Assani's Poker Thread (3 Viewers)

[eagles2007]

Omaha question:

You get dealt a hand like 66A6 ... How much does that 3rd 6 (or whatever) downgrade your hand?

 

[Ned]

Omaha question:You get dealt a hand like 66A6 ... How much does that 3rd 6 (or whatever) downgrade your hand?

a ton

 

[Jimboozie]

Omaha question:You get dealt a hand like 66A6 ... How much does that 3rd 6 (or whatever) downgrade your hand?

a ton

Any hand with 3 of a kind (especially small pair) is pretty much unplayable.

 

[Assani Fisher]

How do people enter the $320 and then play this badly?PokerStars Game #17435105779: Tournament #87745503, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/05/14 - 21:03:13 (ET)Table '87745503 120' 9-max Seat #3 is the buttonSeat 1: mistakooll (3000 in chips) Seat 2: kidd 711 (2340 in chips) Seat 3: Hjarno1 (2950 in chips) Seat 4: TJ22FTLR (3330 in chips) Seat 5: jwvdcw (3000 in chips) Seat 6: F_H_E_S (350 in chips) Seat 7: smerks (3000 in chips) Seat 8: King-2-Z (2970 in chips) Seat 9: Venusssss (6030 in chips) TJ22FTLR: posts small blind 10jwvdcw: posts big blind 20*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to jwvdcw [Qs Qc]F_H_E_S: folds smerks: folds King-2-Z: raises 35 to 55Venusssss: folds mistakooll: folds kidd 711: calls 55Hjarno1: folds TJ22FTLR: folds Venusssss said, "sry, tried to warn ya"jwvdcw: raises 2945 to 3000 and is all-in

Just curious........how often do you make this play and get called by KK or AA? How about if someone calls you with AK?I've used this play before a lot, and I agree that it's probably +EV......but so early in the tournament....I don't know if I'm pushing all my chips in here when most of the time you just pick up blinds (and a small raise), or you get called by someone who has you beat. Sure there are plenty of bad players out there ( ), but speaking for them, I don't think I'm calling you here without KK+.

Obviously I cna't speak about exact percentages but I feel as if I get called by JJ or worse significantly more than I run into KK or AA.

 

[Assani Fisher]

How do people enter the $320 and then play this badly?

Aren't there satellites into this?

maybe, never thought about that. Still though, if you made it in via satellite I would think you'd wanna play ultra tight and not risk it all calling all in with ATos early on.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Omaha question:You get dealt a hand like 66A6 ... How much does that 3rd 6 (or whatever) downgrade your hand?

easy easy fold.With nearly all your questions you're playing too loose and calling way too much. Pretty much if you have to ask then take the tight route and fold, as you're way too loose as is.

 

[pantherclub]

A - How would you play this?

pokerstars 25/50 game.

I have KK in the hole. Flop is K92. I raise. Someone re-raises and I re-raise and only a 2 other people stay in. Turn is a 9. I raise, someone re-raise and the other guy gets out and then I re-raise him. River is a 4. I raise he re-raises and i re-raise. He calls with 4 9's. Is there anyway out of this hand or is it jsut a bad (understatement) beat?

thanks

 

[Johnnymac]

A - How would you play this?pokerstars 25/50 game.I have KK in the hole. Flop is K92. I raise. Someone re-raises and I re-raise and only a 2 other people stay in. Turn is a 9. I raise, someone re-raise and the other guy gets out and then I re-raise him. River is a 4. I raise he re-raises and i re-raise. He calls with 4 9's. Is there anyway out of this hand or is it jsut a bad (understatement) beat?thanks

Am I missing something here? You have a bigger boat.

 

[pantherclub]

A - How would you play this?pokerstars 25/50 game.I have KK in the hole. Flop is K92. I raise. Someone re-raises and I re-raise and only a 2 other people stay in. Turn is a 9. I raise, someone re-raise and the other guy gets out and then I re-raise him. River is a 4. I raise he re-raises and i re-raise. He calls with 4 9's. Is there anyway out of this hand or is it jsut a bad (understatement) beat?thanks

Am I missing something here? You have a bigger boat.

he had pocket 9's to beat me with 4 of a kind

 

[Assani Fisher]

A - How would you play this?pokerstars 25/50 game.I have KK in the hole. Flop is K92. I raise. Someone re-raises and I re-raise and only a 2 other people stay in. Turn is a 9. I raise, someone re-raise and the other guy gets out and then I re-raise him. River is a 4. I raise he re-raises and i re-raise. He calls with 4 9's. Is there anyway out of this hand or is it jsut a bad (understatement) beat?thanks

Of course theres no way to get away from that hand.

 

[Txns8]

How do people enter the $320 and then play this badly?PokerStars Game #17435105779: Tournament #87745503, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/05/14 - 21:03:13 (ET)Table '87745503 120' 9-max Seat #3 is the buttonSeat 1: mistakooll (3000 in chips) Seat 2: kidd 711 (2340 in chips) Seat 3: Hjarno1 (2950 in chips) Seat 4: TJ22FTLR (3330 in chips) Seat 5: jwvdcw (3000 in chips) Seat 6: F_H_E_S (350 in chips) Seat 7: smerks (3000 in chips) Seat 8: King-2-Z (2970 in chips) Seat 9: Venusssss (6030 in chips) TJ22FTLR: posts small blind 10jwvdcw: posts big blind 20*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to jwvdcw [Qs Qc]F_H_E_S: folds smerks: folds King-2-Z: raises 35 to 55Venusssss: folds mistakooll: folds kidd 711: calls 55Hjarno1: folds TJ22FTLR: folds Venusssss said, "sry, tried to warn ya"jwvdcw: raises 2945 to 3000 and is all-in

Just curious........how often do you make this play and get called by KK or AA? How about if someone calls you with AK?I've used this play before a lot, and I agree that it's probably +EV......but so early in the tournament....I don't know if I'm pushing all my chips in here when most of the time you just pick up blinds (and a small raise), or you get called by someone who has you beat. Sure there are plenty of bad players out there ( ), but speaking for them, I don't think I'm calling you here without KK+.

Obviously I cna't speak about exact percentages but I feel as if I get called by JJ or worse significantly more than I run into KK or AA.

Thought about you when I called this raise.Full Tilt Poker $32,000 Guarantee No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 9 playersIronRose111 (BTN): t3200hustla16 (SB): t2095remy mt (BB): t1540tyrel66 (UTG): t3140DaSwam (UTG+1): t3835EandL (UTG+2): t2820darrenelias (MP1): t2295Magic_ip (MP2): t5350ackbb (CO): t2725Pre FlopaSwam is UTG+1 with Qs Qh1 fold,Hero raises to t180, 2 folds, Magic_ip raises to t5350 all in, 4 folds, Hero calls t3655 all inFlop (t7760) 6s 4d 9cTurn (t7760) 3cRiver (t7760) 5hFinal Pot: t7760DaSwam shows Qs Qh (a pair of Queens)Magic_ip shows 3d 2s (a straight, Six high)Magic_ip wins t7760It was an easy call. He'd been playing nearly every hand and was caught on the previous hand but sucked out to get where he was. I added to his pile after this one.

