session review, warning, very long post...

Ok, here's a post-session review of today's short session (just over 1k hands). I think that there is value in doing a thorough review once in a while, but it seems that people rarely give it the time or they focus on the wrong hands. That applies for me anyway. Also, so many ways to sacrifice a goat, I'm interested in how other people approach session review...

I talked to Stax about this and he said to go ahead and post it (mod approval), so direct your complaints his way. Something this shows is that all that learning to stack fish at micro-stakes retains its value up into low stakes.

First up, a look at some stats. Whether or not AIEV should be included here is moot. It is unnecessary as I will see if I'm getting my money in good or bad during the big hands during hand per hand review anyway. Basically I'm looking at the stats to see if anything huge jumps out.



What do the stats tell me?
The gap between vpip and pfr is creeping up, and vpip is getting close to terrain I'm trying to avoid for the moment, but I think both look fine.
3-bet looks fairly typical.
Steal looks a tiny bit low, but I remember that I had a couple of difficult seats where I had immediate position on big fish, so didn't want to leave, but was to the right of players who get quite feisty in blind defence and button vs co steal situations – so I toned down the stealing a little.
Most of the other stats are lacking sample size, although the 25% of 3-bets faced that I obviously called suggests that I wasn't folding or 4-betting enough – so I'll review each of those hands.

Filtering on VPIP = True and I get 191 hands from the 1k. Also, if you haven't done this before – do so. And be amazed at how much the blinds are costing you
First up I add the Saw Flop = false, and see what was going on. I don't look at hands where I raised and took down the pot, but will look at all hands where I put money in pre then folded pre, and all hands where I 3/4-bet. I copy a selection of hands from this filter below.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($168.30)
MP3 ($157.95)
CO ($33.75)
Hero (Button) ($101)
SB ($216.55)
BB ($115.50)
UTG ($88.50)
UTG+1 ($64.85)
MP1 ($100.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, K
6 folds, Hero bets $3.50, SB raises to $11, 1 fold, Hero raises to $26, 1 fold

Total pot: $23 | Rake: $0

First thing to note is that I opened for a steal to 3.5x rather than 3x which is what I try and do most of the time. Need to keep an eye on that. Villain is a fairly solid reg who runs 14-11 with 6% 3-bet and decent positional and pre-flop situational awareness. One of his main points of exploitation is his float play. In this situation I've already folded to his 3-bets a couple of times across the tables this session, I know his range his very wide (e.g. I've seen him 3-bet 35s in this situation) and I know he gives 4-bets some respect. I don't particularly want my first 4-bet against him to be AA so I decide to take down the pot now. Calling is probably ok here too given that I'll see a flop in position. Folding is also definitely ok.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($110.95)
CO ($97.50)
Hero (Button) ($100)
SB ($104.50)
BB ($100)
UTG ($98.30)
UTG+1 ($102)
MP1 ($31.25)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
UTG bets $2, 3 folds, CO calls $2, Hero raises to $9.50, 4 folds

Total pot: $7.50 | Rake: $0

UTG opener here is dead money running 60-20. CO is aware and kinda nitty, he has paint cards and pairs here most of the time. I'm happy to stack off pre with QQ here vs this fish if that question is asked of me. Calling is gross as the flop will go 4, and maybe 5-way. The only reason to call would be if I was confident that one of the blinds would squeeze, and although the BB is prone to squeezing, I don't think it happens often enough here for me to call. 3-bet sizing here is interesting. Around pot is about right, takes away set mining odds – although I should consider a bigger bet size as a call from UTG will give CO decent odds to call as a result of indirect collusion. In retrospect I like $12 more.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($101.50)
Button ($103)
Hero (SB) ($100)
BB ($200)
UTG ($108.50)
UTG+1 ($198.50)
MP1 ($259.25)
MP2 ($178)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A
5 folds, Button bets $3.50, Hero raises to $11, 2 folds

Total pot: $8 | Rake: $0

Results:
Hero didn't show Q, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $8

Villain here is a 12-9 reg with 22% steal and 75% fold to 3-bet. He c-bets a high 80%. I should be 3-betting any two cards here. Whether calling with the top of my range is greater EV than 3-betting here is difficult to see. I don't really like seeing flops out of position against a wide/obscure range, but maybe I should. I'll be ahead on most flops and can probably extract more value post-flop when villain c-bets. Very common situation and one to look at more closely later.

What this filter also shows is that I'm not 3-betting air from the blinds vs steals enough. I'm seeing a whole bunch of 3-bets vs steals with hands like QQ/AJ etc, and none with 46s. Another thing to focus on against serial steal-fold types. Standard 3-bet sizing and anyone who folds to 3-bets > 60% (less than the standard number as villain has a far wider steal range than typical open range, so will be folding to 3-bets more often. Few villains are 4-betting light or even calling 3-bets light – regardless of what some FTR regs may say).

