I played my first online session in weeks tonight, and it went great. Mostly just running well, though I do think I chose my spots well. I also may not have gotten paid off on the river here if I hadn’t gotten tricksy:
Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
MP: $2,187.50
Hero (CO): $2,327
BTN: $2,909
SB: $2,22
BB: $2,000
UTG: $380
Pre-Flop: 7
5 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, MP calls $20, Hero calls $20, BTN raises to $120, 2 folds, MP calls $100, Hero calls $100
Flop: ($390) 5
2 8
(3 Players)
MP checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $260, MP folds, Hero calls $260
Turn: ($910) 5
(2 Players)
Hero bets $444, BTN calls $444
River: ($1,798) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $400, Hero raises to $1,503 and is All-In, BTN calls $1,103
Results: $4,804 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 7 5 (three of a kind, Fives) and WON $4,801 (+$2,474 NET)
BTN mucked T T and LOST (-$2,327 NET)
MP was a fish and I wanted to get into the pot with him. If this were heads up with the button, I’d have folded to the pre-flop raise. I led the turn because I expected BTN to check back damn near 100% of his range. I also thought it might look weak if I bet kind of small.
On the river, then, I expect him either to have a float or a pair. If he’s got a float, he’s obviously not calling a river shove, but he’ll bluff at it if I check. If he’s got a pair, he may or may not call a shove, but he’ll almost certainly bet it for value if I check. This is why it’s important to notice players who will make thin value bets. When playing live, I think you have to bet this on the river because plenty of people won’t even value bet Kings here. So I felt like I’d get one bet in for sure on the river, and then he could either call me or not when I shoved.