Small sample size, I know, but ...
Last Five Hands I Saw Crack AA (low limit hold'em) out of the seven times I saw it shown down:
1. 6-5 sooted
2. 5-2 sooted
3. 10-10
4. 7-6 sooted
5. 10-8 sooted.
I was the victim on the 10-8 sooted. He caught runner-runner diamonds to make a flush (he did also turn a gutshot draw, which filled as well). Called two cold preflop, called my bet on the flop with two hearts *and* a pair of threes on the board. If I had infinite time and an adequate bankroll, I'm fairly confident I eventually would have taken every nickel of his lunch money.
Between that and losing set-over-set, it was easy to kiss that buyin goodbye. Some days the game is not your friend. I also kicked away a cash in a Omaha/8 SnG the other day. I have the second biggest stack of four left. There are two players on life support. I get a hand (AA2Q, three suited) and tangle with the big stack. He calls me all the way down. The last card brings no low and he rivers a set, knocking me out. If I'd just folded about three more hands, I would have made the money with enough chips to take a shot at winning. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Letting your ego get in the way will cost you money.
Back to hold'em for a moment.
I've been kicking around an idea that I hope to test the next time (which may be a while) I happen to hit a cardroom or waste time playing $0.05/$0.10 or something. I'm thinking that if you have a table where virtually everyone will call whatever number of bets to see a flop, it may be +EV to raise pretty much EVERY time you enter a pot, ESPECIALLY if it's from early position. This seems to be counterintuitive, and I'll be interested to see if Sklansky has any math on this in SSHE. If you can have a reasonable expectation that at least 7 people behind will see the flop for two bets, wouldn't you want to maximize the amount of money in the pot if you're going to play -- even something speculative like JTs or pocket fives -- from early position? Similarly, if someone has raised and you're on the button with multiple persons having called two cold, would it not be +EV to get more money in the pot, again raising with any playable hand? (Remembering, of course, the official motto of the low limit player: "I ain't folding for ONE BET".)
Okay, answer that if you must, but I don't need a reminder that I'm an idiot. I already know. Besides, you should save that mental energy for taking all my chips in the Charlie tournament. Tomorrow night, PokerStars. Visit most any blog on the right for full details.
1 comment:
I've been doing that lately - raising my drawing hands (the JTs, low pocket pairs, KQo, etc) because it generally doesn't affect how many people see the flop in low-limit games. More money in the pot gives me better odds to draw if the flop hits me, and with even 4 or 5 people in the pot, that one small bet preflop that it cost me pays off when the big hand hits. I don't have any numbers but I would say it has got to be profitable in the long run (the way the fishes play these days).
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