Party On!

I decided to stick with the 6-max limit hold'em last night instead of grinding out the Omaha/8 games. I felt like playing poker and wanted to challenge myself. I'd spent my commute to and from work watching a couple 6-max LHE videos and I was in the mood to play.

I ended up playing a single table of $0.50/$1 at Party Poker. My wife watched Oprah while I sat quietly with my notebook on my lap, mouse in hand, and a starting hand chart nearby. I've got a basic understanding of LHE theory but I find it hard to remember whether K7o is a good raising hand first in on the button.

I decided to note and post some of the hands I played last night. I'm not sure how interesting you'll find these hands but I felt like upping my poker content today.

Party Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 346219
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is CO with 6 6
1 fold, Hero raises, BTN calls, 1 fold, BB calls

(BTN is 59/6/0.3 over 17 hands.)

Flop: (6.5 SB) 4 2 7 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BTN calls, BB folds

(Second pair with a backdoor straight draw seemed good enough to bet. I was hoping to get the loose button to call and he obliged. Had the button raised, I would have likely called and folded to a turn bet since Villain hadn't been aggressive at all in his first few orbits.)

Turn: (4.25 BB) T (2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

(I decided to keep betting since Villain hadn't shown any aggression on the flop and I wasn't worried about getting bluff raised off my hand.)

River: (6.25 BB) J (2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

(I was pretty sure that Villain would pay me off with ace-high or king-high busted draw hands. I didn't have the numbers to back me up but it's just that feeling you sometimes get from these loose-passive, micro-stakes players. If Villain was aggressive, I would have probably check-called the river. I would have also folded to a raise by the Villain on the river.)

Final Pot: 8.25 BB
Hero shows 6 6 (a pair of Sixes)
BTN mucks Q A (high card Ace)

(I would have played the hand differently had I been in the Villain's shoes. I think a flop raise or turn raise could have worked well given his hand. )

Hero wins 7.85 BB

Party Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 346225
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is CO with J J
1 fold, Hero raises, 2 folds, BB calls

(BB is an unknown player.)

Flop: (4.5 SB) 9 2 T (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls

(Should I have capped here? Board was coordinated and draw-heavy so a 4-bet would have made sense from a value point of view. At the time, I never considered how unlikely it would have been for the Villain to hold an overpair or a set. I'm still not used to the typical LAG style of play prevalent in 6-max LHE games.)

Turn: (5.25 BB) 2 (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls

(If I'd thought things through at the time, I honestly believe a cap may have been in order on the turn. Villain could have been raising with a draw and two overcards. Villain's line is pretty strong though. I don't think that there is much light 3-betting on the turn at the micro-stakes tables. I still called Villain's 3-bet because I wasn't convinced that I was beat getting 10-1 odds.)

River: (11.25 BB) 7 (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls

(At least it wasn't the 7! Beat or not, I wasn't about to fold getting 12-1 on the river with an overpair. I didn't see any value in raising the river since Villain might not pay me off with a worse hand. I'm out of practice when it comes to LHE river play. I probably missed out on an obvious river raise for value here. Honestly, I was no longer sure where I stood in the hand given the play up to the that point.)

Final Pot: 13.25 BB

Hero shows J J (two pairs, Jacks and Twos)
BB shows T 9 (two pairs, Tens and Nines)

(I sucked out on the turn and failed to recognize the situation for what it was. I still managed to get most of the money in when I was ahead in the hand. I'm not sure about Villain's call on the button with T9o against an unknown EP raiser. I guess that's why these games are still +EV.)

Hero wins 12.6 BB

Party Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 346231

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is BTN with T A

1 fold, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, SB calls, 1 fold, CO caps!, Hero calls, SB calls

(The CO was a 20/18/5.0 TAG over 76 hands. He'd been raising a lot and I assumed - probably correctly - that he was taking advantage of the weaker players in the blinds and my inability to 3-bet. That being said, I'm not sure how well my ATs matches up against his actual range of raising hands over such a small hand sample. This was my first 3-bet at the table so CO's 4-bet deserved respect. I called the 4-bet with the intention of folding unless I picked up a good draw or a strong hand.)


Flop: (13 SB) Q 7 J (3 players)
SB checks, CO bets, Hero calls, SB calls

(I called getting 14-1 odds to hit my gutshot. I wasn't too concerned about the SB raising in this spot because he was very passive.)

Turn: (8 BB) T (3 players)
SB checks, CO bets, Hero folds, SB calls

(I stuck with my plan and folded. I was getting 9-1 pot odds which wasn't enough to draw to my four-outer especially given that I would now be drawing to a split pot with anyone holding a naked ace. And with a potential backdoor flush and the SB still sticking around, I figured that a fold was probably wise.)

River: (10 BB) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, CO bets, SB calls

Final Pot: 12 BB
CO shows K K (a pair of Kings)
SB mucks A Q (a pair of Queens)

(I was in pretty bad shape on the turn and made a good laydown. Good pot for CO.)

CO wins 11.4 BB

(Rake: $0.60)

My plans for the weekend include more poker. Mr. V. may be coming over tonight for a little poker and some drinks. It's been a while and I'm looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend everyone!