Anyone who has played or watched tournament poker a while has heard the term "a chip and a chair" meaning as long as you are alive in a tournament, you have a chance to win, no matter how short your stack.
6/3 off did it for me.
It was a $65 buy in tournament. I was doing okay early but a tough beat got me short stacked (my AK lost to A 10 with us both all in) and as the end of the third level of this tournament approached, so did the first break. With just over 2000 in chips after the break essentially I'd have 10 big blinds, and way down in the tournament. I had decided as the last hand before the break came I was going all in. I had put my chips forward, and didn't look at my cards. I made it clear when I shoved I hadn't looked and I was either doubling up or going home.
Oddly I only got one caller, who turned over big slick. and I was packing up when I saw I had 6/3 off. Until the 3 hit on the river and no aces or kings had come. So at the break I now at least had a little over 20 BBs.
A few big win later and I hit the final table as the chip leader and after a while the final few players are chopping the prize money, and we are taking home $450+ each.
A chip (or two) and a chair indeed.
Showing posts with label texas hold em. Show all posts
Showing posts with label texas hold em. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Friday, April 29, 2011
Medium pairs
One of the hands I have a love/hate relationship with is medium pairs (7-8). Very few times will you ever fold them preflop, and in a limit game, deciding rather to just call or raise isn't that hard.
But no-limit can be troublesome. Raise bigger from early position? Limp? I tend to mix up my early play, limping most of the time and raising big probably 20-30 percent of the time.
I just don't know if it's ideal. My play is based on the lose less money when your hand doesn't hit philosophy, which will happen more times than not. But it also doesn't get rid of any weak Aces or kings, making it more likely my medium pair will be out flopped.
But the limp play sometimes makes it easier to win bigger pots when your hand does hit. Let's say I have 8-8, 2nd to act, and I limp, as do 5 others. Six players total, and the flop comes A-8-3 rainbow. It's fairly obvious no one has a real strong ace, by the lack of action, but an A-8, or A-3 is possible. And any player with a decent ace will still stay. If I lead out here, I'd go about 3/4 pot-pot sized bet or more depending on the flop (rainbow, all suited, 2 suits, etc...). Bet stronger if there's two of the same suit, less if rainbowed or all the same suit. Anyone who made the nut flush will stay in, but isn't likely to be too aggressive, wanting to extract as much as he can from the board. And you want to give anyone on a flush draw the improper odds to call. (It's amazing how many people ignore the odds and chase on the flop).
And I'm often lost on late to act preflop. If there's a 3x-5x raise in front of me, it's okay to assume my 8s are the low hand right now, but is it worth it to call the raise?
All limpers and my 8s may be good. Do I raise and how much? Ideally, I want a heads up situation, rather I create it or the initial raiser does. And if you know your opponent, and can put him on the proper hand, even if you miss your pair, can you pull off a bluff?
But no-limit can be troublesome. Raise bigger from early position? Limp? I tend to mix up my early play, limping most of the time and raising big probably 20-30 percent of the time.
I just don't know if it's ideal. My play is based on the lose less money when your hand doesn't hit philosophy, which will happen more times than not. But it also doesn't get rid of any weak Aces or kings, making it more likely my medium pair will be out flopped.
But the limp play sometimes makes it easier to win bigger pots when your hand does hit. Let's say I have 8-8, 2nd to act, and I limp, as do 5 others. Six players total, and the flop comes A-8-3 rainbow. It's fairly obvious no one has a real strong ace, by the lack of action, but an A-8, or A-3 is possible. And any player with a decent ace will still stay. If I lead out here, I'd go about 3/4 pot-pot sized bet or more depending on the flop (rainbow, all suited, 2 suits, etc...). Bet stronger if there's two of the same suit, less if rainbowed or all the same suit. Anyone who made the nut flush will stay in, but isn't likely to be too aggressive, wanting to extract as much as he can from the board. And you want to give anyone on a flush draw the improper odds to call. (It's amazing how many people ignore the odds and chase on the flop).
