Hot Cards

Finally, I was getting some hot cards last night. Not hot starting hands, but hot cards. Fourth hand at the table, I get dealt pocket Kings. I decide to change up my strategy and raise. The guy before me was under the gun and raised to $4 in the blind. I raised to $15. I probably should have made it $12 or $10 to get maybe one caller, but I did protect my hand and took down a $7 pot.

A few hands later, a guy in middle position raised to $7. I was in the small blind. The kid to my right called. I had 4-5 suited. I put the raiser on a high pocket pair, which made my suited connectors very dangerous. I knew I was a 3 to 1 dog against the pair, but I also knew I would win more than 3 times the original bet of $7 if I hit. Plus, 4-5 is easy to fold after the flop. Plus, 4-5 is a hand no-one can put me on. Plus, 4-5 suited is about 42% against two unsuited high cards and 39% against suited high cards.

The flop came Ace-Deuce-Seven. I had a straight draw and hoped to get some free cards. Any bet of more than $4 and I'm out. The preflop raiser checked. Right then and there I knew he had trip Aces so I couldn't force him out of the pot with a bet. The turn was a little bit helpful, a 6. This gave me more outs. Now a 3 would give me a straight or an 8. The preflop raiser checked again. This time I probably wouldv'e called $6 and no higher. The river was an 8, giving me a straight and the 3rd best possible hand behind only a 10 high and 9 high straight which I knew nobody had. I bet out $10 knowing it would get re-raised all-in, it did, and I called.

I felt kind of bad busting Aces, but this guy was such a horrible player that he deserved it. I've been in the same exact situation, slow playing pocket Aces that become a set, only to have some guy draw out a straight. That hand, I folded. This guy had no thought process at all in any hand which he entered. It was always a quick call or raise. He shouldv'e at least considered the possibility that with that board, a straight was possible, and about the only think I'd call him with would be a set (which I probably would have bet out with earlier) or a straight, which beat him.

The biggest difference between limit and no-limit Hold Em is obviously the betting. There are alot of nuances to No-Limit betting such as overbetting, underbetting, value betting, pot builder betting etc. This is something that the Limit players at the Turning Stone need to come to terms with before they sit down at the No-Limit tables.

This one kid, who seemed like he knew what he was doing at the 3-6 tables, decided to play some No-Limit. You can spot these people by the stacks of white chips they bring to the table, not the solitary stack of reds that is supposed to be brought. The first hand in which he played, he raised $4 preflop, the minimum raise. A few hands later, he raised to $6 preflop. After a few people called, I called with King-Jack on the button hoping to catch or push him out of the pot. The flop came Jack high. He bet out $10, me and another player called. The turn was a King, ensuring I'd win the hand unless he had a set or hit a higher two pair. He bet $15, everyone else folded but I called. On the river, he bet $25. The kid had actually gotten the hang of No-Limit betting except for that early position preflop raise, the most important bet of the hand for him. I had a bad feeling he hit a set. However, I asked him if he had one in order to gauge his reaction and at that point knew he didn't hit a set. This shouldv'e gotten me to re-raise but I wasn't entirely confident in my read so I just called. I showed my top 2 pair, he mucked. I probably couldv'e re-raised to $50 and gotten a call, but another re-raise wouldn't have been easy to call. I'd like to think I could call it though.