Poker Perambulation

The Friday blog talked about snow blind play. It is play where you ignore the odds and the danger. There were 2-3 players that were snow blind through various parts of the hand. I thought I’d do something I seldom do and provided the full hand history and comment it. A hand history without the player’s thoughts is a sterile arena, IMO.

(Down cards aren’t displayed by any of the site in the order they are dealt. You can make assumptions – which I do – but there aren’t guarantees. I think I’ve tried to give them the best possible setup in my comments.)

Full Tilt Poker Game #3962377761: Table Industrial - $0.25/$0.50 Ante $0.05 - Limit Stud Hi - 11:54:55 ET - 2007/10/25

The table is proving to be fairly aggressive but with calling stations. Seat 2 usually enters pots by completing and following through and has shown ratty flush draws etc. from that. Seat 3 is a calling station that’s already sucked out twice on me having to play all his down cards to make a superior hand. Seat 5 seems a reasonable player with an aggressive side but he’s more an enigma than the others in the hand.
Seat 1: yelkcub ($2.85)
Seat 2: pjhee ($5.30)
Seat 3: MINT72 ($13.60)
Seat 4: artiea ($3.10) is sitting out
Seat 5: RDROTAR ($10.45)
Seat 6: JKenP ($12.15)
Seat 7: jrock1994 ($16.15)
Seat 8: nain ($14.15)
nain antes $0.05
MINT72 antes $0.05
yelkcub antes $0.05
JKenP antes $0.05
RDROTAR antes $0.05
pjhee antes $0.05
jrock1994 antes $0.05
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to yelkcub [ ]
Dealt to pjhee [ ]
Dealt to MINT72 [ ]
Dealt to RDROTAR [ ]
Dealt to JKenP [ ] [ ]
Dealt to jrock1994 [ ]
Dealt to nain [ ]
MINT72 is low with [ ]
MINT72 brings in for $0 .10
RDROTAR calls $0.10
JKenP calls $0.10
jrock1994 folds
nain folds
yelkcub folds
pjhee completes it to $0.25

This player has been aggressive entering pots. He’s from the raise to isolate school. It is a well thought of school of play. At these limits it typically fails to isolate. The result is a pot that pays chasers earlier. The question now moves to whether or not your preference is big pot poker or small pot poker. His downs never show so he gets a bye to some degree.
MINT72 calls $0.15

As I mentioned in the last blog, this fellow was a river king. I’d lost a couple of nice pots to him earlier where all his down cards played to make flushes or straights. Whether straight or flush, when your 4^th card bricks you are a 8:1 or worse dog in the hand. Winning from that will make you the classic chaser.
RDROTAR calls $0.15

It appears that his starting hand is a flush draw with one high card. It’s a hand that plays one way. He’s going to need to see a club to want to continue the hand. He’s calling UTG here. It is a marginal play but you can’t totally knock it. I’d certainly play the hand late as a call with the typical pot odds that you get in these games..
JKenP raises to $0.50

I am rolled up and looking for what actually takes place. I’m not slow playing as much as hoping to reraise for value. Based on the aggression I’ve seen that seems a distinct possibility and I’m not disappointed. If it hadn’t happened I’ve a chance to conceal my starting strength.
pjhee calls $0.25
MINT72 calls $0.25
RDROTAR calls $0.25

Pot is $2.40 (5BB)

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to pjhee [ ] [ ]
Dealt to MINT72 [ ] [ ]
Dealt to RDROTAR [ ] [ ]
Dealt to JKenP [ ] [ ]
RDROTAR bets $0.50

His pairing the Kings is worth a bet here to try to get some isolation or take it down. In hindsight, he’s likely fallen into the trap of a flush hand with one high card making the high pair from the start.
JKenP raises to $1

Has he just beat me? I raise for information and the thought I probably have the best hand.

pjhee calls $1
MINT72 calls $1
RDROTAR calls $0.50

The thing I like is that he just calls. He may be slow playing the set but I’m reasonably comfortable with the situation here. The table had been aggressive and I don’t think he’d slow play because of the two callers giving him a reason for aggression with the set. As two the 3A, I don’t know what he had and never will be able to put him on a hand. The fellow behind him now has a gutshot regardless of how his down cards were distributed. The pot odds tell him to fold to a single bet and he’s calling a raise. Gotta love the guy.
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to pjhee [ ] [ ]
Dealt to MINT72 [ ] [ ]
Dealt to RDROTAR [ ] [ ]
Dealt to JKenP [ ] [ ]
RDROTAR checks
JKenP bets $0.50
pjhee raises to $1
MINT72 calls $1
RDROTAR calls $1
JKenP calls $0.50

In retrospect it appears that the early bet of the Ace up is nothing more than a scare card bet. If he does have the hidden aces I’m screwed. There isn’t a dead ace in the muck to provide any solace. I just call as do the others. This makes me think that the chaser now has two pair and not the straight. He loose enough to raise with a straight. The pot odds are such here that people can continue with their draws.
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to pjhee [ ] [ ]
Dealt to MINT72 [ ] [ ]
Dealt to RDROTAR [ ] [ ]
Dealt to JKenP [ ] [ ]
pjhee bets $0.50
MINT72 calls $0.50
RDROTAR calls $0.50
JKenP calls $0.50

