Input Wanted: Conclusion

I want to thank Klopzi, Fuel, and $mokee for replying to my call for input.

I wish Fuel would have expounded a little on his reason for folding.

In the moment of play I had the exact same thought process $mokee had. So exact it's scary. I decided to push to force out the other two players. The original player had pocket 5's for the flopped set. I hit my K on the river for a bigger set. Still didn't manage to win though because the chip leader called preflop gambling it up with Ad7d. His flopped nut flush was enough to win the hand after he called my all in re-raise.

Second guessing myself afterwards I was convinced I made the wrong play here. With four of us seeing that flop and since I wasn't re-raised a set or straight draw is very possible. That flop should have been scary even if their wasn't the three diamonds. Since I had the second nut flush draw I figured it was worth the play at the time. I'm still a little undecided on what the right course of action should have been.

I guess that's why this game hasn't been solved yet.

Input Wanted: Hand Decision

This is a hand from a tournament I played in the other night. I've been debating with myself whether I played this hand right postflop so I've decided to ask for input.

The hand occurs after were already in the money but it's still early after the money bubble.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5221922500: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (38945611), Table 16 - 600/1200 Ante 150 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:00:58 ET - 2008/02/12
Seat 1: delmop (25,759)
Seat 2: Dannydm (39,903)
Seat 3: williams1 (82,255)
Seat 4: Jhouse1968 (38,512)
Seat 5: Montezuma67 (29,326)
Seat 7: dooce_kikker (32,450)
Seat 8: Jordan4523 (29,720)
Seat 9: lifesagrind (34,505)
antes 150
dooce_kikker posts the big blind of 1,200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lifesagrind [Ks Kd]
lifesagrind raises to 3,600
Dannydm calls 3,600
williams1 calls 3,600
dooce_kikker calls 2,400

As you can see my raises were getting plenty of respect.

*** FLOP *** [9d Td 5d]
dooce_kikker has 15 seconds left to act
dooce_kikker bets 28,700, and is all in

This guy took all of his time to make this play. I'm next to act so I have a tough decision to make.

What do you do?

I have plenty of options here and I'm not sure I made the right one. I'm not troubled about the decision because of the outcome. I'm troubled because it was a tough spot. I also feel a little lost on what the correct play is in this position.

Hey, Bend Over And Grab That Bar Of Soap

FullTiltPoker Game #4549444139: Table Wilkes - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:38:07 ET - 2007/12/18
Seat 3: flydogg007 ($34.05)
Seat 4: Chewyjd ($31.75)
Seat 6: lifesagrind ($48.50)

Kacori posts the small blind of $0.25
Mr_R_Hand posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lifesagrind [Ac As]

tsduo folds
flydogg007 raises to $1
Chewyjd calls $1
SkiDooSledder folds
lifesagrind raises to $4
jausbrey folds
cladower folds
Kacori folds
Mr_R_Hand folds
flydogg007 folds
Chewyjd has 15 seconds left to act
Chewyjd raises to $31.75, and is all in
lifesagrind calls $27.75
Chewyjd shows [Ad 3s]
lifesagrind shows [Ac As]
*** FLOP *** [2d 4d 5h]
*** TURN *** [2d 4d 5h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [2d 4d 5h Js] [Jh]
Chewyjd shows a straight, Five high
lifesagrind shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
Chewyjd wins the pot ($62.25) with a straight, Five high

My Will Be Done

There are times when poker just isn't about the cards...


Seat 2: wheaten ($81.45)
Seat 3: lifesagrind ($48.25)

lifesagrind posts the small blind of $0.25
Ruud27 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lifesagrind [Kd Th]
Oak1974 folds
jcraw70 calls $0.50
Baschti84 folds
Glastoki folds
wheaten calls $0.50
lifesagrind calls $0.25 - Seeing a flop here is an easy decision
Ruud27 checks

*** FLOP *** [8h 3d Kc]
lifesagrind bets $1.50 - Top pair out of position, it's time to see if I can have this cheaply
Ruud27 folds
jcraw70 folds
wheaten raises to $3
lifesagrind raises to $5.50 - I know, what the hell am I doing. Problem is... he could put me on just about anything here, and I can put him on trying to take this away from me.
wheaten calls $2.50 - His call is telling