And I'm often lost on late to act preflop. If there's a 3x-5x raise in front of me, it's okay to assume my 8s are the low hand right now, but is it worth it to call the raise?
All limpers and my 8s may be good. Do I raise and how much? Ideally, I want a heads up situation, rather I create it or the initial raiser does. And if you know your opponent, and can put him on the proper hand, even if you miss your pair, can you pull off a bluff?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The perils of pocket Aces
Recently I ended up in a hand I've always worried about. Instincts always tell me to raise on pocket aces, but here's an example of a 4-8 limit cash game where it's not as easy a raise as it seems.
I'm on the button, and look down to see the two black beauties. Seems obvious when the action gets to me, I'm raising those aces. Except, at this nine player table, all six players in front of me call, meaning in theory there is $30 in the pot already (I say in theory because I'm not subtracting any rakes). If I raise that ups it to $38. And the purpose of a raise like this is to get rid of players and hopefully develop a potential heads up. But if I make it 38, the small blind is looking at $6 to a $38 pot. Unless he's holding 7-2, 8-3 or the like, logic says you put in the six, since it's better than 6 to 1 pot odds. Either way, the big blind then just has $4 to put into a pot of either $38 or possibly $44. 9 to 1 or 11 to 1 pot odds is an another easy move.
And as the action moves around a second time, there's no reason for anyone who called initially to now fold as the pot builds.
By the end of the first round betting, the pot can be at $72. That's real nice if your pocket aces hold up. But odds are really going against you now. Six initial callers indicate that no one feels real strong about their hands to raise, so you have a wide variety of hands, likely a couple of suited connectors, a K-J, and more importantly, very likely at least one, if not two, players with A-medium/low, a typical 4-8 starting hand that is worth sticking around cheap for, but not raising. What does this mean? It means with nine players, pocket Aces is least likely to improve. And it's very likely someone flops trips, a flush or connects the straight.
But is just a call any better? You wouldn't think so, but in a hand like this, I think it can be the proper play. No one is going to leave the hand, and it's unlikely you improve, but who is going to throw away Aces at any point on a hand? The pot will be nice enough by the end in the unlikely case the aces hold, but your bankroll takes less of a hit in the more likely case you lose.
At best, if everyone is in the hand, Aces hold about a 47 percent chance of winning. And that is based only on completely random hands held by others (in other words, no real legitimate starting hand, such as pocket pair, connectors, suited, etc...). But few players just play two random cards. Most have a reason to play, thus the realistic odds give the aces just a 15-25% chance of holding up.
The best scenario would be if you raised on the button and then either the small or big blind re-raised. $4 into a $40 pot may be no issue, but when you raise and the big blind re-raises, now everyone before you has to decide if $8 into the pot is worth it. The lead position is looking at $8 into a $52 pot.
Even though at this point pot odds suggest everyone would stick around, a few may fold just because psychologically 3-bets preflop is a lot tougher than 2, especially knowing that I can still reraise. So the big blind helps you out here.
Let's suppose it got back to me and everyone stayed. The pot has now grown to $92 and I can cap the betting with another raise if I want. It hard to say if capping makes sense then or not. If everyone stayed, a cap builds the pot, won't get rid of anybody and really makes the aces vulnerable. But if the aces hold, then that $144 preflop pot is nice.
In the real hand I just called. And the SB and BB just called. The flop came 7-2-Q rainbow. Three players check before a player bets. Two stay, two fold. I call. SB, BB fold, final guy calls.
Turn J. Now I know I'm dead. Same lead better leads out again. One caller, one folder. I call and one exits, leaving three of us. River is a 5, and I know I have no business staying after the leader leads out again. He gets called, and at this point even though I know I'm beat, pot odds say it makes no sense to lay down.