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($35)
MP1 ($101.50)
MP2 ($82.50)
CO ($104.60)
Hero (Button) ($123.90)
SB ($44.55)
BB ($109.20)
UTG ($105.60)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, J
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, 2 folds, Hero bets $4.50, SB raises to $44.55 (All-In), 3 folds

Total pot: $11 | Rake: $0

Results:
SB didn't show
Outcome: SB won $11

MP limper here doesn't open-limp that often, so isolating isn't the best play with TJo. Isolating is great vs fish or against villains with exploitable limp-fold or post-flop tendencies. This doesn't apply here. It would be even worse if either of the blinds was a solid player with 3-betting tendencies – neither is. An iso to $4 vs $4.5 is something to consider, but the point of an iso is to get money in from fish pre-flop when it becomes free money post flop. Anyway, SB is unknown and short so I think folding is standard here.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($214.50)
Button ($50)
SB ($272.65)
BB ($100)
Hero (UTG) ($131.50)
UTG+1 ($116.55)
MP1 ($122.20)
MP2 ($200)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, 10
BB calls $1, Hero bets $4.50, 5 folds, SB raises to $8, BB raises to $22, 1 fold, SB calls $14

Flop: ($49) 7, 7, J (2 players)
SB checks, BB bets $33, 1 fold

Total pot: $49 | Rake: $2.45

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $46.55

UTG is a 9-7 winning reg and I have seen him open limp AA before. Given this, I don't know whether the pfr is the best play, especially as the big blind is maniac dead money. Limping behind is probably better. Anyway, as played he has AA about always and I've got to get out of there.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($189.55)
UTG+1 ($122.80)
MP1 ($136.10)
MP2 ($99.40)
CO ($100)
Hero (Button) ($100)
SB ($73.35)
BB ($100)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 6
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, 2 folds, Hero bets $4, SB raises to $10, 1 fold, MP1 calls $9, 1 fold

Flop: ($25) 2, 8, J (2 players)
SB bets $21, MP1 calls $21

Turn: ($67) 2 (2 players)
SB bets $42.35 (All-In), MP1 calls $42.35

River: ($151.70) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $151.70 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and twos).
MP1 had A, 2 (full house, twos over Aces).
Outcome: MP1 won $148.70

MP limper is dead money, 67-0 over 30ish hands. SB seems to be a player much like the nittier version of me over a small 150 hand sample. I tend to give unknowns credit the first time they 3-bet me and after the MP call I'm not really going to be enjoying many flops. I don't think that A6o was actually a good iso-choice here, given that MP is likely to be calling any ace. Then again, he will have standard post-flop weak-passive play most likely so I'll pot-control faced with resistance. This becomes irrelevant after the 3-bet though. Interesting is that MP's A2 stacked sb's QQ after MP called a pot cbet with bottom pair then turned trips.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (5 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP) ($116.50)
Button ($30.60)
SB ($100)
BB ($100)
UTG ($247.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, 8
1 fold, Hero bets $3.50, 1 fold, SB calls $3, BB raises to $16, 2 folds

Total pot: $10.50 | Rake: $0

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $10.50

Steal here it's again interesting to see that I'm opening to 3.5x. BB is the 9-7 reg with 5% 3-bet and this is a classic squeeze spot where I have a wide range and sb will generally have a pretty weak holding. Looking more closely I see that villain has a high fold to 4-bet (these 5k+ hand sample sizes are useful sometimes), and also note that he has a lowish cbet around 60%. T8s performs pretty well here and is fine multi-way if the sb comes along, I have postion. This can be a call sometimes. I don't like 4-betting here, it is high-variance and unnecessary. Folding is ok, but I don't think it's the best play. Interesting to consider what happens here with aces - http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...91.html#916235


ok, time for some hands that actually saw a flop. Worth noting how much analysis can occur in the simple spots above that most people will never even give a second thought to. Cos session review takes time and is harder than opening a poker client and mashing buttons.

I saw 111 flops during the session. So I probably made a bunch of mistakes...

I can probably ignore hands like the following two, they aren't where the value comes from (read TA's reciprocity article) – I got money in good with reads at the time. I'm happy with how they were played.

The 99 hand it is worth noting that the button is an uber-fish and I want him calling on the flop.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($150.60)
UTG ($177.85)
UTG+1 ($200)
Hero (MP1) ($109.35)
MP2 ($315.10)
MP3 ($133.90)
CO ($88.30)
Button ($100.85)
SB ($102.05)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 9, 9
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $3, Hero calls $3, 3 folds, Button calls $3, SB calls $2.50, BB calls $2

Flop: ($15) A, 2, 9 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets $10, Hero calls $10, 3 folds

Turn: ($35) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $33, Hero raises to $96.35 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $63.35

River: ($227.70) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $227.70 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 had K, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Hero had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: Hero won $224.70

This next hand and villain is dead money and isn't folding any of his draws/top pair hands on the turn, but he may fold some rivers (e.g. a flush draw that doesn't come). At this point I needed to check whether continuing to play was +EV, it was the second beat in a couple of minutes and I was feeling it a little...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($236.50)
Button ($100)
SB ($71)
BB ($357.10)
UTG ($194.50)
Hero (UTG+1) ($139.65)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($121.40)
MP3 ($200)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, K
1 fold, Hero bets $3.50, 4 folds, Button calls $3.50, 1 fold, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($11) 5, Q, 10 (3 players)
BB bets $6, Hero calls $6, 1 fold

