Rhodeman77’s interesting hands of the week (1 Viewer)

Rhodeman77

Rhodeman77

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I am going to take detailed notes of any interesting hands I play each week in the regular game I play in and post them here to analyze. The cast of characters is mostly the same (with a bunch of semi-regulars) so you will get to know these guys pretty well; much like @DrStrange and his crew.

I will also mix in some hands that I find interesting that I’m not involved in as well.

The game is played every Thursday night so most likely I’ll post the hands on Friday unless I am really card dead and can post during the game.
 
I hope there will be some four card action packed hand histories included? By the size of some of those stack pics I'll be sure to check back.
 
"IF" my bankroll ever grows into the "big boy" status I'd love to play in one of these THUR. games. I'd have to bring a grand. Its probably not wise to invest 20% of my BR into one game :)

Looking forward to the hand strategy threads. I almost always play them differently than the majority of posters.
 
So let’s get a feel for the players I will be battling with in these hands (and most weeks)

First up is Dustin. Dustin thinks he is the best player in the room. He loves to rub salt in wounds when people take a rough beat. He will never fold a set, any set in PLO. When he bets POT it is almost always with the nuts or what is most likely to be the best hand. He almost never POTS with wrap draws. He is still a Hold’em player in thinking when it comes to PLO. He thinks any kind of combo draw is worth calling with. Like a gutter and a weak flush draw is worth a call of any amount. Top two on an all Broadway flop, never folding!! He is the guy that always complains when his set doesn’t hold up But also expects his flush draws to come in and gets visibly upset when they don’t. To say he could use some social etiquette lessons is an understatement!

Next up, Walt. Great guy everyone wants at there table. Money doesn’t really mean anything to him. He never puts his stack on lockdown. I have seen him go from $2k to broke in one orbit to back up to $2500 by the next orbit. He will straddle almost every hand to try to induce others to do it as well. He is a successful small business owner so the swings in money aren’t important to him. He loves the action. I have almost never seen him fold to a 3 bet if he entered the pot already. To say he hates folding until he absolutely has to is an understatement. Very wide range for sure!!! Decent hand reading ability. Very good short handed player as he is very aggressive and picks up lots of decent sized pot by firing lots of bullets when it is checked to him. Loses a lot when he tries it at a full table as there is usually someone trapping. He is usually stuck most of the night to then make a huge comeback once we get to 5-6 handed each week.

Next is Allen. Normal Host of the game. He is also a successful small business owner that the $500 buyin doesn’t really mean much too. He is usually also stuck early and will chase any draw even though he knows he isn’t getting the right price If the pot will get him unstuck. Tends to bluff bet big on the river, but value bets his made hands most of the time. Hero has exploited this on several occasions. Surprised nobody else has noticed this yet. Will donk bet top pair on the flop a lot as well.

Terry— decent overall player. Has gotten a lot better in the last 2 years. Still learning PLO but has made strides. Drinks a lot!!! Can be set on life tilt easily if he loses a big pot he felt he should have won. Over values flopped straights in PLO. Huge hole in his game for sure. Often gets free rolled for huge pots. Hold’em game is decent, no glaring holes.

The Fireman— weak tight passive player. Always looking for someone else to bet his made hands instead of betting them himself. When he does bet it is usually a bluff or shove his short stack all-in preflop.

The Cop—- heavy drinker. Okay player when he is sober but that is rare. Gets on tilt easy and thinks the world is against him. Constantly bemoaning his bad luck. Makes very loose preflop calls that put him tough spots post flop.

Bob (OMC)— very tight player. Pretty much is only betting with the nuts or close to it. Gets sticky with AAxx in PLO post flop though even when facing big bets.

Mike (game organizer)— decent player. Prefers Hold’em over PLO. Much more aggressive in Hold’em. Only really bets with the nuts in PLO, but will call a lot.

The Lawyer— Another Hold’em player trying to learn PLO. Great at Hold’em, uses position well and aggressive. Bad at PLO. She is way too loose preflop and gets in a lot of tough spots post flop because of it. Only 3 bets AAxx or KKxx type hands preflop so can be exploited pretty easily.