Indeed, first player had Q-7 suited for two pair and the other guy mucks, as do I.
It left me wondering if a raise might have chased him out, but still I think I made the right play.
I'm on the button, and look down to see the two black beauties. Seems obvious when the action gets to me, I'm raising those aces. Except, at this nine player table, all six players in front of me call, meaning in theory there is $30 in the pot already (I say in theory because I'm not subtracting any rakes). If I raise that ups it to $38. And the purpose of a raise like this is to get rid of players and hopefully develop a potential heads up. But if I make it 38, the small blind is looking at $6 to a $38 pot. Unless he's holding 7-2, 8-3 or the like, logic says you put in the six, since it's better than 6 to 1 pot odds. Either way, the big blind then just has $4 to put into a pot of either $38 or possibly $44. 9 to 1 or 11 to 1 pot odds is an another easy move.
And as the action moves around a second time, there's no reason for anyone who called initially to now fold as the pot builds.
By the end of the first round betting, the pot can be at $72. That's real nice if your pocket aces hold up. But odds are really going against you now. Six initial callers indicate that no one feels real strong about their hands to raise, so you have a wide variety of hands, likely a couple of suited connectors, a K-J, and more importantly, very likely at least one, if not two, players with A-medium/low, a typical 4-8 starting hand that is worth sticking around cheap for, but not raising. What does this mean? It means with nine players, pocket Aces is least likely to improve. And it's very likely someone flops trips, a flush or connects the straight.
But is just a call any better? You wouldn't think so, but in a hand like this, I think it can be the proper play. No one is going to leave the hand, and it's unlikely you improve, but who is going to throw away Aces at any point on a hand? The pot will be nice enough by the end in the unlikely case the aces hold, but your bankroll takes less of a hit in the more likely case you lose.
At best, if everyone is in the hand, Aces hold about a 47 percent chance of winning. And that is based only on completely random hands held by others (in other words, no real legitimate starting hand, such as pocket pair, connectors, suited, etc...). But few players just play two random cards. Most have a reason to play, thus the realistic odds give the aces just a 15-25% chance of holding up.
The best scenario would be if you raised on the button and then either the small or big blind re-raised. $4 into a $40 pot may be no issue, but when you raise and the big blind re-raises, now everyone before you has to decide if $8 into the pot is worth it. The lead position is looking at $8 into a $52 pot.
Even though at this point pot odds suggest everyone would stick around, a few may fold just because psychologically 3-bets preflop is a lot tougher than 2, especially knowing that I can still reraise. So the big blind helps you out here.
Let's suppose it got back to me and everyone stayed. The pot has now grown to $92 and I can cap the betting with another raise if I want. It hard to say if capping makes sense then or not. If everyone stayed, a cap builds the pot, won't get rid of anybody and really makes the aces vulnerable. But if the aces hold, then that $144 preflop pot is nice.
In the real hand I just called. And the SB and BB just called. The flop came 7-2-Q rainbow. Three players check before a player bets. Two stay, two fold. I call. SB, BB fold, final guy calls.
Turn J. Now I know I'm dead. Same lead better leads out again. One caller, one folder. I call and one exits, leaving three of us. River is a 5, and I know I have no business staying after the leader leads out again. He gets called, and at this point even though I know I'm beat, pot odds say it makes no sense to lay down.
Indeed, first player had Q-7 suited for two pair and the other guy mucks, as do I.
It left me wondering if a raise might have chased him out, but still I think I made the right play.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Sometimes you're the windshield
Playing 4-8 limit, I quickly went through my small $100 buy-in and was down to $16. I looked down to A-J of clubs on the button. There's moderate action in front of me, and I raise. I know the table pretty well and know one guy is going to call no matter what, that's fine. He calls, but so do some others.
Flop comes J K 5. After some checks, one guy bets, I of course raise to all in. In my head I know he either has the King or a straight draw, and I'm hoping for the straight draw.
