Reflections/observations from last night. Improved my play.

Played a live 1/2NL game. I saw improvement in my game, based on my reading.


The fish is the one who never lays down a hand.
"Small hand, small pot. Big hand, big pot"
Your calling hand must be a lot stronger than your raising hand.

These recently learned sayings helped me last night. Last few times I played, I busted out my entire decent night on when making a bad call. This time, I did not go into a big hand with just a pair.
I had A8, flopped the A. villain goes all in before me. This time, I folded. He had a straight. Good lay down!!
Also, in small stakes, I've learned when villain goes all in, they usually have something big. People rarely bluff all-in, b/c otherwise, they're going home.


My winning hands centered about pocket pairs.
I played them decently, and they paid off most times!

• Pocket 6. I just called the blinds....Every checks the flop, I bet 10. One caller. Junk turn. Bet $20. He folds.
  
• Pocket JJ...I bet $15 pre-flop. Everyone checks. Eventually, heads' up and pot is about $100. I bet $50. He folded his Ace pair. (People WAY overestimate what you have)
  
• Pocket 4s There is a $10 raise before me. I hit the set. Villains raises again. Keep calling. Checks the river, I bet $20 into $50 pot. He calls, and I show trip 4's.
  
• A8...I flop Ace. Villain shoves. I fold. Villain had straight. I showed my A8 to the table. I had a very tight image that I was able to exploit later.
  
• Pocket 8s. I bet $12. Two callers. I c-bet $20. Take the pot.
  

I played off-suit connectors a few times. But, if anyone raised, I folded them, but if it was $2 to see the flop, I did this. If the call was $7+, then I folded. Is this the right idea?

Position. I have also become more naturally aware of late position and OTB position. I won a few hands just based on raising when everyone folded to me.

I do not understand why people "Mississippi" or "straddle". Why bet before you see your cards, and everyone knows it. Carries no strength.
You're just making a fake bigger blind for yourself. Raising after seeing your cards conveys strength. I guess people do this to look loose and aggressive, or b/c they know some arcane rule, to look experienced?

I saw lots of players keep re-buying in for $100 (50BB). I bought in for 100BB and never went much below it. I never went all-in, but was able to raise $50 to get one guy to fold.
In a room of $100 stacks, a $50 bet can often clear the table. Even if the pot is like $300. This is where the leaks are. People not playing proper pot odds when the pot is big (unless they have the nuts)

I noticed one guy always raising aggressively when he had a draw. Last night, he lost many times, b/c he wasn't hitting his draws.
What are your thoughts on this style of play? He is playing fold/bluff equity, but when it doesn't work, he was better off seeing free cards, and only betting when he made his hand.

In all, it was a good night, and I more than doubled my buy-in. Walked before I gave it all back. Felt good to have a winning night, and to avoid a few bad hands.

Oh I love how you handled your pocket pairs.....reading this i've learnt some things
Thank you very for sharing

Ladybugger said:

I do not understand why people "Mississippi" or "straddle". Why bet before you see your cards, and everyone knows it. Carries no strength.

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It doesn't make sense mathematically but it's a small amount so the cost to start playing a few hands earlier is less meaningful to the player than the desire to avoid waiting for those few hands.

I think they are trying to create a looser game.

I was playing in a 1-2 game and the guy on my right was putting in $4 UTG and $5 on the cutoff before the cards were dealt every round. He was also watching a poker tournament on his ipad. He did have a run early, but then lost all his money in under an hour.

It did encourage more people to enter the pot. A blind min-raise out of position is going to get called or re-raised. So it did create a livelier game. But unless you're a much better player than the rest of the folks there, it's going to be a losing play.

Ladybugger said:

A8...I flop Ace. Villain shoves. I fold. Villain had straight. I showed my A8 to the table. I had a very tight image that I was able to exploit later.

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This helps give you a very tight image at the table?