Help me make a poker decision please. - long please read

[Buccaneer]

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now focusing on whether or not these were bad luck is results oriented thinking. you really have to get away from thinking like that. the majority of the losses in these hands was caused by a bad play on your part,

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Accepted guys. Bad play. Bad play that I am going to fix.

[Buccaneer]

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Flop comes K63r and the action is bet, raise before you.

At this moment, I would like to know what thoughts you had right before you decided to call.

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Flop >my thoughts> Ugg an overcard I may be beaten allready.
Action UTG bets>my thoughts> UTG could be betting out for any reason
Action MP1 Raises >my thoughts> the bastard is trying to fake me out, I have QQ, can't fold QQ. I call.
Action MP3 calls >my thoughts> I am dead in the water. I need to fold to any other agression.

Now let me grade myself before you do.

Should have been thinking like this.
PreFlop ?my thoughts? Procede with caution. Two other players have capped.
Flop ?my thoughts? Ugg an overcard I may be beaten allready. That QQ sure looks pretty but I need to prepare to kick her to the curb.
Action UTG bets ?my thoughts? UTG has made a strong bet
Action MP1 Raises ?my thoughts? If I am going to play I have to cold call. Cold calling is bad. QQ is not good here. Unless these guys are total maniacs I need to turbo fold.

[car ramrod]

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Should have been thinking like this.
PreFlop ?my thoughts? Procede with caution. Two other players have capped.
Flop ?my thoughts? Ugg an overcard I may be beaten allready. That QQ sure looks pretty but I need to prepare to kick her to the curb.
Action UTG bets ?my thoughts? UTG has made a strong bet
Action MP1 Raises ?my thoughts? If I am going to play I have to cold call. Cold calling is bad. QQ is not good here. Unless these guys are total maniacs I need to turbo fold.


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I would be thinking, UTG raised, this is usually a big hand, but I have QQ's, the 3bet is perfect, now he caps, he probably has a big hand, AK, or a high pp.

On the flop, UTG leads out with a K on it, he likely has a K or AA, he could be betting JJ or another QQ. Now, when MP1 raises a drawless board I think he has a K, or hit some dumb two pair. Also, you have to worry about getting 3bet if you cold call the first 2. I am now thinking my QQ is not looking so good and fold.

As for bad luck or bad play, probably more bad play, but you are taking the right steps to correct it. gl

[Black Aces 518]

OK, to the actual hands, some are OK, some are not good. On the QQ, I fold the flop when it goes bet/raise in front of me. It sucks, but you likely don't have the best hand, and improving is going to be very difficult.

I play the KK hand the same. Can you explain why you didn't raise the river? (I agree with the decision, but if you can explain exactly why, in EV terms, you'll help yourself)

In the J9 hand, calling two cold on the turn is very very bad. You bet, two people called, then there was a raise and a reraise. That T killed your hand, you have TPNK. Any ten beats you, any J higher than yours beats you, there is a straight available. Also, there are two diamonds, so some % of the very tiny time that you are still ahead, you will lose to a river diamond. MUST FOLD. I don't hate betting out, but I would probably check and see what the action is with so many players in.

The K3, fold preflop please. Failing that, fold the turn.

The KQ, you simply cannot slowplay two pair like this to the river, then go bananas when an awful card comes off. Two pair is usually not enough to slowplay anyway, but esp in a multiway pot with 3 broadway flop. Then a great turn comes for you, and a perfect c/r shot and you pass it up. WHY? Then UTG donks the river, which completed an OESD and you raise. NO. You unfortunately have to call the 3bet.

You may have the urge to think "yeah, but he probably would have called anyway, so I'm glad I didn't raise the flop/turn." If you think this, you are thinking incorrectly about poker. Focus on making correct decisions (and more importantly, why they are correct.) Good luck.

[Buccaneer]

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I play the KK hand the same. Can you explain why you didn't raise the river? (I agree with the decision, but if you can explain exactly why, in EV terms, you'll help yourself)

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No, I can not explain my actions in EV terms.

I played the hand doing my best to be agressive. I bet every opportunity that I had. SB was passive the whole way. I was afraid he might have a pp but I still felt like I was ahead until we got to the river. My agressivenss still took 4 to the flop and we only lost one on the way to the river. On the turn SB was still showed no propensity to fight back and I really could only put him on a pp that did not hit or over cards. He had no draw till the turn. When the river diamond came down and he woke up and bet out I knew he had me beat. That is why I did not raise him. In other situations I might have but I looked at my HU and saw he was an 85% to the flop guy. He had paid over and over on the way to his runner runner diamond flush and there was no way he was going to fold to a bet/raise now. I just wanted to vomit when he showed his 7 high flushette. I know, people like this give us thier money and all that but it just makes me want to give up. I just do not think that even my 12 yr old son could play a hand like SB did.

Well that is why I played that hand the way I did.

[milesdyson]

he had a gutshot on the flop and was getting more than enough to call there. he should have folded preflop, and he should have check raised the turn when he hit the 2nd nuts. who knows why he didn't, but he did not pull some kind of vicious suck out on you nor did he raise and cap with nothing on the flop only to hit later. he made the absolute perfect decision on the flop and should have made more after he hit. so he played his hand decently actually - nowhere near as bad as you think. this shows that you may need to work on some of the most basic elements of holdem: board reading and pot odds.

[Black Aces 518]

I would like you to talk through your decisions on the J9 and KQ hands, as they are exceptionally bad.

On the KK hand, a river raise is especially bad, b/c it encourages two bad things. 1) you make sure the 3rd player folds unless he has a great hand, and 2) you get 3 bet when you are behind. So you likely win the same amount by raising or calling, but lose much less when behind by calling.

[TripleH68]

Poker is a game of incomplete knowledge. Gin rummy is another example. You can study concepts and strategies, but in the end it is a game of skill. Some of the ability can't really be taught. The ability to multi-task as a hand is moving along. Pot odds. Reads. Position. Hand reading. Fitting it all together into an evolving strategy.

You want the truth. It sounds like this does not come easily for you. Maybe you are forcing it. I think it is great that you have the desire to become a solid player, but I also think you are wise to reconsider the allocation of your time and efforts. Poker is not for everyone. Gambling is not for everyone.

Good luck man and be happy. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Buccaneer]

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Some of the ability can't really be taught. The ability to multi-task as a hand is moving along. Pot odds. Reads. Position. Hand reading. Fitting it all together into an evolving strategy.

You want the truth. It sounds like this does not come easily for you. Maybe you are forcing it.

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You are right, this is not easy for me. I seem to have a basic understanding of the concepts but when it is time to put everything together in 30 sec and make the proper decision I am struggling. I find live play easier, I have more time to make decisions and I seem to play live fairly well. I am thinking about all of this, thanks for your comments.