Hu Sng Bible

C ONTENTS Beginners Guide to HU SnG.................................................................................................. 3 HU SNG Bible ....................................................................................................................... 7 A Guide to the 25-50 Blind Level Part 1: Basic Play .............................................................. 8 Proper HU SNG PF ranges ..................................................................................................13 Playing with 20BBs or less ...................................................................................................15 The Anatomy of a Continuation Bet ......................................................................................17 Dealing with limpers; dealing with constant min-bettors ........................................................20 Check Raise Bluffing Flops ..................................................................................................25 When Overbetting is Nash Equilibrium .................................................................................28 Rake, tournament equity and hourly rate ..............................................................................32 Critical Points of Villain's 3-Betting Behavior.........................................................................39 Finishing an opponent heads-up: sage, nash and chubukov. ...............................................43 Three bet shoving with 25BB effective ..................................................................................49 Poker Success .....................................................................................................................53 BR Management and You ....................................................................................................64 Success, Failure, and the Downswing Mindset .....................................................................67 You suck at poker.................................................................................................................72 mjw006 spews random thoughts... .......................................................................................77 spamz' first hand history review ............................................................................................81 spamz' second hand history review ....................................................................................127 spamz' third hand history review.........................................................................................185 spamz' fourth hand history review ......................................................................................237 spamz' sixth hand history review ........................................................................................326 spamz' seventh hand history review ...................................................................................391 spamz' eighth hand history review ......................................................................................429 spamz' ninth hand history review ........................................................................................463 spamz' tenth hand history review........................................................................................498 spamz' eleventh hand history review ..................................................................................524 A Bad Habit of 3-betting and Range Choice .......................................................................558 A Discussion on Bet Sizing .................................................................................................561 Suited Connectors, Implied Odds, and You ........................................................................567 Shania, balancing, and what you really need to know ........................................................573

22 Flawed Reasonings in HUSNG Poker ...........................................................................578 22 Flawed Reasonings In HUSNG Poker (Part 2) ..............................................................582 Indy's interview with Stevesbets .........................................................................................586 Indy‟s interview with BCM11 ...............................................................................................591

B EGINNERS G UIDE TO HU S N G So why should you play HU sngs? Basically there is no other form of poker where you can make so much money per hour with a relatively small bankroll. If you are a 10% ROI or higher player you could easily take $500 and play the 22s on FT for a little under $20 an hour 1 tabling with almost no risk of ruin. If you were to compare that to other forms of poker you would need a $1k+ bankroll 4 tabling 50nl or about $1500 playing the 16 9-man turbos 8 tabling to make a similar hourly rate (dont get on my ass about numbers Im just giving you an idea). Clearly this is a great way to build a bankroll if your starting low.

Where should you play? The two main choices are Full Tilt and Pokerstars, Ive never played at UB so I cant comment on that but I know they have a rematch button. If hourly rate is your goal in playing HU sngs Full Tilt is cleary the best choice, it has a super fast structure relative to PS and the players are worse IMO. Over my career I averaged 7.5 matches per hour at the FT 33s and below and 7 at the 110s (PS turbos average about 5 per hour) and higher now imagine that with a 10% ROI your making 75% of a buyin per hour which is sick good and thats not even the ceiling if you are really good. One thing you should note, you should never try and play on a site that offers HU sngs with a 10% rake, there is practically no way the amount of fishy players on the small site can compensate for the extra 5% in rake. How should you keep track of your matches? Ive only used PT, HEM but it works very well and it will give you everything you need and I imagine a lot of you already have it. It will tell you your hourly, matches per hour, ROI, win %, help you review hands, bring up stats from old matches etc I love it

Should you multitable? 99% of the time I played one table and I was able to make over $100 an hour doing so I never worried about multitabling. Not to mention I never got comfortable playing more than one so I never did but I know for a fact there are people successfully grinding 2, 3, 4 and more HU sngs at a time, but you should note that multitabling different villains in HU sngs is a very different skill from multitabling other forms of poker, I have 16-tabled 9man SNGs but I couldnt handle more than one table of HU sng profitably. Its really a factor of how quickly you can think and make accurate reads rather than your clicking speed not to mention your ROI will be lower and variance will be higher which are two of the really big factors that appeal to people who play HU sngs. What about the variance? The thing about variance in HU sngs is that the actual swings can be fairly large relative to swings in buyins you would experience in like a 6max NL cash game but the high hourly rate tends to soften this quite a bit. I personally have lost 10 straight matches at the 33s where I averaged 17.5% ROI over 400 matches lifetime and I was really happy with all my play and never tilted in any of the 10 matches. My biggest downswing top to bottom was 17 buyins. Now I know that sounds quite harsh but think about it this way, if you work hard you could easily put in 40 matches a day so my biggest downswing would have lasted about half a day, not so bad dont you think? What skills does HU take? One thing that is difficult about HU is that it takes a very different skillset from your normal shorthanded or full ring poker. So as a fun exercise Ill rank the skills I think are most important. 1. Hand reading-This encompasses a lot things including being able to put together a strong accurate read of villain and understand how he is thinking through hands. If you cant read your opponent as well as he reads you, you are the fish even if you have a good general strategy and he has lots of leaks. When you are playing HU you can compensate for a lot of shortcomings if your a great hand reader, too bad this is probably one the hardest most ambigious skills to develop. I started to really develop in this area when I began to read my

