What would you do? Poker hand of the Week.

      Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I'm sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. You can check out my blog here https://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

The blinds are 25/50 and I limp in with             in mid position, getting one caller and the BB who checks. The flop comes:

I bet $150 and get one caller. The turn card is:

At this point I\'m thinking the caller is chasing the flush, I bet $300 on the turn, the river card comes:

I lead out on the river with a bet of $300 as a

"stopper bet" used to prevent the other player from attempting a river bluff. I get re-raised to $800 chips.

What would you do?

Have I miss-played this hand?

What do you think the other player has?

i would guess that he hade either  a made flush from the start, or maybe something in the  range of A2, the ace maybe spades..

and either slowplaying you, in the hope  you had hit top pair or middle pair, or indeed fishing for the nut flush, to hit trips on the turn, and then float you..

i would already be pot comitted and at the current level of poker players, i would be inclined to call anyway, for the likelyhood of another bluffing fool:)

its always hard to say though, cause he could just as well be having  A 10 from the start, or K 10, and i think your play wasnt exactly good, as in  a tourney start fase, where the blinds are this small, i wouldnt play as agressive ever with that hand, on that flop..

but since you did, like i said i would probably call, although the likelihood is present that he at least holds an ace and beats you

What was your opponent's previous play like?

Everyone limped on the hand - no pre-flop raise which probably means someone is either "slow playing" their Ace or they have nothing at all.

I would not have called mid position with your hand for a start off but being as this is your hand.  One of them (and you don't say which one stays in) has probably hit trips with the 2.  However, the size of your stack is relevant as to whether I would say call or not.  So without knowing that information, I'm going to say fold.

blue

Can I ask where you got those little card pictures from colonel1.  I was thinking of asking about card pics for the poker section.

blue

http://www.jfitz.com/cards/

the botom one is for windows, should download and be useable

or here you have to download every single playcard(right click save as)

http://holdemhandanalysis.tripod.com/imagesindex.html

This is fabulous thread, though i am inexperienced and want to learn, i'll truely enjoy reading these gettting the understanding on how to play, also getting a feel of the excitement, with my inexperienced words and guess, i'd say he is bluffing on a flush, i guess because i would!

Great post i love this idea! Keep them coming colonel!

I don't think he had the flush. And i don't think he believed you did. Being that you limped in the hand, im going to assume he had you at a decent hand but not Ace.

I think he played it to the river hoping to draw out the ace and nailed it. Since he didnt raise preflop i am gonna guess he had a low kicker maybe the 2 that kept him in the game.

Lips

I feel like I've played this hand out many times. And 95% of the time the end result when its played out like that is that they flopped the flush.

Even though your pretty priced in, i would throw this away in a second. It's possible that someone has missed the flush and is trying to steal on the river but that will only happen in the 5% of the cases.

Hard hand not to get a little trapped in.

Hi all,

Needless to say, yes I miss-played this hand. It's nice to see some interest, maybe next week I will post a hand in which I played well, lol.

Hi Blue, the sites dirkeman mentions above seem fine if you want to download the cards,

I on the other hand am lazy and used http://www.stevedawson.com/poker-hands.php, where all you do is put in the text you want and creates a code, the cards are linked from that site.

I will post why I played this hand incorrectly tommorrow,

Cheers,

Rob

I play tournys all the time, but I'm not an aggressive player - more passive/aggressive & I LOVE flopping the flush, sitting back & catching players like you.  ;)  With that flop, I feel you misplayed the hand.  But, then, I'm not the best player.

(posted this while you were posting your answer)  I'll be interested to see your reasoning tomorrow.  :)

im also interested, and congrats on your sponsorship, and im even more interested in well played hands ^^

im also interested, and congrats on your sponsorship, and im even more interested in well played hands ^^

I'm looking forward to the results too Rob.

Although, it's good to learn from mistakes and as all poker players know, you are learning all the time, adjusting your play and changing tactics depending on who is at the table and how the game is going.

I'll take the good and the bad hands please.... ;D ;D ;D

blue

Another great thread which can only be seen at our forum!!! ;D

Thank you LPB/LCB and colonel for this great chance for many of us to  see and learn!!!

