Greetings,
I've never submitted a hand history before, but this hand was memorable and I wanted to post it. This was the 2nd hand of my match against this player, whom I had no information about except that he raised his first hand from the SB for 4x the BB (80). The bet on the flop was a test to see his playing style and to see if I could steal the pot. The flop looked non-threatening. After he called it, I was neutral on what he might have held.
However, when I checked the turn, and he followed suit, I sensed weakness. I didn't particularily like the river card, but it was lower than my kicker. I thought of the range of hands he might have called my initial preflop bet with. Also, I took into consideration his check on the turn. I figured he might have a hand similar to mine and possibly worse like 56 or a low failed flush draw. After 30 seconds of thinking about what to do, i figured I was getting proper odds to make this call. My intuition was right. However, I'm not sure if I played this hand correctly.
Any feedback would be appreciated,
Jeffrey (discoparty)
*********** # 19 **************
PokerStars Game #31572073772: Tournament #186848394, $6.00+$0.25 USD Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2009/08/13 1:56:09 CT [2009/08/13 2:56:09 ET]
Table '186848394 1' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: DFRESH888 (1520 in chips)
Seat 2: discoparty (1480 in chips)
discoparty: posts small blind 10
DFRESH888: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to discoparty [9s Qc]
discoparty: raises 40 to 60
DFRESH888: calls 40
*** FLOP *** [Kc Kh 3c]
DFRESH888: checks
discoparty: bets 60
DFRESH888: calls 60
*** TURN *** [Kc Kh 3c] [3s]
DFRESH888: checks
discoparty: checks
*** RIVER *** [Kc Kh 3c 3s] [Js]
DFRESH888: bets 140
discoparty: calls 140
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DFRESH888: shows [9h 5h] (two pair, Kings and Threes)
discoparty: shows [9s Qc] (two pair, Kings and Threes - Queen kicker)
discoparty collected 520 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 520 | Rake 0
Board [Kc Kh 3c 3s Js]
Seat 1: DFRESH888 (big blind) showed [9h 5h] and lost with two pair, Kings and Threes
Seat 2: discoparty (button) (small blind) showed [9s Qc] and won (520) with two pair, Kings and Threes
In a vacuum it's probably ~ a coin flip whether or not he has/ is betting a J here and sometimes you run into the fish who are betting an A for who-knows-why here, but I'm calling too. Obviously there's way more air hands possible for him to have then Jx/Kx/3x, and we aren't sure if he's too nitty to bet some of these for value (most would be v-betting any of these obv).
While there are more air-hand combos then v-bet-hand combos, we can't really say his range is weighted towards v-bet combos because villain has X tendencies, and never checks turn w/ air, etc, so it's more of a case to call imo. Two hands deep, calling here will give us some info when he is a) bluffing, b) value-betting a hand like 55, c) betting w/ a hand like Ax or Qx. When he's betting a Kx or 3x, we don't get any information really.
Getting to showdown is important early on in the match in these situations when the blinds are still low and stacks are deepish, it's these spots that will help us develop reads on villain. Also, whether or not we win this pot, villain will see us calling w/ Q high and our image will start to develop in his mind - we need to be aware of this in future spots.
Hope that made sense,
-Mike
Greetings Mike,
I appreciate your analysis of my hand history. And I agree that part of the value of calling this river is getting a read on the opponent., especially while it's cheap. Whilst I don't want to be a calling station and donk off lots of bets, it's early in the match and I'm getting decent pot odds on this call against many opponents. And as you mentioned, we need to consider evaluating our play in a larger context; what happens in one hand influences other hands. This call actually seemed to send the villain on tilt and he started spewing chips. So that was part of the value too-possibly.
Interestingly enough, prior to watching a few videos on husng.com, I would have immediately chucked this hand in the muck after he bet the river. In hindsight, I know why my ROI is slightly negative. Not making some of these plays can be expensive in the long run.
When I was playing this hand I had a recollection of a similiar situation discussed in the 'PrimordialAA 13' video. Thankfully, I slowed myself down and decided to contemplate the hand. PrimordialAA talked about non-threatening boards and the range of hands our opponents might have, and why we shouldn't be spooked into tossing away a viable hand (I'm paraphrasing-of course).
Thanks for providing me with your insight on my hand history. It's nice to subject my beliefs to scrutiny to see if I'm engaging in fallacious reasoning.
REBTgenius (Jeffrey)