Thursday, June 12, 2008

WPBT Summer 2008 – Vol 3

12 June 08

See recaps of our WPBT experience here:

Volume 1

Volume 2

News Flash: We interrupt this Trip Report for three quick hands from my last session at the Muckleshoot, the first two playing No Limit and the last playing 8/16 Limit.

Hand #1. I raise to $20 UTG with Q-10 spades and get called by a young pro-wannabe. The flop is A-2-4 with two spades. I lead out for $50 and he calls. He does this a lot because he feels he can outplay anyone at the table. The turn is a 10, giving me 2nd pair and a flush draw. I bet $100. He calls. The river is the 8 of clubs. All I have is a pair of 10s. I give up and check. He now bets $100. What did I do?

Hand #2. I have Presto in the big blind (5-5). MP (the same “pro”) raises to $20. 6 (!) callers and we see a flop of 4-7-8 rainbow. Check to the raiser who bets $20 into this $120 pot. I call with a pair and a gutshot. So does the short stack sitting between me and the pro. 3 of us see an Ace on the turn. Check. Check. Check. The river is a miracle card – the 6. I now have a straight and bet out $40. Short stack goes all in for $80. But wait, the “pro” now goes all-in for $600! I have $500 behind. What did I do?

Hand #3. It’s 8/16, but it’s a 16/32 Full Kill pot and I have Js-10s. Joyce, one of the dealers, is sitting in the game and raises UTG to $32. I call. The button re-raises and Joyce caps. I call two bets and the button calls one. The flop is K J 10. Joyce bets. I raise with two pair. The button calls. Joyce re-raises. I call and the button calls. The turn is the worst card in the deck – the Queen. Joyce bets again. What do you do?

We return now to our hero as he and The Wife conclude an awesome Vegas weekend.

Sunday was brunch at the Wynn (well worth the cab ride over since the buffet at Caesar’s sucked) followed by spa-ing at Qua, which apparently didn’t suck according to the Wife. What’s a guy to do when his other half is being pampered – poker of course! I hopped a cab out to the Rio in the hopes of seeing Pauly and the gang. I ran into John Caldwell from Pokernews who told me that it was Ladies Event Day and Pauly was taking the morning off. Oh well. I played a short session of 20/40 where I made two really bad plays and had one horrible bad beat, but only lost $400. Believe me, that was nothing in this game.

The good news is that this was truly the best WPBT ever, made even better because both The Wife and I had such a great time. You should see her beam when she cashes out after a winning session.

Can’t wait to do it again, guys!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

#1: $340 in the pot, $100 to call, I'd probably call. I'd expect to be shown a pair 55-99. It's possible he's called all the way with an A, but it doesn't feel likely. JJ-KK also don't feel likely. I'm not afraid of 35 for the straight because I feel he would have raised at some point to protect his hand/get paid off by your possible AK. It seems like he woke up one street too late to have a really big hand.

#2: Unless he has T9, you've got to be good here, right? That stupid $20 flop bet of his makes me think he doesn't have an overpair. He could have 56 for the flopped straight. Or he could just have an unimproved big A and is trying to buy it. If he has a set, he played it like a complete idiot. I think you're either chopping or he's got air. I'd call.

#3: You're just about getting the right odds to draw to your four outs, but there's a big possibility you're already drawing dead. I'd really like to fold, but I'd probably call and just call the river if I hit my full house. But my gut tells me to run away.

RaisingCayne said...

Sounds like a great time was had. Enjoyed the trip reports. Hopefully I'll be able to join you for the next one, (in December.)

Re: your Hand #1... yeah, I think you made the crying call here just 'cause of your read on villain being the cocky/tricky type. He could be making what he believes is a value bet with 55-99, and given the 3.4:1 odds, I think you made the call, dragged the pot, and gave the "pro" something to think about.

Re: hand #2... this is a tough spot! You've rivered the gutshot straight, but still lose to 69 or 9T, and there's no pot odds to sway your decision given how the betting went. However, it's so hard to put villain on 9T or 59 specifically though given how the hand played out. (His 1/6 pot bet on the flop really illustrated to me that he wanted action, which I don't think just a straight draw would've done.) I think you made another great call here, to see villain's set of 7s or 8s and scoop a large pot. It's just too hard for me to imagine you were able to put villain on such a specific holding as a rivered higher straight.

Hand #3... the turn killed your hand, and I would've let it go, even in a limit game. One of the two villains has to hold an A or 9, or even just a set or higher 2 pair. (However, I'm such a limit hold 'em donkey, I don't know...)

Real curious of the results! (And I've really enjoyed these recent situational queries... good stuff.)

Wwonka said...

Ok I am a Donkey but here is my take.

hand 1 I make the call based on the fact that he is tricky and capable of making a move. its only 100 and I will call here thinking he has either an Ace or shit.

#2 I am calling him. Why would he push all in other than to try to push you out. If he had a Bigger straight I would think a value bet/raise would be around 160 making it a much easier call for him to get paid off.

#3 My first thought is that I am folding here u are chasing 8 outs assuming Joyce doesn't have an ace. But then again its only 32 into a Huge pot and if u catch the Ace or J 10 you either chop or win outright. so I probably call the 32 hoping to hit.

the Donkey Show.

DrChako said...

Great analysis! Here is what happened.

Hand #1: I said outloud, "Your bet doesn't make sense with the way the hand played out (ala Daniel Negreanu on HSP), and I called. My 10s were good.

Hand #2: I went into the tank a long time here. I put the short stack on one of the two remaining 5s, but something about the "pro" was very fishy. He wasn't moving a muscle. Caro says this means a bluff, but I didn't think so. What made my decision was that I thought his $20 bet on the flop made perfect sense if he was holding 9-10 (because he flopped an open-ender). I folded the straight. he turned over 9-10 and dragged a HUGE pot, but I got away with losing the absolute minimum here.

Hand #3: Tough spot. I believe the correct move is to fold here, because I put both Joyce and the button on a Ace. This means I will be caught in a raising war. Calling Joyce's bet is okay, but the button will certainly raise and Joyce will reraise. I would be forced to call and the button would cap. That means I am committed to 4 bets, and there is no way I'm getting the correct odds to draw to 4 outs here. Of course, I was a donkey and called all the way. The river was a blank and I was forced to fold.

Joyce turned over pocket Aces.
The button turned over...

Pocket Aces!

Live poker is so rigged.

-DrC