Skills Stuff and Some Great Reads

Hello,

I played the Skills last night. It was HORSE and since the BBT3 has ended, many have decided that it is no longer worth it to play blogger tournaments. There were 22 entrants when the Skills got around 80 during the BBT. I didn't play too well, winning only a couple of hands and eventually busting out shortly after the first break (no big deal in a limit tournament though). There was one hand in which I made a really good read, although I did not follow it with a bet and ended up losing the pot. Here is the hand and well as my comment before I checked behind on the river.

Seat 1: PirateLawyer (2,820)
Seat 2: Tom Jefferson (2,835)
Seat 3: Donkette (3,075)
Seat 4: cemfredmd (3,030)
Seat 5: PokerBrian322 (2,925)
Seat 6: CSuave (2,925)
Seat 7: HighOnPoker (3,390)

cemfredmd posts the small blind of 15
PokerBrian322 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tom Jefferson [ ]
CSuave calls 30 (UTG limp)
HighOnPoker folds
PirateLawyer folds
Tom Jefferson raises to 60 (I wanted to see how strong he was. I was expecting a re-raise)
Donkette folds
cemfredmd folds
PokerBrian322 folds
CSuave calls 30 (I medium pair. AA-QQ raises, maybe even A-Ks)

*** FLOP *** [ ]
CSuave checks
Tom Jefferson bets 30 (I like betting paired boards in limit. OK, I love betting paired boards in limit, even raising, even with air)
CSuave calls 30 (check-call. I figure him for tens or jacks)

*** TURN *** [ ] []
CSuave checks
Tom Jefferson checks (not sure I should have checked but I suspected he would look me up here with tens or jacks)

*** RIVER *** [ ] []
CSuave checks (wants to get to showdown and hope he has a winner. he would lead out here for value with any decent ace or trips.)
Tom Jefferson: tens? (I asked but I was almost certain)
Tom Jefferson checks (What was I thinking? It's time to bet here.)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tom Jefferson shows [ ] two pair, Eights and Fives
CSuave shows [ ] two pair, Tens and Fives (there it is! nice read but I gotta follow through next time)
CSuave wins the pot (225) with two pair, Tens and Fives

I thought this was a sign of things to come in this tournament. It was one of those nights where I was reading hands pretty well and, even though I didn't play it right, I thought if I kept up with those types of reads I could go deep. It was not to be. I am not sure if I won a hand after that. It's possible I did but it was probably a small one. I busted shortly after the break in I think the stud round.

Later that night I was playing .25-.50 $20 CAP PLO. I am playing a lot of PLO lately to better learn the game and I am working out my kinks at the lower limits so I don't go broke learning. Don't get me wrong here. I have played as high as $25-$50 PLO (didn't work out too well for me) and have played a reasonable amount of upper limit PLO. However, this was largely before people knew how to play the game or when I felt like gambling. Now that the PLO players are getting better, so must I. So, after I play about 50k hands profitably at the micro stakes I will move up and start winning some real money. One problem is that the players at this level play very ABC poker, which is good for my bankroll but bad for learning. I want to play a high level game without the risk and it's hard to find. There are some decent players who play out of the box occasionally but I can just about always tell when someone is pressing naked aces all the way down. I can tell when players over value two pair. Those are the ones who think I sucked out when I look them up (or shove into them) with a 16 card straight wrap and a flush draw. Two pair should be an easy fold on a 10-9-8 board with two hearts if you have nothing to go with it. Anyway, here is the hand and the great read (or maybe it's the transparent play at the lower stakes). Either way, I made the great read again and didn't follow through with a fold.

