Some Thoughts On Some Hands

One of the most important tools in continuously improving my game is taking notes on myself. I like to take out hand histories and write down my analysis of the hands where I played exceptionally well, or demonstrated one of the flaws in my game that I wanted to improve. This article consists in some of those notes (mostly old ones, as I have become lazy these days). By looking at specific hands, this article looks more into how some of the ideas presented in my last article on bluffing, can be applied in actual combat. The outcomes of the hands are not all that interesting really, but the thinking behind them is what is. And if you find this type of analysis rewarding, there is much more to be found in Bob Ciaffone & Jim Briers excellent book on Middle Limit Holdem, from which I have learned a lot.

I would like to invite you to send me more hand histories of your own for comments. Maybe in time there will be a second volume of this article with hand histories provided by the forum members. But mind you that I am not interested in hand histories alone. But if you supply interesting hands along with your thoughts on how you played out a specific hand, I'll happily comment on it if you send me a personal message through the forum. Your bad beats or hand histories where you haven't bothered thinking for yourself before writing to me, probably wont get a reply. After all, there is no substitute for working out your own conclusions.

Finally, as you'll soon discover, the hands given below are by no means well played all of them. In some of them I actually play pretty horrible poker! But nevertheless I think they show how it is possible to learn from failures as well as successes.

Enjoy.

Hand 1

The Hand: Three players call to me in small blind. I call with Qc7s (a bad call to be honest) and big blind calls leaving us with 2.5BB in the pot. Flop comes 7d6d3h and I bet straight out with top pair, and get called by two players. On the turn comes the Kc. I bet and they both fold.

The thinking: It is debatable whether it's justifiable to bet straight out with a seven and a weak kicker, but as I planned to call in any event, I reckoned a bet might yield some advantages later on. When the flush opportunity occurred on the turn, it is extremely important to keep on betting, as my flop bet could indeed be a flush on the come. When a hand is played aggressively as shown here, it is, however, extremely important that it is folded immediately when raised.

Hand 2

The Hand: Two players have called to me in the cut off seat. I call with QhJs. Button calls and so do the blinds, leaving us 6-way with 3BB in the pot. The flop comes Jd4c2h. UTG bets I call and so does the big blind. Turn is the 4s. Now the big blind bets and UTG and me both call. River 8h. Big blind bets and we call him down. He shows 94o for a set.

The thinking: In this situation I considered a raise on the flop. And in hindsight the outcome of the hand clearly demonstrates why it is important to do so in a situation like this. The bettor might have a better kicker then me, but in any case I plan to play my hand out, and the best way to do that is to seize the initiative, and squeeze out draws early on. A raise on the flop would succeed in knocking under pairs and baby straight draws out, and should someone decide to stay around with one of these hands, my raise would have destroyed their pot odds. The flop call on my part was a clear mistake here.

Hand 3

The Hand: One player has called to me in the cut off. I call with 9s8s. The button calls as do the blinds making us 5 players with 2.5BB in the pot. The flop comes Qd7s5h it is checked to me, and I bet my gut shot draw. They all fold.

The thinking: This happened at a table with 7 players. As only the queen is in the playing zone and all players had indicated that they didn't have it. I decided to semi-bluff my gut shot draw, with a successful outcome. In this situation a semi-bluff seemed particularly applicable, as everyone expects a queen to be out there somewhere with 5 players taking the flop. Also 4 players had already signaled weakness, so a bluff should expect to work more then 1 in 5 times. Had the last player called I would have check-folded on the turn. If one of the players ahead of me had called, I would probably have got the turn card for free.

Hand 4

The Hand: It is checked to me two off the button and I call with Qs10d (a raise would actually have been in order as I was first to act). Only the blinds call leaving 1.5BB in the pot. Flop comes Jh8d6c. It is checked to me and I bet my gut shot with an over card. Both blinds call. Turn is the 7s. I check in due respect for the three straight left on the board now. River is the 2d. I bet and they both fold.

The thinking: As 2nd to last to act I bet my gut shot with an over card as a semi-bluff. To my surprise both players call. The 7 on the turn put an open three straight chance on the table. As my flop bet indicates that I have a jack I check on the turn in proper respect for the straight chance. Obviously this makes my bluff on the river when a blank hits much more trustworthy, and both players fold accordingly. Remember that semi-bluffs require that you bet the river when your draw is bust. For some reason a lot of low limit players have a tendency to bet a lot on the come early on and then checking at the river when they don't hit. This destroys the bluff element of the semi-bluff, as they will never win those hands through forcing their opponents to fold, leaving them betting a lot of hands with dubious pot odds.