I am finally all ready to learn especially for my Blue... ;D that I can understand her games and blogs... :D

HI y\'all

To begin with the blinds at 30/15 and limping with Q-10 suited is an ok thing to do, especially when you have a deeper starting stack i.e 3K. If someone with a big hand like AA or KK were to raise to say 120chips that\'s less then 5% of my stack, I can call and hope to out flop him.

With the flop of        my Q-10 is usually the best hand, so I lead out. After getting a call, I immediatly narrow my opponents hand range. There are 2 hands he/she is most likely to have, that is a flopped flush, or a ace or king high flush draw. Less likely but still possible is a small pair with a spade, or a similar hand to mine A-10, K-10, etc..

The turn brings  , a fairly nothing card that doesnt change anything. I lead out again with a 2/3 pot bet believing that my opponent has an A high or K high flush draw.

Up until now, all my actions are ok, perhaps overplaying my hand a little, but nothing particularly wrong.

The river hits , this is my main mistake I lead out with $300 as a stopper bet, stopper bets are useful in some instances when you want to prevent your opponent from betting the river, and to get people with missed drawing hands to fold. But in this instance I have put my opponent on an A high or K high flush draw, in which case there is a good chance I have been rivered. If my opponent has flopped a flush, which is the other possible hand I\'ve put him on then I\'m also beat.

The best thing to do in this situation would be to check-fold, or check-call.

My opponent then raises me to $800 chips. The only hand I can beat now is a small pair, or a king high flush draw, which seem very unlikely now. If my opponent had A high he has now hit, but it is most likely he would\'nt raise me on the river, I would just get a flat call. The only hand really left is a flopped flush, and I had been milked all the way.

If I had check called, it would have cost me about the same as the stopper bet, and at least I get to see my opponents cards. Convinced my opponent has the flush, having eliminated all other possibilities, I fold.

Cheers everyone, I\'ll be posting a new hand every Monday.

Rob (aka colonel1)

I think the only real mistake you maid was the betsize on the flop: 110-120 is enough.

I personally don't like block bets, they are an obvious sign of weekness and with that board and the preflop game it is obv. that you dont have top two or a flush by yourself. It is pretty easy to put you on what you actually had and figure out how to outplay your blockbet on the river with a busted flushdraw and the scarry ace on the river. However, I am pretty sure that he had you. The raise to only 800 made it look like begging for a call. Actually if you decide to make the blockbet, you can even make it smaller: sth. like 15% of the pot. 150-200 would have been enough, I think. And then you fold to a raise.

Good luck next time!

PS: I think the turn can e played in different ways, the way you did it is ok. Again - a smaller bet is often a intersting alternative. What do you think about < 1/2 pot size bets on the first 2 streets?

For some reason, I thought that the turn was a 2 hence my comment on the trips. 

blue

For some reason, I thought that the turn was a 2 hence my comment on the trips. 

 

blue

im sure it was  a two as well....

hence my coment on the trips o.o

funny no??

i think that he tried a daniel negraneua hand 4 and five unsuited. i play these quite often because online poker software likes to show real world drawouts and suckouts. i win with negraneua hands more than with mid and big pair hands. try it out next time, lead bet with small connectors and you will soon get into top 30% of tourney list. hey, it works for me. ;D

I don't know all the poker terms and lingo.. but i as your opponet sure would of bluffed a flush, all the way.. no stopping me lol

Thank You Colonel! Love this thread.

Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I'm sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. You can check out my blog here https://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

Blinds are 400/200 plus 50 antes. I minimum raise to 800 with     , I get 2 callers including the Big Blind.

Flop is:

The flop gets checked all around.

The turn is

BB bets 800 and gets 2 callers including me.

the river is:

The action is checked to me, and I bet 1200, getting one call from the BB. I rake in the pot, and the BB mucks.

Would you have have played the hand this way?

What do you think the BB had?

Back on Wednesday to post my responses,

cheers all

Hi Colonel,

Love this thread, look so forward to them weekly! I would never bet the minimum bet with rockets. I use to do that and got burned so many times playing, losing to a 7 2 off suit type crap hands.

I bet hard when i have a hand like that. I try to weed out the crap hands. Being that the BB did not bet on the turn i going to put him with the Q. He backed off fearing the King. That's gonna be my guess.