entire HHs front to back 2-3 times a day, lots of work but its rewarding. 2. Tilt Control-Tilt is going to hurt you fast HU because you never have time to take a back seat and stop making decisions. This is the undoing of a lot of players who never tilt when they play normal cash games or SNGs, HU is going to test your mental toughness for sure. 3. Adjusting-The faster you adjust your game to meet how your villain is playing this hand in the moment the bigger your edge is going to be, this was always very hard for me I always love to open a wide range from the button even when its not always correct. 4. Playing a 14-25bb effective stack-This is what I like to call the red zone of HU sng's you can get a HUGE edge here because almost everyone I know plays like crap with these stack sizes, including 2p2ers. If you play turbos this is where you are going to be playing a majority of the time. Strategy here is not clear cut and it is going to test pretty much all your poker skills to the maximum, these stacks sizes are also a major reason I think its super hard to multitable HU sngs. What else should you know? -SAGE which is a game theory perfect system for 8bb or less. Note game theory perfect means its unexploitable but does not mean it is the most profitable strategy against a villain with an incorrect strategy.

-Tilt control, I told you this was an important skill but I am going to share my thoughts on this. Tilt is always going to be with you when you play poker its going to be a constant battle no matter how good you are at controlling yourself. You need to learn what your personal triggers are because its going to be different for everyone, for me personally losing a lot of money just doesnt get me angry but there are things that send me off the wall into super tilt monkey mode. One thing I learned personally is that burnout is a very dangerous tilt inducer, I dropped out with a 3k bankroll and forced myself to work very very hard at first but I wasnt getting the results I wanted and the money swings hurt

more. When you have a balanced life if you run bad at poker its not going to hurt as much and on the same token when something bad happens outside of poker dont expect to continue playing your same game unaffected.I hope this helps you all and I also hope this encourages those of you who may have been hesitatant to start contributing to do so. -

Cwar

HU SNG B IBLE

HUSNG = Heads Up Sit N Go BB = Big Blind SB = Small Blind OOP = Out of Position 3-bet = A reraise or raising when a player raises your bet. Effective Stacks = The stack size of the player with the least amount of chips, or the maximum amount of chips either player can win if they both are all in. Two barrel = Betting the flop and then the turn. Implied Odds = The ratio of your total expected win when your card hits to the present cost of calling a bet (TOP P. 55) - ChicagoRy

A G UIDE TO THE 25-50 B LIND L EVEL P ART 1: B ASIC P LAY This is the first of a four part series on how to play in the 25-50 level of Heads Up Sit N‟ Gos. In the first article you will learn some of the differences that separate the 25-50 level from the earlier blind levels. For clarity‟s sake, these articles will mainly apply to situations you face in the 25-50 level, regardless of the stack sizes in other levels of play. For example, there is one key difference between being 25bb deep in the 25-50 level and being 25bb deep in the 10-20 level: How your opponent is going to play. Most opponents are going to play very differently in these two cases even though they should play nearly identical in both. For this main reason I want to focus on situations that come up in the 25-50 level. When identifying the basic differences between this level and previous levels, you will notice the effective stack sizes are generally 15-30 big blinds at the start of the 25-50 level. At the earlier levels you are usually deeper stacked and have more room to “maneuver” with bets and raises. At the 50-100 level most of your play is going to be shove or fold preflop with a little bit of exception. But in the 25-50 level of play you‟re often stuck in between. This often puts additional pressure on players and makes a lot of decisions unclear in their mind. Another thing you should realize is that a mistake in this level is very costly. In the earlier levels of play you can make a mistake or two and lose 10-15% of your stack in doing so. In the 25-50 level you‟ll regularly see players lose 25-50% or more of their chips on one bad play here. Fortunately, if you pay attention to these articles and work hard to improve your game, your opponents will be making many more costly errors than you. Let‟s take a look at preflop raising. A common mistake players make is committing too many chips into the pot preflop. As the blinds go up and the ratio to your stack sizes goes down, position starts to matter less. Common raise sizing when 20-

30bb deep should be 2-2.5x the big blind, or 100-125 chips in this level. Under special circumstances a 3x raise may apply, but this is rare and unnecessary to go over in this article. You will notice many players raising to 150-200 chips during this level with stack sizes of any amount. We will learn why this is usually bad and how to exploit it in the third article. Now that you‟ve got a handle on preflop raise sizes, we can talk about the difference in preflop hand values. In the 25-50 level a lot of hands that were valuable to raise in previous levels will go down in value. Hands like suited connectors (56s, 78s) go down in value as the stack to blind ratio goes down. These are speculative hands and the main advantage of these speculative hands is the implied odds that you have with them. Your implied odds go down as the blind-stack ratio becomes smaller, meaning hands that make top pair are going to be going up in value while lower-card hands that need to make flushes, straights and two pair hands are going to go down in value. So does this mean you should fold hands like 67s on the button when effective stacks are 20-25bb? Not necessarily. You have to be careful on overplaying them and committing too many chips to the pot in certain situations. We‟ll get into when you should minraise, limp and fold this type of hand in the next article. We‟ve covered some of the preflop differences in this level, so let‟s get into some postflop play. In one word, you postflop play in the 25-50 level should be “aggressive.” As a whole, you want to be stabbing out at a lot of pots against most players in this level. Players generally respond to aggression by being very over aggressive in this level or by playing very weak. You should be able to identify which kind of player you are playing very early on in this level. Article 2 will go into greater detail about how to adjust accordingly to this. Continuation-bets should rise in frequency, but not necessarily value. If anything, you can sometimes continuation bet as low as half pot in this level. This, of course, is player dependent. A 150