Turn: ($23) J (2 players)
BB bets $16, Hero raises to $130.15 (All-In), BB calls $114.15

River: ($283.30) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $283.30 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB had 5, J (full house, fives over Jacks).
Hero had A, K (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $280.30


ok, some more spots
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($24)
BB ($133.55)
UTG ($27.40)
UTG+1 ($30.50)
MP1 ($24.90)
MP2 ($40.05)
MP3 ($21)
Hero (CO) ($100)
Button ($24.15)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8, 8
3 folds, MP2 calls $1, 1 fold, Hero bets $4.50, 2 folds, BB calls $3.50, MP2 calls $3.50

Flop: ($14) 6, 2, 2 (3 players)
BB bets $6, 1 fold, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($26) 3 (2 players)
BB bets $9, Hero calls $9

River: ($44) Q (2 players)
BB bets $24, Hero calls $24

Total pot: $92 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB had 3, 3 (full house, threes over twos).
Hero had 8, 8 (two pair, eights and twos).
Outcome: BB won $89

villain here is relative unknown 33-12 over 50 hands thus far. His post-flop play seems pretty fishy but hard to tell so have to stereotype based on general feel. Pre-flop is standard. Most of bb's range is pairs and aces. Flop donk is rarely a 2 or 66 cos these type of players slowplay. So, say he's A6/33/44/55/77/88/99/TT/JJ. If he's weak he's likely to slow down on the turn with all of his range, but if I raise I am likely to get a call. Easy fold if he 3-bets. So, I want to get money in while I think I'm ahead and that makes a raise optimal here. Turn I guess I have to turn into a station, but I hate it and once he donks the river even when a queen hits I'm about never ahead so have to fold. I called cos I suck. I should be folding AQ on this river, so definitely 88. Mistakes on the flop result in more expensive mistakes on later streets. Play flops well and make more money. http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...96.html#916317


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) ($100)
Button ($100)
SB ($107.90)
BB ($100.10)
UTG ($20)
MP1 ($21.50)
MP2 ($27.70)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, Q
3 folds, Hero bets $3, Button raises to $10, 2 folds, Hero calls $7

Flop: ($21.50) 3, 8, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $12, Button calls $12

Turn: ($45.50) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $36, Hero folds

Total pot: $45.50 | Rake: $2.25

Results:
Button didn't show
Outcome: Button won $43.25

villain is a reg i've already described - fairly solid who runs 14-11 with 6% 3-bet and decent positional and pre-flop situational awareness. One of his main points of exploitation is his float play. In this situation I've already folded to his 3-bets a couple of times across the tables this session, I know his range his very wide (e.g. I've seen him 3-bet 35s in this situation) and I know he gives 4-bets some respect.

Pre-flop I know his range is wide, but calling here is spew out of position. Folding is fine, so is 4-betting. Flop donk is ugly, what am I trying to rep here? He's going to bet when checked to a lot, and knows that I know that. Turn is even uglier. His float play is his leak. If I had a monster then checking here would be standard cos he is always going to bet. If I donk again he's likely to fold. Anyway, pre-flop and flop play cost me money. Horrible hand.


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($58.45)
BB ($74.90)
UTG ($42.25)
UTG+1 ($27.05)
MP1 ($130.40)
MP2 ($20)
MP3 ($23.50)
CO ($113)
Hero (Button) ($100)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
6 folds, Hero bets $3.50, 1 fold, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) 10, J, 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7, BB calls $7

Turn: ($21.50) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($21.50) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11, BB raises to $64.40 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $43.50 | Rake: $2.15

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $41.35

villain is 74-13 over small sample. Dead money. Pre-flop I steal $3.5 vs this guy cos no need to balance etc. Flop I cbet close to pot cos he's going to be calling any J, any draw, etc. Turn is gross, but I'm not 100% convinced about my check behind. Actually, I think this may be the place for a turn bet-fold? River and he rarely checks a jack two streets here, so I bet hoping for a call from his ace kicker – but given that I have two aces that's kinda unlikely, and i'm not certain that even an uber-fish will call A7 here. Obviously I fold to the shove. I dunno, I don't think this was terrible until the river, but meh. Checking AA behind two streets feels weak. Dunno. Can he ever have QQ/KK here?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($102)
SB ($20.50)
Hero (BB) ($100)
UTG ($114.90)
MP1 ($24)
MP2 ($158.10)
CO ($105.05)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 9
2 folds, MP2 bets $3.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) 3, 4, 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($17.50) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $10, Hero folds

Total pot: $17.50 | Rake: $0.85

Results:
MP2 didn't show
Outcome: MP2 won $16.65

villain is unknown seemingly dead money 32-9 over small sample. Calling pre-flop is for a combination of set value and cos I'm often ahead. Flop is the important street, I'm ahead here most of the time and this flop looks pretty good if he thinks i'm likely on low pocket pairs. His small c-bet screams weakness and is just asking to be check-raised. Calling post-flop streets out of position without knowing where you stand is going to cost a bunch of money. Calling here also sucks because about half the deck is scare cards for me. I don't like betting the queen, so check-fold suddenly seems the only option – check-raise is great if he is good enough to fold AQ, but he probably isn't...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($106.65)
SB ($111.10)
BB ($104.55)
UTG ($101.65)
Hero (UTG+1) ($100)
MP1 ($221.25)
MP2 ($238.65)
CO ($97.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, J
UTG calls $1, Hero bets $4.50, 3 folds, Button calls $4.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $3.50

