Bad start to the year

Decided to play a bit this afternoon at my girlfriends flat in Paris while she is at work. Got some shisha going and loaded up 4 tables of 10NL, I normally play 6 tables, but still a bit hungover from new year so decided to take it easy.

Started off not too badly, found some good tables though there were quite a few short stacks. Flopped quad aces and then rivered a strait flush. Didn't get paid off massively with either....

Prima Network No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Hero ($13.21)
UTG ($9.30)
MP ($5.37)
CO ($3.06)
Button ($11.33)
SB ($2.70)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6h, Kh.
UTG calls $0.10, MP calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB raises to $0.2, Hero calls $0.10, UTG calls $0.10, MP calls $0.10.

Flop: ($0.80) Jh, As, Th (4 players)
SB bets $0.4, Hero calls $0.40, UTG folds, MP calls $0.40.

Turn: ($2) Ah (3 players)
SB bets $0.5, Hero calls $0.50, MP folds.

River: ($3) Qh (2 players)
SB bets $0.75, Hero raises to $1.5, SB calls $0.90 (All-In).

Final Pot: $6.15
Results:
SB has Qd Ad (full house, aces full of queens).
Hero has 6h Kh (straight flush, ace high).

Outcome: Hero wins $6.15.


Then things started going down hill. I am in the BB, folded to SB who makes a 4BB raise. I have AKs and 3-bet. The SB min-4-bets and I decide to shove and he stacks me for 120BB with AA. I think this is a tough spot, he could easily be stealing and given his stats (PFR of about 15%) I think he has a range of at least AQ+,TT+ here, against which I am 50/50. I think that if I call and hit TPTK on the flop I am committed anyway and so I might as well get it AI pf. However, I have now put a note on that player that he min-4-bets with big hands, a good read to have.

I then got AKo on a different table and raised it up after a limper to 5BBs, I get 4 callers, not ideal. Flop is TQK 2 diamonds, not ideal either. 1 check, player in MP bets pot, its me to act with 1 player still to act. Another tough spot, I think that betting the pot ($1) into 2 players is really strong here and there are loads of 2pair hands which have me crushed. I think he could also do this with KJ, QJ, AQ and diamond type hands so I raise to $4 and he flat calls. I know I am committed to the hand and basically screwed.... he bets half pot on the blank turn and a 1/4 of the pot on a blank river, I have to call but I am almost certain I am beat.... which of course I am, he has TT. I think this is a difficult hand to get away from because the pot was so big on the flop, and I was being donked into. In retrospect I think raising was maybe the wrong choice, maybe check calling and folding to a large river bet may have been better....

About 45 mins into the session I raise with AQ of spades UTG, the BTN calls and the flop comes J97 with 2 spades. I c-bet and the btn makes a small raise. I have a note on him saying he is aggro and likes to bluff so I decide to shove over his raise given I have the nut FD and 2 overs, I think he could have air or a weak 1 pair hand often enough here to make a shove +ev --- not today though, he turns over 77 and I miss my flush.

Now about an hour in and I get dealt AKo again in late position. I raise to 4BB, the BTN makes a small 3-bet and I have visions of AA all around. I keep my cool though and decide to call and see a flop given that I am in position (I don't really like this play though). The flop is Kxx, BTN c-bets, I call, turn blank, BTN bets half pot, I raise him AI, he calls and shows off his AA.....

To avoid monkey tilt I quietly press sit out on my 4 tables and open up PT to see the damage... down $35 in just under 400 hands. Not great but its thats variance.

Looking back on my play with AK, I don't think I went too far off the rails. In the hand with the KQT flop I think I should have check called and folded to a lot of heat, its pretty clear that I am behind on the flop there, and in the last hand, I still advocate 4-betting AK preflop.

I tend to think that if I 4-bet and villain 5-bet shoves I am always committed because I am getting such good odds, but I think that against the average TAG/NIT, their range is so well defined with a 5-bet that with 100BB stacks you can happily fold. I think flat calling a 3-bet of 4-bet is bad because you suffer from massive reverse implied odds (you will either win a small pot when you flop TPTK vs villains underpair and he will fold to action, or you will loose a big pot when you flop a pair vs a set or an overpair eg AK vs AA on K32 flop) and so I go by my theory of always 4-betting AK preflop and considering folding to a 5-bet shove. I might on occasion also fold to a 3-bet or 4-bet if villain is extreemely nitty.

So not too upset with the session, I think I played well and won a decent amount of small pots. I think out of the 4 stackings listed above, none of them are atrocious and the only one I could have got away from is the 2nd one (KTQ flop).


My BR on battlefield is now just over $100, moving away from my $200 goal, but I am confident that after a few thousand hands I will be grinding 20NL.

Anyway, current standing after my first session of the year:


2008
Hands Played: 400
Bankroll: $470
Current Level: 10NL
Poker Mentality: Average