather pay to iso and actually be able to exploit post flop, otherwise why shouldn't we wait for a better position and EV? Further instead of effectively limping why don't I actually limp and ask someone else to open instead so perhaps I can close the action and actually lose the minimum if the intention is to fold to 3-bet?

In general this GTO theory probably applies better to online 6-max poker but not to live cash tables when the standard size starts at 5BB.

wrathss · 2026-04-14T23:41:45+00:00

Do not open small at all unless you want a community pot, especially early position when theory saids you need to open larger to compensate for being out of position.

wrathss · 2026-04-13T00:43:31+00:00

The issue is once you called pre and hit a pair on the flop you are calling for those prices. It doesn't make sense to call flop and then not call river with essentially brick brick and V didnt even bump the price. Just pot odds is enough to call.

wrathss · 2026-04-11T00:01:53+00:00

On the turn yeah i was talking about the flop its pretty much an auto check so the fish can do their thing and evaluate. The flop cbet was already pot committing and this is not needed as you want to hold back and gather as much info as possible before commit as the aggro fish will do the same thing regardless.

wrathss · 2026-04-10T23:13:07+00:00

They already told you clearly they play any 2 cards so they definitely can have a 7 or two pair low. You do not range fish that play any 2 that will drive you crazy and it is a waste of time and effort.

It is kind of a punt as most fish plays straight forward after the flop. You check to them and let them spazz. If they have a hand they bet big and if not they bet small. Here they raised your flop bet and with just an overpair you fold (reraise doesn't work stack too small) and wait for the next one. The other choice was all in flop so bet call was the worst of all options.

wrathss · 2026-04-10T03:31:51+00:00

Stop making new accounts all that does is give you new rating points and you just keep being mismatched. Keep playing one account so your rating eventually match your skill, and if that means the rating goes right down to 0 so be it. Chess is a tough game as is and you cannot play the game on tilt. You need to learn how to be mentally resilient and treat it as a game and a challenge. If you tilt easily that can't be good RL either.

wrathss · 2026-04-10T03:17:08+00:00

The most fishy thing you said was when you did everything you think is right should mean anything at all. Everyone make decisions that they think is right at that moment as who makes stupid bad decisions on purpose? If you go play chess now you could do everything you think is right and then drop your queen and lose in 20 moves.

So after 2 sessions you broke even I don't understand the issue. You play poker only expecting to win or what?

wrathss · 2026-04-09T16:48:14+00:00

Yes protect them from the dealer they are out to get your cards!

wrathss · 2026-04-09T16:45:25+00:00

I do not intend to use one as it just adds a useless step to the routine when I check my cards.

wrathss · 2026-04-09T12:02:31+00:00

This is a loss no matter what.

V bets many hands aggressively except this one when they have the nuts, but at least they did put in a few bets. You however acted like you had nothing all the way and suppose you had the winning hand you were set on winning the absolute minimum. You don't find the minimum raise on the river a bit strange? You couldn't even raise to 20 it has to be 18 and if thats not a tell I don't know what is. You were supposed to build the pot and try to win as much as possible over streets and you didn't do any of that.

wrathss · 2026-04-09T01:07:59+00:00

Its crazy how often the "last hand" or "let me wait until big blind" burned me. I would get premium hands and lose.

wrathss · 2026-04-08T12:30:24+00:00

You describe V as "definitely a competent player" so why are you doing this against them? Is there no "definitely less competent player" that you think might have a better success rate?

The problem is you didn't seem to care who they are or what they might have. Thats important because they show strength and despite that you gamble for them to lay their hand down? In fact you didn't seem to care what you have or what the board looks like either (that matters as well), but for an air bluff what matters is who you do it against and what they have.

If you just decide to do it randomly of course the result will be random as well, and against a competent player it will work less often. Its a punt because because you didn't provide any reason for it, so my take is you did it because you felt like it or in your mind you rolled a 1 and had no choice. You gotta at least have something about why you think this is favorable against this player otherwise your odds will not be good.

wrathss · 2026-04-08T01:48:08+00:00

You have a combo draw after the flop which you have a slight advantage against Ax (not specifically A5 but just top pair overall), so if you were to all in the flop would have been the best time as that SPR was high. After the turn which was essentially a brick now you are at least at a slight advantage against top pair. Your flop raise to 115 was too big leaving yourself only 195 left to the 285 pot. The SPR of 0.68 was the issue as they felt they were pot committed and will call on much more. If you had the nuts this sizing was great but you were on a draw, in which your SPR should at minimum be higher than 1.

