*sighs* nothing seems to work for me in poker any more.

Here's 3 hands for you guys.

Hand 1:

BB is aggression, has a post flop aggression factor of 5.0. i read his overbet on the flop as weakness and went from there.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (8 handed)

Button ($385.45)
SB ($537.65)
BB ($471.20)
Hero ($597)
UTG+1 ($107.60)
MP1 ($223.50)
MP2 ($156)
CO ($1079.30)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero calls $4, 1 fold, MP1 calls $4, MP2 calls $4, 1 fold, Button calls $4, 1 fold, BB checks.

Flop: ($22) , , (5 players)
BB bets $24, Hero raises to $56, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, Button folds, BB calls $32.

Turn: ($134) (2 players)
BB bets $80, Hero calls $80.

River: ($294) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $294

Results in white below:
BB has Jd 8d (one pair, eights).
Hero has Ah Ad (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $294.

Hand 2:

Normally i don't play my sets like this, so in the spirit of mixing things up, i mixed things up and went with the stereotypical set play. Of course, i've never played with this guy before.

On the river, i couldn't imagine what hand he would call my all in with that i could beat. As it turns out, he had the one hand that would have.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (9 handed)

UTG ($432.95)
UTG+1 ($391.45)
MP1 ($677.25)
MP2 ($465.30)
Hero ($394)
CO ($113.60)
Button ($331.20)
SB ($383.60)
BB ($949.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with , .
UTG raises to $12, 3 folds, Hero calls $12, 4 folds.

Flop: ($30) , , (2 players)
UTG bets $16, Hero calls $16.

Turn: ($62) (2 players)
UTG bets $40, Hero raises to $80, UTG calls $40.

River: ($222) (2 players)
UTG bets $100, Hero calls $100.

Final Pot: $422

Results in white below:
UTG has Ac Jh (two pair, aces and jacks).
Hero has Th Ts (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins $422.


Hand 3:

UTG has a VP$IP of 33%. that's all i know about him. Also, i meant to put him in on the turn, but i misclicked.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (8 handed)

Hero ($400)
MP2 ($469.75)
CO ($344.30)
Button ($201)
SB ($290.85)
BB ($318.10)
UTG ($265.60)
UTG+1 ($450.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , .
UTG calls $4, 1 fold, Hero raises to $20, MP2 calls $20, 4 folds, UTG calls $16.

Flop: ($66) , , (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $40, MP2 folds, UTG calls $40.

Turn: ($146) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $205.5, UTG calls $205.50.

River: ($557) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4, UTG calls $0.10 (All-In).

Final Pot: $561.10

Results in white below:
UTG has 8s 6s (three of a kind, sixes).
Hero has As Ah (two pair, aces and sixes).
Outcome: UTG wins $557.20. Hero wins $3.89.

~Dustin

Hand #1 is fine

Hand #2....I was almost positive he had AJ when he led the river. I hear people all the time say "he'll only call that all in if he has you beat" This is the most overused cliche in poker. Whats worse, its just not true. I wouldve pushed all in on that river every time and I would expect to get called at least half the time with AJ. Only AA beats you. Im pushing in.

Hand #3) Why do you push in on the turn when you just said in hand 2 that you would only get called by a hand that beats you?

Hand 1 - did you consider value betting the river? Him going for a check-raise with a made flush against a calling opponent would be quite advanced here.

Hand 2 - Hands that beat you ... JJ, AA, KQ, hands you beat that would probably call the raise ... AJ, ATd, AKd, AQd ... a raise is probably marginally more correct, but I don't think there's much in it.

I'd definitely raise the turn much bigger though - to $120 or $140.

As played you've given him amazing odds if he is semi-bluffing with a big suited ace or KQ.

Hand 3 - playing againsts 1/2 stacks is quite painful ... I don't think you can get away from this. 50BB with AA vs trips on co-ordinated two-tone board is a fairly standard result anyway.

Hmmm... I don't really know about hand 3.

I definitely bet the flop harder, but when I get the caller, I'm at least slowing WAY down--checking the turn behind, despite the flush and straight draws.

I'll probably call a weak river bet, but I don't think I'm willing to double him up on a paired board like that.

ice, in hand 3, i put him in hoping to take it down there - i figured being loose he'd call me with a wide range of hands, including a flush draw, and obviously there were only a few possible holding that had me beat. I would have been fine taking down the pot though.

Against a larger stack i would generally check this turn and call a small river bet. Against a shorter stack, it's more difficult.


Also, hand 2, i forgot to mention that when he tbet $40 on the turn i put him on a big pair, AA or KK. I always go with my reads (they're right more often than not), so when the A fell on the river, i felt he was either value betting or block betting. Obv. i was wrong this time.

I