cbet into a 250 chip pot is probably the standard, or a 125 into a 200 pot. You‟re also going to want to turn down your two barrel bluffing percentage. As the pot builds from preflop to the flop and then the turn, players will feel more pot committed when calling a street. The more bets they call the more of their stack is in the pot, therefore they will end up calling with a wider range of hands. There are still spots to bluff/semi-bluff, but it is generally harder and less frequent in this level. Since we‟ve gone over the main facets of preflop and postflop play, let‟s put it all together and go over a couple of basic hand examples. Reads on villain: Villain rarely folds preflop OOP. He will reraise his big hands preflop and raises a lot of limps. He has become more aggressive post flop as the game has gone on. Hero (2100 chips) Villain (900 chips) Hero is in the small blind with (Kd7s) K7o is a pretty strong hand 18 big blinds deep. Villain is calling a lot OOP and will reraise us with most, if not all of his premium hands preflop. Add in the fact that he raises limps aggressively and this hand is a clear raise preflop. Hero raises to 100 chips. Villain calls. Flop Kh8d4d (Pot is 200) Villain checks, Hero bets 125 chips, Villain raises to 800 and is all in. Villain has been very aggressive postflop. If the effective stacks were deeper it would probably be incorrect to move forward in this hand because villain would be less aggressive, meaning the range of hands he would be raising would include more Kx hands that have us dominated and more two pair or three of a

kind hands. In this situation villain has shown more aggression as the stacks have become shallower compared to the blinds and the board has a clear flush draw out there. Villain may think his 8 is good here or may even be raising with some sort of gutshot straight draw. In this case we will call and feel confident that we are ahead of villain‟s range. Hero calls 675 chips. Villain flips over 9d7d. Hero‟s pair holds and he wins the game. This hand demonstrates the problem of calling OOP with too wide a range of hands when the blinds to stack-ratio is small. The hand also shows the difference in strength of hands in “short” stack to blind areas compared to situations in which we are deeper stacked.

----------------------------------Reads: Villain has been pretty loose and aggressive in the early part of the match. He has seemed to slow down lately but is still raising often preflop. Hero has been card dead most of the game and has won very few pots. The pots hero has won have been medium-large sized pots. Hero (1200 chips) Villain (1800 chips) Hero is in the BB with 5s2c. Villain calls 50 chips. Hero checks. Flop KdTh4s Here the flop has completely missed us. There are few draws on the board, a possible straight draw, but no flush draws. Villain has been raising often preflop so a lot of Kx and some Tx hands are not in his range. QJ is not likely in his range either. A lead bet here is good and should take down the pot very often.

Hero bets 70 chips. Villain folds. If Villain had called here, we would give up on our hand and check/fold the turn and river almost all of the time. If villain had raised we would certainly fold. The two hands above and the concepts described before them should give you a good idea of the key differences between the 25-50 play and the earlier levels of the game. The difference in starting hand values, preflop raises and controlled aggression are important to becoming a winning 25-50 player.

P ROPER HU SNG PF RANGES You want to raise as many BTNs as you can get away with before/unless villain adjusts. So theoretically you can start off by opening 100% and seeing how villain responds. Some people will start off at 85-90%, because opening 100% has a certain feel to it that causes some villains to play back faster ('omg he's blindly clicking raise every time he has the BTN') than if you occasionally fold your BTN ('oh he has some standards, even if they're minimal.') You may want to start reducing your BTN opens if villain starts 3betting a lot and is hyper-aggro in 3-bet pots / doesn't fold easily to positional pressure and is generally hyper-aggro OOP / will pay you off lightly but will not go away often enough when you have air unless you put stacks into play every time. In such cases, opening super-wide might still be profitable if you're skilled post-flop, but the match becomes much easier to play if you reduce your opens to like 60%-75%, especially since most villains of the type I described won't adjust well. (For example, there are hugely losing villains whose basic approach is to try to win every pot, literally, no matter how many chips they risk and almost no matter what kind of resistance you put up. Opening super-wide against them can get really tough if you're not running hot or sick good, because you basically have to show them a hand or bluff for stacks or fold and bleed off chips every time you enter a pot.) As far as raise-sizing pf goes, I recommend HokieGreg's advice (which I presume is standard) when getting started, until you design a scheme of your own that you prefer for whatever reason. The key is that your pf raise-sizing should take effective