 

[Johnnymac]

A - How would you play this?pokerstars 25/50 game.I have KK in the hole. Flop is K92. I raise. Someone re-raises and I re-raise and only a 2 other people stay in. Turn is a 9. I raise, someone re-raise and the other guy gets out and then I re-raise him. River is a 4. I raise he re-raises and i re-raise. He calls with 4 9's. Is there anyway out of this hand or is it jsut a bad (understatement) beat?thanks

Am I missing something here? You have a bigger boat.

he had pocket 9's to beat me with 4 of a kind

sorry, I misread, thought he turned over 4 9

 

[Assani Fisher]

Not a good start to the day of MTTs.....

PokerStars Game #17517976796: Tournament #87733573, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (50/100) - 2008/05/18 - 13:13:40 (ET)

Table '87733573 286' 9-max Seat #8 is the button

Seat 1: jwvdcw (10982 in chips)

Seat 2: Puniponken (12925 in chips)

Seat 3: DeathBlow500 (9675 in chips)

Seat 4: choumane (2375 in chips)

Seat 5: ownage699 (8668 in chips)

Seat 6: jason1984a (10975 in chips)

Seat 7: bdamages (12050 in chips)

Seat 8: pool_shark_1 (12409 in chips)

Seat 9: taekwon (10716 in chips)

taekwon: posts small blind 50

jwvdcw: posts big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to jwvdcw [As Ac]

Puniponken: folds

DeathBlow500: folds

choumane: calls 100

ownage699: folds

jason1984a: folds

bdamages: folds

pool_shark_1: raises 300 to 400

taekwon: folds

jwvdcw: raises 900 to 1300

choumane: folds

pool_shark_1: raises 11109 to 12409 and is all-in

jwvdcw: calls 9682 and is all-in

Uncalled bet (1427) returned to pool_shark_1

*** FLOP *** [Qc Jh Qd]

*** TURN *** [Qc Jh Qd] [Th]

*** RIVER *** [Qc Jh Qd Th] [8h]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

jwvdcw: shows [As Ac] (two pair, Aces and Queens)

pool_shark_1: shows [Ah Ks] (a straight, Ten to Ace)

pool_shark_1 collected 22114 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 22114 | Rake 0

Board [Qc Jh Qd Th 8h]

Seat 1: jwvdcw (big blind) showed [As Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens

Seat 2: Puniponken folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 3: DeathBlow500 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 4: choumane folded before Flop

Seat 5: ownage699 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: jason1984a folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: bdamages folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 8: pool_shark_1 (button) showed [Ah Ks] and won (22114) with a straight, Ten to Ace

Seat 9: taekwon (small blind) folded before Flop

 

[spOOfy]

Ouch.

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

PokerStars Game #17520211269: Tournament #87754539, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (125/250) - 2008/05/18 - 14:46:41 (ET)

Table '87754539 54' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 1: diddlysquat (3450 in chips)

Seat 2: phiIter (4748 in chips)

Seat 3: DuckU (4115 in chips)

Seat 4: mike19338 (12833 in chips)

Seat 5: mahkiemahk (4367 in chips)

Seat 6: MrMorgan2 (9165 in chips)

Seat 7: pusteblume (9423 in chips)

Seat 8: jwvdcw (3720 in chips)

Seat 9: _danielo26 (8535 in chips)

diddlysquat: posts the ante 25

phiIter: posts the ante 25

DuckU: posts the ante 25

mike19338: posts the ante 25

mahkiemahk: posts the ante 25

MrMorgan2: posts the ante 25

pusteblume: posts the ante 25

jwvdcw: posts the ante 25

_danielo26: posts the ante 25

DuckU: posts small blind 125

mike19338: posts big blind 250

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to jwvdcw [Ac Ah]

mahkiemahk: folds

MrMorgan2: folds

pusteblume: folds

jwvdcw: raises 250 to 500

_danielo26: calls 500

diddlysquat: folds

phiIter: folds

DuckU: folds

mike19338: calls 250

*** FLOP *** [8d Ks Ts]

mike19338: checks

jwvdcw: bets 750

_danielo26: raises 2000 to 2750

mike19338: folds

jwvdcw: raises 445 to 3195 and is all-in

_danielo26: calls 445

*** TURN *** [8d Ks Ts] [Jd]

*** RIVER *** [8d Ks Ts Jd] [9s]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

jwvdcw: shows [Ac Ah] (a pair of Aces)

_danielo26: shows [Jh Kc] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)

_danielo26 collected 8240 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 8240 | Rake 0

Board [8d Ks Ts Jd 9s]

Seat 1: diddlysquat folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 2: phiIter (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 3: DuckU (small blind) folded before Flop

Seat 4: mike19338 (big blind) folded on the Flop

Seat 5: mahkiemahk folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: MrMorgan2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: pusteblume folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 8: jwvdcw showed [Ac Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces

Seat 9: _danielo26 showed [Jh Kc] and won (8240) with two pair, Kings and Jacks

 

[Jimboozie]

Oof. Good luck in the Sunday Million today. Hope to see you at the FT.

 

[Assani Fisher]

running great through my first 3 tourneys....

PokerStars Game #17521178681: Tournament #88191213, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/05/18 - 15:24:28 (ET)

Table '88191213 59' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: calamitas (10900 in chips)

Seat 2: The Omaholic (9190 in chips)

Seat 3: arbianight (10705 in chips)

Seat 4: b33nz (6770 in chips)

Seat 5: jwvdcw (4675 in chips)

Seat 6: Kvanmo (9140 in chips)

Seat 7: SBRounder (29350 in chips)

Seat 8: AISHA_2007 (5650 in chips)

Seat 9: matt20 (7205 in chips)

The Omaholic: posts small blind 100

arbianight: posts big blind 200

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to jwvdcw [Ks Kh]

b33nz: folds

jwvdcw: raises 400 to 600

Kvanmo: folds

SBRounder: raises 1675 to 2275

AISHA_2007: folds

matt20: folds

calamitas: folds

The Omaholic: folds

arbianight: folds

jwvdcw: raises 2400 to 4675 and is all-in

SBRounder: calls 2400

*** FLOP *** [2c 4d As]

*** TURN *** [2c 4d As] [Jh]

*** RIVER *** [2c 4d As Jh] [3h]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

jwvdcw: shows [Ks Kh] (a pair of Kings)

SBRounder: shows [Ad Ah] (three of a kind, Aces)

SBRounder collected 9650 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 9650 | Rake 0

Board [2c 4d As Jh 3h]

Seat 1: calamitas (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 2: The Omaholic (small blind) folded before Flop

Seat 3: arbianight (big blind) folded before Flop

Seat 4: b33nz folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 5: jwvdcw showed [Ks Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings

Seat 6: Kvanmo folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: SBRounder showed [Ad Ah] and won (9650) with three of a kind, Aces

Seat 8: AISHA_2007 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: matt20 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

 

[munga30]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

I'm playing it the same way at that level, however as the buy in drops so does one's ability to realize what a miniraise means (I have a big hand, I'm pot commited and I'm begging you to call). Aces against kings 9 times out of 10 the money is getting all in preflop.

