Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker Hand History Converter
Hero (BTN): $3,400.50
SB: $2,154
BB: $2,077
UTG: $3,869.50
CO: $3,701
Pre-Flop: A
T
dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, CO calls $20, Hero raises to $90, SB calls $80, BB calls $70, CO folds
Flop: ($290) 5
J
5 (3 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $210, SB calls $210, BB folds
Turn: ($710) 9 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks
River: ($710) 4 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $450, SB calls $450
Results: $1,610 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A T (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$750 NET)
SB showed 7 7 (two pair, Sevens and Fives) and WON $1,607 (+$857 NET)
This is a level 3 bluff I attempt from time to time, trying to represent a hand like top pair playing for pot control on the turn and then a blatant river value bet. It works better when the river card is at least moderately scary, but I would certainly take a line like this with top pair or an overpair since my opponent’s hand is by the river very obviously a pocket pair smaller than Jacks.
It’s hard to say whether this guy was just a level 2 thinker who didn’t put much effort into hand-reading and called because I checked the turn or a level 4 thinker who knew that I knew his hand looked an awful lot like an underpair and that he would be easily exploited if he routinely folded to smallish bets on non-threatening bets. Because he was otherwise a decent player at 10/20 NL, I was inclined to think it was the latter.
But if he isn’t going to fold to a small bluff, then I’ve no choice but to make a big one, eh?
Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker Hand History Converter
Hero (CO): $3,091.50
BTN: $3,021
SB: $2,127
BB: $3,198
UTG: $310
Pre-Flop: A 4 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $70, BTN calls $70, 2 folds
Flop: ($170) J 4 K (2 Players)
Hero bets $121, BTN calls $121
Turn: ($412) K (2 Players)
Hero bets $412, BTN calls $412
River: ($1,236) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets $1,236, BTN folds
Results: $1,236 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A 4 and WON $1,233 (+$630 NET)
A few things about this hand. First off, this guy was an aggressive player, so I think he’s usually raising if he has a flush draw on the flop. He’s also re-raising a lot of his Kings pre-flop, so there’s a sort of hazily defined upper limit to how strong his hand can be. I, on the other hand, could easily have a flush or even a full house, and with these stacks, I would definitely be potting all of those hands on the turn and many of them on the river.