stack size into account. You don't want to be opening 3x when too shallow, because it's pretty easy to exploit by 3-bet shoving, unless you open a ridiculously low percentage of hands. There are posts about this on this forum; search for "3-bet shoving 25 bbs deep" by Insane_Steve. Anyway, HokieGreg's advice: raise 3x between 75-51 bbs deep, raise 2.5x between 50-30 bbs deep, and raise 2x between 30-13 bbs deep. Below that, a lot of people start playing push-or-fold preflop, using the Nash Equilibrium tables as a guide. As far as limping is concerned, some people never/rarely do it, and stick to raise-or-fold pf, and do just fine. Others will limp anything they're not raising, until villain starts attacking their limps, and then they'll mix in some strong hands into their limps and fold the very worst of their limping hands, in order to make life harder for villain. I typically don't limp until the effective stack is less than 23bbs, then I start doing it with many weakish and some strong hands. So there's a lot of flexibility in this arena. Finally, you say OOP you call anything remotely decent and raise all decent hands to 3 bb. I'm not sure exactly what ranges you mean here, but I strongly recommend starting out by playing very tight OOP. You can call min-raises a little wider than 3x raises, but the key is to play OOP pots much less frequently than pots in position. Look for hands that flop well, where both cards can make a decent pair, so K9s > A2o. Also watch how frequently your opponent raises; you don't want to be calling with dominated hands against a nitty BTN-raiser (they do show up.) Your OOP play is of course conditioned but how well or poorly villain plays post-flop. Some guys will give you free turns when they miss and check/fold when they don't connect and you fire turn or river. Others will c-bet 100% but play very weakly against frequent check-raises. But please, please start off by playing tightly OOP. And if someone limps into your BB, don't raise their limp with a wide range until you know exactly what you're doing. Start off by only raising limps with something like 88+, QJ+, KT+, AT+, and taking free flops with the rest of your hands. -

Lagdonk

P LAYING W ITH 20BB S OR LESS At 20 bbs down to which ever stack depth you think pure pushor-fold* should start (whether it's 10/9/8/7/6 BBs -- villain dependent, ideally): Typically, you should try a mixture of limps and min-raises on the BTN. The earlier phases of the match should give you some clues about how villain will respond. Any of these BTN pf strategies can be appropriate against the right villain: 1) Min-raise ~70%+ of hands, fold the rest -- because villain rarely 3-bet shoves, folds many of his big blinds, and/or plays fitor-fold on the flop when you c-bet. 2) Min-raise ~40% of hands, limp a whole bunch more, and fold trash -- because villain is a bit more active in raised pots, so you want your range to be stronger, and to be able to call a 3-bet shove pf more often than a 70% range can; but villain will let you limp without punishing you, and lets you take down limped pots reasonably often with a simple stab on the flop. 3) Similar to the above, but mix in some strong hands into your limping range -- because villain perceives it as weak and has begun attacking limps pf pretty often. 4) Raise very few hands, because villain is very aggro spewy in raised pots due to drug use or whatever reason, and he will shove 52s when you make your first min-raise with AQo after limping the last gazillion hands 18 BBs deep. OOP: Tighten up your flat-calling range from the BB. Playing fitor-fold is way too expensive and unsustainable at this stage. You want to enter pots OOP armed with significant flopping power and/or an ability to handle villain when he has position post-flop.

Maybe he has some exploitable traits you've spotted, like only cbetting if he hits, or c-betting very often but folding non-strong hands to smallish check-raises, or three barrel spewing too often when you take a check-call line, such that hitting a pair will net you his bluffed off stack. Also, monitor his BTN raising frequency as you get shallow, and review all of the hands that are +EV 3-bet shoves against someone who opens too often when stacks are short. You can also mix in some small 3-bets against against semithinking, nit-at-heart players who aren't very comfortable lagging it up (in this case, opening more BTNs than they'd like), and are doing so half-heartedly because they think they should as blinds go up. (That was a retardedly specific villain profile; small 3-bets when shallow can work against a number of opponent-types, especially if you balance them, but this is not my area of expertise. More of a growth area for me.) Post-flop: Keep a very close eye on stack-to-pot ratios if you and villain start putting bets in on the flop or beyond. It is very easy to cross commitment thresholds inadvertently, and to be priced in to make correct calls with one over and a gutshot, or other weak draws/hands, as the pot grows relative to remaining stacks. In short, constantly look ahead before putting chips into the pot and adjust your future continuing/folding plans accordingly. Try to avoid taking lines that involve calling a bet (or two) on earlier streets and folding to further pressure on later ones. Such lines are sometimes inevitable, but stacking off sooner when you feel more certain of your equity becomes more correct as the stackto-pot ratio shrinks, especially since you can still get called by worse (or draws) as pot odds become better for villain. Compare this to taking a more inducing/pot-control/way-ahead-way-behind type check-call line earlier in the match when stacks are deeper against a barreling villain. -

Lagdonk

T HE A NATOMY OF A C ONTINUATION B ET 450 effective stacks wha raised 4 3 to 12 OTB in a 1/2 HU cash game BB called and the flop came: K J 4 MLJ and I got into a discussion about whether to c-bet this flop or not which sparked my interest in this topic. DISCLAIMER Im not presenting any of this as fact I am actually trying to improve my own understanding of the factors that lead to a c-bet decision, take it as you will. So lets dissect a c-bet in this spot against a loose villain. Lets assume we use 18 here (75%) as a standard cbet and we never get check raised (its just going to be simpler that way). I went through pokerstove and clicked on what I thought was a reasonable starting hand range for a loose villain in this situation (doesnt really matter exactly what they were) and I came up with 42.3% of all starting hands (I assumed he would 3-bet stronger hands and picked a very reasonable range). Then I assumed villain would call the flop with anything that included a gutshot or better (all pairs not A hi). This came out to 22.7% of all hands which means villain would call approx. 53.7% of all continuation bets. Doing some quick math assuming the hand stopped after your c-bet you would show an immediate profit of $1.74 for each c-bet. That means if you have 32o here you would show an immediate profit by c-betting. I am sure this is obvious to many of you so bear with me. Now lets assume a tighter villain preflop with the same calling standards I picked out a reasonable calling range of 25.5% of all

