A couple of hands from this game

[cowboyinexile]

Hand 1

Cake Poker Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Cake-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2585)
UTG ($2750)
UTG+1 ($940)
MP1 ($1030)
Hero (MP2) ($1585)
CO ($1100)
Button ($2920)
SB ($2090)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, K
3 folds, Hero raises to $105, 2 folds, SB raises to $315, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1585 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $660

This guy was trying to run over the table. When this hand happened, his re-raise range was pretty wide and anything over the top would have pot committed me. If I call here, he's likely shoving whatever the flop is-correct play here or no? Its either get your chips in now or be forced to call a big bet on the flop.


Hand 2

Cake Poker Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Cake-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2555)
BB ($2750)
UTG ($940)
UTG+1 ($1030)
Hero (MP1) ($1930)
MP2 ($1100)
CO ($2920)
Button ($1775)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q
UTG calls $30, 1 fold, Hero raises to $135, 5 folds, UTG calls $105

Flop: ($315) K, 3, J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $158, UTG raises to $805 (All-In), Hero calls $647

Turn: ($1925) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1925) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1925 | Rake: $1924

Guy was fairly tight. When he called, I had him for better than what he had. In a decent game, I'm probably letting this go, but at the $1 level, well its filled with idiots and I could see someone playing this line with AJ or AT here, so I made a sort of crying call.


Hand 3
Cake Poker Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) - Cake-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($3080)
MP2 ($2540)
CO ($985)
Hero (Button) ($2870)
SB ($905)
BB ($2500)
UTG ($2120)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, K
UTG raises to $105, 3 folds, Hero calls $105, 2 folds

Flop: ($255) 2, J, K (2 players)
UTG raises to $2015 (All-In), Hero calls $2015

Turn: ($4285) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4285) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4285 | Rake: $4281

This hand-same guy as Hand 1. Like I said, he was an idiot, and when he shoved, I assumed he was sitting on a MP or at best a flush draw. Fault the pre-flop play if you will, but I've been trying to work on seeing flops with Kxs and with his range, very well could have been a head pre-flop. It was an insta call for me, but against a maniac, did I play this right?

[maf66]

Hand #1 - If your read is right, then I'm ok with the push. You're probably ahead of his range most of the time.

Hand #2 - I'd probably call this through gritted teeth. You're just getting 2:1 which may be sufficient against a random hand (I haven't run the numbers through pokerstove yet).

Hand #3 - Fold pre-flop.

[ciaran]

Hand 1 is fine as long as he's really a maniac. If he's not, it's going to be fairly bad in most cases (because you'll always get called, and never by worse).

Hand 2 is a little gross, but is a fold against someone tight/competent. Given the board, I might be inclined to check behind vs that kind of player and re-evaluate on the turn.

Hand 3 is terrible. You beat maniacs (in SNGs especially) by letting them do their stupid crap until you catch a real hand, not by joining in the fun. Note that on the flop if he has Axss you don't actually want to be calling, because you're not far enough ahead.

Also, K-rag is not worth messing with in the early stages of a SNG in general.

[cowboyinexile]

So hand 3 is a fold? I've been experimenting with Kxs as I get passive with non nut flushes and my pre-flop play if I had Axs would have been standard. If I was sitting on 5h, do I give position away here?

When the guy shoved, he had AQ-tbh a little stronger than I expected, but I was willing to gamble against him. (although the nut flush would have been a stronger draw-needless to say, I had little respect for his shove).

ciaran-on hand 2, I cb most of the time. Against an UTG caller, this is pretty standard for me. The check-raise was irritating, and against a decent field, I might have let this one go. Considering the type of opponent I usually see in the dollar games, it wasn't like he hit a set. Does the math work out on this one though? His range is somewhat tight, but limp call makes me think I'm ahead pre-flop.

[ciaran]

Hand 3 is a fold re-flop. And it would also be a fold with A5s. Neither of those hands will ever be far ahead pre-flop, and they should be routinely dominated. Against a real maniac, I think you can go with about ATs+/AQo+/KQ/22+.

All that said, if he's really shoving AQ no spades as played, then his range might be big enough that calling with top-pair no kicker is correct. You still shouldn't get to that decision point because it costs too much to try to hit with K5s, of course.

Hand 2 is really dependent on the opponent. "Fairly tight" at the $60s for an UTG limper is like 66+/AQ+, with some bias against QQ+. And when that same guy check-raises you on this board, he's got JJ/33/KK/AA/AK an awful lot. The only hands he'll sometimes have that you want to see are AJ and QT. Now all that may be different at a $1, but to the extent that it is, I think you're more likely to see more weak Ks than Js, though to balance that some you'll probably see more PPs trying to rep Ks. Given all that, and getting 2-1, calling may not be terrible, but it's probably not ever going to be great, either.