Oh happy day! I have filled up. But, our mainland Asian friend isn’t letting up. If he has his boat here I’m royally screwed and what do I put the others on…quad 6’s and Kings full is the worst case. Nines full isn’t looking that hot for the moment.
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to JKenP [ ] [ ]
pjhee checks
MINT72 bets $0.50
RDROTAR calls $0.50
JKenP raises to $1
pjhee folds
MINT72 calls $0.50
RDROTAR calls $0.50

Well, my last card gives me a bit of hope that the paired aces are just that but, if he has TT, I’m also toast. He checks and I am now pretty sure I own him. I have to discount the next hand where it looks like he needs 66 to beat me He does bet but I’m not going to give him credit for the quads; it is probably what he has or a smaller full house. My worries about the next hand evaporate when he just calls. I’ve had a lot of concerns up to this point and they don’t seem to have panned out. The two hands that worried me most have checked or just called. The river king has leads out and this is the first indication he might have something. I figure he rivered something once again. It wouldn’t be that wrong to check here but I raise with the thought that I may get the reraise that I’ll be forced to call and end up with egg on my face if he did have those quads. But, I feel the risk/reward is worth it and I end up making an extra dollar. Those willing to check appear to be making crying calls.

Showdown:
JKenP shows [ ] a full house Nines full of Queens
MINT72 mucks
RDROTAR mucks
JKenP wins the pot ($14 .85) with a full house Nines full of Queens

SUMMARY:
Total pot $15 .35 | Rake $0.50
Seat 1: yelkcub folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: pjhee folded on 7th St. instead of having me beat he was making my betting decisions easy.
Seat 3: MINT72 mucked [ ] - a straight Six high
Seat 4: artiea is sitting out
Seat 5: RDROTAR mucked [ ] - two pair Kings and Queens
Seat 6: JKenP showed [ ] and won ($14.85) with a full house Nines full of Queens
Seat 7: jrock1994 folded on 3rd St .
Seat 8: nain folded on 3rd St.

One of my stud books remarks that the average winning hand is a set of nines. That was my rolled up starting hand. When I made the full house, I still wasn’t sure where I was at with at least two of the players. I have to feel that the baby straight guy was dismayed that he didn’t win the hand – he seems that bad. Asian guy proved he was an agro. If he had aces up and folded, I be giving him more credit than I think he deserves. He was getting an easy 10:1 to make a crying call which is what the kings up did.

With what was showing, the fellow who bet on the river with his straight was about as snow blind as a person can be. He get the prize for worst player. I did get some more back from him but like most calling stations he was an equal opportunity bleeder.

With every hand pairing on the board, it was very likely that someone floated their boat. People go snow blind all the time with their flush or straight against an opponent with a pair up. Yes, you might bet it but I even see reraises and capping against/with those hands all the time.

The thing about a set of 9’s being the average winning hand is that as many are also won with less that it clouds many players view. Ratty two pairs are going to win a lot of pots. You may even find the rare reason to bet them. But, people ignore the obvious all the time. They seem to think everyone is bluffing and you will also see them bluffing with disconnected boards that seldom bear fruit.

The reason I wrote the Snow Blind Blog was a hand I played with Kings full on 5^th street. I played it well to the river and then proceeded to cap 7^th street. I was winning up to 7^th street. I was behind when I allowed that street to cap. It cost me 3 big blinds that I shouldn’t have paid out. Stud is as much about what you don’t lose as what you win. It is great to take down a 29 big blind hand like this one. But you are normally going to play for hours to make that with good cards.

I have leaks; we all have them. I know mine. At these limits I too infrequently respect the fact that the worst player at the table is going to make hands too. I’ll occasionally ignore the pot odds and chase and make a hand when boredom sets in. That is more dangerous than doing it and missing. I’m still working on correcting that snow blindness on my part. I could have easily been the guy on my immediate right. He seems to be the only one that was in any way trapped into the hand – unless he rivered that second pair and was chasing like the rest.

I think I played that hand about as well as it could be played. If you disagree, I’d love to hear the other side in a comment.

ADDENDUM:

Well, after my apparent bragging, I have to admit that I’m underwater playing stud. It isn’t a lot and its been coming back of late. I could show you a pile of bad beat hands and ignore those I put on others. But the fact is that my stud game is a game in progress with a lot needing to happen. Yes, I may have gotten cold decked more than the norm but I have had the occasional heater like this hand too. The idea is to protect those kinds of profits and it doesn’t look like I have that down yet. Even if I have been cold decked, it is a cop out. It happens to everybody and I’ve played enough hands that it should be averaging out. It hasn’t; so I have to be honest and say I need to work harder on getting better. Its nice to have a bragging hand at times but there are too many that I can’t do that about that remain in the history folder. Too many crying calls are simply -EV. That’s the sweet and simple of it.

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You ‘ve seen the antes and bring-in for FullTilt. At Ultimate Bet – which I cashed on due to the Absolute Poker Fiasco – the ante is .10 and the bringin is .15. That gives the game a completely different flavor. You have to play more hands and bluff more in such a context. So, Full Tilt and PokerStars are the better (requiring less outright aggression) site to play at this level without the extraneous reasons to prefer them.

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There is a Mark Seif video on RawVegas where he talks about the Absolute Fiasco.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 4:53 am and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.