hands which would lead to him calling c-bets with 19.2% of all hands or approx. 75% of all c-bets. Now each c-bet shows a profit of -$7.5. So what did I learn from all this? Preflop range has a huge impact on c-bet success (LDO) but what did surprise me is that a loose preflop player that plays the same postflop as a tight preflop player can be c-bet against more aggressively. I tried this idea on a couple different flop textures and the impression that I get is that this is probably universally true. Clearly assuming tight players will call gutshots and and any pair is a pretty strong assumption (far from reality) so if we use the same flop as in wha's hand and the same tight player (25.5% preflop) and assume he plays a much tighter range after your cbet to the tune of 14.6% (again came up with a reasonable range fiddling with pokerstove) of all hands which would mean our cbet gets called 57.3% of the time for a total immediate profit of approx. -$.07. This is great for a couple reasons, it shows that postflop tightness increases the profitability of c-bets (obviously) and we found a realistic ratio that is very near the break even point of the c-bet in this hand. ***Obviously when we c-bet there are other factors at stake than the immediate success of the c-bet as a bluff on the flop. A lot of times when we c-bet the flop we will be called but still go on to win the hand in some manner later on ands its good for our metagame to be betting strong hands as well as weak hands, all very obvious stuff. Now that leads us to what kind of hands we should c-bet in this spot given how they play later on in the hand. How is 43 different in this spot than an 87 or a 55-88? Basically given some very rough estimates of how often you get to showdown like this I think its worth about $1.3-$2.5 on average (I just took a rough estimate of how often this would happen I assumed about 10%-20% here). Add in the 11% of the time we improve on the turn and 22% by the river for 43 and we have very solid value for c-betting this flop. Interestingly with either 43 or 55 most of the value comes from their draws to two pair or trips even though this only happens rarely (this is pretty revealing to me as I think many of us would prefer to c-bet the 87 thinking that it has no value on this flop so its better to bet and give up). Given these loose approximations with some added double/triple barrel equity its probably profitable to c-bet against the tight preflop player who plays loose postflop, thats a pretty stunning

revelation to me.

I know that was confusing so let me try and sum up my approximations quickly: -$.7 c-betting immediately on the flop against tight/tight -$7.5 c-betting against tight/loose +$1.74 c-betting against loose/loose +$1.3-2.5 for showing down a pair against a whiffed draw (only accurate against a tight/tight adjust upwards against tight/loose and loose/loose) +$4-5 for both 43 and 55 (only accurate against a tight/tight again adjust up against tight/loose and loose/loose) +$x for improving on the river +$x for v-betting when our 'draw' hits, who knows probably worth at least $2 +$x for double and triple barreling (lets not even get into it) +$x for metagame One important thing to note is that the numbers really arent important (dont check my math) I used specific examples to try and make the factors that make a c-bet profitable more concrete and clear. I think understanding these factors and adjusting them correctly for the situation can help you make better decisions about c-betting. -

Cwar

D EALING W ITH LIMPERS ; DEALING W ITH CONSTANT MIN - BETTORS

"Dealing With Min Bettors The first question in the Q and A is from Marchy in Germany. Question: How do you handle players who minbet (1/4 to 1/3 of the pot about) 90% of the flops? At the moment i play the 33s on FullTilt and there are lots of these guys. I just cant stand them because i really dont know what the best strategy is against them.

Response: This is a very good question. This is something I struggled with early on in my husng progression and I'm sure many others have or do struggle with as well. There are a few things I like to keep in mind when dealing with min bettors: 1) We're usually dealing with a very wide range of hands, so we should not try to narrow their hand range down based on actions that do not warrant it. 2) Our odds of calling a min bet on the flop are much greater than on the turn, therefore we'll probably be calling a lot more often on the flop and we shouldn't be worried about folding turns. 3) We want to be careful about getting overzealous about raising them too often in small pots and folding to the min bet too often in bigger pots. Keeping those points in mind, here are a few things I like to do against min bettors: - Figuring out if they will min bet 3 streets with strong hands (top pairs+), good draws (flush draws, OESDs, weaker pair combo draws), weak draws (low flush draws, gutshot straights, overcards) and outright "bluffs" (weak hands that need runner runner to beat most hands that will play a big pot). If they are not following the same betting pattern with all of these hands, then I want