Lips

Hey Rob,

BB prob had A7 at a guess - perhaps with all the checking, he thought he was in the lead when the 7 came on the turn.  Alternatively, he was chasing the straight with A J and thought he had you beat on the high cards.

In answer to your question "Would you have have played the hand this way?" - the answer is no.

When I have pocket AA - I will raise 4x up to 10x BB depending on the size of the blinds.  If I am going to be beaten with Aces, I want to be beaten with a good hand. 

blue

dangerous way to play aa, but i can understand it if your in late pos and no one has raised yet. I think he had a q, and you could of gotten better value out of betting all 3 streets.

But i guess we'll see if you maximized your value when we find out what he had.

my guess is that he hit middle pair off the flop with a possible straight so q,j or q,10.  But knowing i'm the biggest fish ever, I'm probably wrong by miles

I would have raised after the flop maybe 4x BB because I'd test to see if they have a possible straight or flush draw

Hi y'all,

Bit late in response this week, sorry about that.

So with     in my hand on a very tight table I decided I wanted some action and minimum raised from early position. Under most situations minimum raising is a bad idea, but my gut told me to do it, and I usually trust my gut.

With 2 callers and a flop of       , there are immediately a vast ammount of hands that can either beat me, or will call 2/3 pot raises on big draws. Think K-Q, J-10, 9-9, as the 3 hands that either of the 2 callers could easily have that beat me. Then hands that are behind, but have big drawing capabilities, A-J, A-10, with 2 clubs. K-J, K-10, Q-J, Q-10 a pair and a gutshot. And any hand with 2 clubs.

Quite often with flops that have lots of draws I will check a big hand. Many times someone with a good drawing hand will, check-raise all in, putting me in a tough spot.

When the    hits the turn I\'m feeling pretty confident that my A-A is best and may have raised the BB after he lead out with 800, but I decide to call.

The river   is a meaningless card with regards to possible draws. And I lead out with a value bet of 1200. And rake in a pot of 7650 chips.

BB turns over     .

So in most situations minimum raising is advised against, but in this case I probably got close to the maximum value out of my hand which is always the goal.

Thanks y'all

Rob

Oh and sorry about changing the 2 last week, I had some people confused, lol. Just made an initial mistake in my post.

Nice pot and with your great gut instincts, you played it right. 

...and re the 2 last week, thanks for letting us know.

blue

Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I\'m sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. You can check out my blog here https://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

This week I'll be showing why paying attention to the table is so important. You can get information on players in every hand dealt, not just the hands you are in. Make notes on the players as you go.

Playing a $20 Hold\'em tourney I was nearing the bubble and got involved in this hand:

With everyone limping to me in the SB, I have 17K and I sit with     , The blinds are 300/600 with antes also. In any normal situation the correct thing to do here is raise the BB, or even go all-in to put pressure on the BB.

But, I have noticed the BB being very aggressive with a big stack (75K). Making what looks like questionable all-in moves. Also, I remember the last time around the table i limped into his BB with  J-10 and he popped his chips all-in.

I decide to set a trap with my hand, which is the best hand 90% of the time, I\'m actually hoping he raises 3K and I can go over the top all-in, but noting his aggressive moves I\'m allready consigned to calling an all-in bet.

BB obliges accordingly and goes all-in, I insta-call. BB turns over     .

The board rolls out          

Anyone have any thoughts on this hand?

Without stack sizes, average stack, payout structure this is a bit difficult to judge.

But actually, i don't like that play. Yes, ATs will be ahead of BBs range, but only like 60/40.

So what was BB's stack and your stack and how far away from the bubble were you?  

Did you have enough in your stack to make it to the bubble if you just posted and folded?  

Without that info, I wouldn't be able to say what I would have done in your position

blue

Yup dunno how I overlooked that, now edited. With regard to the bubble, I was about 150th with 130 making the money. Please feel free to discuss my play.

Taking into account the size of BB's stack and the size of your stack and the fact you said you weren't far from the bubble, AND knowing how lucky these big stacks get, I "probably" would have folded before BB made his all in.

