Yesterday was a great day. My routine these days is usually to play for an hour or two most afternoons, and then if the games are good and I’m in a good mindset, I’ll keep playing for as long as I can. I put in about 8 hours yesterday, because there were two and sometimes three good, deep-stacked games going on Full Tilt. FTP has what are called Deep Stack Tables where the maximum buy-in is 200 BB’s rather than the usual 100. Unfortunately the games don’t run very often, but they are usually very fun and profitable when they do.
Sometimes the tables were full, but a few players stuck it out with me for long heads up sessions even when the games had otherwise dried up. These were particularly fun because when you are deep and putting in a ton of hands with one player, there are a lot of opportunities for creativity and interesting decisions that don’t come up often. Here was one good one, as you can tell from the pre-flop action that game was playing pretty aggressive, with a lot of 3- and 4-betting:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $5 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter, Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero ($2582.75)
Button ($1533.75)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 4s, Ac. Button posts a blind of $5.
Hero raises to $12.5, Button (poster) raises to $45, Hero raises to $142.5, Button calls $90.
Flop: ($277.50) 5d, As, 2d (2 players)
Button checks, Hero checks.
Turn: ($277.50) 9s (2 players)
Button checks, Hero bets $147, Button calls $147.
River: ($571.50) Kh (2 players)
Button checks, Hero bets $400, Button calls $400.
Final Pot: $1371.50
Results below:
Hero has 4s Ac (one pair, aces).
Button doesn’t show.
Outcome: Hero wins $1371.50.
Nothing tilts a guy like getting taken to valuetown to the tune of 80 BB’s by a marginal hand on the river. Unfortunately he quit me not long after this.
This was my favorite, against a decent but very straightforward player who was sitting at both $2.50/$5 tables:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $5 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter, Courtesy of PokerZion.com
MP ($741.65)
Button ($769.50)
Hero ($2450.55)
BB ($691.25)
UTG ($1268.80)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7c, 9c.
1 fold, MP raises to $15, 1 fold, Hero calls $12.50, BB raises to $60, MP folds, Hero calls $45.
Flop: ($135) 6s, 4s, Tc (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $75, Hero calls $75.
Turn: ($285) 5h (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $150, Hero raises to $2315.55 (All-In), BB folds.
Final Pot: $2750.55
Results below:
No showdown. Hero wins $2750.55.
He had a little over $400 behind when I shoved. He’s in one of those nasty spots here where his hand is fairly narrowly defined (hence my call pre-flop). That’s so dangerous in deep stacked poker, because tricky players will force you to play guessing games where they know you know they know you have a good but not great hand (and AA counts as good but not great in this spot) and are willing both to bluff and value bet in ways that make your life hell.
This particular player really seemed to go out of his way to put himself in such spots:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $5 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter, Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero ($2254.95)
Button ($1318.25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 9h, 7h. Button posts a blind of $5.
Hero raises to $12.5, Button (poster) raises to $45, Hero calls $30.
Flop: ($87.50) 8d, 9c, As (2 players)
Button bets $90, Hero calls $90.
Turn: ($267.50) 9d (2 players)
Button checks, Hero bets $219, Button calls $219.
River: ($705.50) Kh (2 players)
Button bets $150, Hero raises to $1900.95 (All-In), Button folds.
Final Pot: $2756.45
Results below:
Hero has 9h 7h (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $2756.45.
That tiny river blocking bet is just begging to get raised with or without a strong hand, and my opponent must have realized that, because he thought for a long time before folding. He did look me up the next time I tried it:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $5 BB (4 handed) Hand History converter, Courtesy of PokerZion.com
SB ($984.50)
BB ($976.75)
UTG ($718.05)
Hero ($1463.70)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 6h, 9h.
UTG raises to $17.5, Hero calls $17.50, 2 folds.
Flop: ($42.50) 6s, 7s, 7d (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $26, UTG calls $26.
Turn: ($94.50) 6d (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $70, UTG calls $70.
River: ($234.50) Ks (2 players)
UTG bets $100, Hero raises to $350, UTG calls $250.
Final Pot: $934.50
Results below:
UTG has Ah Kh (pair of Kings).
Hero has 6h 9h (full house, sixes full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $934.50.
And he did pick me off once:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $5 BB (4 handed) Hand History converter, Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero ($2518.60)
SB ($1337.15)
BB ($1025)
UTG ($1083.65)
Preflop: Hero is Button with Ah, Qs.
1 fold, Hero raises to $17.5, SB calls $15, 1 fold.
Flop: ($40) 4c, Ks, 7s (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $40, SB calls $40.
Turn: ($120) Tc (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $120, SB calls $120.
River: ($360) 5d (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $360, SB calls $360.
Final Pot: $1080
Results below:
SB has Qc Kh (one pair, kings).
Hero has Ah Qs (high card, ace).
Outcome: SB wins $1080.
Great hands.
I like the flop check in the first hand. I feel like I often bet this flop, but then am in a tough spot against a reraise…are they reraising a flush draw/2pr/TPGK? WP.
You’re exactly the type of player I hate having position on me. You’re calling my raises, floating me, and making big moves on later streets in big pots. AND you’re making a healthy mix of bluffs/value bets….very tough combination.
Thanks, the best compliment you could have given me. Pretty much from the day I started playing 5/10 seriously, it’s been my goal to become a guy who’s really tough to play against from out of position.
And from what I’ve seen, playing too many hands out of position is the single biggest mistake made by otherwise good players, so it’s a good skill to cultivate. You can get away with playing weak broadway hands and suited connectors out of position against passive/predictable opponents, but against someone who is tough and tricky, you need to give them up. That’s frustrating to do when the guy is constantly 3- and 4-betting you from his button, but playing weak hands out of position is not the best way to counter an aggressively reraising button. In fact, it’s playing right into his strategy.