NL N00B & the 3rd nut flush OOP

[Quester]

I'm a newbie in the world of No-Limit, but am a successful player at micro-stakes limit Hold'Em over a decent sample. In the limit world, my stats float somewhere around 19/10/2.5 or so. And just for the record, I'm reading the new 2+2 NL book and have been reading the NL forums for a few weeks now in preparation.

I made my first official foray into the NL world last night, and while I made a decent profit, I think I could've done much better. I made bad decisions left and right. Good thing my opponents made more.

I'm particularly having difficulty determining when it is good to get it all in while being OOP. Below is an example of this. I'd love some critical analysis here.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

saw flop|<font color="#C00000">saw showdown</font>

<font color="#C00000">UTG :#A500AF(Villain)/ ($14.50)</font>
MP ($5.65)
CO ($9.30)
Button ($8.55)
SB ($3.65)
<font color="#C00000">Hero ($7.85)</font>

Preflop: Hero is BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#CC3333">UTG :#A500AF(Villain)/ raises to $0.2</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, SB calls $0.15, Hero calls $0.10.

Preflop: This hand took place fairly early in the session, but Villain gave many indications of being your typical fish. He'd shown hands like K3o while UTG, and the like. VPIP is somewhere around 45%, and he hadn't raised preflop before (but again, this was early in the session). I felt a call here had good implied odds on this hand against his minraise and SB's cold-call.

Flop: ($0.60) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">Villain bets $0.2</font>, SB folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $1</font>, Villain calls $0.80.

Flop: Hitting the 3rd nut flush, I felt I was way ahead of his range and tried to concentrate on getting him all in. I went for the c/r, hoping first that SB would come along, and also because I felt Villain wouldn't get rid of his hand as long as he had any club, a straight draw, or overpair. I raised to $1.00, was this too big?

Turn: ($2.60) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $2.5</font>, Villain calls $2.50.

Turn: I continued my aggression from the flop by betting just under the pot into him. I did this for value, but after reflecting on it I'm not sure if it was the best choice. The 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] means that if he's holding a club then he just made his flush. Should I be worried about A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] or K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] given his preflop minraise? Was this bet a good size? When he called, I put him on a smaller flush and wanted to get it all in on the river.

River: ($7.60) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $4.15 (All-In)</font>, Villain calls $4.15.

River: Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] is a blank here, so I put it all in.


Good? Looking over this now, I don't think I played this hand correctly. Thanks for any feedback.

Oh, slightly OT question - Should I always buy-in for the full amount at a table, or the default amount? Here I bought in for the default $6.00, but $10.00 was the max buy-in. I do understand stack dynamics to an extent, but I don't know if buying in for the full amount makes you a target.

[tojx]

Very tricky hand. You beat 4x [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and lose to 3x [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. The turn is just horrible and being OOP sucks. I'm unsure about what I'd do at the turn. c/f is an option.

I'd probably rather check the flop and call any bet as you don't have much left there anyway.

[gimmetheloot]

check the turn.

There is a very good posibility that he has A/K of clubs when he calls the flop. Call a bet, and then check the river to him again. Fold if he shoves.

[Dan Bitel]

1) always try to have a full buyin at the table, so when you drop down to 95BB, just reload.

2) Try to C/R in general as little as possible. I've never played limit, but I understand C/R is big there. It's not in NL. A while ago I wrote a theory post and finished it with the dbitel rule, which was "never C/R unless you have a very good reason to do so". I fins the lower the stakes you play, the more and more apt this advice is

On this flop, you don't have a good reason to C/R. There are a lot of hands that could check behind on this flop that you really don't want to. So go ahead and lead the flop for a PSB.

3) As played, the size of your C/R is perfect (a pot sized raise)

4) A club coming is by far and away the worst thing that could happen. In NL, on a 4 flush board, most of the time, you need the ace and mayyybe the king to continue. Its very very rare to get paid off by like a Jhigh flush or a 9 high flush here.

5) as a result, I either check/fold the turn, or, I bet it for like 2/3 pot, and If called,I c/f the river

[Quester]

Great feedback, thanks!