*** TURN *** [8h 3d Kc] [9h]
lifesagrind bets $11 - I have to continue considering my flop play
wheaten calls $11 - I know I'm beat here... but I also know he isn't 100% secure in his hand. Considering my play up to this point I'd have to put him on KJ, maybe KQ

*** RIVER *** [8h 3d Kc 9h] [2d]
lifesagrind bets $31.25, and is all in - I have two choices, check and fold, or push. I know he has me beat, but I also know he believes I could have him beat. I take the only reasonable choice left to me... push
wheaten has 15 seconds left to act
wheaten folds
Uncalled bet of $31.25 returned to lifesagrind
lifesagrind mucks
lifesagrind wins the pot ($33.25)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $35 | Rake $1.75
Board: [8h 3d Kc 9h 2d]
Seat 2: wheaten (button) folded on the River
Seat 3: lifesagrind (small blind) collected ($33.25), mucked

Moral of the story: Playing the player can be more important than playing your cards. (Just don't get too carried away with it)

A Little Presto Sauce

By far my most interesting hand since switching to No Limit Cash games this month.

Table Wood Plank - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: anal_yzer85 ($92.45)
Seat 2: joepoker77 ($48.25)
Seat 3: drchad ($24.50)
Seat 4: drossxyu ($80.80)
Seat 5: electricladylnd ($49.05)
Seat 6: Quickfox7 ($43.15)
Seat 7: lifesagrind ($57.70)
Seat 8: cashinchecks1 ($36.70)
Seat 9: pete1974 ($15.40)
electricladylnd posts the small blind of $0.25
Quickfox7 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lifesagrind [5d 5c] - lets see a flop shall we
lifesagrind calls $0.50
cashinchecks1 folds
pete1974 folds
anal_yzer85 folds
joepoker77 folds
drchad calls $0.50
drossxyu raises to $2.25
electricladylnd folds
Quickfox7 folds
lifesagrind calls $1.75
drchad calls $1.75
*** FLOP *** [2c 5s 2s]
lifesagrind checks - Life doesn't get any better, let's see who has what here
drchad checks
drossxyu bets $4
lifesagrind calls $4 - Please call drchad
drchad calls $4 - YES!
*** TURN *** [2c 5s 2s] [9c]
lifesagrind checks - How bad does the bettor want this
drchad checks
drossxyu has 15 seconds left to act
drossxyu bets $9.75 - ohhhh he likes his hand
lifesagrind has 15 seconds left to act
lifesagrind raises to $20 - Here's an amount you can call
drchad folds
drossxyu calls $10.25
*** RIVER *** [2c 5s 2s 9c] [5h]
lifesagrind bets $31.45, and is all in - Smooth and creamy, all you can eat
drossxyu calls $31.45
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lifesagrind shows [5d 5c] four of a kind, Fives
drossxyu mucks
lifesagrind wins the pot ($119.40) with four of a kind, Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $122.40 | Rake $3
Board: [2c 5s 2s 9c 5h]

Seat 4: drossxyu (button) mucked [2d 2h] - four of a kind, Twos - Ouch, sucks to be him

Seat 7: lifesagrind showed [5d 5c] and won ($119.40) with four of a kind, Fives

It happens, rarely, but quads over quads is always a guaranteed double up.

The Biggest Loser #1

In what has been a disastrous week at the tables so far I bring you my first Biggest Loser hand. I'm actually bending the rules a little because this was not my actual biggest losing hand. Exactly two hands after the one listed I lost an entire buy in when preflop I got all in with QQ vs. AA. Chalk that one up to tilt. I also had a winning hand that was slightly more than this losing hand but it was just a case of my having a bigger two pair and a donkey to pay me off.

I find this hand to be a little interesting because I have what looks to be the best hand at first glance. The check raise by my opponent on the flop should have been more of an indication to me what my opponent had, but I locked in on my opponent having a weaker Ace and I blocked out all other possibilities. The turn card locks me in and I'm committed at that point.

My question is this. Did I just get coolered or should I have been able to read my opponents holdings better and been able to get away on the turn?

Here's the hand:



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Is This Common?

I've become addicted to the cash games now. I find myself whipping through my SNG's so I can get to playing them. This has lead to some bad play on my part as I've ignored my own guidelines for quitting recently. To get back in the groove I'm dropping back to the 25NL games.

In an effort to gain some insight I'm posing this question. Is this a common play from opponents at this level with a flush draw? This seems screwy to me but others at the table berated me for my bad read of the situation. Pleas comment on this.





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