Flop: ($15) 5, 6, 7 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, Button bets $9, 1 fold, Hero folds

Total pot: $15 | Rake: $0.75

Results:
Button didn't show
Outcome: Button won $14.25

So, here I'm opening too loose from EP – except that UTG is dead money. Button is 12-9-3.1 decent aggression, winning player. He's calling my c-bet, maybe raising as he knows how scary this board looks to my range. Check-fold seems the only option, it's giving away money, but... ahh. Playing out of position against ok players.


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($97)
MP2 ($130.90)
MP3 ($95.10)
Hero (CO) ($155)
Button ($18.50)
SB ($32.55)
BB ($76.80)
UTG ($116.80)
UTG+1 ($55.50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
5 folds, Hero bets $3.50, 2 folds, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) A, 9, 7 (2 players)
BB bets $4, Hero folds

Total pot: $7.50 | Rake: $0.35

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $7.15

BB is dead money 42-10 over 100+ hands. Pre-flop I steal 3.5x rather than 3x cos he doesn't see the difference and won't be 3-betting light. Flop I folded to the donk cos he has an ace so often, but I think this is bad play as he won't be donking again without a decent hand and he doesn't always have an ace. Dunno. I think this is a call.

And now for some winning hands...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($35.50)
MP3 ($108.50)
CO ($102.65)
Hero (Button) ($170.50)
SB ($81.55)
BB ($113.95)
UTG ($23)
UTG+1 ($26.55)
MP1 ($20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 8
6 folds, Hero bets $3.50, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($10.50) K, 8, A (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $7, SB calls $7, 1 fold

Turn: ($24.50) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $20, SB raises to $71.05 (All-In), Hero calls $51.05

River: ($166.60) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $166.60 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 6, 8 (flush, Ace high).
SB had A, Q (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $163.60

SB seems uber-fish, loose and passive just how I like them. So much of your money comes from these players, you need to pick them quickly (I had this guy tagged after only 6 hands), you need to play as many hands against them as you can, and be prepared to stack off a little light against their crazy ranges. BB is kinda standard TAG-nit winning reg. I flop the nuts here against villains' ranges – bottom pair+flush draw. C-bet is semi-bluff but I'll get it in if I need to. The call is great, I'll be checking a blank behind on the turn. Turn check-raise is kinda surprising, so he has a flush here sometimes, but he has A5 here too, and my hand is very well disguised cos he would never suspect. Anyway, as I was saying about stacking off against fish....


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($146)
MP1 ($102.15)
MP2 ($26.10)
CO ($164.15)
Button ($25.50)
Hero (SB) ($100)
BB ($20.50)
UTG ($61)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, 9
UTG calls $1, 2 folds, MP2 calls $1, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($4) 3, 2, A (4 players)
Hero bets $3, 1 fold, UTG calls $3, 1 fold

Turn: ($10) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

River: ($10) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, UTG raises to $57 (All-In), Hero calls $49

Total pot: $124 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, 9 (flush, Ace high).
UTG had J, 8 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $121

villain is more dead money. 74-46 over 46 hands. Pre-flop is kinda meh, folding is fine too. Not sure that this is a huge leak though. Raising here isn't as good as it first appears as the CO limper is also a big fish and I think they're limp-calling a lot and I don't want to be playing Q9s out of postion.
The flop donk with draws against fish is becoming standard for me. It's successful often enough against fish that I don't like donking good hands against them. It also allows me to control the pot size, this type of fish is only min-raising if he's going to raise and that provides me pot odds for the draw. If left to his own devices he may accidentally overbet the aces in his range. Turn is an easy check, villain is going to check behind a weak ace. River I hit bingo, bet close enough to pot that he'll hopefully call the weak aces in his range. 2nd nut flush is close enough to the nuts not even deep against dead money so I call this all day.

Ok, enough easy hands vs fish...
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($23.50)
SB ($179.05)
BB ($27.40)
UTG ($30.50)
UTG+1 ($24.90)
MP1 ($35.55)
MP2 ($21)
Hero (MP3) ($100)
CO ($24.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 2, 4
4 folds, Hero bets $3.50, CO calls $3.50, 1 fold, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($14) J, A, K (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $8, 3 folds

Total pot: $14 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
Hero didn't show 2, 4 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $13.30

pre-flop this is perhaps a little loose from this seat? Flop smashes my range and it's going to be pretty hard for anyone to call without AJ+, so c-bet is standard, a little on the weak side to look strong and so that it only needs to work 1/3 times to be worthwhile. Ez game. Obviously I shut down to any resistance. Easy hand vs regs instead.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($115)
Button ($41)
SB ($20.50)
BB ($48.45)
UTG ($20)
UTG+1 ($17)
MP1 ($31.20)
MP2 ($100)
Hero (MP3) ($120.05)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A, K
4 folds, Hero bets $3.50, 3 folds, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) 3, 9, K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, BB calls $6