 

[Jimboozie]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Actually he had a M of 15. 200 for BB + 100 for SB = 300 per round. 4500/300 = 15.

 

[MikeReagan]

I see you are playing the FTOPS Main Event. I've lost over $300 on the damn satellites. I should have just bought in. Still one to go, so hopefully I can get in. Might just end up buying in anyway.

Good luck!

 

[Voice Of Reason]

Intereested in your thought process calling the all in bet last night that you went out in the big tournament on.

You're gonna have to be way more specific than this, as I play too many tourneys per day to know what you're talking about.

Tournament #87632828, $1000+$50 Hold'em No Limit From Last night. Board was KK?88. You called his all in with A high.

Actually talking about the hand with Eddie now. Heres how it went to the best of my memory:I have about 5500, villian has 4500 or so.I have AT in MP/LP, blinds 100/200 with small ante.I raise to 600, villian calls on button.Flop comes KK8, I take a stab of 800, villian calls. At this point I'm pretty much done with the hand.Turn is a 5. I check, he checks.River is an 8. I check, he goes all in for 3100 or so.I thought for a long time and called. He had QK and I was crippled. Be interested in hearing thoughts on it here....

Without a read, I'd guess this is a fold on the river. The only hand that I can see villian playing this way that AT beats is a counterfeited pair, but I think he'd push it at some point before the river. I think he'd check behind an A most of the time in this spot. His line with a K makes sense to me, as he had one pot sized bet left if he called you on the flop, and there very little danger in giving a free card(s). AA and QQ I think would be some unlikely but somewhat possiblities, moreso AA. Anything else that would call you on the flop that you are beating I would assume would bluff the turn. With the stack sizes, you're dead if you call and lose, as it would leaving you with an M of about 2-3, when one of your better scenarios is that you're chopping, which would be getting 1:2 on a call for your tournament life, would lead me to fold this hand.

Assani, I'm curious as to what your thoughts were on this hand.

 

[munga30]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

Open shove 55/A5s/ATo/K9s/KTo/Q9s/QTo/JTs

 

[munga30]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Actually he had a M of 15. 200 for BB + 100 for SB = 300 per round. 4500/300 = 15.

You're looking at the wrong hand. 125+250+225(antes) = 600. Assani's stack is 3720.

 

[Boomer_JJ]

As a long time lurker and first time poster, I want to give a shout out to Assani and all of you that post in this thread. I am mostly a casual player, but my game as certainly improved through reading the hand analysis in the thread.

Now a question to Assani and others - what percentage of hands do you normally play (see the flop) in the higher stakes online tournaments? I assume that the percentage might be slightly higher in the rebuy periods, but I am not sure it is significant? I ask because i wonder if I might not be playing enough hands...normally around 9-12%. In the first hour and a half of the large MTT's I am tighter (probably 7-9%) and I try to let my range of starting hands expand as others tighten up as they start to think about the money (maybe 10-15%), but I wonder if I am too tight?

Thanks for any responses and gl today (I satellited into the million today).

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

I'm playing it the same way at that level, however as the buy in drops so does one's ability to realize what a miniraise means (I have a big hand, I'm pot commited and I'm begging you to call). Aces against kings 9 times out of 10 the money is getting all in preflop.

I'm confused. You said:"Minraises are not(awesome), esp. with an M of 6" which I took to clearly mean that you disagreed with my play. Now you say "I'm playing it the same way that level."edit: Crap, thought this was the same person who initially critisized me. Disregard this post.

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Actually he had a M of 15. 200 for BB + 100 for SB = 300 per round. 4500/300 = 15.

Hes talking about the hand in post #7269

 

[Assani Fisher]

I see you are playing the FTOPS Main Event. I've lost over $300 on the damn satellites. I should have just bought in. Still one to go, so hopefully I can get in. Might just end up buying in anyway.Good luck!

gl man

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

Open shove 55/A5s/ATo/K9s/KTo/Q9s/QTo/JTs

I think shoving AA there is clearly a worse play than mine. You critisized me first, so I'll let you start things off and explain why you feel your way is better....

 

[Assani Fisher]

Intereested in your thought process calling the all in bet last night that you went out in the big tournament on.

You're gonna have to be way more specific than this, as I play too many tourneys per day to know what you're talking about.

Tournament #87632828, $1000+$50 Hold'em No Limit From Last night. Board was KK?88. You called his all in with A high.

Actually talking about the hand with Eddie now. Heres how it went to the best of my memory:I have about 5500, villian has 4500 or so.I have AT in MP/LP, blinds 100/200 with small ante.I raise to 600, villian calls on button.Flop comes KK8, I take a stab of 800, villian calls. At this point I'm pretty much done with the hand.Turn is a 5. I check, he checks.River is an 8. I check, he goes all in for 3100 or so.I thought for a long time and called. He had QK and I was crippled. Be interested in hearing thoughts on it here....

Without a read, I'd guess this is a fold on the river. The only hand that I can see villian playing this way that AT beats is a counterfeited pair, but I think he'd push it at some point before the river. I think he'd check behind an A most of the time in this spot. His line with a K makes sense to me, as he had one pot sized bet left if he called you on the flop, and there very little danger in giving a free card(s). AA and QQ I think would be some unlikely but somewhat possiblities, moreso AA. Anything else that would call you on the flop that you are beating I would assume would bluff the turn. With the stack sizes, you're dead if you call and lose, as it would leaving you with an M of about 2-3, when one of your better scenarios is that you're chopping, which would be getting 1:2 on a call for your tournament life, would lead me to fold this hand.

Assani, I'm curious as to what your thoughts were on this hand.

Basically I thought that the odds of a counterfeited pair was at least 50% of the odds of a king or pocket 9s, Ts, Js, Qs, As, and the pot odds made it worthwhile. I also thought pushing with an ace there is a pretty solid move since he can oftentimes get me off an ace.Looking back, I think I should've folded, as I've come to see that a big overbet or pot sized bet all in is usually not a bluff when coming from solid thinking players. But that was my thought process at the time.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

I'm playing it the same way at that level, however as the buy in drops so does one's ability to realize what a miniraise means (I have a big hand, I'm pot commited and I'm begging you to call). Aces against kings 9 times out of 10 the money is getting all in preflop.

