As some may be aware, I am a micro-stakes player looking to further improve my game. I respect the posts I've seen on this site and would like this forum's feedback on 2 of my recent hands. Opinions, criticism, and/or education are all that I'm lookin' for... For whatever reason, FTP doesn't seem to want to track my hand histories so I have to wing it (probably because I play at such high stakes)>>>>>>

Hand 1:
9 person, .25-.50 game,
Hero is SB
Villian is BB

Hero Hole cards: 4d, Kd

Action folds to Late Position Player who calls .50
Hero in SB calls .25
Villian in BB checks

Flop: 5d, 6s, 3s
Hero bets 1.25
villian calls 1.25
LP player folds (now heads up)

Turn: 5d, 6s, 3s (5h)
Hero bets 1.50
Villian calls 1.50

River: 5d, 6s, 3s, 5h (Qc)
Hero checks
Villian bets 7.00
Hero calls 7.00

Showdown: Villian 9d, 8d
Hero 4d, Kd

Hero wins 21.00 with pair of 5's w/ K kicker
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Hand 2:

Same Game, several hands later
Villian is UTG
Hero is BB

Hero hole cards: 4d, Jd
Villian UTG calls .50
Folds around to Hero in BB
Hero checks

Flop: Ad, Qh, Ts
Hero bets .60
Villian calls .60

Turn: Ad, Qh, Ts (5c)
Hero bets 1.25
Villian calls 1.25

River: Ad, Qh, Ts, 5c (Kc)
Hero checks
Villian bets 4.95
Hero check raises to 15.00
Villian folds and Hero wins the pot.

__________________
ertrauma


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As my father always said, "Son, choose your sword wisely for some day you may find you must fall on it".

Hey ertrauma, no worries, I too am a fellow low stakes player. Also, I still consider myself fairly new, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

As for your first hand, I'm surprised that it ended the way it did. I'll admit that I tend to be a bit reserved and am not always as aggressive as I should be, but I don't think I would've called the $7.00. Actually, I'm not even sure I would've bet the turn, honestly. I really have no critique here, I'm mainly just interested. Why did you call the $7? Did you have a strong read here?

As for your second hand, I really liked the way you played it. Without the raise preflop the villain doesn't suspect you have any high cards, so your continuation bet looks basically like, well, a continuation bet. You fired again on the turn, building a nice pot in case your K hit. When it did, you played coy, hoping to get a big bet out of the villain. Pretty straightforward, I think. Of course, the K was a stroke of luck. Without it my analysis might be different.

Again, I'm fairly new, so I'm sure some of you more experienced guys could probably give some better advice. Just my thoughts. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have played either hand. I would have checked the big blind, certainly, but I probably would've folded to any raise. Of course, if you actually got enough free cards to hit the straight, you wouldn't have built a nice pot.

You like your suited cards don't you? I would look at your hand selection here playing these hands will win you a few pots here and there but in long run they are negative EV hands. I would stay away from the face card rag hands here. Especially int he low limit games catching a "Danger" card such as the king or the jack in this case will get you into some trouble with the rag kicker.

This also is the case about not play the ACe-x suited hands you will more than likely go broke if you hit the flush and they have the higher flush. In the low limit games you may get paid by 2nd pair but if you try to move up any higher you will not get much action with these hands.

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Kickboyswoop

Hand 1

The bet on the turn is weak, 25 cents more than the flop??

You should generally be betting 3/4 to pot size in my opinion. The bet seemed weak and it was.

You made a good call on the river, and won the pot, depending on how much money you had or he had left, you should consider raising instead of calling. It would sure suck to make a good call with king high only to be beat by a better king high or ace high.

Hand 2

bet on flop on turn is ok (not great, but not terrible either),if you think player is really weak.

The check raise on the river is bad in my opinion, even a bad player is unlikely to call off more chips when there is a one card straight staring them in the face.

I think the better play is to bet, and hope they raise, thinking that you are bluffing or would lay down your hand.

just my two cents worth.


Jason

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I'm Not Lucky, I Have Good Karma !

Thanks for your responses. As to the why's of how I played these 2 hands, villian bets were out of line with how he had been betting throughout the game when he had shown strong hands. His calls were coming on hands which when showed down (in several instances) were ATC. He seemed to only bet big on his medium to high premium hands. I found he would usually fold to continued betting.

In hand 1, I figured him to have Ax, probably A-low and looking for a straight draw or a flush. When he bet the Q on the river, my first thought was "he missed his straight and his flush and he's trying to steal the pot", so I called.

Kickboy...thank you for pointing out the hand selection issue. Duh, Donk 101...I need to work on that one for sure. I am not a mathboy, but I do understand the concept of expected value...I need to stop playing -EV hands.

I will not be a donk...I will not be a donk...I will not be a donk...

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ertrauma


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As my father always said, "Son, choose your sword wisely for some day you may find you must fall on it".