Here is an example of playing a hand well and still losing. I played aggressively, but I think I missed a chance to reraise the turn, resulting in a lost opportunity and a small loss by most anyone's standards.
Preflop: I joined this table specifically to play against the big stack. I had been playing aggressively with a lot of preflop raising and some 3-betting in key spots. I had been attacking the big stack specifically to get involved in a big pot. I got my wish, albeit without a huge hand. Any K in the SB against a random hand is likely to be favored, so I pumped it up to 15 cents (pot bet). He is a tighter player and calls. I put him on bigger cards, perhaps a KJ.
Flop: Bingo! This flop hit me and likely did not hit him. What's more, with my aggressive table image, he's not likely to believe that I've hit this hand. I lead out for about half the pot (15 cents) and he flat calls, almost certainly with overs. My read of KJ range is probably intact.
Turn: The 8 isn't likely to have helped him, so I lead out again for 25 cents (40% of the pot). He reraises me to 75 cents, probably thinking I'm on the steal. This is not a bad assumption, given that I'm raising preflop a good bit of the time. The pot is large enough for him to take a stab. I think about reraising again, but I only have a pair of 5's with a good kicker. He could have called with A-8. I play small ball and flat call, thinking there's a good chance I'm still good, but wanting to keep him on the hook for a value bet on the river.
River: A 10 is not really a good card at all here. Many players will call with x-10 because it looks nice, and the 10 connects to a lot of hands, like A-10, K-10 (hand of death), Q-10, J-10, 10-9, 10-8. I decide to block bet my 5's with an 80 center into a pot of $2 or so. I think it's enough to win on its own much of the time, but I also have fold equity. He flat calls, and I know I'm beat. He flips over Q-10 for the win.
Analysis: With the exception of maybe reraising on the turn for information, I think I played the hand pretty well. I was worried about my opponents TAG style, plus I assumed he accumulated a $20+ stack by outplaying people. I thought he was a capable opponent, so I played it a bit less risky. Overall, I think I made the moves necessary to win a nice pot. I just happened to get unlucky on the river. I give my opponent a great deal of credit for the creative turn bet, which allowed him to see a river and get another bet out of me. He probably got max value (unless he called a hypothetical reraise on the turn, which was unlikely).
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If you are sitting at a table in large part because of one person, why are you out of position against them? It's a lot harder to attack and extract out of position.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the hand goes, I don't like opening K5o to play pots... I will mostly open to steal the BB. It is a hand that is unlikely to win a big pot and more likely to lose a big pot.
Your hand is ahead on the flop but it's very vulnerable. If you're going to slow play, check flop and maybe even turn to pick up some pure steal cbets. If you're going to lead out, lead for closer to the pot. If I was in that guy's shoes, I'm calling down also, and if I have Ace high, I'm feeling good about it too... In other words, don't slowplay your self into losing a hand, IMO... on this flop, people will float flop and usually turn and there is no need to bet small.
But getting back to my main point... always lock up your position and hands will be a lot easier to play...