I'm confused. You said:"Minraises are not(awesome), esp. with an M of 6" which I took to clearly mean that you disagreed with my play. Now you say "I'm playing it the same way that level."edit: Crap, thought this was the same person who initially critisized me. Disregard this post.

Please do not confuse me with a 4 digit poster again, tia. munga> hi, I will have a new avatar for you in August when I document the live shuke/gm eat off at mhIII.

 

[Assani Fisher]

As a long time lurker and first time poster, I want to give a shout out to Assani and all of you that post in this thread. I am mostly a casual player, but my game as certainly improved through reading the hand analysis in the thread.Now a question to Assani and others - what percentage of hands do you normally play (see the flop) in the higher stakes online tournaments? I assume that the percentage might be slightly higher in the rebuy periods, but I am not sure it is significant? I ask because i wonder if I might not be playing enough hands...normally around 9-12%. In the first hour and a half of the large MTT's I am tighter (probably 7-9%) and I try to let my range of starting hands expand as others tighten up as they start to think about the money (maybe 10-15%), but I wonder if I am too tight?Thanks for any responses and gl today (I satellited into the million today).

The two tourneys I'm in now:Sunday Mil(Stars): 4 out of 51 hands$40K guaranteed(FT): 2 out of 46 handsI'm not sure of a percentage normally, as I don't try to hit any exact mark. I think its all hand dependant. A better question would be for you to post some hands you were unsure if you should've played or not and I'll let you know what I think. Overall though, I think that tight is best early on. Loosen up when the antes kick in and when my M is medium or small. I personally like to make a ton of very small raises once the antes kick in(usually either min. raises or slightly bigger). I do this with monsters and speculative hands, especially loosening up in late position. You have to be capable of outplaying opponents postflop though if you use this strategy. When my M is very big, then I'll stick with 3xBB raises with monsters and stay very tight even if there are antes(although I guess I would somewhat loosen up compared to with no antes).Example: K9s in the cutoff, folded to meearly on: Foldwith antes/medium stack: Min. raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseExample: J9os in hijackearly on: foldwith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: foldExample: KK on button when folded to meearly on: 3-3.5x BB raisewith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseIn rebuys, my advice doesn't change much although I'd push all in instead of raising a standard amount in many more situations.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Just to be clear....by "small" I mean an M of about 6-10, anything 4 and under is almost certainly a push unless I have a monster and am trying to enourage action in which case I think a min raise is best with a M of 4-6 because you need to take a chance to double up here...with a M of 3 or less might as well just push because its the exact same anyway.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Also to add....

If your initial raise is met with a reraise(putting you all in or close to it) and that gives you a very tough decision but you think about it and then decide to go all in.....you should've just gone all in to begin with.

Example: 250/500 blinds with 50 ante(so 1200 in pot) and you have 7000

You have ATs, AJos, QKs, 88, or a hand like that on button.

If you min raise here and get reraised you'll probably call. Therefore don't min raise; Just go all in.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Overall though, I think that tight is best early on. Loosen up when the antes kick in and when my M is medium or small. I personally like to make a ton of very small raises once the antes kick in(usually either min. raises or slightly bigger). I do this with monsters and speculative hands, especially loosening up in late position. You have to be capable of outplaying opponents postflop though if you use this strategy. When my M is very big, then I'll stick with 3xBB raises with monsters and stay very tight even if there are antes(although I guess I would somewhat loosen up compared to with no antes).

Two hand example that just happened to me:Full Tilt Poker Game #6469429315: $40,000 Guarantee (48661606), Table 52 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:33:22 ET - 2008/05/18Seat 1: donkamentking (6,419)Seat 2: DrOfDonkology (10,967)Seat 3: Assani Fisher (4,265)Seat 4: Marinersheep (30,097)Seat 5: ChipSteela (8,315)Seat 6: m_reed05 (14,283)Seat 7: TheBrain (4,285)Seat 8: Bayernbua (7,379)Seat 9: mnbvc1234 (7,969)donkamentking antes 25DrOfDonkology antes 25Assani Fisher antes 25Marinersheep antes 25ChipSteela antes 25m_reed05 antes 25TheBrain antes 25Bayernbua antes 25mnbvc1234 antes 25ChipSteela posts the small blind of 150m_reed05 posts the big blind of 300The button is in seat #4*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Assani Fisher [Jh Qc]TheBrain foldsBayernbua foldsmnbvc1234 foldsdonkamentking foldsDrOfDonkology foldsAssani Fisher raises to 600Marinersheep has 15 seconds left to actMarinersheep calls 600ChipSteela foldsm_reed05 has 15 seconds left to actm_reed05 calls 300*** FLOP *** [4h 8s 2d]m_reed05 checksAssani Fisher checksMarinersheep checks*** TURN *** [4h 8s 2d] [3c]m_reed05 has 15 seconds left to actm_reed05 checksAssani Fisher checksMarinersheep checks*** RIVER *** [4h 8s 2d 3c] [5h]m_reed05 checksAssani Fisher bets 500Marinersheep foldsm_reed05 foldsUncalled bet of 500 returned to Assani FisherAssani Fisher mucksAssani Fisher wins the pot (2,175)*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 2,175 | Rake 0Board: [4h 8s 2d 3c 5h]Seat 1: donkamentking folded before the FlopSeat 2: DrOfDonkology folded before the FlopSeat 3: Assani Fisher collected (2,175), muckedSeat 4: Marinersheep (button) folded on the RiverSeat 5: ChipSteela (small blind) folded before the FlopSeat 6: m_reed05 (big blind) folded on the RiverSeat 7: TheBrain folded before the FlopSeat 8: Bayernbua folded before the FlopSeat 9: mnbvc1234 folded before the FlopMake a small raise with a decent hand in LP, that raise lets me represent the ace later on.Full Tilt Poker Game #6469467738: $40,000 Guarantee (48661606), Table 52 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:36:16 ET - 2008/05/18Seat 1: donkamentking (6,369)Seat 2: DrOfDonkology (10,917)Seat 3: Assani Fisher (5,190)Seat 4: Marinersheep (28,847)Seat 5: ChipSteela (8,115)Seat 6: m_reed05 (9,398)Seat 7: TheBrain (9,895)Seat 8: Bayernbua (7,329)Seat 9: mnbvc1234 (7,919)donkamentking antes 25DrOfDonkology antes 25Assani Fisher antes 25Marinersheep antes 25ChipSteela antes 25m_reed05 antes 25TheBrain antes 25Bayernbua antes 25mnbvc1234 antes 25TheBrain posts the small blind of 150Bayernbua posts the big blind of 300The button is in seat #6*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Assani Fisher [Kh Kd]mnbvc1234 foldsdonkamentking foldsDrOfDonkology foldsAssani Fisher raises to 600Marinersheep foldsChipSteela foldsm_reed05 foldsTheBrain foldsBayernbua calls 300*** FLOP *** [3c 8d Ad]Bayernbua checksAssani Fisher checks*** TURN *** [3c 8d Ad] [4c]Bayernbua has 15 seconds left to actBayernbua bets 800Assani Fisher calls 800*** RIVER *** [3c 8d Ad 4c] [6h]Bayernbua bets 904Assani Fisher calls 904*** SHOW DOWN ***Bayernbua shows [7d 5c] a straight, Eight highAssani Fisher mucksBayernbua wins the pot (4,983) with a straight, Eight high*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 4,983 | Rake 0Board: [3c 8d Ad 4c 6h]Seat 1: donkamentking folded before the FlopSeat 2: DrOfDonkology folded before the FlopSeat 3: Assani Fisher mucked [Kh Kd] - a pair of KingsSeat 4: Marinersheep folded before the FlopSeat 5: ChipSteela folded before the FlopSeat 6: m_reed05 (button) folded before the FlopSeat 7: TheBrain (small blind) folded before the FlopSeat 8: Bayernbua (big blind) showed [7d 5c] and won (4,983) with a straight, Eight highSeat 9: mnbvc1234 folded before the FlopDidn't work out because he hit his gutshot, but he probably would've bluffed again on river and I could've snapped it off if any other card hit.When I said that you have to be comfortable playing postflop to use this strategy, these are the types of spots I'm talking about(obviously these aren't the best examples but they just happened so I'll go with them). Sometimes things don't work out like in the second hand, sometimes they do like in the first hand. Thats not the point. The point is that you're going to have many more decisions postflop playing this way, so make sure you're comfortable playing postflop if you choose to use this strategy.

