Sing when you win

I do win the odd hand at poker though and you can learn from winning, as in this hand.

Texas Hold'em $0.25-$0.50 (real money), hand #1,257,016,926
Table Novosibirsk, 14 Nov 2006 1:07 PM ET

Seat 9: Dr Zen [ 6S,6D ] ($32.40 in chips)

PRE-FLOP
Dr Zen calls $0.25

I was second to act, so this is a bit of a stretch. But the table is loose and even if it's raised, I'll probably have a crowd to the flop.

Clueless bets $0.50

Oh dear. This has happened a few times. This guy (same one that had AK in the other hand) seems to get hands exactly when I do (those at the back who think he's isoraising me, think again -- this guy doesn't have enough clue to do that).

LAGtard calls $0.50

He clearly has fuck all. If he had anything resembling a hand, he'd threebet. It's an affront to these guys' dignity to have to coldcall or limp.

Mr Aggro calls $0.35

The range of hands Mr Aggro can have is enormous. All I know for sure is that whatever he does have, he should have folded, because he'd be raising anything even vaguely playable.

Dr Zen calls $0.25

I call one back, as you do. I'm a bit unhappy to have to play for two bets but that's what happens when you limp shitty hands in EP.

FLOP [board cards 3C,3S,4H ]

Sweet! I have an overpair. Everyone else has probably missed. With the clueless guy and two LAGtards, I'm sure to get a bet from someone so I can C/R this and PUMP THE POT! With luck, I'll get a couple of folds too and my sixes will have a shot at holding up.

Mr Aggro checks, Dr Zen checks, Clueless checks

Too passive postflop to bet his OCs. It's wise anyway with this crowd because he can guarantee callers and probably too much action for his six-outer.

LAGtard bets $0.25

Right on cue.

Mr Aggro calls $0.25

He must have worse than nothing not to raise. I'm not kidding. This guy spewed money the whole session, betting and raising with hopeless hands.

Dr Zen bets $0.50

Take that, you fuckers! Unfortunately, the wrong guy betted, so I can't really hope for more than one fold. Oh well, fingers crossed.

Clueless folds, LAGtard calls $0.25, Mr Aggro calls $0.25.

TURN [board cards 3C,3S,4H,10S ]
Mr Aggro checks, Dr Zen bets $0.50, LAGtard folds

It's a mystery what he had. Probably OCs but nothing special: Q9? K7? Something like that, which would seem worth peeling on the flop with six outs but not worth calling a bet on the turn with a T showing.

Mr Aggro bets $1

Now, with many players, you'd now be shitting yourself. A turn checkraise usually means disaster, even for a robust hand. It certainly would spell doom for an underpair. But this guy's LAGginess is his undoing. I figure him for the following, in order of likelihood:

1/ He has fuck all but thinks I'll fold because I limped preflop and bet my overpair on the flop. (Only kidding. This is what a decent player might think. Anyone with half a clue is going to put me on exactly what I have. There is nothing else that I would limp PF and then C/R a fairly drawless flop with, this side of a pair of 4s. But he likely has fuck all. That bit is about right.)
2/ He picked up a spade draw and has outs if he can't make me fold.
3/ He has a four and thinks I probably have OCs. I'm a tight player and LAGtards rely on tight players mostly playing values, missing ragged flops.
4/ He has a ten.
5/ He has clicked the wrong button.

Whatever. I'm calling him down. I will beat him often enough that I think I should call but not so often that I think I can valueraise here.

Dr Zen calls $0.50.

RIVER [board cards 3C,3S,4H,10S,8S ]
Mr Aggro checks, Dr Zen checks.

This is a tough spot, I think. Why do I check and not bet for value? Because I think this is one of those hands in which I can't get value. What does he call with? A pair of threes maybe. He might have OCs and think they'll be good but I don't think so. If he has made his flush or has paired his eight, he will raise and I'll be losing two bets.

I'm not sure though. Maybe he calls with just enough beaten hands here. He might even raise with some of them, and I'll make two bets from him when I call it back. But I think I more often lose when I am checkraised here. Possibly I've been playing too much no limit, where you bet for value less (I certainly wouldn't here: I'd just be asking to get raised and have to fold).

SHOWDOWN
Mr Aggro shows [ 9D,QS ]
Dr Zen shows [ 6S,6D ]

Mr Aggro thinks that he can run over micro players. He's going to have days when he can. If he got into a lot of hands with me and the other tight guys at the table, he'd win some small pots. But I'm tough enough not just to fold on that turn. And he'll also try it with the wrong guy and get called down by the fish. Which is what happened to him in this session: he either had his arse kicked by tough players who refused to be pushed off moderate hands or had it nibbled to death by fish who could not be bluffed off their crappy pairs.

And what do you learn from this hand? Well, first of all, you learn that staying cool when you have fucked up (limping 66 from UTG+1) and had a bad outcome (having to pay another bet to see the flop) is a good idea, because even a pair of sixes is a decent hand on the right flop, when played aggressively. Also, you learn that some players have heard the word "aggression" and missed the word "selective" and when you come across them, you have to grow some balls and play them without too much fear. It would be easy to fold the turn, and if Clueless had checkraised me there, I might have folded, but never to this LAGtard. I also gain some thinking matter. Should I have bet the river? Answers on a postcard.

posted by Dr Zen @ 4:27 pm