Turn: ($19.50) 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($19.50) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $19.50 | Rake: $0.95

Results:
BB had 9, J (one pair, nines).
Hero had A, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $18.55

again, villain is pretty bad 34-17 small sample. I was talking to someone who I've played a lot of hands with and he suggested that my biggest leak is trying to outplay/soulread regs. That, and position. So I've taken that on board. The board is far from scary for me and I'm putting him on pairs and maybe gutshots. Sure, he could have a set, but TPTK vs a 40bb stack I won't be folding much once he calls the flop anyway. I don't think I'm getting 3 streets of value very often here though, so check turn behind. River is probably the worst card that could come so I check behind cos I'm playing bad. I think not betting the turn is ok if I think he's capable of folding KJ, but if i'm not betting the turn then I have to bet fold the river. Chances of him checking two streets with a better hand are pretty low too. Missed value.


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($92.50)
Hero (SB) ($103)
BB ($100)
UTG ($90)
UTG+1 ($105.10)
MP1 ($20)
MP2 ($21.50)
CO ($32.70)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 2 folds, CO calls $1, Button bets $2, Hero calls $1.50, BB calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, CO calls $1

Flop: ($10) 2, J, 5 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, CO checks, Button checks

Turn: ($10) K (5 players)
Hero bets $7, 4 folds

Total pot: $10 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn't show A, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $9.50

pre-flop i'm getting huge odds and I know villains well enough to not be scared of any limp-raise bs. Flop I check multi-way and it checks around immediately, means that they don't like their hands. K is a great turn scare card, obviously I wouldn't be betting here without at least a king in my hand, so the king doesn't scare me, and they already had check-fold ticked anyway. Timing tell and an orphan pot. 10 big blinds, I'll have them if nobody wants them.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($103.50)
UTG+1 ($107.90)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($99.30)
Hero (MP3) ($100)
CO ($130.50)
Button ($244.35)
SB ($214.90)
BB ($101.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 10, 10
4 folds, Hero bets $3.50, 2 folds, SB calls $3, 1 fold

Flop: ($8) 9, 10, 7 (2 players)
SB bets $3, Hero raises to $16, 1 fold

Total pot: $14 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
Hero didn't show 10, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $13.30
villain is almost reg loose and spewey makes moves 24-14 with 3.2% 3-bet and only 45% fold to cbet.
I flop top set and there is no way I can let him have an effectively free turn here – most of the deck is scare cards and his donk looks like 'please call and give me great odds to my gutshot/whatever'.
Raise was big because I don't think he's folding many of his draws and I want to destroy his odds. Guess he's folding some of his draws, and maybe the sizing was a little over the top. Maybe to $13 is better? Yeah, think so...


Looking at the rest of the hands and I see a lot of cbets or delayed cbets that took down small pots, sometimes with air, sometimes with hands.
So that will do for now.

I wanted to do this in writing just once, it's hella faster without so I probably won't be doing this again for a while!

The sample size will def skew the stats, and not much can be pulled from this. However, none of the stats look inherently bad. I don't typically run 17/13 at FR, usually around 14/11 - 15/12. The 3bet% looks fine, but is obv relative depending on the players, etc. I would say if your AF of 1.65 is standard, then you are probably being a bit too passive, but once again it depends.

[K9s] - I think it's fine. I typically open 3x from Co/Bu just because my range is very wide. Especially at FR where players typically don't care at all about defending their blinds, and it becomes relatively easy to steal with a huge range, without having to worry about getting 3bet or called and c/r often.

The 4bet is fine assuming villain is (1) 3betting a wide range and (2) Isn't stacking off light. I think it's a standard assumption to make with stacks that indicate he does 3bet light, and no history to indicate that he should stack off against you light.

I wouldn't advocate calling K9s here because it does have some pretty iffy reverse implied odds situations postflop, that can be difficult to deal with, and therefore prone to mistakes. Especially since you have the Blocker, I would perfer jus to 4bet/fold here and be +EV based on fold equity.

[QQ] - Obv standard given the stats of the UTG. And yeah, you obviously stack off against UTG. If Co backraises or something, it's kind of a tricky spot. Especially if you think he is aware enough to be 3betting UTG with a wide range because UTG is such a fish, in which case Co should rarely have QQ+/AK in his range for flatting the fish's open (unless he felt he was getting squeezed often).

I'm kind of indifferent on the correct 3bet sizing. I think $9-$10 is fine because UTG will call with a wide range. However, I can see merits in 3betting larger. One being, it does cut down on CO's implied odds if UTG calls. Another reason being is UTG is such a fish, he probably won't take into account bet sizing all that much when making his decision.

[AQo] - This is a spot where I think we should probably mix up the frequency with which we call and 3bet. We are certainly ahead of villain's range so folding is out of the question. Calling keeps his entire range in, and since he likes to c-bet often we can do a number of things postflop. Whether that be c/calling when we hit or have Ahi, or c/r bluffing when he cbets a flop that hits our range.

