Holdem Hand Analysis

9-9 Preflop: Flopping a Set

Introduction: This hand was played online at Paradise Poker, at the $0.25/$0.50 No Limit table, maximum buy-in $50. At this moment in my poker career this (together with the $0.50/$1.00 No Limit, maximum buy-in $100) is my favourite online poker game.
This session, I've been playing tight, and doing well with it. $20 profit in the 2 hours of this session. Normally, when I feel that I am playing my best poker, I start playing more hands. My game gets more variety. Limping in, Calling, Raising, Re-Raising, Folding, it is all there in a short period of time. This session, however, was different. I *was* playing well, but set myself the goal of playing extremely tight to test my new theory that playing tight or extremely tight is more rewarding online than it is in a Brick and Mortar (B/M) casino. there are a few reasons for this. In online Poker it is very easy to move tables. You can put your name on the waiting list for a table and before you know it a seat is ready for you. And a seat is ready for you because you are playing with/against Poker players from all over the world and the online cardroom is open 24 hours a day. So when you start your session, others have been playing for 8 or more hours and are ready to leave. The online cardrooms are also bigger than the biggest B/M casino's. So when you play extremelyt tight, it won't be noticed as easy as in B/M casino's because the make-up of the table changes so quickly. Therefor it is very important that you make notes of other players, because you won't remember them the next time you play them. So that is why I decided to have an extremely tight session.

Game ########## - (blinds $0.25/$0.50) No Limit Texas Hold'em - 2002/06/13
Table "Bartolome" (real money) -- Seat 8 is the button
Seat 1: Player 1 ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Player 2 ($44.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Player 3 ($40.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Player 4 ($84 in chips)
Seat 5: Our Hero ($70.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Player 6 ($42.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Player 7 ($30.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Player 8 ($56.25 in chips)
Seat 9: Player 9 ($8.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Player 10 ($43.25 in chips)
Player 9 : Post Small Blind ($0.25)
Player 10 : Post Big Blind ($0.50)
Dealing...

Dealt to Our Hero [ 9s ]
Dealt to Our Hero [ 9d ]
Player 1: Call ($0.50)
Player 2: Call ($0.50)
Player 3: Fold ($0.50)
Our Hero : Call ($0.50)
Player 6: Call ($0.50)
Player 7 : Raise ($3)
Player 8 : Fold
Player 9 : Fold
Player 10 : Fold
Player 1: Call ($2.50)
Player 2: Call ($2.50)
Player 4 : Call ($2.50)

Playing this tight session deciding a call or a fold or a raise was not very difficult. I probably would have folded if i was playing a looser session. After all, the strength of 9-9 is limping in and see the flop as cheaply as possible.

Our Hero : Fold
Player 6: Call ($2.50)

*** FLOP *** : [ Tc Ks 9h ]
Player 1: Check
Player 2: Check
Player 4 : Bet ($1.50)
Player 6: Fold
Player 7 : Call ($1.50)
Player 1: Raise ($3)
Player 2: Fold
Player 4 : Call ($1.50)
Player 7 : Call ($1.50)

After years of playing Poker, I still find it hard when I would have flopped a set if I would have called. This only lasts a couple of seconds, because the most important thing is that you (or me in this case) played the strategy right according to yourself. The outcome of the hand is irrelevant for that.

*** TURN *** : [ Tc Ks 9h ] [ 2c ]
Player 1: Bet ($0.50)
Player 4 : Raise ($3.50)
Player 7 : Call ($3.50)
Player 1: Call ($3)

*** RIVER *** : [ Tc Ks 9h 2c ] [ Qs ]
Player 1: Check
Player 4 : Check
Player 7 : Bet ($7.50)
Player 1: Fold
Player 4: Call ($7.50)

More action on the Queen. Did someone made the straight?

