This is one of the biggest leaks that I’ve helped my students to find, and as these hands illustrate, it’s not something I’m immune to myself. I’m talking about choosing the wrong hands to defend against a possible bluff/semi-bluff when there are still cards to come. It is so much more important to defend with draws that have good equity against your opponent’s range than with hands that are “made” (which is really a meaningless concept anyway).
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2060)
Hero (BB) ($2239)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 9
, 9
SB bets $60, Hero raises to $200, SB calls $140
Flop: ($400) J, 3
, J (2 players)
Hero bets $244, SB raises to $520, Hero raises to $2039 (All-In), SB calls $1340 (All-In)
Turn: ($4120) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)
River: ($4120) A
(2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: $4120 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
SB had Q, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Hero had 9, 9 (two pair, Jacks and nines).
Outcome: SB won $4119.50
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($3011)
Hero (BB) ($2010)
Preflop: Hero is BB with J, K
SB bets $30, Hero raises to $111, SB calls $81
Flop: ($222) 4, 4, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $144, SB calls $144
Turn: ($510) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $355, SB raises to $850, Hero calls $495
River: ($2210) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks
Total pot: $2210 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
SB had J, A (three of a kind, fours).
Hero had J, K (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: SB won $2209.50
Just look at hand 2 for a second. The results throw things off a bit, but let’s suppose Villain is planning on folding to a turn shove. If I shove with 99, he folds worse hands like AJ and it doesn’t matter what I had. When he does call, I am drawing to 2 outs. If I shove KJs, I apparently bluff him off some better hands and also I will usually have 8+ outs (though occasionally I’ll be drawing dead). Even without a flush draw, two big cards like AK is a better hand to shove than 99.
How exactly should hand 1 be played differently do you think, since you’re so rarely ever gong to show up with a hand with a “lot of equity” in this spot anyway?
It’s not that I think Hand 1 is terribly played, it’s just that if I’m going to shove one of these and call the other, I ought to switch them. With a more aggressive dynamic with Villain, I think shoving gets better. This was early in the match against a relative unknown, I think I’d rather call medium pairs and shove when I have flush draws.
Oh, you were contrasting H1 and H2…and now I get the blog title, haha.