Forty Dollar No Limit Texas Hold'em Ring and Tournament Games

Session Late At Night

Just a reminder that “D” stands for dealer next to the players’ names. Okay, if you were me, what would you do?

Hand #1
$40 No Limit Texas Holdem ($1/$2 NL)
Table With Mixed Aggression

1} Kim G             $40 2d 2c
2) Player 2 D         $40 6h 4s
3) Player 3           $40 Td Tc
4) Player 4           $40 3h 3d
5) Player 5           $40 Kc 3c
6) Player 6           $40 8d Js
7) Player 7           $40 8c Jh
8) Player 8           $40 Ah 5h
9) Player 9           $40 2h Ad
10) Player 10          $40 Qd 4c

A pocket pair in mid to later position is worth a call. It is not a large pocket pair so I am going to either need some help or judging from the tone of the play at the table, be ready to raise or fold.

Player 3 posts small blind $1
Player 4 posts big blind $2
Player 5 folds
Player 6 folds
Player 7 folds
Player 8 raises $6
Player 9 folds
Player 10 folds

I didn’t know anything about Player 8 other than we all sat down to the table and he just looked to me like he was pretty anxious to play. His raise at this point wasn’t enough to mean anything to me. Even if at this point he had pocket aces or kings I still would want to see the flop since, so far, I can see it pretty inexpensively.

Kim G calls $8
Player 2 folds
Player 3 calls $7
Player 4 folds

FLOP: 9d 9c 6s
Player 3 checks
Player 8 checks

At this point, I looked around and didn’t see anybody looking thrilled at the flopped, getting too fidgety or anything that would tell me anything. Because it is only a $40 game I figured I would try to win it now and only get clobbered if somebody had a 9. It wasn’t a great move and I should have folded but I was planning on playing for a while and I wanted to get some sort of read on what kind of players I was up against. If I ended up losing $40, so be it. For this session I brought $120 just in case I would hit get a lot of variance. Generally, if I lose $80 I walk away and chalk it up to either bad playing on my part or bad luck.

Kim G bets $32 (all-in)
Player 3 folds
Player 8 calls $32 (all-in)
Kim G shows 2d 2c
Player 8 shows Ah 5h

When Player 8 turned over his cards, I wasn’t upset but I wasn’t thrilled. I got lucky nobody had a 9. At this point, I am the slight favorite with about a 58.8% chance of winning to the player’s 40.3% chance. Not quite fifty-fifty and slightly in my favor (which I have no problems with).

TURN: 9d 9c 6s Kd

RIVER: 9d 9c 6s Kd Qc

Kim G wins $86 with Two Pair, Nines and Twos
$4 raked.

In short I got lucky. Sometimes even if you play badly (or not in your best form) it doesn’t mater if somebody is playing sub-optimally to you and you just get lucky.
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Hand #2
$40 No Limit Texas Holdem ($1/$2 NL)
Table With Mixed Aggression

1} Kim G            $86 4d Ks
2) Player 2          $40 Qc 3c
3) Player 3 D        $32 5c Ts
4) Player 4          $38 Kd Qs
5) Player 5          $40 2c Tc
6) Player 6          $40 4s 6d
7) Player 7          $40 Ac Ad
8) Player 8          (sitting out)
9) Player 9         $40 5s 9h
10) Player 10        $40 6s Kc

Player 4 posts small blind $1
Player 5 posts big blind $2
Player 6 folds
Player 7 raises $5
Player 9 folds
Player 10 folds

Okay, gang? What would you do here? I hope you would fold because that is what I did. I wasn’t going anywhere with my cards.

Kim G folds
Player 2 folds
Player 3 folds
Player 4 folds
Player 5 folds

Player 7 wins $5 uncontested

In poker in general you will see a lot of hands where you get pocket aces or kings or jacks and you just can’t drum up any business. Please remember it is better to win the blinds and live to tell the tale than getting pocket aces and having them cracked by some person who played pocket twos, got lucky and hit his third two on the flop…

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10 DIGIT ISBN/SKU: 0977728277

13 DIGIT ISBN Complete: 978-0-9777282-7-5

40nlcvr

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