Hero— new to the game, 2 months or so but has earned a decent reputation as a competent player. Most experienced PLO for sure. Much wider 3 betting range preflop than the rest of the table. Makes pot sized bets with big draws and already made hands equally. Folds the most preflop in PLO when the table is full but plays a much wider range short handed. Over bets premium hands in Hold’em preflop because the rest of the table hates to fold so much that they pay it. Check raises in early position quite often and has started to do it as semi bluffs now it is working so well in Hold’em and PLO.

First hand coming soon!!!
 
First hand.

Game is Hold’em, $1/2 ($5). Hero has $500 and is dealt :qh::qs: UTG, table is 9 handed right now, no straddle this hand. Everyone has at least $300 with most $500 or more.

Does hero open and if so for how much or limp looking to limp raise?
 
I vote straddle late. Ok, so you don't get last action but maybe you can induce action.

If that doesn't seem wise / possible, I go for the limp / raise plan. If preflop is a limp fest then Hero is mostly set mining - no getting excited with an over pair.

DrStrange

PS For what it is worth, I strongly encourage OP to make one thread per hand and not lump them into one extended thread.
 
So what's a "thin the field" bet with this crew? 1 or 2 opponents is fine, but we don't want to overbetting it and win just $3 on Queens...
 
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Hero’s typical line here is to limp for the $5 bring in expecting a raise, but I limp UTG so rarely that it is almost always to re-raise. Allen had even made a comment about it to Walt the week before when Walt had raised after I limp raised. So I felt it was time to mix up my play a little not wanting everyone to limp behind.

Hero bets $25 and gets calls from Walt ($1k behind) then Allen ($300 behind) in middle positions, the rest of the table folds.

Pot is $75 ($3 is taken for the bad beat)
Flop is quite good for hero: :qc::8h::5d:

Action is on hero, check or bet? If betting how much?
 
Might be time for a stop-and-go move. Or a "same bet" announcement. It's kinda weird because I feel this requires a different play because your opponents know your game.
 
Yea, this board is very dry, only one open ended straight, and a couple of gut shot straight draws possible. So betting big would most likely end the hand I think. But would checking scream I have a monster, and do we really want to give a free card to the possible straight draws that could beat us?
 
If a pot bet ends the hand, then you have few options: check, or a bet between $25 and $75. A free card on that board is not terribly worrisome and you have to take risks if you're gonna change up your play.

FWIW, with those stacks, I think you're fine betting like $60. Try a check raise on the turn if you are called.
 
I'm betting 60 on the flop. I'm guessing you cbet frequently. Might as well continue it.
 
I'm probably betting the pot here and hoping to take it down. I'm well aware that a hole in my game is not getting paid enough on my big hands. I should probably see a therapist about it.
 
Hero should make his "standard" bet absent some villain knowledge that might make checking / trapping better. For me that means 2/3 pot, or ~$50.

Hero is pot committed unless the board runs out four-to-a-straight.

Hero has a meta-game goal in mind as well. He wants to show the field that he sometimes DOES have the monster under the bed hand and that he c-bets that too. Hero should be c-betting this flop much more often than he fires at wetter / more dangerous flops.

Hero often will just take the pot down here. Then the strategy shifts to the question, show the monster or toss it in the muck? Though I rarely show my winning hands, this hand could be the exception. Hero needs to be planning for this now, not when the question is upon him.

DrStrange
 
DrStrange said:
For me that means 2/3 pot, or ~$50.
Click to expand...

Thinking that you have to bet here to be able to also bluff. I was wondering can you taper down your bet to 1/2 or even 1/3 pot bet? Keeps worse hands in, and its such a dry board its hard to get drawn out on. I realize betting small to keep hands in yet being able to bluff contradicts itself but thats why Im asking, can we bet smaller?
 
This is a home game. Hero must consider the long game, knowing that players are learning and evolving as they play hundreds or thousands of hours of poker.

If hero c-bets 1/3 pot with air sometimes, then sure, he can consider betting 1/3 pot here. If hero doesn't make 1/3 pot flop bets in other situations, then don't do it here. Bet sizing tells are a bad habit in any game and a disaster in a home game.

These villains like to play, there aren't so many hands where they will continue on for $35 that they fold to $50. Save sophisticated pot odds plays for tables where villains are making fine calculations. Calling stations and similar players hate to fold, give them a chance to make mistakes.

