dont get cute..

here's a hand a buddy sent me the other night. i dont know if you play deep or short, but there isnt much of a difference, mentally, between the two. its all between your ears. i'll explain later..

here's the hand. its standard...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 ($14.40)
MP2 ($10.05)
MP3 ($2.30)
CO ($1.80)
Button ($12.85)
SB ($7.85)
BB ($10.45)
Hero ($7.20)
UTG+1 ($7.35)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9, 9.
Hero raises to $0.3, UTG+1 calls $0.30, MP1 calls $0.30, MP2 calls $0.30, 4 folds, BB calls $0.20.

Flop: ($1.55) A, 9, 8 (5 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.1, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, BB folds.

i prefer a full pot bet here when short. if villain calls 3/4, he is calling full pot. you need to get that extra $.50 in now, so you can get closer to "shove city." this has two effects: 1- it puts more in the pot. 2- it takes more out of your stack, thereby making your future bets' sizes smaller in relation to the future pot.

Final Pot: $1.55

my friend was basically a little disappointed that he didnt get action here. arent we all in the same situation?

and here is my reply, because its what i struggle with when deep...personally.

yah, sucks when that happens, but all you need is the first call. once you get that, the felting is almost inevitable. you either half pot it on turn, to look a bit weak, or shove it when you think he cant drop the A or to protect against a draw. pretty simple.

when deeper, you may still wonder, "hmmmm, how is the best way to get it in? do i minbet, minraise, shove, 1/2 pot, 3/4 pot...gee, i'm so confused. hope i guess right with this big hand."

and, to me, thats the major difference in the styles. when short, you dont have the stack to "get cute" with.

the reason i post this is because SHORTING DOESNT MAKE THIS DECISION ANY EASIER, YOUR BRAIN DOES. stop getting cute with your good hands. just play them fast and hard.

this is as much for you as it is a reminder for me...lol

Very good point, especially at the microstakes! I know for a while that this
was my biggest leak. Trying to out think players that dont think is only out
thinking yourself!

hence, my signature...lol

I try not to get too cute myself. I usually only start getting cute when I'm on tilt, and then of course I leave myself open to some buttwad sucking out on me, which always happens when I'm already on tilt

Could you offer a follow-up on how to play against a bunch of cuties? It seems like everyone slow plays, and it gets frustrating. No one indicates confidence in their hand so mine looks good and I bet it. Often there is just a smooth call so it looks like they're drawing at something . You don't know until the river when they shove in with a massive pile of chips that they probably flopped a set to a small pocket pair or picked up a better straight than the one you're holding.

That seems to be where I lose the most money, so I'm not getting cute but I'm losing a lot of bets to people that are.

Originally Posted by trump

Could you offer a follow-up on how to play against a bunch of cuties?

man, i know the feeling. but, i am NOT the guy to offer advice here. we need some "more power" in this thread to answer that one.

i will tell you to post some hands in either the "full ring" or "short handed" forums, whichever you play, and ask the question in there.

an easy way to do this, if you dont have PT is:

- immediately when you notice a hand making you go, "whaaa?" you grab the HH from the poker site. highlight it. and, copy paste it into a word/works/notepad document on your desktop of your computer.
- then, copy/paste it again into the converter. and, post it into your thread.

that sounds a lot more intimidating than it is.

villain really isnt that short here. if he had 40bbs then its just a turn shove if he gets a call here. theres a BIG difference between a shortstacker (20-40bbs) and someone who just doesnt reload their stack to full and has 70-80bbs sometimes.

Yep, had a great example of that myself in a small buy-in tournament at Stars. I had Ahs-Jds on the button, i raised 3x BB and got called by 4 people. Flop came K-7-4 all of hearts, SB bet half the pot and everyone called in front of me, so i had good pot odds and called the bet. Turn came 2 of hearts, the SB bet the pot, everyone called, and i smooth called with the nut flush.

River came Ace of Spades, the SB moved all in, the BB moved all in, the other 2 players folded, and i called, showing an ace-high flush. The SB showed A-A for trips, and the BB showed queen-high flush.