Nope. He turns AK, and I know my time is short as the turn reveals an off card. Then BAAM, the jack hits for the trips and I survive another hand.
Still I never quite get caught up, surviving a couple other all-ins, but that's okay. Sometimes even in a losing session, you remember the hands you won.
After I left poker, I got neither up nor down in two hours of Blackjack and Pai Gow, then decided to kill time at a few penny slot machines.
Down about another $40, I finally decide it's time to head out, only to see a machine I hadn't seen before. Sit down and put in $10. Down to $3 and I hit. Small hit at first, just $16. But then another, and another. I walk away from the machine $80 ahead.
Sometimes a bad day at poker just isn't all bad afterall.
Flop comes J K 5. After some checks, one guy bets, I of course raise to all in. In my head I know he either has the King or a straight draw, and I'm hoping for the straight draw.
Nope. He turns AK, and I know my time is short as the turn reveals an off card. Then BAAM, the jack hits for the trips and I survive another hand.
Still I never quite get caught up, surviving a couple other all-ins, but that's okay. Sometimes even in a losing session, you remember the hands you won.
After I left poker, I got neither up nor down in two hours of Blackjack and Pai Gow, then decided to kill time at a few penny slot machines.
Down about another $40, I finally decide it's time to head out, only to see a machine I hadn't seen before. Sit down and put in $10. Down to $3 and I hit. Small hit at first, just $16. But then another, and another. I walk away from the machine $80 ahead.
Sometimes a bad day at poker just isn't all bad afterall.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Crazy hand
Everyone has the story about the craziest play they ever had that turned out good. Here's mine.
A single table tournament with what seemed to be full of normal players (no crazy raisers, raises usually represented what the player had) and the blinds were still low.
I should have never even been in this hand after being dealt 3/5 hearts and was second to act. After the first player folds, I thought maybe I can limp and try to steal after the flop, So I call the 20 blind. Next guy calls, then third guy raises to 110. A few folds and a call back to me. So the pot is 260 and it costs 90. Terrible odds for my holdings, but still I decided to call. Then the guy next to me who had limped shoves all in.
I prepare to muck but then noticed the initial raiser calls as does the other caller. The first all in guy is the only one who has me covered and he initially limped.
My thoughts are simply two players have AK or AQ and the third might also but likely has a medium pair. At this point though, the pot is near to 4000 and I only have about 1000 left. If indeed both players have a high ace and the third has a high pair (10s or higher) he cuts into their outs. It's still early and if I'm going to make a random play, this is it. So I call.
Mind you, had it been later in the tournament and nearer the money, no way do I call. But this is a play I might make once out of every 10 hands or so.
Here's what the others show:
AJ clubs
AK diamonds
pocket 8s
And the board comes:
A single table tournament with what seemed to be full of normal players (no crazy raisers, raises usually represented what the player had) and the blinds were still low.
I should have never even been in this hand after being dealt 3/5 hearts and was second to act. After the first player folds, I thought maybe I can limp and try to steal after the flop, So I call the 20 blind. Next guy calls, then third guy raises to 110. A few folds and a call back to me. So the pot is 260 and it costs 90. Terrible odds for my holdings, but still I decided to call. Then the guy next to me who had limped shoves all in.
I prepare to muck but then noticed the initial raiser calls as does the other caller. The first all in guy is the only one who has me covered and he initially limped.
My thoughts are simply two players have AK or AQ and the third might also but likely has a medium pair. At this point though, the pot is near to 4000 and I only have about 1000 left. If indeed both players have a high ace and the third has a high pair (10s or higher) he cuts into their outs. It's still early and if I'm going to make a random play, this is it. So I call.
Mind you, had it been later in the tournament and nearer the money, no way do I call. But this is a play I might make once out of every 10 hands or so.