$0.25/$0.50 - $20 Cap Pot Limit Omaha Hi - (6 max)
Seat 1: Player 1 ($16.20)
Seat 2: Player 2 ($42.55)
Seat 3: Tom Jefferson ($46.50)
Seat 4: Player 4 ($31.40)
Seat 5: Player 5 ($135.85)

Player 5 posts the small blind of $0.25
Player 1 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tom Jefferson [ ]
Player 2 calls $0.50
Tom Jefferson calls $0.50 (questionable limp and I'll explain why I made it later)
Player 4 folds
Player 5 calls $0.25
Player 1 checks

*** FLOP *** [ ] (I three pair, straight draws and backdoor straight flush possiblities. not too great but I need to see the turn cheaply to try and improve)

Player 5 checks
Player 1 checks
Player 2 bets $2 (I am positive he has a big piece here. He is a tight player and his limp tells me he is not incorrectly pressing a big over pair here. I was thinking straight, not set.)
Tom Jefferson calls $2 (let's go fishing)
Player 5 folds
Player 1 folds

*** TURN *** [ ] [] (I made a wheel, have three pair and an open ended straight flush draw.)
Player 2 bets $3 (now I know he has a small straight. He is afraid of a bigger straight and players, especially at this level, get frightended when they think they have been outdrawn)
Tom Jefferson calls $3 (I would normally shove here but at the lower limits he is certainly calling)

*** RIVER *** [ ] [] (not crazy about the diamond because I have a bad habit of paying off on the river in these spots)

Player 2 bets $6 (yep, he has me here)
Tom Jefferson has 15 seconds left to act (gotta think)
Tom Jefferson: maybe i backdoored you here (I was trying to get some info)
Tom Jefferson has requested TIME (doesn't work and I need more time. I use the whole 30+ seconds)
Tom Jefferson: unless you had the wheel with the Ad on the flop (I have his hand pegged with absolute perfection)
Tom Jefferson calls $6 (and there is the donk call)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Player 2 shows [ ] a flush, Ace high (there it is. Nice read. What happened to the fold?)
Tom Jefferson mucks
Player 2 wins the pot ($22.80) with a flush, Ace high

So, I pretty much explained my logic and my read above. Now I would like to explain why I limped in early position with what amounts to a trash hand. I also want to discuss my opponent's hand and why it is complete trash and should be thrown away. OK, the limp. Perhaps I should come in raising but I want to see a flop, particularly five-handed with low cards. If high cards come I get away cheaply. If low cards come I will most likely have the best hand or at least a decent draw. I know I can usually outplay the players at this level. I can (usually) get away from big hands when I am beat. So, if I get to the flop here I can maximize my profit with a big hand and minimize my losses with a weak hand. In hindsight, I think I made more mistakes in this hand that things I did right. However, the player who limped UTG was a weak player and I thought I could easily outplay him. Even with all the excuses that I have neatly laid out before you here, I more than likely should have just let the hand go given my position. Once played, however, I think I played it decently. Why I called after the read is beyond me. Perhaps I just want to know for a fact that I was right and that I am doing the necessary thought processing for this challenging game.

Now my opponent's hand. This is one of those hands that looks pretty but is complete trash. There is only one nut flush draw and if spades peel off he will draw to a losing hand. Additionally, there are non-nut straight draws in this hand and he will usually be drawing to second or even third best hand. While he got lucky on this hand he could easily have lost a big pot and in the long term there is no money to be made with this type of hand. The suited ace looks nice as does the other suited cards. But there is nothing else to this hand. There are no real straight draws and a weak flush draw. While my hand is pretty trashy there is a much greater chance that his hand losses more than it wins. While my hand won't necessarily win a lot of pots, it will rarely (present case accepted) lose a big one. So, if I play my hand enough in the right spots and get away from it when I am beat I can perhaps show a profit. I still wouldn't put my hand on any top 100 list. I am not sure it is on a top 1000 list. But it's the type of hand that allows me to mix up my game. If I am only playing Q-J-10-10 double suited or hands like that, I lose the element of surprise. I also lose the ability to make money with a Q-J-10-10 DS type of hand. If they except it I will never get paid with it. So if I play the upper echelon of crap hands I will keep them guessing and will get paid on both my trash hands and my monsters. I will also minimize my losses with both hands when I do miss. With his type of trash he will get into trouble too often (getting it in with just a flush draw) and lose big pits. He saw two half-decent hold em hands and went with it. Remember, there are six hold em hands in a PLO hand. Mine had six trash hands that meshed with one another.

See you on the felt,