1563 Hands @ 10.64 BB/100

I have once again stumbled into the realm of running insanely hot. The actual session stats were 163 hands @ 42.45 BB/100. Most of the profit was from unusually aggressive players who lacked restraint.

Hand #1:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (5 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Ad, As.
1 fold, Hero raises, Button 3-bets, 1 fold, BB caps, Hero calls, Button calls.

Flop: (12.40 SB) Qh, Qd, Th (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, Button folds, BB calls.

Turn: (7.20 BB) 8s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: (7.20 BB) 8c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.

I didn't have a lot to work with on BB this hand. Against all but the uber-tricky players, it's reasonably easy to conclude that AA is best here (but not strong enough to 3-bet because I may not get called and I can't fold to a cap). The flop check from BB is somewhat scary because slowplayed hands often start this way. It would take a very tricky player to do this with Qx or JJ because of the high probability that this is getting checked behind by all of my A-high hands. Therefore, betting is correct, as is calling the raise. In this hand, he held A2 of clubs for a really strange line with a weak hand.

Hand #2:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Kd, Ah.
1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, Button calls, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, MP calls, Button calls.

Flop: (10 SB) As, 8s, 3s (3 players)
Hero bets, MP raises, Button calls, Hero 3-bets, MP folds, Button calls.

Turn: (9 BB) 8d (2 players)
Hero bets, Button calls.

River: (11 BB) 9h (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

Some might argue that the river should be a value bet. However, I disagree that this is the best play except in the case where villain calls with a very very very wide range of hands. Most missed flush draws are going to fold. A hand like 8x might find a value raise because the flush didn't come in (and I would also call a raise because the flush didn't come in on the chance that villain is bluffing his missed flush draw -- but I wouldn't like it). A weaker ace may also try to value bet on the river once I check as well. There are many more things that go well when I check than when I bet. This makes checking and calling better than betting.

Hand #3:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (5 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ks, Kd.
1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, MP calls, SB calls.

Flop: (12 SB) Ts, Jc, Kh (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, MP folds, SB calls.

Turn: (8 BB) Qd (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

River: (8 BB) 4s (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.

Villain in this hand was a known aggressive player. This made the turn check even easier than usual. But in general, I don't want to put in too many bets with my hand because it's quite likely that I'm beat. Ideally, I would like to put in exactly one bet, but I'll settle for two if it happens. A check here dramatically alters villain's hand range and skews it so that it includes many many more bluffs. I'll also get a lot of value bets from worse hands such as smaller sets and two pairs.

Hand #4:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Jh, Jd.
UTG raises, 2 folds, Button calls, Hero 3-bets, BB calls, UTG calls, Button calls.

Flop: (12 SB) 4d, 7d, 5c (4 players)
Hero bets, BB calls, UTG calls, Button folds.

Turn: (7.50 BB) 3d (3 players)
Hero bets, BB calls, UTG calls.

River: (10.50 BB) 7s (3 players)
Hero bets, BB raises, UTG folds, Hero calls.

I probably should not have bet this river, though calling the raise is right against this player. He has already shown down more than a few river bluffs, so I was intent on showing down my overpair. But the problem with betting is that this takes awaysome of his bluffing opportunities because sometimes he'll decide that he doesn't want to bluff and just fold. In this hand, he trapped me with KK.

Hand #5:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5h, 7d.
UTG calls, 3 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (3 SB) 4d, Js, 5s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, UTG calls, SB calls.

Turn: (3 BB) 4s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, UTG calls, SB folds.

River: (5 BB) 7c (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero calls.

This hand was against the same opponent as the previous one. I got this one right. In this hand, he bluffed with QTo on the end, and I have no idea why he called the turn bet. But I don't really need to understand why he decides to play the way he does, I need to know how to take advantage of those situations. Check-calling instead of betting is one of those ways.