Day 77-11: +$56.75 (+28 BB at $1/2)

Level: +$31.50 in 29.40 table hours (+16 BB at $1/2)
Overall: +$304.15 in 168.37 table hours

I hit a lot of cards, but I also got to exploit a number of bad players. As I continue to play, I'm finding that certain players that used to make me uncomfortable are not players I'm happy to see at my table. The reason is that they have a very fold-oriented strategy. When I see AF that get to 3 or higher, I start to watch where they fold. It seems like a lot of these players bet-fold too often on the turn, especially after raising preflop and betting the flop. What this means is that they are raising pretty light preflop and auto-betting the flop and turn quite often. It also means that they are likely folding A-high and medium pocket pairs. This means they are bluffable. And bluffing is a lot of fun.

In all these hands, it's important to know that your opponent will fold (or is likely to fold) before trying to pull these. It's also entirely possible that I'm very lucky and they aren't nearly as exploitable as they seemed.

Hand 1: Semibluffing a player who folds too often -- I might actually have had the best hand here, too...

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ac, Ts.
1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, MP caps, Hero calls.

Flop: (9 SB) 5d, 2c, 3c (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (5.50 BB) Jc (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets, Hero raises, MP folds.

Hand 2: Here is another exploitable play against a multi-tabler that folds too often. Note that (once again) I might actually have the best hand if he's raising with A7-/KJ/KT and that he might fold 77 here.

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ac, 8c.
UTG raises, 1 fold, CO calls, 2 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: (6.50 SB) Qc, 6d, Qh (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, CO folds, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.25 BB) 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero raises, UTG folds.

Hand 3: Same villain as in Hand #1. This time it's for value if he has a flush draw or straight draw. Notice that he folds here, too. If you find your value raises aren't getting called often enough, you should really think about bluffing more often.

Preflop: Hero is Button with Kd, Jd.
1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, MP caps, Hero calls.

Flop: (9.50 SB) Tc, 3s, 2c (2 players)
MP bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (5.75 BB) Jc (2 players)
MP bets, Hero raises, MP folds.

Hand 4: I got the impression that this "TAG" was raising too many flops for them all to be value raises, plus I felt that he folded relatively often. Notice how hard it is for him to call with a pocket pair here since a bunch of hands I could have raised preflop just caught up, plus there are a lot of hands that he was already chasing on the flop. If I snagged a K or J, I would just check-call this and check-call the river. Otherwise, I lose too much to Ax.

Preflop: Hero is MP with Kd, Jh.
1 fold, MP raises, 3 folds, BB calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) Ac, 4s, 3s (2 players)

BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.25 BB) Qh (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB folds.

Hand 5: For whatever reason, this villain did a lot of bet-folding when an ace flopped and was raising with all sorts of "NL hands" (like T8s). So I took a shot at it and won. It's a big pot, and so I've got to be willing to fight a bit to win it.

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Qc, Tc
Hero raises, 1 fold, Button calls, SB 3-bets, 1 fold, Hero calls, Button calls.


Flop: (10 SB) 6h, As, Kd (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, Button folds, SB folds.

Hand 6: This was an odd play. I don't know what I was thinking because the flop check is often an indication of a very strong hand. But I remember thinking that this player would have bet an ace already because he was a value betting type of player. So I check-raised as a semibluff to see what would happen. It took him a long time, but he figured it out and called. Good for him. This probably would have been more effecting if the flop were A99 or something where it's more plausible for me to hold trips.

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qd, Th.
UTG raises, 4 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) 2s, Ad, 2d (2 players)

Hero checks, UTG checks.

Turn: (2.25 BB) 9d (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, BB raises, UTG calls.

River: (6.25 BB) 6c (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

Results:
Hero has Qd Th (one pair, twos).
UTG has Qs Qc (two pair, queens and twos).

Hand 7: Another paired board situation where I'm raising as a bluff to knock out Ax and Kx hands. When he called, I knew he had a pair that's probably not an overpair and that he wasn't folding. I would have value bet if I paired up (which probably would have tilted him).

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9h, Jc.
2 folds, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, 1 fold, Hero calls.

Flop: (7 SB) 7d, 3s, 7c (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.50 BB) 2h (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls.

River: (8.50 BB) 5c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Results:
SB has 3c Ac (two pair, sevens and threes).
Hero has 9h Jc (one pair, sevens).