Sunday, June 22, 2008

Playing the Big Stack (HA)

Squeezed in another 2 SNG's tonight and have now won 3 out of the past 4 after that never-ending streak of 2nd's and 3rd's. In the 4th game I finished 6th when I came over the top of a button steal with JJ, raising his 280 up to my last 1k or so, and got called by A7o... you can guess the rest. The most recent win though was an intesting case in that I had more than tripled-up after the 3rd hand, so it was an experience in how to play the big stack, particularly how to play the big stack when you have an M of over 100 (over 160's Big Blinds), and you're still 7-handed with payouts going to the top 3. Here's how it all began...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: 1,470
SB: 1,590
Hero (BB): 1,500
UTG: 1,500
UTG+1: 1,500
UTG+2: 1,500
MP1: 1,470
MP2: 1,500
CO: 1,470

Pre-Flop: (45) Ad Ac dealt to Hero (BB)
6 folds, BTN raises to 90, SB calls 75, Hero raises to 210, BTN calls 120, SB calls 120
Flop: (630) Ts 9c 3h (3 Players)
SB bets 30, Hero raises to 450, BTN folds, SB raises to 1,380 and is All-In, Hero calls 840 and is All-In
Turn: (3,210) 2c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,210) 7c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 3,210 Pot
SB showed 7d 8s (a pair of Sevens) and LOST (-1,500 NET)
Hero showed Ad Ac (a pair of Aces) and WON 3,210 (+1,710 NET)


I had actually played against the SB donk in the earlier game and watched him call a preflop raise and 3 solid bets afterwards with bottom pair (A3o on a flop of 3QK). Moving along... the very next hand...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: 1,260
BTN: 90
Hero (SB): 3,210
BB: 1,500
UTG: 1,500
UTG+1: 1,500
UTG+2: 1,470
MP1: 1,500
MP2: 1,470

Pre-Flop: (45) Kd Ks dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to 90, 2 folds, CO calls 90, BTN calls 90 and is All-In, Hero raises to 360, BB folds, UTG+2 raises to 1,470 and is All-In, CO folds, Hero calls 1,110
Flop: (3,150) 5d 7d 3h (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,150) 3s (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,150) 4d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 3,150 Pot
BTN showed 8h Ad (a pair of Threes) and LOST (-90 NET)
Hero showed Kd Ks (two pair, Kings and Threes) and WON 3,150 (+1,680 NET)
UTG+2 showed Qs Qh (two pair, Queens and Threes) and LOST (-1,470 NET)


Wasn't involved in this one, but man it looked painful...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 25/50 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): 5,330
MP: 990
CO: 1,595
BTN: 1,075
SB: 1,670
BB: 2,840

Pre-Flop: (75) 5s 2s dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero folds, MP raises to 150, CO folds, BTN raises to 450, 2 folds, MP raises to 990 and is All-In, BTN calls 540
Flop: (2,055) Td 3c Kd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,055) Ac (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,055) 9c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,055 Pot
MP showed 9d 9h (three of a kind, Nines) and WON 2,055 (+1,065 NET)
BTN showed Ah Kh (two pair, Aces and Kings) and LOST (-990 NET)


The entire 5-handed bout lasted 47 hands, during which I added about 800 chips to my stack with little pots and blind steals. Four-handed play lasted 35 hands in all, during which, on the 2nd hand, I took a fairly big hit...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 80/160 Blinds, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 6,250
UTG: 3,250
BTN: 2,300
SB: 1,700

Pre-Flop: (240) 8h 8c dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN raises to 400, SB folds, Hero calls 240
Flop: (880) 5c Qd 8s (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks
Turn: (880) 9h (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 450, Hero calls 450
River: (1,780) 2s (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 1,450 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,450
Results: 4,680 Pot
Hero mucked 8h 8c (three of a kind, Eights) and LOST (-2,300 NET)
BTN showed Qh Qs (three of a kind, Queens) and WON 4,680 (+2,380 NET)


I felt safe slowplaying this, given that the villian had been playing solid and most likely wouldn't have raised with JT, QT, KT, 67s or anything that could've drawn out on me after the turn. Problem is I figured that QQ was his most likely holding, but in this situation there's no getting away from middle set on a board like that. So I was down to 3,950 in chips and sitting 2nd after this hand. Got down a little lower (3.3k or so), but managed to scrap back with hands like this one...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 100/200 Blinds, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 3,370
UTG: 3,130
BTN: 4,680
SB: 2,320

Pre-Flop: (300) As Ks dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, SB calls 100, Hero raises to 600, SB calls 400
Flop: (1,200) Ah Ac Qc (2 Players)
SB bets 600, Hero raises to 2,770 and is All-In, SB folds
Results: 2,400 Pot
Hero mucked As Ks and WON 2,400 (+1,200 NET)


Obviously I was done messing around, but I was clearly hoping for a short-stack desperation call, possibly a weaker Ace. I was a little surprised by his fold here, and thought maybe I should've just flat called and sucked him in, though I'm not sure how much more action I would've generated by letting him have the lead. Plus I didn't want a club draw or some goofy inside straight draw getting there on a big pot like this. After a blind steal on the next hand I was back into the lead, though only by a small margin, and by the time the SB above went out I was back on top with 5.8k to 4.7 and 3.1. Blinds were at 100/200 and it was still anyone's game. I had solid reads on my opponents as very tight-passive players, but the only thing that remained to be seen was whether or not their style would change after making the money. For the most part they didn't change, and as you can see on this hand I really had to tread lightly to try to suck chips out of them...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 120/240 Blinds, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 6,570
BTN: 3,030
SB: 3,900

Pre-Flop: (360) Ah Ad dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN calls 240, SB folds, Hero raises to 650, BTN calls 410
Flop: (1,420) 7h 2s 5d (2 Players)
Hero bets 480, BTN folds

Results: 1,420 Pot
Hero mucked Ah Ad and WON 1,420 (+770 NET)


After the break, with blinds at 150/300 and my stack at a healthy 7.5k versus 3.4 and 2.6, I really started putting the pressure on, trying to take advantage of their passiveness and blind them away. I straight pushed Pocket 10's from the SB, took a small pot down with nothing on the flop two hands later, then pushed AKs from the button, then this hand came next...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 150/300 Blinds, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 8,360
BTN: 2,020
SB: 3,120

Pre-Flop: (450) Kc As dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 800, SB folds, Hero raises to 3,300, BTN calls 1,220 and is All-In
Flop: (4,190) 9s 3c 6h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (4,190) Th (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (4,190) 4s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 4,190 Pot
Hero showed Kc As (Ace King high) and WON 4,190 (+2,170 NET)
BTN showed Qc Kd (King Queen high) and LOST (-2,020 NET)


Then 3 hands later I set a nice little trap for an opponent that I could sense was getting a little antsy with my bullying antics...


Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 150/300 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): 10,530
BB: 2,970

Pre-Flop: (450) Ad Kh dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero calls 150, BB raises to 2,970 and is All-In, Hero calls 2,670
Flop: (5,940) Js Qs 5c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (5,940) Td (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,940) 6d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 5,940 Pot
Hero showed Ad Kh (a straight, Ace high) and WON 5,940 (+2,970 NET)
BB showed As 9h (Ace Queen high) and LOST (-2,970 NET)


And so that was that. Third win in the past four games - I'm finally feeling back on track and hoping to keep this hot-streak alive. I may make this one into a hand-history lesson on the old ZipRake site, now that I have a little more free time to dust the cobwebs off of it and add some new material. The way things are going now though I kinda want to just keep playing poker.


Best of luck. - B

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