Here's what the others show:
AJ clubs
AK diamonds
pocket 8s
And the board comes:
9c 5s 4s 6d 5d
And my trips take down the pot eliminating two players and giving me a huge chip advantage.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Taking him down
A lot of times with wild or aggressive players, if you are tight, you want to give them the opportunity to burn themselves.
Usually they are going to notice a tight player and try to attack them, a perfectly solid strategy, especially if the tight player is in the blind.
So letting the aggressive player trap themselves becomes a solid defense for the tight player. And again, you have to pay attention to betting patterns.
From the same tournament as the previous post, the table is down to five players, and I have 1,658 chips in the big blind, putting me in for $40.
I'm dealt 3 of diamond, 6 of spades. Ugh. Wild Man calls and everyone else folds.
Flop: 6d Qs 6c
He bets 100. This tells me he hit a queen. Most of his bets have been about 3x size of the pot when he's trying to steal with nothing, about 2x pot when he hit a medium pair but there's an over card (say the flop was 6, Q, A and he had a Q) to his hand, and pot sized when he hits top pair and slightly less when he hits the nuts (not that that's happened a lot).
So I call my trips encouraging him to bet again.
Turn: 8h
That eliminates any flush draw he might have had, and likely didn't help him any more. But since he saw me call, he has to figure I too have a Q and that didn't help me either.
He bets 340. At this point I could have just called, but it seems obvious he's convinced his queen is good so he'll play whatever I bet. What I don't want is to call and then see a A or K on the river which might discourage him from a final bet, so I go all-in.
He calls and turns over a Q and 8 for 2 pair.
The river is As and I take down the pot.
But four hands later Wild Man has rebuilt his stack and is over 5,000 chips again because the rest of the table hasn't been paying attention to his patterns. (For example, after almost every time he loses a decent pot on the showdown, he bets strong preflop the next hand....this time was no exception as he raised to 100 and everyone folded to him)
Wild Man's downfall was that he got arrogant. He started raising and showing when people folded. His ultimate plan was to set someone up.
He raised his stack to over 6,000 but chased an all-in with a j/10 off suit and fell to pocket queens. When he battled me on this hand I had 4,112 chips and he had 1,516 and there were still three other players.
I was dealt A 10 off suit in the small blind. He was under the gun and moved all in. Most of the time I would respect an early all in. But his reputation said he simply was trying to steal. And if he had a legit hand I would still be ahead of him chip wise and would still be in second place. So I had no problem calling with my hand. He showed J 10 off, and after two pair on the board, my ace took the hand and the lead in the tournament.
Showing down wild players
I tend to pay a lot of attention to betting styles in no-limit.
There is a difference between being aggressive and wild.
Aggressive players tend to bet out strong when they have a playable hand, or at least know that their opponent probably doesn't.
Wild players tend to let loose on any two cards.
Knowing the fine line that separates the two can win money.
In this single table tournament that I recently won, one player had a wild betting style.
Up to this hand, I had sat back quietly folding most hands and just winning twice, mainly on uncalled raises. The players I check down here had a history of wild bets, but was also very sporadic. He had raised earlier with 10/3 off, 7/4 off and J/2 off. He had yet to showdown with any pocket pair or ace. And we were at least 30 hands into the tournament at this point.
On the hand, there were eight players left, I was on the button with 1,405 chips, 4th place. The wild man was under the gun (first to act) with 3,358 chips.
I'm dealt 6s, 4c, a hand I normally trash.
Wild man calls ($20 at this point). Seat 2 (1,722 chips, and a little loose) calls. All fold to me, so I call. Small blind posts and big blind checks for a $100 pot so far.
The flop: 5s, 6h, 5c.
That gave me two pairs, a nice situation, and since there was no pre-flop raising I have to assume that unless a blind hit a 5 or 6, I'm good.
Check. Check. Wild man bets 125. Fold to me.