I say "probably" because when in your position (SB) up against (BB) who is a blind stealing lucky sob, I may well have pre-empted his move and gone all in before he got the opportunity to.  Chances are he would have folded...but then that is difficult to say as I wasn't there and I hadn't seen what he had done if someone else went all in prior to that. 

blue

Hi Colonel,

I would of done the same thing you did to the "T"! I personally think you played that hand well. BB was aggressive no matter what. How much you would of bet or not bet seems irrelevant because of his aggressive play.

I think it's a case of dumb luck for him.

Lips

Hi Ya'll,

It's very tempting when near the bubble to just get your cards all in when in good position with good cards. But your aim in any tournament should be to win, and that means getting maximum value out of every possible hand you play.

Noticing the BB being very aggressive, I decide to set a trap with my quite big hand of     .

Now after the BB turns over    , I am happy that I have caught out the thief, but I could very easily have BB dominated. I would much rather the BB turn over a weak Ace A-7. But either way my trap has worked, unluckily not to my benefit this time. But it is always gratifying to make a nice play even when it doesn't work out for you.

Very unlucky that is for sure Rob.

blue

Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I'm sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. You can check out my blog here https://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

The blinds are 3k/1.5K, I have a 95K stack. I'm in the BB with

  ,

There are two callers including SB, flop is

    ,

SB leads out with 3K bet, I flat call and the other caller folds.  I immediately begin narrowing down my opponents hand range. He may have a flush draw, top pair, a straight draw like 34, 68, 46 etc. Or an out and out bluff.

The turn is   ,

This may seem like a bad card for us, but it can also be a good card, any straight or flush draw has missed, and any dirty bluffer has also missed, quite often     is the best hand here. Given this I lead out with a 12K bet.

SB calls. The river is  .

SB checks. I'm tempted to check, but I realize I may get a call with a value bet, if my opponent has a 2, or a medium overpair like 99.

I bet 12K on river. SB re-raises all in 70K putting me potentially all-in.

What would you do?

What do you think my opponent has?

Hi Rob,

This is a tricky one - very tricky.

I've seen lots of bluffs when the board pairs as no doubt you have too.  Its like "hey my bet says I got trips" when in fact it's rarely the case.

I think your opponent either has the 5 so he has the same hand as you or he was chasing that flush/straight and missed it and was trying to buy the pot.  If he had the 7, he would have raised your 3k bet big time and stopped the game there and then but he didn't.  He flat called you. 

I would have called him thinking that I either had him beat or he has the same hand as me.

blue

nevermind what he has, the only thing that can beat you is  a 7, is that worth your stack?

to me looks like your deep in the tourney, so i figure your either in the money, or on the bubble, which would influence my descisiona lot:

also the buy in and or rebuys, if there were, how many you did etc,

please some more info mate!

if its just on this info, i be inclined to call, but like i said...

too open for me

Opponent represents the 7 here, and his story makes some sense. Without a history we have to fold here.

But was it necessary to bet that big (12k in a 15k pot) on the turn? We build a pot here with not that much of a hand.

Hi,

Dirk I'll try put some more info into my hand of the week next time, I know you have to factor in a lot of variables with regards to past history, the proximity to the bubble, the other opponents stack etc...

In this case I was reasonably deep in the money into a $10 tourney, the opponent had a similar stack, and hadn't stood out as overly aggressive or anything from memory.

With regards to pot size, on the turn the pot was 17,700  this includes antes of 300. My 12K bet on turn is a feeler bet, and also to stop SB drawing cheaply.

The river is the big problem. It is a reasonably advanced play to check raise the river, I was confounded. Needless to say I used most of my timebank on this one.

Cheers

Rob

ok, then considering he wasnt overly aggressive, and you were reasonably deep in the money, the scale in my case would drop to WANT to call, but still fold in the end.

you still have more then 20 BB left, which might give you  a chance to win the tourney, where as calling, could end the tourney, although chances are slim, that he beats you, it still present enough, as you say he wasnt overly aggressive, and you needed your time bank. (factoring in that somehow the villain earned your respect throughout the previous hands)

this smells like  a float, and it is  a pity that he wasnt  a shorstack, cause then you could have called more easily.

its very hard to lay down  a full house regardless, but i think its best thing to do, under the circumstances, because you want  to win right?

of course you could always say hey: im deep, i made  a good profit already, and there only 2 cards in  the deck that beat me, the odds are too good to fold, but we all know how those odds play you:)

and mostly, the difference in 1st to tenth place, is a fair amount of cash, and as a tourney player, those times that you reach the final table, or are close to it, will be very important to hold up your brm/ev  and can make  a winning year or losing year.

so i think its best to play safe and fold, get him back in the net ten hands:)

Hi Y'all,

Inspired by Phil Ivey who seems to get the maximum value out of his hands, including value betting the river if he think she has the best hand, I value bet my lower fullhouse after my opponent checks the river.