3betting isn't a bad option either, but depends kind of how he would react to 3bets. If he is folding most all but the top of his range (TT+, AQ+), which seems kind of the standard at FR, then I would be much more inclined to call AQ here. If he is 4bet bluffing, or calling a wide range (such as suited connectors, AJ, etc), then I think 3bet/shoving is probably best.

As a 'general' rule, we should be 3betting out of he SB with a higher frequency than out of the BB, because in the BB we close the action, whereas from the SB we do not.

[JTo] - Pretty standard. Whether villain limps often or not isn't really a large concern. If he limp/calls often, then that's fine as we get loads of profitable cbet spots, as well as having a fine hand like JT. If he limp/fold often, then again that's +EV for us. Even if he limps rarely as you said this villain does, it's still +EV for us to isolate him because (1) we have the BU, and (2) his range is pretty transparent if he limp/calls. His range will be something like suited connectors or small pps, and we can cbet, and barrel profitably in alot of spots.

Only time I wouldn't iso is if it was a villain that almost never limped without the intention of limp/raising. In that case I would probably limp behind with JTo, and certainly limp behind JTs.

[TT] - Meh... Idk here. So rarely do you see anything but total fish limp/raising. I would hate not raising TT here, but if you have a read that he only limps in this spot with the intention of limp/raising, and you suspect he is only doing this with his nut hands, then yes limping behind would be best.

TimStone from 200nl limp/raises me quite a bit. I've seen a few showdowns and he is doing so with 66/AQ, so if this was him I would raise TT, and call his limp/raise.

Yes, fold is standard when he 4bets.

[A6o] - Standard Iso. I'm isolating a very wide range when someone this bad limps, and I have the button. I certainly am not passing up this opportunity with A6. When SB 3bets, yeah, I just want to fold. His sizing intrigues me. It's small enough I kind of want to call and play a flop in position. But reverse implied odds screw us here, so I don't like that option. Also, I think his range is relatively strong here when he 3bets. Kinda seems like he wants to keep the fish in, while building the pot a bit more, and that's why he 3bet small. So yeah, nh.

[T8s] - meh.. If you have a decent sample size to include that he is in fact 3betting light, and respecting 4bets, you can probably 4bet a wide range in this spot. But, tbh, I would look at his 9/7 stats, and fold here. Especially with his sizing.

[99] - I think playing preflop, or the flop in any other manner is bad. I'm interested in the turn action though. I think I like calling the turn here better than shoving. Villain bets large enough that the pot will be big enough on the river to put the money in, even if he checks. But the main reason is, our turn range is so strong for raising the turn, he should be bet/folding all but like A9, 22, AA here. I think him stacking off with AK is pretty optimistic on his part.

If he doesn't notice our range, then yeah I think it's fine to shove the turn, as his range is strong for betting multiway on flop, and betting pot on turn. But other than that, I like flatting, and getting it in on the river.

[AKo] - preflop/flop = standard. Turn, I don't really like the shove. That's a HUGE overbet. We obviously raise, but I don't see why we don't just make a large committing raise rather than a shove. I mean obviously if he is a big enough fish that he won't fold his draws no matter what, then shoving is fine (as you said). Just pointing out that a shove is by no means 'standard' here because most would fold all of their draws (kinda think this guy might also).

[88] - I think this is fine actually. Against a retard, they will donk some very strange hands. I couldn't imagine folding the turn to a donk. I think raising the flop is +EV, but not sure if it's better than calling or not. River is kind of marginal, but probably still a call unless villain is passive, because he would still bet 77, 6x, flush draws, AK, AJ, etc type retarded hands. I could not imagine folding AQ on this river if we got here.

[KQo] - I think preflop is either a fold or 4bet. If it was KQs, then I think it becomes closer to a call. But we are going to get owned by a decent player postflop pretty often. As played, I just c/f flop.

[AA] - Meh, it's really gay, but I don't think there is much value in a river bet. I'd feel uber retarded not betting river, but I doubt he calls Khi, and Ahi is unlikely. Plus given the chances he could have Jx, Tx and play it this way. I think maybe we just check back river.

[99] - I think this is pretty standard. I couldn't imagine c/r this flop with 99 here. And against a retard that I don't give credit for ever folding a decent hand I wouldn't even consider turning 99 into a bluff on the turn. So I think it's between either c/folding or c/calling. Kinda close because donks can't value bet thin, and he is pretty likely to check behind the turn with Tx, JJ, so his range becomes either like 44/33/Qx/air. But, idk.. I just don't like c/calling turn, then having to c/f river. So I play it the same.


All I got for now.

First - insta add this thread to the digest if you haven't already Stacks.

I'm not going to suggest I'm really qualified to comment, but I'll comment anyway - so take with grain of salt.

Stats:
Disclaimer - I typically play 6max.

3bet % may be low. Or rather, it may be possible to 3bet bluff more often and still do it profitably. Even if the opponents are nitty this is not such a huge concern if they only continue to 3bets with a narrow range. If fold to 3bet % is 75% a 3bet to 3x PFR is breakeven. Of course image counts for a lot, so if you have an image that people will fold to it can be even more profitable. I'm sure you 3bet for value an appropriate amount of the time, but I think you may lose out on 3bet bluffing opportunities.