At this point I know if I call I may be committed to play this hand out to the bitter end. But I also know that more than likely I'm ahead. His betting pattern suggests that. More than likely he actually started with two decent cards (K/Q or J, 10 suited maybe). Plus he hasn't seen me show any cards to this point, so he has no info on me.
Two pairs makes a 125 bet into a 225 pot fairly simple. Call. And everyone else folds making us heads up. Had anyone else stayed, it's likely I would have had to consider giving up the hand. Still, I don't want to play this too aggressively yet, just in case I am right about his hand and he hits and also it will keep me with a tight image.
Ace of clubs. Not a great card for me, but again, I don't figure him for an ace, and I'm pretty much confirmed that when he checks. I opt to check too, just to keep a tight image.
Last card is a 4 of diamonds. It hit my other hole card, but is irrelevant since my two pair are 6s and 5s.
He checks again. If he did have the ace before, he would have definitely bet out by now. But I opt to check again just in the small chance he was slow playing something strong to set me up, and more importantly if he wasn't, to be sure I show the two pair to everyone to somewhat confuse them: Am I really tight? If so, why would I play 6,4 off to begin with, and why would I call a raise with it and not bet late?
Wild man shows j,10 off and I show the winning hand for the 350 pot.
If nothing else, if everyone else at the table was paying attention it showed them not to fear Wild Man's betting. If they notice that it can become a real table assault on one player.
There is a difference between being aggressive and wild.
Aggressive players tend to bet out strong when they have a playable hand, or at least know that their opponent probably doesn't.
Wild players tend to let loose on any two cards.
Knowing the fine line that separates the two can win money.
In this single table tournament that I recently won, one player had a wild betting style.
Up to this hand, I had sat back quietly folding most hands and just winning twice, mainly on uncalled raises. The players I check down here had a history of wild bets, but was also very sporadic. He had raised earlier with 10/3 off, 7/4 off and J/2 off. He had yet to showdown with any pocket pair or ace. And we were at least 30 hands into the tournament at this point.
On the hand, there were eight players left, I was on the button with 1,405 chips, 4th place. The wild man was under the gun (first to act) with 3,358 chips.
I'm dealt 6s, 4c, a hand I normally trash.
Wild man calls ($20 at this point). Seat 2 (1,722 chips, and a little loose) calls. All fold to me, so I call. Small blind posts and big blind checks for a $100 pot so far.
The flop: 5s, 6h, 5c.
That gave me two pairs, a nice situation, and since there was no pre-flop raising I have to assume that unless a blind hit a 5 or 6, I'm good.
Check. Check. Wild man bets 125. Fold to me.
At this point I know if I call I may be committed to play this hand out to the bitter end. But I also know that more than likely I'm ahead. His betting pattern suggests that. More than likely he actually started with two decent cards (K/Q or J, 10 suited maybe). Plus he hasn't seen me show any cards to this point, so he has no info on me.
Two pairs makes a 125 bet into a 225 pot fairly simple. Call. And everyone else folds making us heads up. Had anyone else stayed, it's likely I would have had to consider giving up the hand. Still, I don't want to play this too aggressively yet, just in case I am right about his hand and he hits and also it will keep me with a tight image.
Ace of clubs. Not a great card for me, but again, I don't figure him for an ace, and I'm pretty much confirmed that when he checks. I opt to check too, just to keep a tight image.
Last card is a 4 of diamonds. It hit my other hole card, but is irrelevant since my two pair are 6s and 5s.
He checks again. If he did have the ace before, he would have definitely bet out by now. But I opt to check again just in the small chance he was slow playing something strong to set me up, and more importantly if he wasn't, to be sure I show the two pair to everyone to somewhat confuse them: Am I really tight? If so, why would I play 6,4 off to begin with, and why would I call a raise with it and not bet late?
Wild man shows j,10 off and I show the winning hand for the 350 pot.
If nothing else, if everyone else at the table was paying attention it showed them not to fear Wild Man's betting. If they notice that it can become a real table assault on one player.
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