 

[Boomer_JJ]

As a long time lurker and first time poster, I want to give a shout out to Assani and all of you that post in this thread. I am mostly a casual player, but my game as certainly improved through reading the hand analysis in the thread.Now a question to Assani and others - what percentage of hands do you normally play (see the flop) in the higher stakes online tournaments? I assume that the percentage might be slightly higher in the rebuy periods, but I am not sure it is significant? I ask because i wonder if I might not be playing enough hands...normally around 9-12%. In the first hour and a half of the large MTT's I am tighter (probably 7-9%) and I try to let my range of starting hands expand as others tighten up as they start to think about the money (maybe 10-15%), but I wonder if I am too tight?Thanks for any responses and gl today (I satellited into the million today).

The two tourneys I'm in now:Sunday Mil(Stars): 4 out of 51 hands$40K guaranteed(FT): 2 out of 46 handsI'm not sure of a percentage normally, as I don't try to hit any exact mark. I think its all hand dependant. A better question would be for you to post some hands you were unsure if you should've played or not and I'll let you know what I think. Overall though, I think that tight is best early on. Loosen up when the antes kick in and when my M is medium or small. I personally like to make a ton of very small raises once the antes kick in(usually either min. raises or slightly bigger). I do this with monsters and speculative hands, especially loosening up in late position. You have to be capable of outplaying opponents postflop though if you use this strategy. When my M is very big, then I'll stick with 3xBB raises with monsters and stay very tight even if there are antes(although I guess I would somewhat loosen up compared to with no antes).Example: K9s in the cutoff, folded to meearly on: Foldwith antes/medium stack: Min. raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseExample: J9os in hijackearly on: foldwith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: foldExample: KK on button when folded to meearly on: 3-3.5x BB raisewith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseIn rebuys, my advice doesn't change much although I'd push all in instead of raising a standard amount in many more situations.

Thanks for the response.Here a few hands from today that I question my play a little.Table '87745495 816' 9-max Seat #6 is the buttonSeat 1: V0nVenema (19350 in chips) Seat 2: mattym3 (10025 in chips) Seat 3: SEPAJJ (8600 in chips) Seat 4: sixteez (28058 in chips) Seat 5: SnoopDogg72 (18125 in chips) Seat 6: crunchyclam7 (28200 in chips) Seat 7: Mr Swatch (14200 in chips) Seat 8: teoboy (9050 in chips) Seat 9: Jackace1212 (5275 in chips) Mr Swatch: posts small blind 150teoboy: posts big blind 300*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [8h 8d]Jackace1212: raises 500 to 800V0nVenema: folds mattym3: folds SEPAJJ: folds sixteez: folds SnoopDogg72: folds crunchyclam7: folds Mr Swatch: folds teoboy: folds Uncalled bet (500) returned to Jackace1212Jackace1212 collected 750 from potJackace1212: doesn't show hand My thinking here was that i can certainly play 88 against that raise, but being in such early position, I feared a re-raise and then I am caught in a bigger hand than I should be with 88. Or should my thinking have been "re-raise" or "fold" only?Table '87745495 816' 9-max Seat #4 is the buttonSeat 1: V0nVenema (19200 in chips) Seat 2: mattym3 (13775 in chips) Seat 3: SEPAJJ (6650 in chips) Seat 4: sixteez (29408 in chips) Seat 5: SnoopDogg72 (17825 in chips) Seat 6: crunchyclam7 (28200 in chips) Seat 7: Mr Swatch (14050 in chips) Seat 8: teoboy (6500 in chips) Seat 9: Jackace1212 (5275 in chips) SnoopDogg72: posts small blind 150crunchyclam7: posts big blind 300*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Ts Td]Mr Swatch: folds teoboy: calls 300Jackace1212: folds V0nVenema: folds mattym3: raises 900 to 1200SEPAJJ: calls 1200sixteez: folds SnoopDogg72: folds crunchyclam7: folds teoboy: calls 900*** FLOP *** [Qh 7c 4s]teoboy: checks mattym3: bets 2400SEPAJJ: folds teoboy: folds Uncalled bet (2400) returned to mattym3mattym3 collected 4050 from potmattym3: doesn't show hand Here I am relatively comfortable that I was behind on the flop, but the second question from the hand above is relevant - should I have been looking "re-raise" or "fold" pre-flop?So far in the million, I have played 5 of 68 hands.Thanks again

 

[Flash]

Not a good start to the day of MTTs.....