Also, Hero has to keep in mind that a lot of turn cards will make this board [ :qc: :8h: :5d: ----> :6d: for example ] look a lot less safe to a person holding top set in bad position. Paying 1/3 pot with a gutshot is close enough to proper odds that lots of players will take the chance. hero should bet enough to make villain mistakes expensive. Betting $25 when the proper price is $20 seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

Lastly, Hero should have his eye focused on getting stacks in play. Tiny bets don't get to full stacks in the middle. Hero can live with 80% folds here if there are other times when Hero makes $650 on his top set and gets to steal pots with air other times.

DrStrange
 
Hero planned on betting the flop almost 100% of the time, especially against these 2 players that look for a reason to call.

Hero bets $40, probably should have gone $50 though as @DrStrange said, if they will put in $40 they will put in $50.

Both players call which was a surprise for sure!!

The turn brings the :kh:.

Board is now :qc::8h::5d::kh:

Pot is $195

Hero’s feeling at this point: this is a great card to be able to continue betting as it brings in a back door flush draw and if someone floated with 2 broadway cards they could have picked up top pair or a gut shot now. These guys don’t need much to keep putting money in the pot!

Also a smaller flopped set becomes more possible with the flop call thinking they are trapping hero that may have been continuation betting AK and now is going to get paid off with his top pair hand on the turn.

So what do we do now? Check (why) or bet? If betting, how much?
 
Hero has $435 left with two rounds of betting to come. Hero is absolutely pot committed now even vs a third heart that fills in a gut-shot draw.

Lets say Hero bets 2/3 pot now and gets one caller - $130 + $130 + $195 = $455 in the pot with hero holding $315 which is just over 2/3 pot for a river bet.

So my plan is for Hero to bet $130 on the turn and jam all-in on the river / any river. Hero calls / jams vs any turn aggression.

DrStrange
 
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Hero’s plan is as @DrStrange sugguests.

Hero bets $125 on the turn with the intention of jamming the river.

Walt calls the $125 but Allen jams all-in for $135 or so more.

Now does hero jam all-in over the top to isolate Allen or flat call hoping to entice Walt in for the extra $135?

Hero’s thinking now: He may have gotten very lucky to have set over set on the flop and Allen just sprung his trap on the hero!!

So Walt must be drawing to some kind of straight and if he is and misses he won’t put any more money in on the river. So hero needs to get the rest of his money in now while he can.

Any real argument to be made to flatting the all-in from Allen?
 
Nope.

Just a few assumptions and estimates makes this a purely arithmetic decision for hero:
(1) Allen's drawing dead, and
If hero flats:
(2) Walt is not raising
(3) Hero is pot-committed and check-calling even the worst possible rivers like :9h:
(4) Walt's not bluffing river if he misses

I'll guess Walt is maybe 30% each to have either 7, 8 or 10 outs. And maybe 5% each to have 4 or 13 outs. Negligible chances he's already beating us or is drawing dead. Adjust those estimates as you wish. I'll average mine and say he has 8.4 expected outs.

The pot will be:
> 840 before Walt acts, if hero flats
> 975 if Walt calls a flat
> 1325 if Walt calls a shove

Let's call:
P(FF) the probability that Walt folds if hero flats
P(FS) the probability that Walt folds if hero shoves
EV(F) and EV(S) hero's expected values of flatting and shoving, respectively.

EV(F) = P(FF)*840 + [1-P(FF)] * [ (37.6/46)*975 + (8.4/46)*(-500) ] = 706 + 134*P(F)
EV(S) = P(FF)*840 + [1-P(FS)] * [ (37.6/46)*1325 + (8.4/46)*(-500) ] = 992 - 152*P(S)

EV(S) > EV(F) for all reasonable P(FF), P(FS)

Ergo, jammity jam jams.
 
Results:

Hero raises all-in. Walt thinks for a few moments and makes a crying fold.

Hero announces his hand and see most of the table is surprised by it. I guess most of them would have checked the flop with top set on the flop.

Allen makes a comment that I should have just called his bet, that Walt would have called too for sure. I don’t reply to the comment.

The river is the :3h: and Allen announces “I have the nuts”,then tables :ah::th:.

After the hand Walt says he had :6c::7s: for the open ended straight draw.

Rebuy!!!!

Next hand coming soon in another thread.
 

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