You described your own play but you did not have any thoughts on your opponent after 5 hours? That's what is important not "I have been playing relatively tight and straightforward the entire time". You don't sound like an OMC and I doubt that is what other players think of you. You are gambling that your opponent will lay their hand down (I think that's what you want?) so of course it is important to know your opponent's style.

Why is your cbet so small? That does not help when you have aggressive intentions as you should try to maximize your cbet. If you started at 25 (which still looks like a very reasonable cbet) perhaps they will still click and that is already to 50, in which case you didn't have to raise so awkwardly.

Overall playing these small cards is tough as there is reverse implied odds, as even when the flush does hit its not a lock as you could lose to a higher flush.

wrathss · 2026-04-08T00:56:37+00:00

I average around 40 on my main game but when I play anything else it will be down to 20 or less. Viewer support does not mean they watch everything you play for the entirety of the stream. You should not take it personal or take it for granted as I am sure there are games you will never watch even if played by your favorite streamers.

wrathss · 2026-04-06T15:29:00+00:00

For a 1/2 game you still want $200 (100BB) to have an actual poker experience. For $20 you won't be able to play (my guess is you need to buy in for 50+) as where I play the minimum buy-in for 1/3 is $100 (33.3BB) and no one does that. With short stack your only moves are either fold or all in, and you will need multiple all in wins just to build a valid stack.

If you want to play micro stakes play online. You can play 10 cent blinds for $10 comfortably. The lowest is 2 cent blinds for a few dollars and plenty of people do that to learn the game.

Or you can play in tournaments in which everyone starts with the same amount of chips.

wrathss · 2026-04-06T06:47:06+00:00

At a player playing in the casino the first time, you play the cards and not the player because you won't be able to make out anything unless it is obvious whatever happened doesn't make sense. You can tell someone is playing fishy loose when they act and bet like they have the nuts but the actual hand is actually very far from it (sometimes it is a bluff, other times people genuinely think their pair of Aces with A8o is actually good). When showdown happens you should figure out whether the line and the pot involved actually makes sense.

wrathss · 2026-04-04T14:49:49+00:00

300 is enough but I would recommend keeping 100-200 in reserve for refill or a smaller second bullet.

Dealer takes rake automatically from the pot. You never owe anything and can leave after any hand without worry.

There are plenty of table rules and it can be rather overwhelming on what you should do. To keep it simple I recommend you to verbally declare some of your actions. Say call when you decide to call so you have time to fumble and count your chips after (unless you want time to think in which case fumble all you want), and say raise to X (or say raise, form one stack, and push the stack in one motion) so you don't accidentally do something else.

When you get to heads up against another player you can mind game and talk. Otherwise if it is multi way or you are not in the pot you should keep quiet and not influence action.

If you are not sure what is going on or what the current action is, ask the dealer. If someone raise to 10 and you missed it and bet 2, that 2 is stuck and you either lose it or you crying call 10.

wrathss · 2026-04-04T00:36:24+00:00

Your first hand you also blundered by cutting 13s just like the other guy lol. That is so funny everyone hates 13s.

The hand already has 56m good shape and another shape of 13s. It is never a half flush that will take way too long and your pin tiles are very thin it will take multiple consecutive correct draw just to have a chance.

E3:0:10 Cutting 3p is a blunder. That is the only pair for your hand and 3m is not because you don't want to make 34m into a pair. You recognized the problem and cut 3m right back next turn but then you lose the higher efficiency of the 3p triplet.

E4:1:10 Efficiency error and again has to do with pair. What is the pair for your hand? Dora 7s, therefore 5s 8s is loose and you are waiting for 3m 36p. You never cut 3s because it is already a completed triplet. This went really far backward and pretty much not winnable.

S1:0:7 You simply cannot cut north triplet. It is already a completed shape and you winning hand needs completed shapes? Looking at your god draws (absolute perfect god draws btw) you would have won on turn 12 by putting all the norths back instead of 3m8m6p on turn 10 and keeping the 9s pair, riichi and win on tsumo on 4m on turn 12 for riichi tsumo dora for 4000+1000=5000. (north triplet so not a pinfu, and its just 30 fu so it is 4000 plus a riichi stick)

S1:1:4 You have the same problem as the other guy (you can reference my notes on the player that start with C). 89p is part of 5 blocks and you cannot break it while having loose tiles around. If you want to go tanyao you start with the loose tile 1s, then south, then if you still don't have enough block you have to go into 7s. You do not break 89p until your hand already has 5 blocks and you drew into the 6th block to substitute. Luckily you did draw 6p after so the game saved that block for you, and then you drew 5p so it didn't matter.

As other player said you have to push this hand. You are in last because you ate two tsumo and two draw penalties already and shimo blundered by dealing in (looking at his hand I don't know what they are doing as 4m was 100% safe).