to try to find out which hands that they are deviating from their min bet strategy with and what they are doing instead. - I want to also figure out how they react to a raise. I generally want to raise a stronger hand first, because most min bettors are going to be too loose and call with a lot of hands they should not on the flop, at least in the early portion of our match. If I notice a fold I'll try again, perhaps with an outright bluff or semi bluff, if they fold again I start to see they are weak and will throw in a good amount of bluff raises along with semi bluff and strong hands and wait until they adjust. While I may not always get action on my strong hands, the raises are most likely going to frustrate the player. - It might not be too difficult to win when you are hitting cards/boards vs these players, but what about when you are card dead and the boards just aren't hitting your starting hands? In these cases, you really have to pay attention to how you are playing your high cards, how often you are chasing without the correct odds and other decisions you make in marginal/close spots. If a player is going to min bet every street with any hand, it's going to be correct to call down with a hand like A high. If you notice he is starting to check hands that are really weak or that have no showdown value, you're going to want to adjust and starting folding high cards to his bets. A few things you'll want to avoid are bluffing off a lot of chips because "I haven't bet big in awhile, he has to respect me here" or "he bets every street, he can't call a few raises from me." Be careful on taking raises too far. If you bluff raise his min bet on the flop and he calls, be weary about following through on the turn. Don't blindly spew chips against these players, that is how they are going to win because they usually don't get enough value out of their bigger hands and end up letting you build pots when you want with stronger hands. A few other lesser points that I want to make about playing min bettors: - Don't over or under raise them. For example, if they bet 30 into a 200 pot on the turn, raising your weak top pair to 400 is going to be an over raise. On the flip side, raising 3x to 90 is going to probably be an under raise. Often times against constant min bettors, I almost "ignore" their small bet and just raise them to what I would bet if they had checked. In this case it would be a 130-160 type turn bet (raise) that I would make. - Like I said earlier, be aware of the odds you are being offered compared to their presumably very wide range of hands. You also want to be aware of the odds you are offering them. If their drawing hands are 20-25% likely to hit the river, you don't want to "keep them in the pot" with an under raise that offers them the correct odds to draw. They will likely make the mistake of calling without odds, so don't be too

worried about pushing them out of the pot with a 4-5x raise. In fact, your raises will often be over 4x the bet against min bettors. In conclusion, since this is a player and situations you're probably not dealing with on a regular basis, you might have to think a little longer/harder when facing the min bettor. While I gave a lot of general advice, you should find enough above to effectively combat the min bettor and to get you thinking in the right direction against almost all of them. I'd say above all, awareness is key against these players, and the most common mistake is a lack of discipline and emotional control when dealing with these players. The same can go for the opposite end of the spectrum, the aggro-maniacs, though it is not just a simple "take this advice but apply it in the opposite direction." That, however, is another day and another blog post." -------------"Facing A Limp (Or why you should resist the temptation of raising limps over and over and over again) You probably get what I'm going to advocate in this post. First, the following is a response to another question from Spacko about "when you should raise limpers." It's a very general question but I notice that even good players often have a general problem with how they approach this area of the game. Lets begin by looking at reasons why people raise limps. **We'll assume that effective stacks are a relatively deep 40-75bb, unless otherwise noted. 1. Our hand is better than the range of hands villain will call with. 2. We think villain will fold a tremendous amount of time and we will raise for the fold equity. You could call this a bluff-raise. 3. We have a great read on villain and have found an exploit in their game (fairly rare early on). For example, a player that calls almost ATC preflop but is very weak/tight postflop. You would want to get chips in the pot preflop to steal postflop. There are no doubt other reasons you can raise a limp, but the most common will be similar to the 3 above. We'll start with raising for pure hand value. A common reply to "why did you raise his limp with that hand (we'll say a hand like QTo)?" is "he'll call with worse hands." That is probably true, a lot of villains will limp and then call a 3-5x raise with a lot of worse hands. But unfortunately, many people don't consider other factors of the hand besides the hand values. The first factor of the hand that a lot of people ignore is position. You're out of

position, so you're at a disadvantage (the deeper you are the more this is true). This will weaken your holding/value somewhat. Another factor is postflop play. How does your opponent play postflop? What is his calling range? What is his limping range? If you're having trouble answering any of those questions, raising a medium-strong hand like QTo OOP for around 4x the bb is probably not going to put you in good spots postflop. As an example of how crucial it is to know most if not all of these things about your opponent, I'll point you to a thread in 2+2. In this thread, Skates (a 220-550 regular) raised Heir Apparent's (a very solid 200/220 regular) limp with what you could call a "medium-strong" hand. He assumed that Heir would raise any ace preflop, so therefore an ace could not be in his calling range. Based on that assumption, it would be a pretty easy call based on Heir's line (call, c/c, c/bet). However, Skates even admitted that he was pretty confused about the hand/line and it turns out Heir had a weak ace. Throw aces into Heir's range and it would be a pretty clear fold on this river. Moving on, the other big reason people will give when raising a limp is "he's only limping weak hands, he'll probably fold." While this is fine reasoning, this is generally not worth doing until effective stacks (in bbs) are pretty small (think like < 30bbs deep). Most players will adjust after you raise their limps a few times, so you're not going to want to pick up their 20 or 30 chips once or twice when you have 1500 chips and then have to figure out how they are adjusting later on. Knowing they are limping weak and/or folding often is going to be much more valuable when you can pick up 50-100 chips each time or more appropriately, 5-15% of their stack a pop. I'll touch on one other point about limp raising before I conclude, and that would be to think about what it means to face a limp. Are you really worried about a player limping his button when stacks are deep? You shouldn't be. Most players are losing value by constantly limping their button when stacks are deep, so why should you abuse that leak early on and force them to raise more often in position and generally play more aggressively throughout the game? It is my belief that you should not. Now lets quickly touch on when you should raise limps. -The blinds are a big % of the effective stacks. 5-15% is probably a good rule of thumb for when you really want to be paying attention and looking for spot to raise limps for fold equity. -You really have a good grasp on this villain and his calling range as well as his postflop play. -Your hand is very strong. I would never suggest checking a hand like 99 or AK in the big blind when a player limps. With a hand like this, your hand is just too strong to not want to build a pot, position or not, good reads or not.