Steal seems a bit on the low end also (as you yourself said). While it's a perfectly acceptable % if the blinds play back at you a lot, FR should be generally more nitty than 6max, and thus the blinds are more likely to be auto-folding nits. Can always consider varying bet sizes down to 2.5bb for BTN raises if it gets the same folds.

For post flop aggression I like how you are progressively less aggressive on each street. Thumbs up to that. Your overall aggression frequency and aggression factor seem quite moderate. Not quite passive, but I would not automatically assume that it's more optimal than a more aggressive style. It almost seems as if you are playing a moderate form of fit or fold.

My gut feeling is that maybe you do not bluff enough. My other feeling is that you are probably multi-tabling ABC poker and missing thinner edges that way.

Hands:
K9s: You say that steal size is 3.5bb by mistake. I'm going to just assume you mean open size and you would open to 3bb with AA also. One thing I got from SSNLHE is the suggestion that while open size is situation dependent and late position is certainly part of the situation, there are other parts to the situation as well. One is, if the blinds call too much pre and fold too often post flop it may be worth just raising bigger because when you cbet you win a bigger pot. Similarly if they call too much both pre and post flop it may be worth betting bigger because when you hit and take them to value town the pot gets bigger easier. Conversely if the blinds defend against steal attempts by 3betting a lot a lower steal size (maybe down to 2.25-2.5bb) can work better. In this hand, I love the 4bet with ATC due to the dynamic. I do this as well. I steal until they 3bet, then I continue stealing until I'm sure they 3bet light - then I 4bet bluff. And yes, always with a non-premium the first time because the first time has much higher fold equity. I don't particularly like calling.

QQ: Agree with your comments as stated. Solid, but might benefit from a bigger 3bet so as not to school the CO who you don't want in the hand.

AQo: While the 3bet is profitable with ATC as long you don't do it every time and ruin your image, and while I hate seeing a flop against a nit with AQo when OOP - this is not the situation here. If he's opening around 22% then his range is nicely wide and weak and AQo is ahead of it. Also he cbets so much (too often) that I'd probably flat pre and float most flops and try to take it away on the turn. I'm not sure leading the turn is strong enough so I'd maybe try to check/raise the turn. Then if he checks behind I can insta-lead the river for something close to pot size as that is most easily read as a check/raise that failed to occur. On a wet flop I could lead the flop weakly to suggest a drawing hand. If he then raises me he probably has a made hand and I can continue with TPTK, TPGK and strong draws - if he calls I would tend to assume he has a drawing hand and I can punish that by betting blanks hard. Typically a nit is lost post-flop when he ends up there with a hand that is weaker than his normal post-flop range (a stealing hand) and he'll tend to just fire the one automatic cbet and shut down after. It's pretty easy to confuse a nit and get him out of his comfort zone. Nits look for excuses to fold.

JTo: Folding to the 3bet is obvious imo. I could go either way on the iso-raising. Just, if we do raise we need to expect to steal from the MP limper often if we see a flop with him. His limping range is probably weak.

TT: I think this is probably ok, but I'm not as sure that it's good as you seem to be. If he limp-reraises AA, he might also do it with AK. While he could be limping less than AA with the intent to raise or fold depending on the development, when he puts in the 4bet - does he expect to have fold equity or not? And if the BB is a crazy man he will often have a hand worse than yours also. It's probably a correct fold. I did a quick stove of TT vs AA,AKo vs AA-22, AJs+, AQo+ and TT came up with 34% equity. So if UTG takes this line sometimes as a bluff and the BB is a maniac getting it in here preflop doesn't seem to be a huge mistake, if a mistake at all. Especially note that you have a bigger edge with the dead money maniac, and a side pot that you only you can beat him out of. Of course if you shove and the BB folds you're in a bad situation against UTG. I think a fold is fine, but with a maniac that might be willing to stack off light and a side pot with him that only you can win I think it's not a super clear must-fold.

A6o: Raise bigger. He limps too much and he calls too much - punish him by having to call a larger amount so you make the size of his mistake bigger. 5bb is not likely to change his response any. Completely agree with folding to 3bet - A6o not good multiway in 3bet pot. 3bet obviously wants calls (bet sizing tell?)

T8s:
Fold is fine. I don't think I like calling so much. 4bet is probably best if you think BB is quite likely to be squeezing. If he calls the 4bet he is unlikely to have a hand that dominates yours so you will have outs. Only problem with 4betting is that you almost cannot 4bet a size which you can subsequently fold if he shoves. Your minimum bet size is to $28.50, and if SB folds and BB shoves you are looking to call $71.50 to win $131.50, requiring 35.2% equity to make calling mandatory.

99: Is this the best way to extract value from a set? Flop is dry, turn is dry-ish. The opponent is obviously keen to get money in the middle (from his bet size), but what other hands are we calling pre-flop, calling the flop and raising the turn with? I like tanking before calling better because it reads as a weaker range, such as potentially a reluctant ace with a worse kicker.

AKo: Overshove seems a bit excessive. Not saying it's bad, especially if your read is right and he is someone who doesn't want to get pushed around. Any raise is obviously +EV since you have the nuts and the best hand against you will have a maximum of 10 outs once. I would probably do a normal sized raise, but it's entirely possible I'd be missing value and that the oversized shove is better EV.

