My favourite hand, the Dead Man's

My favourite hand to bluff reraise hand is the Dead Man's hand:

Of course I am dog to any other ace. I know but if you are going to reraise a periodically with a bad hand it's better to have an ace in your hand. And God help you if you have Big Slick

A♦ ♦ ♦A

8♣ ♣ ♣8

And God help you if you have Big Slick on this board:

8♦ ♦ ♦8

K♦ ♦ ♦K

8♣ ♣ ♣8

And I have it

Russian Donk #1

Here is a bad Russian player:

Playing 0.5 / $1.0 tables on PokerStars.  Long time experienced poker player from Russia. I'm in the big blind and the aggressive TAP to my right in the small blind makes it $3 to play. Now, this guy doesn't know his own patterns. He raises 2.5BB normally. So this is suspicious. Looks like he wants me to play "I'm new to value town." What a fool. I may not have much money but I do know how to play. I look down at a weak hand.

I have

T♦ ♦ ♦T

7♦ ♦ ♦7

I know he's got a monster so if he is foolish I'm going to get him to pay off. I've got 80 and he's 100 blinds deep. I call. Flop comes down:

9♦ ♦ ♦9

8♦ ♦ ♦8

2♣ ♣ ♣2

Ok, this is a good straight and flush board so a good board to call at least one bet. Maybe even a straight flush. Of course, he has a monster and leads out for $6. Looks like Aces or Kings. Turn card is the joint.

9♦ ♦ ♦9

8♦ ♦ ♦8

2♣ ♣ ♣2

Q♦ ♦ ♦Q

I hope he's assuming I'm an idiot. He bets again, about $10 and now I insta-reraise him all in. He doesn't think about it, calls immediately and probably because he thought I had AQ or KQ, and also because he has the Ace of diamonds I guess he had a faint hope of a higher flush. Maybe because I had just lost a big pot to a lucky player he thought I was weaker than I was. Not sure , who can say. Well, he sees the bad news and I take down the pot.
As Phil Ivey once said, and it's very true, any player is dangerous. Assuming you are better than they are is a recipe for disaster.

Professional Motivations

Professional poker players don't want to play poker with you, they want to take your money. Remember that.

Turn bet semi-bluff on a flush draw

The turn bet semi-bluff:

This is not a hand specifically, but talks about a scenario that comes up many times. It has become a pattern that many players bet on the turn when they hit a four flush with their cards

Let's say this is your hand:

A♥ ♥ ♥A

T♥ ♥ ♥T

and you open as first aggressor with a reasonable 2.5* big blind (BB) bet. The blinds call and you see the flop in position. The dealer turns over:

9♥ ♥ ♥9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

You miss, but in case they have small suited connectors you fire out a bet continuation bet on the flop. You get one caller the big blind. This concerns you, perhaps he has a King. You are hesitant what to do. Turn card is a flush and straight draw.

9♥ ♥ ♥9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

Q♥ ♥ ♥Q

This card is an added equity card. He might have a King, perhaps a king with a weak kicker, or he might just be floating to try to take this away from you. He might have an underpair. With this flush card you may not have the best hand, but if you hit your hand, will this player want to risk more money with just an underpair? He also knows you will act last so if he doesn't like the final card - one that makes a flush or a draw - then will he want to continue? You have a chance to take this away right now. Depending on your player read, you need to make the bet at just the right amount. Too much and it looks like a semi-bluff. Too little and he's destined to call with pot odds. You make a 50% bet.

Now, take a look at this hand again, now think about it from your opponent's perspective. Let's say your opponent has:

K♣ ♣ ♣K

J♥ ♥ ♥J

9♥ ♥ ♥9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

Q♥ ♥ ♥Q

Your bet makes sense as a semi-bluff, the chances both of you have a King is small. Although if you opponent has AK that bet size makes sense as well. You don't want to call off with a King and a weaker kicker all the time that's just a bad long term playing style. So if your opponent has a King, it makes sense to call. The fact is that more people make this play with two flush cards than with a King. Bottom line, this pattern has become so used that people will be able to extract information from this pattern and take money from you with the best hand. Information extraction is the secret of poker. The more predictable your patterns, then the more times people can put you on a hand and beat you.

A Bad Bluff

Here is a bad bluff:

Playing 0.5 / $1.0 tables on PokerStars.  Inexperienced player on my left calls my first aggressor raise.

I have

T♥ ♥ ♥T

T♦ ♦ ♦T

I raise it as first aggressor, make it $1.50, and then this guy in the small blind with only $20 at the table calls my raise. Not a great play, not a bad play. I know he's floating since he didn't raise me. Big blind folds. The flop is as always problematic for a middle pair:

9♦ ♦ ♦9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

Problematic. No info on this guy's patterns, he just sat down, and there are lots of hands that aren't AK he could be holding. Since he has so little at the table, I decide to check call and see what he does. He does bet out $2. Well, that's easy, there is $5.80 in the pot (playing at a table with antes) and there is only one overcard to my pair. I call. Turn card is a blank.

9♦ ♦ ♦9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

2♣ ♣ ♣2

I check to him again. He gives up. He doesn't bet. OK now I know he's got two diamonds or he's just on a fishing trip to see if I'll give up. Well, that's not going to happen. I'm not sure if he now thinks I've got the king or not, maybe he's got pocket threes, but I know I'm ahead. The river card is a perfect bluff card.

