Bluffs n Steals

I didn't play too much poker on Monday night and like last night I was actually in my bed early at 0.30am.I did play a few games on Monday and managed a second place in one of them to boost my Stars roll to just over the $5k mark.

Last night I played a wee $6 turb ( 18 player as usual) with Juice and won it before blowing $70 at a Bet 365 cash table ( 2 pair v flopped set).

I'm trying to add more to my turbo game by incorporating more resteals( versus tight regulars and players I think have a fold button) ,betting into the raiser more often and bluffing a little more.I suppose making a large c-bet with AK when I've missed the flop counts as bluffing but here are some better examples from recent games...

PokerStars Game #16395402109: Tournament #83018926, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/03/31 - 18:56:55 (ET)
Table '83018926 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Cargy (1885 in chips)
Seat 2: jane0710 (1690 in chips)
Seat 3: zagga (1915 in chips)
Seat 4: sharp726 (2075 in chips)
Seat 7: brasi07 (1845 in chips)
Seat 9: apple1309 (2440 in chips)
zagga: posts small blind 50
sharp726: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [9h Jc] :My favourite poker hand!
brasi07: folds
apple1309: folds
Cargy: folds
jane0710: folds
zagga: raises 300 to 400 :I had given the big blind a fairly easy time and reckoned I'd take the pot preflop most of the time.
sharp726: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [4d 8s Ks]
zagga: bets 700 : Ok, I didn't like the call but it's time to represent an AK type hand.

sharp726: calls 700 : Oh dear.I put him on a King,a pair lower than Kings ( 1010,JJ,QQ most likely) or a flush draw.

*** TURN *** [4d 8s Ks] [Kd]

zagga: bets 815 and is all-in : Now there's another King on the board there's a far slimmer chance of him having one.Time to continue to represent a King of my own...

sharp726: folds : Phew!

zagga collected 2200 from
pot
zagga: doesn't show hand


PokerStars Game #16418339966: Tournament #83135342, $6.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/04/01 - 18:14:08 (ET)
Table '83135342 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: vbandi001 (4805 in chips)
Seat 4: johnwes66 (8610 in chips)
Seat 8: tz.nguyen (10445 in chips)
Seat 9: zagga (3140 in chips)
zagga: posts small blind 100
vbandi001: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [2h 5c] : I'm in the money but I'm the shortstack and I need to begin chipping up and taking chips.The next largest stack to me is a fine place to start.

johnwes66: folds
tz.nguyen: folds
zagga: raises 400 to 600 : I could have raised more but I wanted it to look like I wanted a call with a big hand.

vbandi001: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [7s Kd Jh]

zagga: bets 800 : On a fairly dry board I was representing the King.Very hard for the villain to continue without being able to beat the King there.Once again, I also wanted to make my story consistent and tried to bet an amount that most players who did have a King would bet out here.

vbandi001: folds
zagga collected 1200 from pot
zagga: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1200 | Rake 0
Board [7s Kd Jh]


PokerStars Game #16418388424: Tournament #83135342, $6.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/04/01 - 18:16:14 (ET)
Table '83135342 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: vbandi001 (4255 in chips)
Seat 4: johnwes66 (9160 in chips)
Seat 8: tz.nguyen (10195 in chips)
Seat 9: zagga (3390 in chips)
vbandi001: posts the ante 25
johnwes66: posts the ante 25
tz.nguyen: posts the ante 25
zagga: posts the ante 25
vbandi001: posts small blind 100
johnwes66: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [8d 9d]
tz.nguyen: folds
zagga: raises 600 to 800: I have position and a hand that flops well.

vbandi001: folds
johnwes66: calls 600: Ok,once again my steal hasn't worked preflop....

*** FLOP *** [Jh Ad 6h]

johnwes66: checks
zagga: checks : Apart from a runner runner flush draw I've totally missed the flop and as weak Aces could be a large part of his calling range I'm going to keep the pot small for now...

*** TURN *** [Jh Ad 6h] [7c]

johnwes66: bets 400 : Looked like a typical big stacks weak bet to try and steal the pot.If he had a big Ace I'd have expected a reraise preflop or a flop bet with the flush draw out there.

zagga: raises 2165 to 2565 and is all-in : Hoping it looked like I was slow playing a big Ace myself on the flop ( despite the flush draw) and was now springing my trap after his probe bet.If he as probing for information I wanted to be clear in my reply! ( I have that big Ace!)

johnwes66: folds : Phew!

zagga collected 2600 from pot
zagga: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2600 | Rake 0
Board [Jh Ad 6h 7c]

No poker tomorrow night as I'll be at Ibrox for Rangers Uefa Cup quarter final 1st leg against Sporting Lisbon.Come on the Gers....