1/2 NL Hand Analysis - KK < 104dd

9 handed @ HardRockTampa (you may straddle any position except blinds)


UTG +1 straddles $5

UTG +2 (Hero) raises to $16, folds to button (villain)

Villain calls, UTG +1 calls ($51 pot) - ($44 pot after rake)

Flop - 10 7 5 (two hearts), UTG +1 checks, hero bets $20, villain makes it $50, UTG +1 folds, hero calls ($144 pot)

Turn - Q of clubs, hero leads for $65, villain calls ($274 pot)

River - 4 of hearts (straight and flush gets there), hero checks, villain jams, hero has $110 behind

I tanked for about 2-3 minutes and I called... Villain says "you're good" .. I turn over my kings and dealer is shipping me the pot and villain goes "never mind I have two pair, I didn't see the four" and turns over 10/4 suited

I just walk away as the guy continues to apologize

villain shows T4, with two pairs? he was drunk?
he could only be drunk! I can't analyze... is too much for me, lose $200+ in one hand, in that way

I'm not certain about live rules but if he folded the hand then you should win regardless of what he had as I believe. He can't come back saying he has two pair whatnot to claim the money.

I don't quite like how the hand was played. I'd size it up pre (because if a player is calling T4s from BTN in this table, then you should charge way more from stations), & on flop (to make it easier to jam on turn)
Not certain about the river call as well. Player dependant but I think we are beat most of the time
If you had a blocker then the call becomes more attractive

Alucard said:

I'm not certain about live rules but if he folded the hand then you should win regardless of what he had as I believe. He can't come back saying he has two pair whatnot to claim the money.

I don't quite like how the hand was played. I'd size it up pre (because if a player is calling T4s from BTN in this table, then you should charge way more from stations), & on flop (to make it easier to jam on turn). Not certain about the river call as well. Player dependant but I think we are beat most of the time If you had a blocker then the call becomes more attractive

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I agree. With the straddle we are effectively around 40BB deep, and with stations like this we should aim at getting all the money in on the turn on any reasonably safe board. If he then still call with T4 and hit his 5-outer on the river, at least we got it in good, and we have no regrets.

As for the live poker weirdness, which happened on the river, him saying "you are good" does not matter. Until his cards are mucked, they are still live. It was a slowroll, which might have been unintentional. I understand walking out from an emotional point of view, but if you are in a game, where someone is playing T4s, the rational behaviour is to stay, as long as he is still playing.

BullXT said:

villain shows T4, with two pairs? he was drunk?
he could only be drunk! I can't analyze... is too much for me, lose $200+ in one hand, in that way

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not drunk, he was on a heater, and running pure, catching everything on turn or river

max buyin at table is $300.. he had over $1.3k in front of him

This is the action you want but as you can see, too much of it can be frustrating in the slow paced game that is live poker. I would recommend sizing up when playing live 1/2 everywhere. With the straddle on you're only raising 3 BB which is fine online but tiny for cash, if they are going to over call then get all the extra value you can. If they are folding too much then raise more often until they start to defend. So pre flop with $7 of dead money in and a BB of $5 I'm making it $20 to go, maybe more if the table warrants.

Same story on the flop, we bet $20 into $44 and there are flush and straight draws to charge. I like $30 here and I'm 3 betting this guy to set up a turn jam if he raises as he did here unless the pot will already be large enough to jam turn after his raise since we are in position. We are giving flush and straight draws awesome odds in a 3 way pot when we bet this small.

Turn we have $175 and the pot is $144. If we are betting just jam. By betting $65 we are again giving him 3:1 odds on getting the rest of our stack since we seem to be calling it off anyways if he gets there. If we are going to have trouble folding river just jam this turn.

River we have a bluff catcher. I guess this guy does have bluffs if he wasn't needling and really didn't realize he had two pair. Did we have the K of hearts? At any rate guys like this are the reason why live poker can be so profitable. Take a walk / bathroom break and come back and double through.

Did he have 10/4 of hearts?

cheeeer said:

Did he have 10/4 of hearts?

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No the title says T4dd, he had diamonds. So he called super light on the button, flopped top pair. Didn’t get 3 bet, floated a tiny turn bet then spiked river.

ssangyongpoker said:

9 handed @ HardRockTampa (you may straddle any position except blinds)


UTG +1 straddles $5

UTG +2 (Hero) raises to $16, folds to button (villain)

Villain calls, UTG +1 calls ($51 pot) - ($44 pot after rake)

Flop - 10 7 5 (two hearts), UTG +1 checks, hero bets $20, villain makes it $50, UTG +1 folds, hero calls ($144 pot)

Turn - Q of clubs, hero leads for $65, villain calls ($274 pot)

River - 4 of hearts (straight and flush gets there), hero checks, villain jams, hero has $110 behind

I tanked for about 2-3 minutes and I called... Villain says "you're good" .. I turn over my kings and dealer is shipping me the pot and villain goes "never mind I have two pair, I didn't see the four" and turns over 10/4 suited

I just walk away as the guy continues to apologize

Click to expand...

Preflop I like a larger raise size, something between 20 and 30 feels about right.

On the turn I'm a little confused about your lead. On a nice barrel card like this why not check raise all in? Or if you are concerned about the draws why not lead out for a larger amount that gives him worse odds to call.

The river call would really come down to a read, but generally when all draws get there I tend to give my opponents the benefit of the doubt and let it go. Majority of the flop raising range that is still putting in money on the river is 2p+ or a draw that completed.

In this case you were dealing with a maniac it seems, but I think you could have found a safer way to get the money in earlier in the hand if you let him continue to have the lead.

Hope that feedback helps, and know that playing a hand in any way is never 'wrong' just that there is insight to be gained from looking at the strategic merit of all the various options!