"Chocolate Rain"

This hand highlights a few changes I've made to my game lately:


TT as a middle pair
In the past I would consider TT a preflop raising hand. The problem is, you're almost always getting called at this level and apart from a set, there's no flop you really like. e.g.
- Any Ace flops, you know these guys never fold an ace so you're dumping it.
- The likely event a K, Q or J flops, you just don't know if you're pair is good or not.
- If you somehow luck an overpair to the flop, it's very difficult to both protect your vulnerable hand and keep the pot small with 1 pair.

Value betting
I've also changed my value betting on the river. Typically I would bet as close to the amount I think is 'likely' to get call. This is the wrong mindset as I'm looking for short term reward from my patience. In this case, I push allin on the river and I figure this is the most profitable play (in this situation) over the long term. I wasn't the slightest bit bothered I didn't get called.

Position on the LAG
Reyn is my spot at the table and I have the perfect position on he/she. I've slowly come to discover over time that LAG's sitting to your left are straight up bad news. Playing big pots out of position time and time again is pushing you know what up a hill with a stick. The more I play, the more I learn that position is critical to so many things in this game.


Finally, a quick summary of how i played this hand. Preflop I'm playing for set value pure and simple. I'd also call any reasonable raise depending on who and how many are in the pot etc. On the flop, the set is wonderful but its a little coordinated so I'm looking to get all the $ in now if I can. The turn was a beautiful card, so I bet what I thought might get the LAG pot committed. The river I ran the clock down then made an ugly allin, hoping it might be percepted as weakness.




PokerStars Game #19556139887: Hold'em Pot Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/08/12 - 06:45:20 (ET)
Table 'Numidia' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: delgados ($25.20 in chips)
Seat 2: cruzitoVL38 ($22.70 in chips)
Seat 3: 4evergreat ($26 in chips)
Seat 4: FATSALI1 ($31.65 in chips)
Seat 5: ojajohhe ($5.45 in chips)
Seat 6: PiS.AA ($26.15 in chips)
Seat 7: emilytt ($47.35 in chips)
Seat 8: ReynB ($25.10 in chips)
Seat 9: Forrest Gump ($31.70 in chips)
FATSALI1: posts small blind $0.10
ojajohhe: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Forrest Gump [Ts Th]
PiS.AA: folds
emilytt: folds
ReynB: calls $0.25
Forrest Gump: calls $0.25
delgados: folds
cruzitoVL38: folds
4evergreat: folds
FATSALI1: calls $0.15
ojajohhe: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc Td 3d]
FATSALI1: checks
ojajohhe: bets $0.75
ReynB: raises $1.75 to $2.50
Forrest Gump: raises $6.50 to $9
FATSALI1: folds
ojajohhe: folds
ReynB: calls $6.50
*** TURN *** [Qc Td 3d] [Qs]
ReynB: checks
Forrest Gump: bets $5
ReynB: calls $5
*** RIVER *** [Qc Td 3d Qs] [4c]
ReynB: checks
Forrest Gump: bets $17.45 and is all-in
ReynB: folds
Uncalled bet ($17.45) returned to Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump collected $28.35 from pot
Forrest Gump: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $29.75 | Rake $1.40
Board [Qc Td 3d Qs 4c]
Seat 1: delgados folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: cruzitoVL38 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: 4evergreat (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: FATSALI1 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: ojajohhe (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: PiS.AA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: emilytt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: ReynB folded on the River
Seat 9: Forrest Gump collected ($28.35)