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....

Driven poker potty...

My gambling addiction rages on as I played yet more poker last night :-))).Not too much joy in my first $15 turbo as I was totally card dead until I picked up Kings and took the blinds with my first bet.My second bet was a steal with QJ and I ran into KK and hit the rail.

During my second game I realised I didn't have my poker potty handy ( every poker degenerate has one) and went on "need a pee" tilt ( combined with Mrs A arrives home and wants to chat tilt) and after raising with AK,I called a solid players all in and went out to ....KK again!

Now I like AK as a hand and I don't mind it as an all in hand, however the crucial point is that it's power comes from being the one betting first and not being the caller.

I tried hard to get that concept over to my Mum when we played.Betting with relative garbage is ok if a)it's been folded to me b) I have the right image c) the villain is solid enough to respect the raise and to have noticed my tight image d)the blinds are worth stealing e)I have position

Mrs A made the sandwiches for my work and I hit Laddies for a wee while before bed.I called a raise with 66 at a full ring $50nl game with the intention of hitting a set or getting out.The flop was a 3 4 5 rainbow and suddenly I saw possibilities opening up with my small overpair ( esp if villain had an AK/AQ
type hand) and straight draw.

The villain bet out and I called hoping to hit my draw or another 6.An Ace on the turn made me stop and think, as the villain seemed to slow down with a much smaller bet.If,as I suspected later,he had JJ/QQ/KK then this was my chance to raise his bet up and represent the Ace with outs to draw to the nuts.I wasn't worried about him drawing to the straight because I had two of the sixes and his preflop raise seemed to big to be a 67 type hand.

In the end I decided I hadn't been at the table long enough to know the villain and that even if I was right about his hand ,I may not be able to push him off.Of course he could well have hit that Ace on the turn but was proceeding carefully in case I was calling with a better hand than his TPTK.

The river was a blank and he bet out $5 into the pot of around $20.I was tempted again to go for a large reraise but for the reasons above I folded as I suspected he may call with JJ/QQ/KK even with the Ace on board especially as I'd done nothing up until that point to represent it.

Ok,just how much can one person slever on about a hand? Quite a lot...see above!

I did finish the night with a well timed bluff at a 6 max table.Yep,I don't just make donkey moves!

I raised to steal with K7d and bet out on the Ace high flop.The flush draw was also out and the villain called my continuation bet.I fired another bullet on the turn and he also called.With the flush draw failing by the river and another Ace falling I tried to make it look like I wanted a call and bet $6 of his remaining $9.He folded.Whooooooo!


Righty,the milkman and I are kicking around a few ideas re the bloggerment game.In some respects I'm of the keep it simple ,if it aint broke don't fix it school, but any ideas to keep things fresh are welcome.Some kind of league perhaps with a monthly prize? A midweek game alongside the Sunday one?A monthly $10 or even $20 mtt??
Thoughts welcome...

One last mini-rant before I go.If I see "methinks" written in any more comment sections of online newspapers there's going to be a cyber killing!
I think I'm not feckin' joking!

Edit: Just read this at Iggys blog.Pure quality man! ( flux capacitor indeed!)