NLTRN $20 Hand dump

TNixon · #1 05-02-2007, 07:22 PM

I just spent some time going through hand histories from yesterday, and wanted to get input on them. Basically, I'm looking at any hand where I won or lost more than 300 chips over 4-5 tournaments, so it's going to be a fairly large dump.

After writing that, I decided that typing comments where I feel they're necessary is taking long enough that it's going to take me a while to work through multiple tourneys, so just one at a time. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

My style: I've tended towards a much more patient, trappy style than what I'm seeing most of the other players playing, primarily because I do see so many people playing extremely aggressive. I'm even intentionally fostering a semi-weak/tight image early on, letting them steal lots of pots, so I can take down the ones that matter, which lets me bluff in spots and get people to lay down hands that I wouldn't be able to get away with otherwise, while I wait for cards that can take down huge pots.

I have absolutely no idea if it's a good idea to play this way, but it seems to be working out at least fairly well so far. My win rate is not where I'd like it to be (I'm currently somewhere around 56-58% at the $20s and $30s, but closer to 65% at $10 and below), but I feel like I'm still improving my game, so I'm not horribly concerned about that.

*************************
Villan 1: This guy seems pretty straightforward for the most part and un-tricky. However, he does seem to like to minbet a *lot* of flops, and over the course of the tourney I fold to enough of them (especially minbets into unraised pots, I do try to take back some of the raised pots) that I'm pretty sure a good percentage of his min bets on the flop are just cheap continuations. Of course, he bets the same when he has something, so I don't want to put a bunch of chips in *every* time he does it, but I try to push back with enough frequency that I'm staying even.

I don't feel like he's likely to make big bluffs, although it's hard to say for sure, since I haven't really had opportunity to call any of his bigger bets.
*************************

Hand #1:
----------------------------------
Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t10/t20
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
SB: t1540
Hero: t1460

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is BB with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
SB raises to t40, Hero raises to t120, SB raises to t230, Hero calls t80 (pot was t280).

Flop: 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (t460, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t20, Hero calls t20 (pot was t480).

Turn: 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t500, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t20, Hero calls t20 (pot was t520).

River: J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t540, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t120, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t120 returned to SB.

Results:
Final pot: t540

This was the third hand in the tournament, so although I probably could have (and maybe should have), I didn't want to put it all in with AQ, not really having any idea what sort of hands he's going to be reraising with.

Obviously just calling the minbets is a little weak, but I feel like he's either on a flush draw, an 8 or a 9, or more likely something like 55 or 66. If I'm right, I can probably push him off his hand, but maybe not, so I'm just looking to hit an ace or a queen for the minbets. Once I miss, I feel like the bigger bet on the end represents some sort of minor hit that, again, I might be able to push him off, but it's only the third hand, and I don't really have any idea what any of these mean yet. Which is actually maybe a pretty good arugment for spending 120 chips here on the end, I dunno. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Hand #2:
----------------------------------
Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t15/t30
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t1160
BB: t1840

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Hero calls t15 (pot was t45), BB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 (pot was t60).

Flop: J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t120, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB calls t120 (pot was t240).

Turn: 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t360, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t360, 2 players)
BB bets t360, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t360 returned to BB.

Results:
Final pot: t360

Hand #3:
----------------------------------
Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t20/t40
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t780
BB: t2220

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
Hero raises to t120, BB calls t80 (pot was t140).

Flop: 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (t240, 2 players)
BB bets t40, Hero calls t40 (pot was t280).

Turn: J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t320, 2 players)
BB bets t40, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t40 returned to BB.

Results:
Final pot: t320

At this point, I still had no idea what his min-bets meant, and even if he has hit some part of this, I'm getting pot odds for a one-ended draw and an over (which almost never happens, but since he was giving it to me, I didn't want to give him a chance to reraise me off the draw). With the second flush possibility on the turn, I didn't really have any idea where he was at, didn't want to put more chips to find out, and didn't have any idea which of my outs (if any) would be good even if they came, so I gave it up.

The weak part of my table image is only part act though. I tend to be very reluctant to continue to put chips into a pot where I don't have anything at all, unless I'm fairly sure the other player has nothing as well, or a weak enough hand that I can push him off. But for all I know, ace-high might have been good here. I feel playing this way lets me buy pots when I really need to, such as in the middle of a really dry spell, but maybe that's just my justification for being a pansy and folding too much? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Hand #4:
----------------------------------
Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t700
BB: t2300

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Hero raises to t150, BB calls t100 (pot was t175).

Flop: 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t300, 2 players)
BB bets t50, Hero raises all-in t550, BB folds.
Uncalled bets: t500 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: t400

I realized about half a second after I bet all-in how stupid this one was. Very few hands are calling here, I think, and almost all of them contain a jack. Most pockets are probably going to reraise me preflop, and if I think the kings are good (which they're going to be almost all the time), they're likely to stay good except against some sort of freaky-luckbox, so I should probably be stringing along here, maybe just calling, or certainly making a smaller raise if I'm going to raise at all?

Hand 5:
----------------------------------
Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t925
BB: t2075

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Hero calls t25 (pot was t75), BB raises to t100, Hero calls t50 (pot was t100).

Flop: 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t200, 2 players)
BB bets t50, Hero raises to t200, BB folds.
Uncalled bets: t150 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: t300

At this point, he had been raising a fair number of my limps, and this felt like a good time to push back a little bit and maybe get some breathing space. Being down 2-to-1, I really feel like I want to see a lot of flops cheaply, and if he raises every time I limp, I can't do that, so I end up playing a lot of hands for more than I want to play them for preflop. Obviously it worked out, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a stupid move. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Hand 6:
----------------------------------

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t1125
BB: t1875

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Hero raises to t150, BB calls t100 (pot was t175).

Flop: A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (t300, 2 players)
BB bets t50, Hero calls t50 (pot was t350).

Turn: T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t400, 2 players)
BB bets t50, Hero raises to t250, BB folds.
Uncalled bets: t200 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: t500

Hand 7:
----------------------------------

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t30/t60
2 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t1585
BB: t1415

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Hero raises to t180, BB raises to t300, Hero calls t120 (pot was t390).

Flop: J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (t600, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t400, BB calls t400 (pot was t1000).

Turn: 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (t1400, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero is all-in t885, BB calls all-in t715.
Uncalled bets: t170 returned to Hero.

River: 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t2830, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2830)

Results:
Final pot: t2830

Final question: many thanks to anybody who has the time to look over these and comment. I tried to reduce it as much as I could, by only including the most significant pots, but since I'm trying to get a feel for the overall play, would it be more useful to dump the entire tourney? Would anybody even bother poring over it if I did? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]