How would you have played this hand and why? - Page 2

seke2 · #11 03-01-2006, 11:45 AM

Yes. Even at micro stakes and in freerolls, there is strategy. Just because you can afford higher stakes doesn't mean you should be a snob about it. You have to make adjustments to your strategy due to the buy-in level. I'd never push AA preflop at the stakes I play on a deep stack in an early level, but that's a valid strategy at these stakes.

Everyone learns to play poker at their own speed. Just because the OP is only playing micro-stakes doesn't mean he can't learn how he "should" be playing so that he can improve as he moves up.

bonds25 · #12 03-01-2006, 11:48 AM

Dont take my posts so seriously, im not being a snob at all, i play micro tourneys myself sometimes, just having fun with the guy.

seke2 · #13 03-01-2006, 11:51 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Dont take my posts so seriously, im not being a snob at all, i play micro tourneys myself sometimes, just having fun with the guy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand that, that's why I said stop it. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

People come here asking for serious advice. Even when it's a hand like this where someone completely misplayed AA. A newer poster who doesn't have a lot of experience might not be able to tell the difference between someone who is just screwing around and someone who is trying to help them.

sobefuddled · #14 03-01-2006, 12:03 PM

Good food for thought everyone. :-) So, I probably should have opened with $120-500 at this particular table which turned out not to be quite as tight as I thought it was. Winning a small pot would have been a whole lot better than going out the way I did?

seke2 · #15 03-01-2006, 12:09 PM

Opening to 120-150 something like that would thin the field preflop. In theory, only people with legitimately halfway decent hands would be calling you. Stupid 93s guy might have called anyway, considering he willingly limped in, but maybe he folds. Playing AA 6-ways is a real good way to lose every single time you have AA and don't flop a set. Making a nice preflop raise will get the same amount of total chips into the pot, but only 2 or 3 players will be involved and you'll have a better idea of what sort of hands they are likely to have, and you'll be able to play the hand much more confidently.

And I don't care how tight or loose a table is. DON'T MINRAISE. If you can break the habit of clicking on the raise button completely, it will make you a much better player.

sobefuddled · #16 03-01-2006, 02:02 PM

Thank you- now I understand why very clearly...I promise I will no longer use the bottons.

bonds25 · #17 03-01-2006, 02:03 PM

But the buttons are so easy to use though!

jlocdog · #18 03-01-2006, 03:47 PM

Raise more preflop. Usually 2.5-3x the BB is correct. But here you already have an early limper who says he has a hand worth playing. 4-5x the BB should do better to rid yourself of the riff raff and get it heads up (or maybe have a blind tag along). Plus it is early in a tournament and people like to gamble it up early with shoddy holdings because everyones stacks are deep enough (that is their justification).

When the flop comes and you are bet into, the pot now contains $420 and you still have 4 people to act behind you. You MUST reduce the field here. The pot is big enough for if you end up taking it down right now your happy. You only had $1070 to start the hand so the pot is essentially 40% of your starting stack. A raise to 350-400 is more than reasonably. All you did was price in anyone with a draw/pair(including middle and bottom)/or even overcards to play with you.

On the turn you not only are bet into but still have a player behind you sticking around. With the board pairing (second pair is more likley to have stuck around and not raised. Top pair probably raises on the flop), your spot is terrible. Notice as well that not only were you check raised but player #4 has just been smooth calling all the bets. That sets off alarms when people just call all bets when scare cards come out. I now probably try to play this hand as cheap as possible. You are caught in the middle and a call doesn't close the action. You are getting 10-1 on the raise but that is not a guarantee with action yet to come. Close call but a call seems right here.

On the river I check behind and gage whether or not I am being priced in to call a river bet. Offered 3-1 sounds tempting but the player who has been hanging around is the one finally emerging as the big bettor. The 7 on the river souldn't have helped (unless he hung in their with 77 which is highly unlikely) so either he was slowplaying a set/trips or i stabbing at the pot since it was checked to him. With all the previous action at this pot on the previous streets, it seems highly unlikely that he will make both opponents fold here. So a bluff in this spot seems very remote. Plus you are the overcaller here. The UTG has shown he wants to be a part of this showdown. Plus he did lead out into a field on the flop, and check raised the turn so he is representing some strength. If he folded, I can maybe see a crying call hoping player #4 has top pair but with two people all in here you have to assume one of them has a 9. Fold this hand.

Note that the winner held a crappy holding (which is what I assume put you on tilt). So who knows if you would have made him fold ever. But your preflop action sure didn't help. A raise to $150-200 probably makes him fold. Also note that the UTG not only played his weak hand ultra manical but he called the river bet with nothing. So you probably still get to double up through him and make some good money on this hand. You played your hand way to slow in a large field which goes against everything good when holding aces. To play aces like this (I never recommend that by the way) you have to be able to let them go when faced with pressure after the flop/turn. You decided you couldn't part with them even though all things pointed in the direction that said you're beat. Lesson learned. If not, you will have a very clean house to say the least in the future!

The Zerojack · #19 03-01-2006, 04:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yes. Even at micro stakes and in freerolls, there is strategy. Just because you can afford higher stakes doesn't mean you should be a snob about it. You have to make adjustments to your strategy due to the buy-in level. I'd never push AA preflop at the stakes I play on a deep stack in an early level, but that's a valid strategy at these stakes.

Everyone learns to play poker at their own speed. Just because the OP is only playing micro-stakes doesn't mean he can't learn how he "should" be playing so that he can improve as he moves up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is the only reason I made the bingoville comment. It's hardly a knock on any level of buy-in. I learnt what to play. Now I'm learning how and when to play it and gaining a deeper appreciation for the game on a purer level.

And yes, I still do play the micros on occasion. Partly bankroll disclipine, partly because I want to play. But I'm taking more and more shots at low buy-ins ($5-10). And I'm finding the skill level goes up on a general level, not necessarily as you go deeper, but, it's less racin' and some actual poker playing.

I have incorporated some strategies from here into my play and find they work, mostly. It's easy to revert at times to pure idiocy. And certainly have read a lot of the hand discussions on here. Wow. If that's not a resource, I don't know what is, really. And I'm forming opinions of my own. And they aren't simple ones either.

I'm hardly qualified to dispense advice that'll give an impact. Consider this my trying to make up for a content-nil one-liner earlier when I saw that.

And, to the true teachers of this forum, thank you.