PokerStars Game #17517976796: Tournament #87733573, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (50/100) - 2008/05/18 - 13:13:40 (ET)

Table '87733573 286' 9-max Seat #8 is the button

Seat 1: jwvdcw (10982 in chips)

Seat 2: Puniponken (12925 in chips)

Seat 3: DeathBlow500 (9675 in chips)

Seat 4: choumane (2375 in chips)

Seat 5: ownage699 (8668 in chips)

Seat 6: jason1984a (10975 in chips)

Seat 7: bdamages (12050 in chips)

Seat 8: pool_shark_1 (12409 in chips)

Seat 9: taekwon (10716 in chips)

taekwon: posts small blind 50

jwvdcw: posts big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to jwvdcw [As Ac]

Puniponken: folds

DeathBlow500: folds

choumane: calls 100

ownage699: folds

jason1984a: folds

bdamages: folds

pool_shark_1: raises 300 to 400

taekwon: folds

jwvdcw: raises 900 to 1300

choumane: folds

pool_shark_1: raises 11109 to 12409 and is all-in

jwvdcw: calls 9682 and is all-in

Uncalled bet (1427) returned to pool_shark_1

*** FLOP *** [Qc Jh Qd]

*** TURN *** [Qc Jh Qd] [Th]

*** RIVER *** [Qc Jh Qd Th] [8h]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

jwvdcw: shows [As Ac] (two pair, Aces and Queens)

pool_shark_1: shows [Ah Ks] (a straight, Ten to Ace)

pool_shark_1 collected 22114 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 22114 | Rake 0

Board [Qc Jh Qd Th 8h]

Seat 1: jwvdcw (big blind) showed [As Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens

Seat 2: Puniponken folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 3: DeathBlow500 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 4: choumane folded before Flop

Seat 5: ownage699 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: jason1984a folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: bdamages folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 8: pool_shark_1 (button) showed [Ah Ks] and won (22114) with a straight, Ten to Ace

Seat 9: taekwon (small blind) folded before Flop

I played against that guy this morning in a sat. He was horrible, sucking out left and right. Just making horrible calls and catching everytime.

 

[munga30]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

Open shove 55/A5s/ATo/K9s/KTo/Q9s/QTo/JTs

I think shoving AA there is clearly a worse play than mine. You critisized me first, so I'll let you start things off and explain why you feel your way is better....

Only after you lay out all the hands you will open min-raise in the same spot. That way, we'll have an apples-to-apples conversation.

 

[munga30]

munga> hi, I will have a new avatar for you in August when I document the live shuke/gm eat off at mhIII.

 

[Boomer_JJ]

Interesting. I am following what you are saying, but at this point, I feel like I might technically be able to outplay a lot of players post flop but in reality I am still at the stage in these on-line MTT's that I believe that my opponent must have hit his hand the majority of the time. I know that this is a major weakness that will be taken advantage of, so I am working on being willing to make more plays (play back).

Have an M of 10-ish now...

Editing to add my first attempts...

Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 1: Gina2003 (46327 in chips)

Seat 2: SEPAJJ (20600 in chips)

Seat 3: sybze (41553 in chips)

Seat 4: beau1994 (36436 in chips)

Seat 5: B.D.Best (66222 in chips)

Seat 6: rixon777 (24290 in chips)

Seat 7: aceturf (29577 in chips)

Seat 8: skatteverk (17400 in chips)

Seat 9: 2monte2 (9570 in chips)

Gina2003: posts the ante 75

SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75

sybze: posts the ante 75

beau1994: posts the ante 75

B.D.Best: posts the ante 75

rixon777: posts the ante 75

aceturf: posts the ante 75

skatteverk: posts the ante 75

2monte2: posts the ante 75

sybze: posts small blind 500

beau1994: posts big blind 1000

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to SEPAJJ [Ks Qh]

B.D.Best: folds

rixon777: folds

aceturf: folds

skatteverk: folds

2monte2: folds

Gina2003: folds

SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300

sybze: folds

beau1994: folds

Uncalled bet (1300) returned to SEPAJJ

SEPAJJ collected 3175 from pot

Two hands later....

Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #4 is the button

Seat 1: Gina2003 (46177 in chips)

Seat 2: SEPAJJ (22625 in chips)

Seat 3: sybze (5617 in chips)

Seat 4: beau1994 (72247 in chips)

Seat 5: B.D.Best (65072 in chips)

Seat 6: rixon777 (24140 in chips)

Seat 7: aceturf (29427 in chips)

Seat 8: skatteverk (17250 in chips)

Seat 9: 2monte2 (9420 in chips)

Gina2003: posts the ante 75

SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75

sybze: posts the ante 75

beau1994: posts the ante 75

B.D.Best: posts the ante 75

rixon777: posts the ante 75

aceturf: posts the ante 75

skatteverk: posts the ante 75

2monte2: posts the ante 75

B.D.Best: posts small blind 500

rixon777: posts big blind 1000

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to SEPAJJ [Js Jc]

aceturf: folds

skatteverk: folds

2monte2: folds

Gina2003: folds

SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300

sybze: folds

beau1994: calls 2300

B.D.Best: folds

rixon777: raises 3700 to 6000

SEPAJJ: calls 3700

beau1994: calls 3700

*** FLOP *** [5s Jd As]

rixon777: checks

SEPAJJ: bets 16550 and is all-in

beau1994: folds

rixon777: folds

Uncalled bet (16550) returned to SEPAJJ

SEPAJJ collected 19175 from pot

Obviously I have not had to outplay anyone yet.

 

[Flash]

Lets not go all "Alias" here and start posting our own hands. This is Assani's thread. Start a different thread for poker help.

TIA

 

[Boomer_JJ]

Lets not go all "Alias" here and start posting our own hands. This is Assani's thread. Start a different thread for poker help.TIA

LOL - No problem, I'll stop posting. That said, did you read Assani's original response? "A better question would be for you to post some hands you were unsure if you should've played or not and I'll let you know what I think."

 

[Flash]

Lets not go all "Alias" here and start posting our own hands. This is Assani's thread. Start a different thread for poker help.TIA

LOL - No problem, I'll stop posting. That said, did you read Assani's original response? "A better question would be for you to post some hands you were unsure if you should've played or not and I'll let you know what I think."