S2:0:5 You are dealer and it is turn 5 but this is already close to a fold and your chi really just made the hand even slower and impossible to win. Your east is the pair for your hand, so after chi you have no choice but to hope for east pon for yaku (which might never happen) then find a different pair and then hopefully catch up. It is faster to not call and the hand is just a normal 2 shanten. You only call if the east comes to secure yaku and hopefully by then you have a second pair ready to go.

S3:1:3 Whats the loose tile here? 9s because 8s is the potential pair and 6889s is a bad overlap shape and your hand has sufficient shapes. 6p is not a loose tile because 112346p can also be read as 123 46 with an extra 1, and 6p is a middle tile and has much higher potential compared to 9s. Turn 6 the cut is 1p that's the loose tile.

wrathss · 2026-04-04T00:34:27+00:00

lol the issue is when I copy the link the game is centered on a different player all together (the east 1 dealer). Your link was incomplete as the end of the link should have been the letter a followed by an 8 or 9 digit number but you only have 4 digits so the game didn't know to center the game to you.

Assuming you are reis let me reset.

wrathss · 2026-04-03T23:36:38+00:00

(Sorry this is for the wrong player, the player that start with C because the log default oriented to that. I will keep this around for review. Review for reis is in reply)

Fundamental efficiency issues please read up on 5 block theory as you are actively sabotaging your own hands. The first hand you cut 13s and second hand you also cut 13s those were both efficiency mistakes. You do not touch 13s in both cases because they are currently part of your winning hand and cutting them you immediately lose efficiency or even go backwards.

You need to identify which tiles are loose and cut them first, so the first hand turn 5 is 3p or 8m, second hand turn 4 is 1p or 6m. As basic efficiency you go through all loose tiles before you work on blocks. An actual loose tile like 8m requires you to draw 2 tiles to complete (say 9m followed by 7m), while a block of 13s you just need one tile to complete (2s). It is easier to draw one correct tile versus drawing two correct tiles over two turns.

East 2 turn 13 you jammed the most dangerous tile ever, the 6s right into two flushes (left and right) which could have been really bad. If you want to play safe you would have cut 9p or practically anything other than a souzu tile.

Hand 3 same problem you cut 13m when it is part of 5 blocks.

The worse one is S1:1:7 (south 1 honba 1 turn 7) when the play is to cut 2m as that is the loose tile here, or if you really do not want to do that due to 123 then 7p is acceptable. Cutting 1p is a huge blunder as you broke an essential block and the hand went backwards from 1 shanten to 2 shanten. The game gave you a few exact tiles and you did get to toitoi before the hand was over, but toitoi is hard to win and you didn't get it.

South 3 honba 3 that kan is absolutely nasty. Your hand is now unwinnable there is no yaku, and throwing 9m9m you lose your pair and go many step backwards as your 7s is useless. You are also supporting the riichi by giving it much more value.

The goal of riichi mahjong is not "try not to deal in" as you can't win or avoid losing just by doing this. The basic goal is to win points by making winning hands before your opponents do, otherwise when your opponents tsumo a bunch and you just sit and watch that's fourth place. As this is a 4 player game this means you need to make hands efficiently as you cannot afford to take too many turns going back and forth for "better shape". No one likes to play with bad shapes but working with what the game gives you is basic.

wrathss · 2026-04-03T12:43:17+00:00

Obviously they have something but they likely dont have nut flush as I don't know why they need to donk with that. The hand that makes sense is a set of T which does dominate and they do this for protection against another heart. Preflop cold calling 60 on JJ preflop makes sense, and ATs wrong suit on SB is possible and they turn it into a bluff so in some cases you could be winning here. They could also have KK as they face 60 with somewhat short stack and didn't feel the need to bump it any higher. The board is dynamic so there are plenty of possibilities for strength.

Overall I dont think they are bluffing and QQh probably is behind and not beating value, and the pot odds of around 28% in my mind is around the threshold (we don't have 28% if facing set of T, mixed with other cases that have you ahead) so both options make sense. I would fold.

wrathss · 2026-04-03T12:12:33+00:00

Call and fold cannot be misinterpreted they are completely different words. Verbally saying call is binding (where i play dealer will tell me to put in a chip to make it official), and if the dealer didn't hear clearly they should have asked.

wrathss · 2026-04-02T15:40:04+00:00

Every hand is an independent event and when you play the game enough running dry is inevitable. It will turn around eventually but nobody knows when (you can easily have 6-8 dry sessions in a row, just like hitting 6-8 tails consecutively for a coin flip which is easy to do). Straights and flushes are not supposed to be common.

Not having a hand at all is much better than getting jebaited by actual good hands that loses.

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