Played last night at Red Rock. $1/$2 NL. I just tried to focus on tightening up a bit and playing well, and picking my spots a little more selectively than in the past.
Hand #1: Someone min-raises to $4, I call with T-8 suited along with 5 other people. The flop is A-Q-4 with 2 of my suit. I'm in late position (1 person behind me). Checks to me, I check, last guy checks. The turn is a blank and the blind bets $16. I call, everyone else folds. River is another blank. He checks. I thought about betting but decided to check, and he had Q-4 for a flopped two pair. Kind of a big bet to call on the turn (only getting like 2.5:1 on the call if you factor in the rake). Probably wasn't worth it, but it's not THAT bad either. I'd only have to make like $30 on the river to make it worth it if I hit.
Hand #2: I have A-A and raise to $7 under the gun. 3 callers (2 from the blinds). Flop is 9-4-2 with 2 hearts. It checks to me, I bet $12, one guy in the blinds calls me. The turn is the 5 of hearts. He checks, I bet $23, he calls. I thought I had the ace of hearts, but I wasn't 100% sure. So I had to check and yes, I did have it. River is money, the queen of hearts. He checks, I bet $45. He calls with the J-2 of hearts, so I drew out on him. Feels good. :-)
I was trying to be more selective with my c-bets as well. In the past I've been betting 100% of boards (more or less), but now I'm not betting the scarier boards. When it comes like Q-J-x with 2 of a suit, I'm just not even betting. So many hands can hit that board with a pair or a draw, I just don't even think it's worth it. I'm talking multiway pots. Heads up it's a little different for sure, but most pots are multiway especially at 1/2. I don't want to swing too far in the wrong direction where I raise and if I miss, I just check all the time. But I do think I am probably throwing money away by betting the worst boards.
Hand #3 : Pretty fun one. I had been playing really tight but decided to get out of line a bit and raise to $6 with T-8 suited in early position. 3 callers. Flop comes A-7-4. I just check, it checks around. Turn is a 5, great card giving me the straight draw. Checks to me, I bet $10, get 1 caller. River is the magic 9. Now the lone caller from the blind bets out $15 into me. I raise to $65, he calls with an 8. $65 was already a really big bet, but I'm wondering if I could have done something like bet $100. Probably. And if I am raising to $65, I don't think there's anything he's going to call me with that isn't an 8. So if I thought about that a bit, maybe I could have gotten more money there. Maybe even just ship it all in. Which would have been a sick overbet, we both had $300. But it could have worked. Definitely $100 would have worked. Then again, I guess he knows that he's calling to chop, so maybe even $100 could not have worked. I'm overall happy with that one.
Hand #4: Just solid play. Bunch of calls and I'm in the small blind with two red kings. I raise to $15, get 3 callers. Flop comes J-4-4. I bet $35, they all fold. I think here you could make an argument for checking really. Check flop, bet turn, or check-raise if someone has A-J or whatever. I'm way ahead and even if someone has a jack, they can't catch 2 pair. So I really could check there a lot of the time, make it look like I have A-K, and maybe get a lot more calls on the turn when a blank rolls off. Probably would have been the best play there because the board was so good for me.
Overall I ended up winning exactly $100. I'll take it. I've been struggling lately, and even yesterday I didn't get a ton of great hands. It felt good to play solid and come out a winner.
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