Noted.Assani, lets keep this thread on track please.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Out of $109 rebuy

PokerStars Game #17528848560: Tournament #88191244, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/05/18 - 20:50:08 (ET)

Table '88191244 17' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

Seat 1: jwvdcw (7450 in chips)

Seat 2: sorte_moe (1225 in chips)

Seat 3: ComeOnPhish (6780 in chips)

Seat 4: chipper_2 (10450 in chips)

Seat 5: mlagoo (3725 in chips)

Seat 6: Mai916 (4725 in chips)

Seat 7: cantstopmeAA (13860 in chips)

Seat 8: delegator (11285 in chips)

Seat 9: merrin8 (8385 in chips)

jwvdcw: posts small blind 75

sorte_moe: posts big blind 150

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to jwvdcw [Kh Kd]

ComeOnPhish: folds

chipper_2: raises 300 to 450

mlagoo: folds

Mai916: folds

cantstopmeAA: folds

delegator: folds

merrin8: folds

jwvdcw: raises 7000 to 7450 and is all-in

sorte_moe: folds

chipper_2: calls 7000

*** FLOP *** [7h Tc 5d]

*** TURN *** [7h Tc 5d] [Jc]

*** RIVER *** [7h Tc 5d Jc] [8s]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

jwvdcw: shows [Kh Kd] (a pair of Kings)

chipper_2: shows [As Ah] (a pair of Aces)

chipper_2 collected 15050 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 15050 | Rake 0

Board [7h Tc 5d Jc 8s]

Seat 1: jwvdcw (small blind) showed [Kh Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings

Seat 2: sorte_moe (big blind) folded before Flop

Seat 3: ComeOnPhish folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 4: chipper_2 showed [As Ah] and won (15050) with a pair of Aces

Seat 5: mlagoo folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: Mai916 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: cantstopmeAA folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 8: delegator folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: merrin8 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

And 99 gets all in against A9 and AT and I lose in the 2nd chance. This day sucks...

 

[Assani Fisher]

As a long time lurker and first time poster, I want to give a shout out to Assani and all of you that post in this thread. I am mostly a casual player, but my game as certainly improved through reading the hand analysis in the thread.Now a question to Assani and others - what percentage of hands do you normally play (see the flop) in the higher stakes online tournaments? I assume that the percentage might be slightly higher in the rebuy periods, but I am not sure it is significant? I ask because i wonder if I might not be playing enough hands...normally around 9-12%. In the first hour and a half of the large MTT's I am tighter (probably 7-9%) and I try to let my range of starting hands expand as others tighten up as they start to think about the money (maybe 10-15%), but I wonder if I am too tight?Thanks for any responses and gl today (I satellited into the million today).

The two tourneys I'm in now:Sunday Mil(Stars): 4 out of 51 hands$40K guaranteed(FT): 2 out of 46 handsI'm not sure of a percentage normally, as I don't try to hit any exact mark. I think its all hand dependant. A better question would be for you to post some hands you were unsure if you should've played or not and I'll let you know what I think. Overall though, I think that tight is best early on. Loosen up when the antes kick in and when my M is medium or small. I personally like to make a ton of very small raises once the antes kick in(usually either min. raises or slightly bigger). I do this with monsters and speculative hands, especially loosening up in late position. You have to be capable of outplaying opponents postflop though if you use this strategy. When my M is very big, then I'll stick with 3xBB raises with monsters and stay very tight even if there are antes(although I guess I would somewhat loosen up compared to with no antes).Example: K9s in the cutoff, folded to meearly on: Foldwith antes/medium stack: Min. raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseExample: J9os in hijackearly on: foldwith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: foldExample: KK on button when folded to meearly on: 3-3.5x BB raisewith antes/medium stack: Min raisewith antes/big stack: 3xBB raiseIn rebuys, my advice doesn't change much although I'd push all in instead of raising a standard amount in many more situations.

Thanks for the response.Here a few hands from today that I question my play a little.Table '87745495 816' 9-max Seat #6 is the buttonSeat 1: V0nVenema (19350 in chips) Seat 2: mattym3 (10025 in chips) Seat 3: SEPAJJ (8600 in chips) Seat 4: sixteez (28058 in chips) Seat 5: SnoopDogg72 (18125 in chips) Seat 6: crunchyclam7 (28200 in chips) Seat 7: Mr Swatch (14200 in chips) Seat 8: teoboy (9050 in chips) Seat 9: Jackace1212 (5275 in chips) Mr Swatch: posts small blind 150teoboy: posts big blind 300*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [8h 8d]Jackace1212: raises 500 to 800V0nVenema: folds mattym3: folds SEPAJJ: folds sixteez: folds SnoopDogg72: folds crunchyclam7: folds Mr Swatch: folds teoboy: folds Uncalled bet (500) returned to Jackace1212Jackace1212 collected 750 from potJackace1212: doesn't show hand My thinking here was that i can certainly play 88 against that raise, but being in such early position, I feared a re-raise and then I am caught in a bigger hand than I should be with 88. Or should my thinking have been "re-raise" or "fold" only?Table '87745495 816' 9-max Seat #4 is the buttonSeat 1: V0nVenema (19200 in chips) Seat 2: mattym3 (13775 in chips) Seat 3: SEPAJJ (6650 in chips) Seat 4: sixteez (29408 in chips) Seat 5: SnoopDogg72 (17825 in chips) Seat 6: crunchyclam7 (28200 in chips) Seat 7: Mr Swatch (14050 in chips) Seat 8: teoboy (6500 in chips) Seat 9: Jackace1212 (5275 in chips) SnoopDogg72: posts small blind 150crunchyclam7: posts big blind 300*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Ts Td]Mr Swatch: folds teoboy: calls 300Jackace1212: folds V0nVenema: folds mattym3: raises 900 to 1200SEPAJJ: calls 1200sixteez: folds SnoopDogg72: folds crunchyclam7: folds teoboy: calls 900*** FLOP *** [Qh 7c 4s]teoboy: checks mattym3: bets 2400SEPAJJ: folds teoboy: folds Uncalled bet (2400) returned to mattym3mattym3 collected 4050 from potmattym3: doesn't show hand Here I am relatively comfortable that I was behind on the flop, but the second question from the hand above is relevant - should I have been looking "re-raise" or "fold" pre-flop?So far in the million, I have played 5 of 68 hands.Thanks again

On the first hand I can see an argument for calling, raising, or folding. If he hadn't been active then I'm more inclined to give his UTG raise credit so I probably don't reraise as I'm flipping at best. Calling is ok. Folding is ok. Hand #2 is standard imo.

 

[Assani Fisher]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

Open shove 55/A5s/ATo/K9s/KTo/Q9s/QTo/JTs

I think shoving AA there is clearly a worse play than mine. You critisized me first, so I'll let you start things off and explain why you feel your way is better....

Only after you lay out all the hands you will open min-raise in the same spot. That way, we'll have an apples-to-apples conversation.