Building off of that, my default raising range for low-mid stakes husngs would be 55+, A9s, ATo+, KJs+, KQo+. That range would change as effective stacks, game flow and reads developed and changed, but on the first hand of a 22 dollar husng that would be my suggest raising range facing a limp from a random player. To conclude, in general I would suggest letting players limp early but especially paying attention to limp ranges, reactions to aggression and postflop play of villains so that you can take advantage of poor play as effective big blinds get shallow and leaks grow tremendously. A good way to gain this information is to mainly only raise strong hands early on when facing a limp, and to deviate from that strategy as the conditions above warrant." -ChicagoRy

C HECK R AISE B LUFFING F LOPS - What does the opponent's hand range look like going into the flop? If your opponent is open folding 30% of hands, you can safely assume that weaker hands such as 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 73, 83 are not open raising. This will automatically narrow your opponent's range of hands down before you even see the flop. - How does that hand range line up with the board? You want to identify habits above such as "limps K-rag, Q-rag, A-rag hands" so that you can look at the flop and get a general idea not only of the types of hands in your opponent's range, but how well they did (or did not) connect with the flop. Intermediate/Advanced Note - I left out the variable of "how often does your hand range hit this flop." I don't consider it particularly important unless you're playing against an opponent that can hand read good/well. If you're unsure of your opponent's caliber and you don't play $50+ levels, assume they are not a good hand reader. That's not fully correlated (good hand reader/ability to realize you didn't likely hit a flop you're bluffing) but it's an assumption that won't likely hurt you (and over time you will notice how often players rebluff you versus how often they have a rare value hand on dry boards that miss most of their hand range and you can adapt by default without reads accordingly once you have that experience to reach from). For a lot of you, the above was rather obvious. If it wasn't, you've already learned something important. So what are some other common things to look out for when deciding whether or not to check raise bluff? Here are some

more things to think about that build upon the two basic tips above: - Continuation bet range. There are many ways you can take advantage of opponents that offer severely unbalanced continuation betting ranges. A common c-bet "leak" would be opponents that cbet most boards with a range similar to: any good middle pair or better, any good draw and any air except high cards with showdown value. In many cases, this represents a c-bet range that is much too weak, and thus should often be check raise bluffed frequently. Another common c-bet "leak" is from players that check back dry boards with most pairs; the strong pairs they can consider won't get enough value on the dry board and the weaker pairs are "only called by better." If an opponent is checking back A92 rainbow boards with any pair, what does that tell you about the times that they c-bet? How should you react? - Bet sizing. This one comes up a little less frequently, but is still valuable. You can dissect bet sizing "leaks" the same way as cbet leaks, though it can be a bit more complicated. For example, many opponents like to bet a little bit smaller with their bluffs on a drawy heavy/"scary" board; to try to get a cheap fold. Similarly, many opponents like to bet a bit larger on those same boards, to maximize value from any potential pairs or draws that rarely fold, even to larger bets. In that simple example, even though you might not normally bluff a 50% open raiser that cbets a QJT board, if they c-bet to a large size for value and like to make cheap bluffs when they miss, you would be throwing away money not bluff raising often when they bet small. I don't often consider these leaks (it's situational), as I do it myself at times and believe it is correct against a lot of opponents (fit or fold, for example, especially coupled with loose preflop). Which leads me to... Conclusion At the end of the day, you'll find that even the best players will have ranges that are not balanced in many areas. Over thousands of games of experience, great players will realize that

balance in of itself is not the best way to win the most money. Properly building a strategy that exploits your opponent's tendencies and frequencies is the best way to win. As such, great players will often present to you ranges that (at least for a brief time) can be exploited. Pay attention, good players constantly adapt their hand ranges based on how their opponent is responding. But many players (including some winning players) have more set in stone or rigid hand ranges. Many players will not recognize that you are exploiting them. So learn how to recognize and exploit a leak, often times you'll find a consistent stream of added edge in your games that will translate into profit sooner or later. Afterthoughts (and ABC Poker) The above, even if you weren't fully aware or thinking about it previously, probably seems quite simple, basic and obvious in hindsight. But that doesn't mean it is not helpful. Many a time in threads, videos or every day conversations, players lament "ugh, ABC poker, this is so boring, running bad." More often than not, when insight is available, I'll find that these players are not taking full advantage of what is being given to them by their opponents, even in the most basic of ways. ABC poker is not check folding when you miss, check raising with strong hands and keeping the pot small with weak pairs and high cards. ABC poker is a sound strategy to beat the average opponent whom you have no real reads on. Ask yourself how long that lasts for. How long do you have no meaningful information about your opponent? The answer, in my mind, is not very long. Next time you're feeling uncreative, or feel like you're playing a boring button crunching game, quit your session. If you can't get yourself to do that, at least pay attention to your opponent, because you're certainly not being honest about what your opponent is actually doing, and how you can counter that in a way that maximizes your edge in the match. And if you're not actively looking to make the best decisions, you're not actively

looking to win, nor should you expect to profit as fast as you would probably like to. - ChicagoRy

