SCOOP Day 8: No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em

The day started off not much differently from the last. I busted the $2K Warm-Up with Queens on the big blind versus Aces on the button, though with 100 BBs there was once again some question as to whether I could have gotten away from it. The Villain was Randal “RandALLin” Flowers, so not some random who might just be spazzing out:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|40/80 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 126.5 BB (VPIP: 14.86, PFR: 8.11, 3Bet Preflop: 5.13, Hands: 75)
SB: 133.29 BB (VPIP: 8.11, PFR: 4.05, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 75)
Hero (BB): 101.28 BB
UTG: 94.94 BB (VPIP: 13.70, PFR: 9.59, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 74)
UTG+1: 125 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
MP: 158.91 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 14.81, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 27)
MP+1: 142.38 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 18.06, 3Bet Preflop: 8.70, Hands: 74)
MP+2: 151.38 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 68)
CO: 100.48 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 49)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Qd Qc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, BTN raises to 7.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 18.05 BB, fold, BTN raises to 126.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 83.23 BB and is all-in

Flop : (205.55 BB, 2 players) 5c 2s 6c

Turn : (205.55 BB, 2 players) 6s

River : (205.55 BB, 2 players) Kc

Hero shows Qd Qc (Two Pair, Queens and Sixes)
(Pre 18%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)

BTN shows Ac As (Two Pair, Aces and Sixes)
(Pre 82%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)

BTN wins 205.55 BB

In the afternoon events, I managed to get up stacks in both the $200 and the $2000, though I probably misplayed and got lucky on the first critical hand from the High:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|30/60 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 159.08 BB (VPIP: 21.28, PFR: 19.15, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 48)
UTG+1: 130.07 BB (VPIP: 10.42, PFR: 4.17, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 48)
MP: 166.17 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)
MP+1: 166.67 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
MP+2: 165.33 BB (VPIP: 13.64, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 44)
CO: 152.48 BB (VPIP: 20.83, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 48)
BTN: 157.45 BB (VPIP: 19.57, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 48)
SB: 169.05 BB (VPIP: 21.62, PFR: 13.51, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 37)
Hero (BB): 150 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has As Ks
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 9.5 BB, MP+1 calls 6.5 BB

Flop : (19.5 BB, 2 players) Th 7h 5s
Hero checks, MP+1 bets 10.43 BB, Hero calls 10.43 BB

Turn : (40.37 BB, 2 players) Qs
Hero checks, MP+1 bets 28.75 BB, Hero calls 28.75 BB

River : (97.87 BB, 2 players) 8s
Hero checks, MP+1 bets 66.15 BB, Hero raises to 101.32 BB and is all-in, MP+1 calls 35.17 BB

Hero shows As Ks (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 62%, Flop 41%, Turn 66%)

MP+1 shows Jh 9h (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 38%, Flop 59%, Turn 34%)

Hero wins 300.5 BB

This is basically just weak-tight play on my part, but my thinking was that Villain wasn’t going to fold better to a turn shove. His sizing meant either a monster or a big draw, not a hand like JT that would fold to a shove. That leaves open the question of what exactly I’m going to do on blank rivers. Calling isn’t beyond me, but I think I’m better off just sticking it on the turn. It turns out I got the gin card on the river, which I want to be sure to acknowledge because I’ve been on the wrong end of some similar spots recently and I want to combat the selective memory of those spots.

For much of the day, I was stuck at a tough but interesting table with several good cash game players, including Dong Kim. That meant a lot more pots than usual were going to flops, as these players preferred to play post-flop rather than get into the pre-flop raising wars in which the tournament pros specialize. I usually prefer the former myself, but sensing less of an edge than usual in that regard, I switched to a strategy of employing larger open raises. That said, I did get in a nice value bet against Kim that, though not really a tough decision, gave me the warm and fuzzies:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|400/800 Ante 100 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 100.43 BB (VPIP: 19.85, PFR: 13.58, 3Bet Preflop: 7.81, Hands: 268)
CO: 30.25 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 15.11, 3Bet Preflop: 4.41, Hands: 141)
BTN: 74.91 BB (VPIP: 30.45, PFR: 23.02, 3Bet Preflop: 13.16, Hands: 266)
SB: 43.76 BB (VPIP: 19.62, PFR: 11.36, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 266)
Hero (BB): 60.52 BB
UTG: 85.96 BB (VPIP: 17.89, PFR: 10.53, 3Bet Preflop: 6.12, Hands: 96)
UTG+1: 40.53 BB (VPIP: 24.43, PFR: 15.33, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 265)
MP: 26.38 BB (VPIP: 32.58, PFR: 17.98, 3Bet Preflop: 3.20, Hands: 267)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Qs 6s
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.2 BB, fold, Hero calls 1.2 BB

Flop : (5.9 BB, 2 players) Ks Qc 9h
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (5.9 BB, 2 players) 3s
Hero checks, BTN checks

River : (5.9 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero bets 4.17 BB, BTN calls 4.17 BB

Hero shows Qs 6s (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 55%, Flop 66%, Turn 86%)

BTN mucks Jc 9c (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 45%, Flop 34%, Turn 14%)

Hero wins 14.23 BB

The main lesson here is that just because you are value betting a hand that is relatively weak in absolute terms doesn’t mean you should use small sizing. After the flop and turn action, any middle pair is a strong hand, and Kim will feel compelled to pay off even a somewhat large bet with weaker in order to prevent me from bluffing.

