tiltproof

Overview

I saw this hand in a low buy-in NL cash game online, $0.10/$0.25 blinds, $25 max buy-in. There were a lot of mistakes made, and I think we can learn a few things from it, especially newer players.

The Hand

Player A is UTG+1 (two seats after the big blind) with a little over $6 and he limps. Another player in middle position limps. Player B, who is in the cutoff (one seat before the button), has just bought in for $10 and posted his blind, he checks. Player C, the button, raises to $1.60. He has a little over $4 so that is a good chunk of his stack. Players A and B call, everyone else folds.

The flop comes 8d 3s As. Player A checks. Player B makes the minimum bet, $0.25, into a pot of $5.40. Player C, who made the big preflop raise, folds to this min bet. Player A calls.

Turn is 9c. Player A checks. Player B bets $0.65 into the $5.90 pot, Player A calls.

River is Td, making the board:

8d 3s As 9c Td

The flush did not come. The nuts is the queen high straight, someone would have had to hit their gutshot with QJ to get there. The pot is now $7.20.

Player A checks, Player B bets $0.75. Player A now moves in for his last $3.65. Player B is getting almost 4:1 to call and he does.

Player B has Ac Jd. Player A turns over Ts 9h and wins a pot of $13.80 after the rake. He made a pair on the turn and improved to two pairs on the river.

Player C, the preflop raiser who folded to the min bet, starts complaining in the chat window about the T9 winning. He is obviously steamed. He mentions the T9 a few more times before gets busted out about ten minutes later.

So, let's break this down player by player and discuss their play.

Player A

Player A called a big preflop raise out of position with T9o (I saw him call several other large preflop raises in the session). Not a move I'd usually make, but he's obviously working off of implied odds. He's hoping to hit a big hand or draw and possibly bust the raiser. Also, he may be able to bluff at the pot and win it if the flop comes raggedy. Since he is first to act, he has what's called, "the right of first bluff." If no one has a hand on the flop, the first person to bet will likely win the pot.

Then Player A calls a min bet on the flop with basically nothing. But, it's a tiny bet in relation to the size of the pot, and the preflop raiser has already folded. He picks up a pair on the turn and calls another bet that is very small in relation to the size of the pot. He can now beat someone who flopped middle or bottom pair, and he's getting the odds he needs to improve and beat top pair. (He has 5 outs to make two pairs or trips, which is about 8:1 against, and the pot is laying about 10:1. The extra money the pot is laying helps compensate for the fact that some of his outs could make someone else a better hand.)

The river play is solid. He gives Player B a chance to bet again, senses weakness, and moves in with what he thinks is the best hand.

Some might argue with the preflop call, but the rest of Player A's decisions make sense to me.

Now, let's look at Player B.

Player B

He calls a pretty big preflop raise with AJo. I'm not crazy about the play, especially because the raiser has position on him. Player A had already called, though, so Player B is getting over 2:1. He is also last to act on the raise, so he knows he can call without worrying about a re-raise behind him.

Then he flops top pair and what happens? It's checked to him and he makes a min bet of $0.25 into a pot that's over $5. This is the move that I would mark "??" if this was a chess game (poker translation: "WTF???").

The problem, of course, is that the preflop raiser is behind him and still to act. Player B has gotten himself into this mess by calling that big preflop raise with a marginal hand when the raiser had position on him. He is worried that his pair of aces with the jack kicker is no good, but he doesn't want to check so he throws the min bet out there. It's almost a bluff, but there's no way he's going to knock two players out of a raised pot with a tiny bet like that. Amazingly enough he does get rid of the raiser, but Player A calls.

The flop play by Player B was really bad. He needed to bet at least half the pot there, and a pot-sized bet would be better. Yes, the raiser could have AK or AQ and have him beat, but once you call the preflop raise and make top pair with a decent kicker I think you have to take a shot at winning the pot. There were both flush and straight draws on board and you can't give those people a cheap look at the turn. If you bet and get called or raised then of course you need to re-evaluate where you're at. But come on, this isn't a bad flop for AJ, it's pretty unlikely that one of the other players has flopped two pair.

Of course the same problem happens on the turn, another underbet. What are you waiting for here, Player B? You still have top pair with a decent kicker. The preflop raiser is gone and you now have position on the remaining player. Neither the flush or straight draws have hit, and it's checked to you now for the second time. You have to bet your hand.

On the river it's checked again. Player B makes another tiny bet, but this time he's raised. If you're in his position, what hands do you put Player A on here? Player A has been checking and calling on the flop and turn, but now there's a straight possible for hands like QJ and 76. Anyone holding the pocket pairs TT, 99, 88 and 33 has improved to a set, let alone AA. The three cards in a row also increase the chance of two pairs being out there since many players like to play connecters like T9, 98, and even one-gappers like T8. And you're still beaten by AK or AQ, either of which could have called that preflop raise. You're getting 4:1 to call, but it's hard to believe that AJ is good here.

Player B lost this hand for himself, he flopped the best hand but let Player A improve and win the pot. He didn't bet enough when he was ahead, and called a bigger bet when he was behind. One could argue that he made the wrong choice every time he was faced with a decision in this hand. This is why good players make money playing NL.

Player C

And Player C, wow! I'm guessing that he had KK or QQ based on his reaction, but he may have had a smaller pair. I don't think the preflop raise needed to be that big, there was $1.10 in the pot and he made it $1.60 to go. With that small of a stack he was committing almost 40% of his chips before the flop.

The flop comes and there's a check and a min bet. What exactly is supposed to convince you that your hand is no good, Player C? The min bet could mean a very strong hand or a very weak one. As my favorite author on NLHE, Bob Ciaffone, writes in his book Improve Your Poker, don't assume the other player has a hand before they show strength. It's not that easy to make a hand in Holdem. You're the preflop raiser, and the other players are likely to put you on a hand like AK or AQ even if you don't have it.

I say raise it up here, and since any decent sized raise will make you pot committed that probably means just moving in (this is the downside of having a $4 stack at a $25 max buy-in table). However, if for some reason you feel the bettor has an ace, you are still getting over 20:1 to simply call. If you have a small pair then you can take a card off and try to hit a set.

Now, there is a player who still has to act, Player A. But he's out of position, he limped preflop, and he checked the flop. What about his play indicates he has anything here?

My choice here is to raise, but calling is certainly a better option than folding if you have any kind of a hand. We know with hindsight that the other players acted weak because they really felt weak, and I think Player C probably wins the pot with a raise on the flop.

Player C started kicking himself after the hand, and was angry that the player with T9 won. Of course that wouldn't have happened if players B and C didn't roll over and let him draw out. But, it really burned Player C, and his next big mistake was tilting after the hand and blowing off the rest of his chips.

Lessons

I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this hand, but the biggest one is bet your hand. Don't let the other players come from behind and beat you. If you have a hand, bet it. If the other players act weak, then assume that's the case until they show you differently.

And if you do make a mistake in a hand, put it behind you and move on. Even the best players make mistakes, they just make less of them than those of us with less experience. Don't let that one mistake end up being a bigger one by tilting. If you can't keep your composure then leave the table.

Ted

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