Hand 5

The Hand: A late position player has called along with the small blind, and I raise with 10s10c. The flop comes QhQc9h. I bet and get called by late position player. The turn is the Ah. I check and so does he. The river is the 2d. I check, he bets and I call.

The thinking: It is obvious that a pair of 10's must be bet on the flop with only 2 players taking the flop. When one of them calls my flop bet, there is a reasonable chance that he has a queen, making it my purpose to get to showdown as cheap as possible. Furthermore the turn gives 3 cards for a flush on the table, which means that no matter what ground he had for calling the flop, I'm in trouble. By checking on the turn I furthermore induce him to bet the 9 on the river, if luck would have it that he holds the only hand that I can beat. In the situation he had the queen. The example is a good illustration of a situation where you should be more than happy to take the free card - an option which is often forgotten in the heat of the game, especially when you've start raised.

Hand 6

The Hand: One player is in the pot and I call with QcJc, and so does the big blind. The flop comes Kd9h3c leaving me with a gut shot draw. It's checked to me, so I bet as a semi bluff, and the mid position player calls. Turn is the Kc, and I bet again, but gets check-raised. I call. River is the 8d. He bets and I fold.

The thinking: This hand consists in a very grave playing error. When the king falls on the turn, I probably should try and win it right there through carrying on representing a king. But when check raise he has a king or better. I'm not getting odds to anything here, and I might easily be drawing stone dead. When someone raise you on the turn, you should seriously consider your options, especially when all you have is a very weak draw.

Hand 7

The Hand: I find Ad6c in the SB and check after mid position and small blind have called. The flop comes Ac10h10d. I bet straight out and get called by mid position player. Turn and river are blanks, and I check call both.

The thinking: Betting the flop with a weak ace is reasonable enough when only 3 players take the flop. However, when you get called, you better fold, cause you're drawing for half the pot at best. In this situation the caller had the 10. One could argue that had the kicker been above 10, the play I made here would be reasonable, but that would depend on the circumstances. In any case a clear error.

Hand 8

The Hand: It is checked to me in the cut off seat and I call with Qh10c (a raise would have been in order here when first). Button and the big blind call. The flop comes Kd10d4c. Big blind bets and we all call. The turn is the 2h. Now the big blind check. I bet and they both call. The river is the 3c. I bet again and they both fold.

The thinking: Having it checked to me I decide to limb in before the button with Q10off. With a flop like that the BB can hold a number of different things when he comes out betting. However, when he checks it to me on the turn I know he's on the come - probably on a flush. At this time it's vital that I take over the betting, signaling a King, as the button might be on a wide range of draws as well, plus he might hold a ten, which he might be inclined to fold in the end, if I bet into him. And sure enough�

Hand 9

The Hand: I call from late position with QhJc along with a mid position player and the big blind. The flop comes Kd10d6c. Mid position bets, I call and the big blind folds. The turn is the 2h. Now he checks and I bet. The river is the 7c. He checks and folds to my bet.

The thinking: Almost the same situation as hand 9. The flop gives me an open ended straight draw. When he decides to take the free card on the turn, I know we're both on a draw, and I have to bet on the river to take advantage when he busts his draw (regardless of the fact that I do the same).

Hand 10

The Hand: I hold KdJc on the button in a 4-way pot. The flop comes 7c7hKh. It is checked to me so I bet. I get raised and a player calls before it gets back to me.

The thinking: In the actual situation I actually called the hand down. But what hands that I was able to beat could explain his raise? The answer is - none! Respecting raises is often a hard thing to do, but doing it can save a lot of money. Hand 10 The Hand: I get to see the flop 3-way with 8h7d in the big blind. The flop comes 9c8c7h. The small blind bets, I raise, he reraise and I cap the betting. The turn is a scary looking Jd. he checks, I bet and he calls. River is a blank and he folds to my bet. The thinking: SB bets out on a scary flop. But with 2 pairs I got to re-raise and it gets capped. But with 2 clubs and a 3-straight out there there's a lot of hands that small blind could hold and play like this, which I can beat. When the J arrives on the turn the SB checks, which is a sign of weakness, and obviously I got to keep the pressure on, even though I haven't got the 10. Obviously he must put me on the 10 when he folds on the river. But his fold would not have happened had I not bet very strong out, suggesting that I already had the straight made on the flop. He probably had a high 4 flush or a low end straight. Aggression pays. Had he check raised me on the turn I'd have been long gone though.

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