A few limit comments

I worked off my Pokerstars $120 bonus this morning, while losing the grand sum of a dollar in an hour and a half. THis in itself is unremarkable, but what struck me was that I was utterly card dead. I mean, in tournament terms, I would have been blinded away. In 180 hands I got five pairs, none of them above an 8. I got AK once, AQ once and AJ once. The rest was, basically, dross. And yet, I only finished up a dollar down. Partly this was because one of my pairs (fives) turned into a set on the flop, and I milked the opposition for all they were worth. I'll print it for below just to massage my ego. But my major point was that these kind of card-dead sessions are rarely the ones where you blast your money to smithereens. Those sessions occur when you get good hand after good hand, and nothing works. Either you miss the flop, or you hit the flop, but someone else hits it better, or you hit the flop, but someone decides to chase and you are rivered. These nightmare sessions probably occur about once a month, and being able to resist going on tilt when they do is one of the most important steps forward that a limit player can make.

POKERSTARS HOLD'EM LIMIT ($2/$4)
Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Birks($215 in chips)
Seat 3: kai157 ($105 in chips)
Seat 5: spanknmonkee ($62 in chips)
Seat 6: payme ($117 in chips)
Seat 8: Gladiss ($106 in chips)
Seat 10: SmplyPatient ($297.50 in chips)
Vahrus: posts small blind $1
kai157: posts big blind $2

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to _PJB_ [5s 5d]
spanknmonkee: calls $2
payme: calls $2
Gladiss: calls $2
SmplyPatient: calls $2
Birks: calls $2
Vahrus: calls $1
kai157: checks
*** FLOP *** [5h 6c Qd]
Vahrus: checks
kai157: checks
spanknmonkee: checks
payme: checks
Gladiss: checks
SmplyPatient: bets $2
Birks: calls $2

This is the vital play. The conventional wisdom would be to raise here to push out potential draws. However, with three active players behind me, my view is that I want them in with ropey draws and, even if they hit, I have the redraw back-up. However, some other days I might indeed bang in the raise. The fact that it's a rainbow flop influenced my decision.

Vahrus: calls $2
kai157: calls $2
spanknmonkee: calls $2
payme: folds
Gladiss: folds

*** TURN *** [5h 6c Qd] [2d]

This is a slight scare cards in that there might be a 3-4 out there, but it's a nicer card than a nine or a Queen.

Vahrus: checks
kai157: checks
spanknmonkee: checks
SmplyPatient: checks
Birks: bets $4
Vahrus: calls $4
kai157: calls $4
spanknmonkee: folds
SmplyPatient: calls $4

These players are simply not good enough to slow-play (check-call) the straight in this situation. I am 100% sure that I am in front and I suspect that I have these guys drawing dead.

*** RIVER *** [5h 6c Qd 2d] [Qc]

Is this a scare card? Not really. There might, just might, be a Q6 or a Q2 out there

Vahrus: checks
kai157: checks
SmplyPatient: checks
Birks: bets $4

A pure bet for value.

Vahrus: folds
kai157: calls $4
SmplyPatient: folds

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $48 | Rake $2
Board [5h 6c Qd 2d Qc]
Seat 1: Birks (button) showed [5s 5d] and won ($46) with a full house, Fives full of Queens
Seat 3: kai157 (big blind) mucked [5c 4h]

Yes, the guy called all the way with a pair of fives and then with a gutshot as a feature, and then he called the river as well. A fine example of where betting for value on the river will pay, even if you do not have a monster hand.

Figures for month so far (only starting April 5 due to Vegas trip). Betfair minus £12.22 (7.25 hours); Stan James minus £13.50 (1.5 hours); Pokerstars plus £82.50 (5.25 hours); Ultimate plus £58 (3 hours).

Equals about £114 in 16 hours, of which about £65 is a bonus.
Cash = plus £134
Tournaments (3) = minus £20

A little tourney puzzler:

There are 18 players left out of 85 starting (with 1,500 chips apiece). We are at level 8 (10 minute rounds). The last five hands have consisted of one player going all-in and everyone else folding.

Blinds are 300/600 with a 75 ante and there is about three minutes left on clock before 400/800 with 100 ante.

Seat 1: DaffyDuck (11240 in chips)
Seat 2: cra5h (7495 in chips)
Seat 3: docean (9640 in chips)
Seat 5: Acheron (4195 in chips)
Seat 6: sucrose (7580 in chips)
Seat 7: kpax (6630 in chips)
Seat 8: Spig (5470 in chips)
Seat 9: Photo. (6275 in chips)
Seat 10: _PJB_ (3645 in chips)


----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to _PJB_ [As Ac]
kpax: folds
Spig: folds
Photo.: folds

Plan The Play.

PLO is a strain

One of the things that I don't like about PLO is that 15 hands of the game feels like 60 of limit hold 'em. The number of decisions that you have to make is much greater. Partly this is lack of experience, I know. But I do think that there are more options in pot limit games than there are in limit games, for the simple reason that there is an added variable - the size of your bet. This brings into play another variable - the size of your stack (and of your opponents' stacks). Of course, once the decision is made, then some things in PLO (and pot limit games) are easier. No worries about value bets on river, or whether a check or a bet is correct on the turn (with the right decision often being marginal in limit).

On the plus side, the quality of play occasionally seems so low that I wonder whether I shouldn't just sit down at low-stakes PLO on Ultimate (or Party) and grind out my winnings there. THe only thing mitigating against this is that multi-tabling for three hours is possible at limit, whereas single-tabling for half an hour at PLO starts to give my brain a strain.

Another hand with a happy ending:


JosephStorm is at seat 0 with $50.80.
PJuan is at seat 1 with $43.45.
bonesley is at seat 2 with $16.65.
kumagala is at seat 3 with $100.15.
Milonga is at seat 4 with $11.55.
Birks is at seat 5 with $49.50.
DrAJ is at seat 6 with $59.30.
JamesScott is at seat 7 with $35.05.
Laki is at seat 8 with $25.
Flexi Digit is at seat 9 with $34.85.
The button is at seat 7.

Birks: Ac 4c 5s 8h

Pre-flop:

PJuan calls. bonesley calls. kumagala folds.
Milonga calls. Birks calls. DrAJ calls.
JamesScott folds. Flexi Digit calls. JosephStorm
checks.

Flop (board: 6h Kc 3c :

This is a nice board. An American wrap to a potential nut (the 8 is a nice feature of my hand now) and a nut flush draw. Not sure of my pot equity off the top of my head while in the hand, but I reckon it's good against most hands and liveable with against top set.

Flexi Digit checks. JosephStorm checks. PJuan
checks. bonesley bets $.50. Milonga raises to $5.
Birks re-raises to $19. DrAJ folds. Flexi
Digit folds. JosephStorm folds. PJuan folds.
bonesley folds. Milonga goes all-in for $11.05.
Birks is returned $7.95 (uncalled).

Turn (board: 6h Kc 3c As):
River (board: 6h Kc 3c As 2c): Woo hoo!

Birks has Ac 4c Kc 3c 2c: flush, ace high.
Milonga shows 6s 5h 5c 6c.

Milonga has 5c 6c Kc 3c 2c: flush, king high.
Birks wins $24.80 with flush, ace high.

As it happens, I'm behind on the flop with just 40% pot equity. But when you take the stacks into account, I am putting in $11 raise to win $24.80, which gives me pot odds that are just about right. But it's an example of me overbetting the drawing hand. By way of mitigation, I wouldn't have done it if my opponent had more at the table than me!