After my opponent re-raises me on the river all-in, I'm am put to a tough decision. Using most of my TIME-BANK I decide eventually to call thinking I am probably about 50/50 of getting this decision right.

Unfortunately my opponent has employed a fairly advanced play of checking the nuts on the river. He turns over 10-7 with a higher fullhouse, and I am left ruing my decision, and also annoyed I can't find more hands of the week where I've made good plays!!!!!

Til next week,

c y'all later

Rob

What a shame Rob.

These kind of hands and players are sent to try us. 

blue

Can I add on to "what would u do" or is this only for Rob?   Thanks

Can I add on to "what would u do" or is this only for Rob?  Thanks

Hi kynettie,

This is Rob's thread but I encourage you to start your own - that would be fantastic.

blue

Thanks Blue   

I had a hand the other day and wanted to ask what other would do, but i play so much can't remember all the hands...LOL  Thanks anyway..

Hi Y'all,

Sorry for the delay, but here's what I shall call poker hand of the Month as it's been that long since I've posted.

I'm playing in a $30 Hold 'em tournament, the blinds are 100/200, and I have 5225 chip stack.

I am the last to act on the button and I make the standard raise to 600 with

  ,

SB ponders a decision, then puts 2036 all in, and BB folds.

So here I am put to a tough decision and have to do some maths on the run, to work out my pot odds. So, I have 600 in the pot and I have to call 1436 to win  

4272. So I'm getting 2-1 on my money to make the call, if SB had 3000 or more chips to begin the hand, I would not be getting the right odds to call. But with only 2K I am right on the border.

In most cases if you getting 2-1 on your money, unless there are other things to consider like proximity to the bubble, or your stack size, you usually must call with any 2 cards.

Given my hand these are the hands I may be up against and the odds:

   vs      (one over one under) odds - 40%/60%

   vs      (2 in the middle) odds 43%/57%

   vs      (over cards vs a pair) odds 48%/52%

   vs       (one over card) odds 32%/68%

   vs       (dominated hand) odds  29%/71%

   vs       ( 2 under cards)  odds 18%/82%

So 5 out of 6 of these situations I am getting roughly 1-2 or better odds to call, only in 1 case am I making a bad call.

If you have any thoughts or ideas, on why or why not to make this call please post, I look forward to more hands of the week in the future. I will post what hand I was up against later in the tread.

Caio Y'all

Hi Rob,

I've sat here and written two replies and cancelled them both without replying.

I think you made the right move with the pre-flop raise - always worth a min raise with that hand. 

As to calling his all in - I really don't know whether to say I would have or not.  How many players were in the game and what position were you?  What was the biggest stack?  What was the player's previous play like?

blue

Rob,

I'm bumping this topic as it's been a while.

blue

Fold - small blind going all in after a preflop raise already more than likely means he has a good one and can collect some easy chips either with his hand or by others folding their chips.  Definately fold.

Hi, my name is Robert Ginnane, and I'm sponsored by LPB to play tournament poker. Sorry for the delay, I actually enjoy posting these hands but have forgotten of late.  You can check out my blog here https://www.latestpokerbonuses.com/poker-blog/colonel1/. I will be taking 1 hand from my tournament play each week, and ask you the question:

What would you do?

I briefly mentioned this hand in my blog, but here's what happened:

Blinds are 350/700 antes are 85. I have 12,000 chips and we are not far off the money but not right on. My opponenet also has about 12,000 chips.

I min-raise on the button with     to 1400 chips

BB calls. The flop is      .

I bet 1400, and BB calls.

The turn is  .

BB checks, and I check also.

The river is another  

I call a 4,500 chip river bet.

What do you think of this hand? If you haven't read my blog, what do you suppose he/she has?

Thanks Y'all

Rob