That’s not to say I never got outplayed postflop. Here’s one against another heads-up player where I may well have folded the best hand:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|700/1400 Ante 175 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG+1: 28.46 BB (VPIP: 19.06, PFR: 12.58, 3Bet Preflop: 7.19, Hands: 321)
MP: 35.01 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 14.00, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 50)
MP+1: 52.96 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 7)
MP+2: 65.05 BB (VPIP: 30.09, PFR: 22.33, 3Bet Preflop: 12.59, Hands: 319)
CO: 148.32 BB (VPIP: 26.92, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 26)
Hero (BTN): 54.59 BB
SB: 57.54 BB (VPIP: 20.95, PFR: 11.49, 3Bet Preflop: 7.04, Hands: 149)
BB: 39.88 BB (VPIP: 24.76, PFR: 15.92, 3Bet Preflop: 6.52, Hands: 318)
UTG: 121.86 BB (VPIP: 19.11, PFR: 13.16, 3Bet Preflop: 4.48, Hands: 157)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Ks Kd
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2.25 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 6.35 BB, fold, fold, MP+1 calls 4.1 BB

Flop : (15.32 BB, 2 players) 5h 9h 3c
MP+1 checks, Hero bets 6.35 BB, MP+1 calls 6.35 BB

Turn : (28.02 BB, 2 players) 7h
MP+1 bets 7.13 BB, Hero calls 7.13 BB

River : (42.28 BB, 2 players) Qs
MP+1 bets 33.01 BB and is all-in, fold

MP+1 wins 42.28 BB

I don’t know that here’s anything I can do but fold my actual hand, but it sucks playing with players good enough to take advantage of spots like this one. With the Kh, I think I would have called.

The nice thing about SCOOP is that, even many hours into a $2K, you do still get some truly weak players, and I managed to double through one of them:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|600/1200 Ante 150 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 36.52 BB (VPIP: 19.74, PFR: 13.03, 3Bet Preflop: 7.43, Hands: 310)
MP+2: 88.66 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 10.26, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 39)
CO: 33.59 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 4.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
BTN: 73.91 BB (VPIP: 29.87, PFR: 22.48, 3Bet Preflop: 13.08, Hands: 308)
SB: 116.29 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 15)
Hero (BB): 41.91 BB
UTG: 51.65 BB (VPIP: 19.71, PFR: 10.95, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 138)
UTG+1: 52.29 BB (VPIP: 25.33, PFR: 16.17, 3Bet Preflop: 6.72, Hands: 307)
MP: 147.98 BB (VPIP: 19.86, PFR: 13.48, 3Bet Preflop: 4.84, Hands: 146)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has 8d 8s
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop : (7.63 BB, 2 players) 9h 5h 7d
Hero checks, CO bets 6 BB, Hero raises to 38.78 BB and is all-in, CO calls 24.47 BB and is all-in

Turn : (68.56 BB, 2 players) 9s

River : (68.56 BB, 2 players) Kh

Hero shows 8d 8s (Two Pair, Nines and Eights)
(Pre 67%, Flop 81%, Turn 89%)

CO shows Qc 7c (Two Pair, Nines and Sevens)
(Pre 33%, Flop 19%, Turn 11%)

Hero wins 68.56 BB

Despite all of this, I was whiffing a lot post-flop and Kim had the button when I had the BB so I wasn’t getting any walks easy BB defenses. By the time the bubble rolled around, I had barely 10BBs and was forced to make some tight folds, including AJs facing a raise from a pretty active player.

On the exact bubble, I was dealt JJ in middle position. I think the big jump from no prize to $4000, followed by very gradual prize increases thereafter, would have forced me to fold it if someone had opened in front. It seemed too good not to open jam, though, even on the bubble, so I shipped it. None other than Randal Flowers, who’d busted me in the morning $2K, quickly shoved over the top. I actually said out loud, “Are you FUCKING kidding me?!”, which is quite out of character. Thankfully he “just” had AKs so I had a few heart-stopping seconds to sweat but I did manage the cash.

Once we were in the money I was pretty card dead but won one more flip for my tournament life, which means I’m coming into Day 2 with just over 20 BBs, in 71st place out of 86 remaining players. Play restarts at 11:30 AM Pacific time, and I’ll probably late register the triple stack at that time as well.