88: I think this is fine. In hindsight you can always ask yourself what other hands he's making a weak bet on the turn with. In retrospect it's obviously a suck bet, but in context - low straights just became more likely (possible, in fact) and a flush draw came on board and I bet to not price out any draws? River bet could be a bluff with missed spades. I think calling it down is fine, as is thanking him for keeping the pot small.

KQo: I like both folding and 4betting preflop. I don't think calling is wrong as long as you have a plan that can work. OOP doesn't speak in favour of calling. You can only call the 3bet if you plan to steal after the flop. You can't play fit or fold. So how do you steal against this opponent OOP in a 3bet pot? Ok, he floats light and I would guess generally attacks weakness. So we show him some post-flop weakness and check-raise his ass. That's our steal plan. Question is whether we want to do it on the flop or the turn after having led the flop. Since the flop is pretty dry, if this is your first big bluff in recent history I would tend to check-raise the flop simply because it'll have missed his range so often and we have two streets to improve. If I've already pulled a big bluff I'd be more inclined to lead flop and check-raise the turn (all-in) because flop then becomes too obvious to check-raise bluff at. This is obviously not good to do every time, but I would only call pre-flop if I plan in this case to try to steal after the flop.

AA: He could do this with 9s8s tbh. Hero's line is screaming I have A-high pls don't push me off my hand. I'm not sure you can actually bet/fold this river. Even if you bet bigger the natural question would be why you didn't bet a T or J on the turn. Checking behind is probably fine. You will win a huge majority of pots, but almost nothing you beat will call your bet and you may get bluffed off by worse if you reopen the betting.

99: The flop is pretty dry and for dry flops bets down to 1/2 PSB are pretty standard I thought? As in, I don't think his cbet is small and therefore screaming weakness. Rather I think it's larger than it needs to be. Your equity is good if you can get away with calling just one bet to showdown, but with the bet occurring on the flop you can't be sure that there won't be more bets. Calling flop is possibly bad if you do not have a clear plan for how you want to steal from this opponent. Since he's unknown you probably don't have a plan and can just fold the flop.

AJs: Fine with reads. Definitely +EV to iso-raise the dead money in UTG. Problem being the good player - how good is he? Does he know that you are likely iso-raising light and widening his cold calling range as an adjustment? Are you exploitable OOP post-flop? Do you give up too often? Is he making a play at you because you're making a play at a weaker player? Folding here is obviously fine, but you may need to try to find spots where you can play back at the good player so he doesn't fleece you.

QQ: His donk bet size is odd. The flop is pretty wet - you could have both straight and flush draws and yet he bets only slightly more than 1/2 pot. As villain I might bet as much as $6 if I decided to bet (probably settling on $5.5). Because the flop is wet I don't feel good about raising the flop - it's too likely to be read as a drawing hand. Better possibly to float and bet the turn if checked to. This just only really works if he's going to fold a weak ace - and since we don't know him, we don' know if he will. We could try to call and try to check it down to showdown, but the question is if the opponent will let us. I don't hate folding at all. As the saying goes: In small pots, when in doubt - fold.

86s: Fine for me. Wasn't sure about the flop bet size. With a flop that wet and multiway bet size can go as high as pot sized and betting smaller kind of gives away that you have a drawing hand. If the opponents are not observant this is fine. Rest is super fine.

Q9s: Fine for me. Limping after is fine as long as BB isn't the type to raise to pick up the dead money. Especially good because it is becoming a 4-way flop. Rest is good.

42s: Bit loose from the position, but dynamic/game flow/image can make that perfectly fine. Flop does hit your range hard and it's a good cbet if your opponents are good enough to fold weak aces and similar. I would not be surprised if there is at least one weak ace among your opponents.

AKo: Agree on the missed value part. This opponent could be bad enough that it's good to stack off with TPTK, but that might be marginal. Two streets I definitely think is in it. I think the flop is superdry and your bet size unnecessarily big unless he's so big a station that he doesn't care about odds and outs. It could be WA/WB and checking behind might be a good way to get two streets of value from worse hands. As played either turn or river need to be bet. I would lean towards taking that bet on the river. With big bet sizes I'd probably prefer check flop and bet turn and river. $6 + $16 = $22. With smaller bet sizes I could imagine some 1/2 PSBs on every street. $4 + $8 + $16 = $28.

ATo: Good. I don't like being OOP multiway - it almost reduces me to fit or fold and I would consider just raising here to isolate, but playing it to a cheap flop is also very effective. Timing tell and the right card coming on turn makes the turn bet obviously best. Not just because you could have a king, but also because you pick up the gutshot to fall back on if called, so you need less folds to be profitable.

TT: I agree that his weak bet size says that it's a draw that wants to draw cheaply. It might not actually be, but that's what it represents. A pot sized bet would be to $17 so the bet is actually slightly below pot size, but I'd agree that it's still too big. Raise to $13 is effectively a $10 bet into a pot of $14 - that's a pretty good size. Important thing about sets vs drawing hands is to remember that sets are also drawing hands. Even if he makes his whatever on the turn you're not without outs - so you don't have to completely squash his odds.