Tuesday, May 12, 2009

a rare surprise...

Maybe I don't steal enough blinds, but this almost never happens to me. I attempt to steal the blinds with garbage cards, then hit the flop hard...

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 30/60 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: 4,500
Hero (BTN): 1,385
SB: 690
BB: 3,105
UTG: 2,460
MP: 1,360

Pre-Flop: (90) 5 4 dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 180, SB folds, BB calls 120

Damn, what are you calling for! Can't you see I have complete garbage...

Flop: (390) 4 J 4 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Hello, trips fours! Well, no way villain could put me on a 4. Also, dryest board possible, nothing to protect against here...

Turn: (390) 8 (2 Players)
BB bets 130, Hero calls 130
Ok, this 8 either helped or he's just taking a stab. I should probably raise to protect against 9T and 2 hearts, but I call one more time...

River: (650) 9 (2 Players)
Well, the backdoor heart draw came in. This is a good opponent and may have bet the turn as a defensive bet.

BB bets 250, Hero calls 250
I'm too chickenshit to raise this bet now, but I have to call...

Results: 1,150 Pot
Hero showed 5 4 (three of a kind, Fours) and WON 1,150 (+590 NET)
BB showed 8 9 (two pair, Nines and Eights) and LOST (-560 NET)
Big blind hit 2 pair on the river, wonder if he would have called a big raise in the face of the backdoor flush?

Ended up taking second in this one...

2 comments:

Forrest Gump said...

I think you might have won the minimum on that hand. On a dry J44r flop wouldn't you typically follow through with a cbet? Depending on the player there's a really wide range he'll call your flop bet with. I also find the check on the river very odd - you were afraid of runner runner flush?

matt tag said...

I agree I might have been able to win more on this hand, though I do not agree that CBetting this ultra dry flop is the right way to go.

There are many more hands in his calling range that missed this flop than caught a piece that he would be more inclined to fold. Plus the flop is draw-free, so he can't continue with any drawing hand. I think the way to go is go give the free turn card and hope he catches up (which is what ended up happening, in fact).

Where I failed to make money was on the river - I did chicken out to the backdoor flush possibility. Looking at the hand afterwards, that flush possibility is pretty remote.

I should have raised the river (at least a minraise) and tried to squeeze some more value.