| 5-5 |
| Introduction: Presto!. (countersign Irwin!) Like with all medium pairs and low pairs you want to see the Flop as cheap as possible and are hoping to flop a set. It is very rare that you should take hands like this further than the flop because most of the time an overcard (probably more than 1) will flop. When there is an overcard, especially with an Ace, King or Queen, you are almost drawing dead with your pocket pair and you should fold to any raise. Pocket Pairs in general have very little chance of improving. In No Limit you have an extra option e.g. a big raise Preflop to drive everybody out, to isolate a maniac, or to get Heads Up with another player. In a Heads Up situation you are a big underdog against any higher Pocket Pair, but slightly favourite against *all* other hands. If your big Preflop raise drives everybody out, you will only win the Blinds any other small change from callers before you and you would have been better off limping in, hoping to Flop a set. Pocket 5's should be a profitable hand, and if you, in the long run, loose money with it, there must be something wrong with your game. Try to fix this leak as soon as possible, because it is a very expensive one. |
| Hand # | Hand | Theme | Game | Date entered |
| 7 | 5-5 | Flop: Flopping a Set | No Limit | 17-05-2002 |
| 5-5 |
| Introduction: I've been doing quite well recently and decided to move up in limits. Instead of my usual $0.25/$0.50 No Limit ($50 max) I seated myself at the $0.50/$1.00 ($100 max) table at Paradise Poker. My bankroll has no problem handling the bigger swings of this table, and the players are of equal strength as the lower limit. This hand came about 15 minutes into the session. I did not have much information about the players except for 3 players I knew from a lower limit or from No Limit Tournaments. In my notes about them it said that they were all Loose Aggressive players, who bluf too much. Meaning I can call their bets and raises with slightly weaker hands that I would call a tighter player with. |
| Game ########## - (blinds $0.50/$1) No Limit Texas Hold'em Table "St. Lucia" (real money) -- Seat 3 is the button Seat 1: Player 1 ($210.25 in chips) Seat 2: Player 2 ($97.75 in chips) Seat 3: Player 3 ($59.75 in chips) Seat 4: Player 4 ($224.25 in chips) Seat 5: Player 5 ($95.75 in chips) Seat 6: Our Hero ($97.50 in chips) Seat 7: Player 7 ($120.50 in chips) Seat 9: Player 9 ($76.75 in chips) Seat 10: Player 10 ($99 in chips) Player 4: Post Small Blind ($0.50) Player 5: Post Big Blind ($1) Dealing... Dealt to Our Hero [ 5s ] Dealt to Our Hero [ 5h ] Our Hero : Call ($1) Player 7 : Fold Player 9 : Fold Player 10: Fold Player 1: Raise ($2) Player 2: Call ($2) Player 3 : Call ($2) Player 4: Call ($1.50) Player 5: Call ($1) Our Hero : Call ($1) |
| A raise with the smallest amount possible Preflop is common in
online games. The reason behind it is that online players have the possibility to use a
'Check/Fold in Turn' button. With this button they can indicate which action they will
take when it is their turn. A small raise will force these players to Fold their hand,
even when they wanted to call such a small raise. Do not use the '...in Turn' buttons,
unless you want to buy some extra time to go to the bathroom or make a cup of tea whithout
having to use the 'Sit out next Hand' option. If I had to cold call 2 bets I would still have called in this case, but you have to keep in mind that with hands like 5-5 you want to see the Flop as cheap as possible. The only way to win is flopping a set and let the implied odds do their work. In case of a Preflop raise the Implied Odds go down drasticlly. But Implied Odds in a No Limit game are huge. |
   *** FLOP *** : [ Jc 3h 5d ] Player 4: Check Player 5: Check Our Hero : Bet ($5) Player 1: Fold Player 2: Raise ($45) |
| This is a *very* strange raise. If Player 2 wanted callers he would not have made a raise this big. And with a good/very good hand you do want callers. If he does not have a good hand he should fold after my initial bet on the Flop. He want to drive everybody out and take the pot. If he has a good hand, but wanted to get more information he should have raised a smaller amount. He did not raise Preflop, but just called. My guess is that he prefers to win the pot here, but would not mind getting 1 caller because he does have a good hand. This is not a bluf. But unlucky for him, I have a very good hand too, and certainly am not going to Fold. If he has the only hand that can beat me, JJ, he definitely would not have raised this much. The Flop is not dangerous, no Flush Draws and a Straigth Draw is very unlikely. I have no reason to believe that my hand is not by far the strongest. I put him on A-J, or K-J and maybe an overpair, although that is unlikely because of his Preflop action. 2 Pair is not very likely because he cold-called 2 bets and with this Flop he must have a very weak hand to cold call 2 bets Preflop (J-3, J-5 or 5-3). |
| Player 3 : Fold Player 4: Fold Player 5: Fold Our Hero : Raise ($90.50) |
| The best and only answer. A Call would be a bad move because the Turn card will probably not improve his hand, and after my $45 Call he will be a bit scared when I raise again on the Turn. The chance that he will Fold then is too big. However, if I make the raise now, when he still thinks he has the best hand, chances of him calling are much better. Although you need a *very* strong hand to call a re-raise this size and if he does not have JJ he should Fold. Maybe 3-3 would be a calling hand for him, but no other. |
| Player 2: Call ($50.50) |
| He called anyway(?) Does this mean he flopped a set of Jacks *and* raised $45 with it? I can't believe that. All I can do now is sit back and pray. |
 *** TURN *** : [ Jc 3h 5d ] [ Jd ] |
| This is interesting development. If he does have A-J or K-J like I suggested after the flop, this is a very good development if it wasn't an All-In situation. In this scenario I don't want any cards to flop which can possibly help him. If he has the lesser likely J-3 or J-5 I am beat. But this is not the scenario I think I am in. Remember the fact that he called after someone raised before him? So, although my hand improved and I most likely have the strongest hand, the second Jack is not good. Possibly, my opponent just increased his/her number of outs. He either has a Jack with a strong Kicker or an overpair. If he has a Jack he now has 7 outs to beat my Full House with a better Full House: 1 Jack, 3 Threes, + 3x his kicker. I am still big favourite. |
 *** RIVER *** : [ Jc 3h 5d Jd ] [ 5c ] |
| Nice. If he did have the best hand before, he most likely does not now. J-J will be the nuts, but my hand is close second. I feel confident! |
| *** SUMMARY *** Pot: $200 | Rake: $3 Board: [ Jc 3h 5d Jd 5c ] Player 1 lost $2 (folded)   Player 2 lost $97.50 [ Qd Qc ] (two pair, queens and jacks) Player 3 lost $2 (folded) Player 4 lost $2 (folded) Player 5 lost $2 (folded) Our Hero bet $97.50, collected $200, net +$102.50 (showed hand) [ 5s 5h ] (four of a kind, fives) Player 7 didn't bet (folded) Sharkbyte didn't bet Player 9 didn't bet (folded) Player 10 didn't bet (folded) |
| Conclusion:He only had Pocket Queens. He completely misplayed this hand. He was not aggressive enough by just calling before the Flop, where a raise was in order. And a raise of $3 or $4 would probably have scared me away, because the Implied Odds would be reduced to much. Instead he chose for deceptive play. No hand is strong enough to slowplay before the Flop. And then, on the Flop, he overplayed his hand. His initial raise was to big. Just a $10 raise would be fine to get the information he needed about my hand. I would have raised and he should have folded. Instead he calls my major re-raise which should give him all the information needed. Player 2 made 3 decisions in this game, and all 3 were very bad. |