9♦ ♦ ♦9

5♣ ♣ ♣5

K♦ ♦ ♦K

2♣ ♣ ♣2

8♦ ♦ ♦8

I check to him again, and he checks behind. I win with a pair of tens. NO!!!! This was a perfect card to fire a bet. I didn't show much strength so my hand can't be that good. He had position on me - he got to act last. He bet on the flop, perhaps representing the flush, and now one comes in and he's not going to try to represent it. This is the perfect card to bet at no matter what his hand is. At least make it hard for me to see the river, I will still call because that's what you do in this game when you know you are ahead. But a good bet or even an all-in bet puts me to a decision. I think he convinced himself that I had the flush cards and when he did that, he lost his way. Well, if I had the flush cards then why didn't I continuation bet on the flop? I can't tell that story, I didn't have the hand! If you're going to fire out on a flop of two flush cards and a third one appears on the river you have backed into your imaginary hand - a flush. Don't bet the flop and then not bet the river. It makes no sense, you told me a story and I sorta believed you. Don't go and ruin it by not finishing it off! He lost his money that hand, called a few more times and then walked away with $10. I don't criticize him personally, but if you are going to play to win you must MUST make these plays. This is the mark of an inexperienced player - this hand right here tells me more about his patterns and his experience level that I can now use against him forever. This information I can use against him until he smartens up. And if you sit down at a poker table with $20 and everyone else has $100 well you have to expect to play for all your money when you enter a pot. I've got no problem reraising middle position raises all-in in that spot. I'm here to win, not spectate.

Chinese Donk #1

Story of my life....

Ok playing 0.5 / $1.0 tables on PokerStars.  Tight Chinese player on my left, I know he's tight I'm watching his stats.

I look down at

T♥ ♥ ♥T

9♠ ♠ ♠9

I raise it as first aggressor, make it $1.50, and then he insta-raises me $3. He reraises me so its obvious he has a big hand. Or like Aces, Kings, Queens, or maybe AK. I figure it's AK since that's more likely and so it's most likely a race. I'm behind but if I catch him hes probably to dumb to dump his hand. Or so I think... Since I'm behind there's no shame in seeing a flop and folding. I don't want to make him fat and dumb. I call the raise and we see a flop. The flop is a dream flop:

9♥ ♥ ♥9

2♣ ♣ ♣2

T♦ ♦ ♦T

Dream flop, I'm ahead no matter what his hand is. The board texture looks like the drawing hand of two suited connectors with all the straight outs. I know he's going to bite if he has anything. I check. He bets out at the pot $5. I call. Trap is set. Turn card is a scare card.

9♥ ♥ ♥9

2♣ ♣ ♣2

T♦ ♦ ♦T

7♥ ♥ ♥7

Ok, this is not a good card. If he has AK he's not going to blow through me with a turn bet. But it is also a bluff card. So this could go either way. If he's a good player he's going to simmer his two pair and take a card off to see if he improves. I check again. Nope, he's a betting. He bets out $ 10. Clearly he thinks he's still ahead or he can't read a board. I want his whole stack. So to make it look bluffy, I insta-raise him. I make it $12 to play. That sets up his stack. Well to his credit, he does stop and think about it. I can hear the Chinese made gears working. He thinks I'm reraising to represent the straight. Of the three options, call, fold or reraise, he opts for the most insane one of all. He looks down at his stack and reraises all in. I insta-call. He feels proud about himself until he sees my cards. He has Kings

K♦ ♦ ♦K

K♥ ♥ ♥K

For some reason he seems to think he had a chance. He has 6 outs once to beat me or about 11% with one card. What the hell does he think I have? Why shove all in against a straight. I'm not betting my entire stack without a serious hand. Most regulars know that, so clearly he just hoped and prayed I was bluffing. Well, that doesn't happen too often. I get beat by ridiculous hands like this one. The river lets him off the hook.

9♥ ♥ ♥9

2♣ ♣ ♣2

T♦ ♦ ♦T

7♥ ♥ ♥7

2♠ ♠ ♠2

Again, beat out of $100 by a donkey. The lesson here is: if you don't know you're leaping into a trap, why jump head first?

Information Extraction - short stack calls

Don't analyze short stack calls, when an opponent is forced to call due to a shorter stack going all in normally in a tournament, as a hand of any importance for understanding how an opponent thinks. 

For the desperation shover, the one with the short stack trying to double up or go home, it doesn't mean much because they are forced by the pot odds to call versus folding and the remaining big blinds.  It's a mathematical reality - either you double up or you won't survive long enough to make the money either way.

For the short stack calling  person - most likely the big blind with pot odds to call and a weak hand - because they are simply calling to make sure the short stack doesn't get the chips with no resistance.  If I am holding 87 off suit and I am getting 5:1 on a call I am calling that short stack even though my hand might be a dominated 30% or even 20% hand.  It's 20% chance to take out a player with good pot odds.  If you get lucky then he's out. If you don't he's just doubled up to a few big blinds. It's a hand that plays itself.

But as a data point to decide what either player is, or how they play, it is meaningless. Since it is an automatic play for both players, it is nothing significant.