*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $48.50 | Rake: $2.25
Board: [ Tc Ks 9h 2c Qs ]
Player 1 lost $9.50 (folded)
Player 2 lost $3 (folded)
Player 3 didn't bet (folded)
Player 4 lost $17 [ Qc Kd ] (two pair, kings and queens)
Our Hero lost $0.50 (folded) [ 9s 9d ] (three of a kind, nines)
Player 6 lost $3 (folded)
Player 7 bet $17, collected $48.50, net +$31.50 (showed hand) [ Th Td ] (three of a kind, tens)
Player 8 didn't bet (folded)
Player 9 lost $0.25 (folded)
Player 10 lost $0.50 (folded)

Conclusion: A couple of observations. If I would have called the raise before the Flop, this hand would have been very costly. I would have flopped a set of 9's, but Player 7 flopped a set of 10's. But how did Pl;ayer 7 play this hand? Not very well, i am afraid. He was slowplaying his set, while there was a danger of a straight. He gave cheap cards to players to draw out on him. Lucky for him this did not happen. When you look at the board you can see that everyone holding a Jack would have beat him. What he should have done is get the money in early. When the Queen came it was too late.

9-9 Preflop: Stealing the Pot

Introduction: This has been a session without any good hands at all. I was limping in quite a lot and winning just enough pots to stay close to my buy-in of $100. I was playing well and had a good feeling about the table. I felt that I was in control. There were 2 good players at the table (I had notes on both of them), the rest appeared to be weak. Calling instead of raising or folding.

Game ########## - (blinds $0.50/$1) No Limit Texas Hold'em
Table "St. Lucia" (real money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Seat 1: Player 1 ($59 in chips)
Seat 2: Player 2 ($57.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Player 3 ($37.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Player 4 ($14 in chips)
Seat 5: Player 5 ($111.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Our Hero ($96.25 in chips)
Seat 9: Player 9 ($110.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Player 10 ($60.75 in chips)
Player 1: Post Small Blind ($0.50)
Player 2 : Post Big Blind ($1)
Our Hero : Post ($1.50)
Dealing...

Dealt to Our Hero [ 9h ]
Dealt to Our Hero [ 9c ]

I had to post both blinds because I was disconnected a couple of hands before this. This is one of the downsides of Hold'em Poker online. It is annoying for the other players because it holds up the game, and it can cost you money.

Player 3: Fold
Player 4: Fold
Player 5 : Fold
Our Hero : Check
Player 9: Raise ($4)
Player 10 : Call ($4)
Player 1: Call ($3.50)
Player 2 : Call ($3)

This is a very interesting moment, and the most crucial decision of the hand. Limping in is not an option anymore because of the size of the bet, although there are a couple callers and the potsize is becoming decent. The potsize is not big enough to justify a call. So the options are either Fold, and wait for another hand. Or, in this case the right decision, Raise! And not just a small Raise, that would be a disaster. The raise has to be big. Big enough to take the pot. Not too big to loose all your money to a higher pocket pair. Non pocket pairs will, in general, not call a big raise. The

Our Hero : Raise ($40)
Player 9: Fold
Player 10 : Fold
Player 1: Fold
Player 2 : Fold
Our Hero : Winner -- doesn't show cards

Expected.

*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $20.50 | Rake: $0
Player 1 lost $4 (folded)
Player 2 lost $4 (folded)
Player 3 didn't bet (folded)
Player 4 didn't bet (folded)
Player 5 didn't bet (folded)
Our Hero bet $41.50, collected $57.50, net +$16 [ 9h 9c ]
dared didn't bet
Nymph didn't bet
Player 9 lost $4 (folded)
Player 10 lost $4 (folded)

Conclusion: The Preflop raise was very good. The pot was of interesting size, and the fact that 9-9 is a favourite against all non-pairs is enough reason to go for it.

Hand #	Hand	Theme	Game	Date entered
13	9-9	Flop: Flopping a Set	No Limit	15-06-2002
9	9-9	Preflop: Stealing the Pot	No Limit	28-05-2002