AA and KK. Occasionally QQ.I think worrying about people "knowing what you have due to your raise" is one of the biggest mistakes and myths in tournament poker. Take this example here where I made the min raise yet still called by two people.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Interesting. I am following what you are saying, but at this point, I feel like I might technically be able to outplay a lot of players post flop but in reality I am still at the stage in these on-line MTT's that I believe that my opponent must have hit his hand the majority of the time. I know that this is a major weakness that will be taken advantage of, so I am working on being willing to make more plays (play back).Have an M of 10-ish now...Editing to add my first attempts...Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #2 is the buttonSeat 1: Gina2003 (46327 in chips) Seat 2: SEPAJJ (20600 in chips) Seat 3: sybze (41553 in chips) Seat 4: beau1994 (36436 in chips) Seat 5: B.D.Best (66222 in chips) Seat 6: rixon777 (24290 in chips) Seat 7: aceturf (29577 in chips) Seat 8: skatteverk (17400 in chips) Seat 9: 2monte2 (9570 in chips) Gina2003: posts the ante 75SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75sybze: posts the ante 75beau1994: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts the ante 75rixon777: posts the ante 75aceturf: posts the ante 75skatteverk: posts the ante 752monte2: posts the ante 75sybze: posts small blind 500beau1994: posts big blind 1000*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Ks Qh]B.D.Best: folds rixon777: folds aceturf: folds skatteverk: folds 2monte2: folds Gina2003: folds SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300sybze: folds beau1994: folds Uncalled bet (1300) returned to SEPAJJSEPAJJ collected 3175 from potTwo hands later....Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #4 is the buttonSeat 1: Gina2003 (46177 in chips) Seat 2: SEPAJJ (22625 in chips) Seat 3: sybze (5617 in chips) Seat 4: beau1994 (72247 in chips) Seat 5: B.D.Best (65072 in chips) Seat 6: rixon777 (24140 in chips) Seat 7: aceturf (29427 in chips) Seat 8: skatteverk (17250 in chips) Seat 9: 2monte2 (9420 in chips) Gina2003: posts the ante 75SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75sybze: posts the ante 75beau1994: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts the ante 75rixon777: posts the ante 75aceturf: posts the ante 75skatteverk: posts the ante 752monte2: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts small blind 500rixon777: posts big blind 1000*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Js Jc]aceturf: folds skatteverk: folds 2monte2: folds Gina2003: folds SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300sybze: folds beau1994: calls 2300B.D.Best: folds rixon777: raises 3700 to 6000SEPAJJ: calls 3700beau1994: calls 3700*** FLOP *** [5s Jd As]rixon777: checks SEPAJJ: bets 16550 and is all-inbeau1994: folds rixon777: folds Uncalled bet (16550) returned to SEPAJJSEPAJJ collected 19175 from potObviously I have not had to outplay anyone yet.

Since you had just made that small raise two hands earlier, I would've considered pushing preflop with JJ there. I don't really like your betting all in on the flop when you hit a monster though. Obvoiusly there are some draws out there, but I think you lost a lot of potential value. I may bet real small(2300 perhaps) or check in that spot.

 

[Boomer_JJ]

Interesting. I am following what you are saying, but at this point, I feel like I might technically be able to outplay a lot of players post flop but in reality I am still at the stage in these on-line MTT's that I believe that my opponent must have hit his hand the majority of the time. I know that this is a major weakness that will be taken advantage of, so I am working on being willing to make more plays (play back).Have an M of 10-ish now...Editing to add my first attempts...Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #2 is the buttonSeat 1: Gina2003 (46327 in chips) Seat 2: SEPAJJ (20600 in chips) Seat 3: sybze (41553 in chips) Seat 4: beau1994 (36436 in chips) Seat 5: B.D.Best (66222 in chips) Seat 6: rixon777 (24290 in chips) Seat 7: aceturf (29577 in chips) Seat 8: skatteverk (17400 in chips) Seat 9: 2monte2 (9570 in chips) Gina2003: posts the ante 75SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75sybze: posts the ante 75beau1994: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts the ante 75rixon777: posts the ante 75aceturf: posts the ante 75skatteverk: posts the ante 752monte2: posts the ante 75sybze: posts small blind 500beau1994: posts big blind 1000*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Ks Qh]B.D.Best: folds rixon777: folds aceturf: folds skatteverk: folds 2monte2: folds Gina2003: folds SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300sybze: folds beau1994: folds Uncalled bet (1300) returned to SEPAJJSEPAJJ collected 3175 from potTwo hands later....Table '87745495 336' 9-max Seat #4 is the buttonSeat 1: Gina2003 (46177 in chips) Seat 2: SEPAJJ (22625 in chips) Seat 3: sybze (5617 in chips) Seat 4: beau1994 (72247 in chips) Seat 5: B.D.Best (65072 in chips) Seat 6: rixon777 (24140 in chips) Seat 7: aceturf (29427 in chips) Seat 8: skatteverk (17250 in chips) Seat 9: 2monte2 (9420 in chips) Gina2003: posts the ante 75SEPAJJ: posts the ante 75sybze: posts the ante 75beau1994: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts the ante 75rixon777: posts the ante 75aceturf: posts the ante 75skatteverk: posts the ante 752monte2: posts the ante 75B.D.Best: posts small blind 500rixon777: posts big blind 1000*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SEPAJJ [Js Jc]aceturf: folds skatteverk: folds 2monte2: folds Gina2003: folds SEPAJJ: raises 1300 to 2300sybze: folds beau1994: calls 2300B.D.Best: folds rixon777: raises 3700 to 6000SEPAJJ: calls 3700beau1994: calls 3700*** FLOP *** [5s Jd As]rixon777: checks SEPAJJ: bets 16550 and is all-inbeau1994: folds rixon777: folds Uncalled bet (16550) returned to SEPAJJSEPAJJ collected 19175 from potObviously I have not had to outplay anyone yet.

Since you had just made that small raise two hands earlier, I would've considered pushing preflop with JJ there. I don't really like your betting all in on the flop when you hit a monster though. Obvoiusly there are some draws out there, but I think you lost a lot of potential value. I may bet real small(2300 perhaps) or check in that spot.

Both points make sense. Good feedback. Thanks.

 

[munga30]

aces are awesome

Minraises are not, esp. with an M of 6.

Thats completely standard for me there, especially with a low M. Please tell me how you'd play the hand.

Open shove 55/A5s/ATo/K9s/KTo/Q9s/QTo/JTs

I think shoving AA there is clearly a worse play than mine. You critisized me first, so I'll let you start things off and explain why you feel your way is better....

Only after you lay out all the hands you will open min-raise in the same spot. That way, we'll have an apples-to-apples conversation.

AA and KK. Occasionally QQ.I think worrying about people "knowing what you have due to your raise" is one of the biggest mistakes and myths in tournament poker. Take this example here where I made the min raise yet still called by two people.

Avoiding information leaks is really secondary to keeping my range as strong as possible. Just for an example (because I don't know what the rest of your range is in this spot), imagine you are playing "my way". Our hope is that the remaining opponents won't call me with the best possible range (HU would be { 55+, A2s+, K5s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s, A7o+, K9o+, Q9o+, JTo }). Generally, they'll be too tight (much too tight). But if I take AA and KK out of my range (because I minraise them) the exact same response becomes more correct for them. I agree with you that AA, by itself, is "worth" more than the blinds/antes in this spot. But I think it's more profitable for all the hands in your range to play them all the same.