W HEN O VERBETTING IS N ASH E QUILIBRIUM MersennearyPoker.com $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - 2 players - Blinds t5/t10 - The Official Reddit.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t3500 BTN/SB: t2500 Pre Flop: (t15) Hero is BB with A 5 BTN/SB raises to t20, Hero calls t10 Flop: (t40) 5 A Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t40, Hero raises to t160, BTN/SB calls t120 Turn: (t360) 7 (2 players) Hero bets t320.00, BTN/SB calls t320 River: (t1000) Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets ? Suppose, further, that both players know that the BB has Ax here always (this isn't the best hand to demonstrate this, as BB has plenty of busted draws, but whatever, pretend it's a standard ace high board with no draws and it's gone c/c c/c c/b if you're hung up on that), and that BTN has 50% Qx+, and 50% air. This is, naturally, an idealized situation, but we'll get to the practical applications at the end. For now, you should all know what the Nash Equilibrium of this situation is (Equilibrium isn't just an endgame thing). Do you? If not, let's calculate it. For demonstration purposes: Let's assume as the button, we have three choices on some site with crummy software: Betting t500, betting t1000, or betting t2000 all-in to the pot of t1000. Let's say we decide to bet t2000, or not at all. In Nash Equilibrium, after you make your river bet, your opponent should be indifferent between calling and folding. Hence, as the button, along with betting t2000 for all of our value hands, we want to bet t2000 with the percentage of our air that makes it so folding and calling have the same EV for our opponent. The math on that: Code:

-500 = (2500)x - (2500)(1-x) -500 = 5000x - 2500 2000 = 5000x x = 2/5 Thus, at Nash Equilibrium, BTN shoves what makes a BB call correct 2/5 of the time. So, BTN shoves 100% of her value and shoves 2/3 of her air. This makes BB indifferent between calling and folding, meaning that 5/6 of the time, BTN has an expectation of +t500, and 1/6 of the time, BTN concedes the pot for an expectation of -t500. Hence, EV playing this strategy is +t333. Let's note what happens if we try to make our bets only in 1000, or only in 500: If we're betting 1000, again, we should be doing so with 100% of our Qx+, and some % of our air. BB should be indifferent between calling and folding in equilibrium. Code: -500 = (1500)x - (1500)(1-x) -500 = 3000x - 1500 1000 = 3000x x = 1/3 Thus, we want to bet what makes BB call correctly 1/3 of the time. So, we shove 100% of our value hands and 50% of our air. This makes BB indifferent between calling and folding, meaning that 3/4 of the time, we have an expectation of +t500, and 1/4 of the time, we concede the pot for an expectation -t500. This means our expectation playing this strategy is +t250. At equilibrium, betting pot is inferior to overbetting 2x pot. If we're betting 500, you know the drill... Code: -500 = (1000)x - (1000)(1-x) -500 = 2000x - 1000 500 = 2000x x = 1/4 So we bet what makes BB call correctly 1/4 of the time, which means betting 100% of value and 33.3% of air. 2/3 of the time we have an expectation of +t500, 1/3 of the time it's -t500. Expectation playing this strategy is +t167. The bigger the bet, the bigger the EV. Let's take it to the extreme, though. Say we're really deep-stacked, perhaps at a cash game with 10k behind and this river decision. This is also applicable in smaller HUSNG pots. If we make a big overbet shove (crazy, reckless stuff, right?), what's our EV? Code:

-500 =(10500)x - (10500)(1-x) -500 = 21000x - 10500 10000 = 21000x x = 47.6% Which means we bet 100% of our value and 90.8% of our air, giving us an expectation of +453, the best yet. The general theme: When it's clear your opponent is highly unlikely to have anything other than bluffcatcher, your chipstack is a weapon. You want to use your chips to allow you to remain unexploitable as you bluff with a bigger percentage of your air hands. Two quick points to make, which I won't bother to show the math on: 1. At equilibrium, overbetting is better than any combination of small/large bets with different types of hands. 2. Shoving is still a Nash Equilibrium regardless of what percentages BTN has air and value; it doesn't have to be 50/50. OK, you get it. But you read 2+2 strat so you can take more maney. When does this help me take money? The downside: I am a strong advocate that in the vast majority of games, Nash Equilibria are going to be useless. Nash relies on both players having perfect information about each other's strategies. This is ridiculous. If a Nash Equilibrium calls for you to do something 90% of the time, you might as well do it 100% of the time - nobody's going to know. Mediocre players who have no history, aren't attempting to balance ranges, and do not respond appropriately when you unbalance yours, make it a critical error to not go for MORE than the +t300 expectation that t2000 overbet shoving guarantees you in this hand. There also will be concerns about variance and putting your stack at risk for too slight of edges. All these are legitimate concerns: There's simply no reason to play any Nash, be it end-game or earlygame, if deviating from it affords you a better winrate because of the incompetence of your opponent. However, as you move up in stakes and get more and more history between common opponents, who tend to understand and react appropriately to your frequencies, you need to start

playing more equilibrium strategies. The Nash Equilibrium here is overbetting, and that's a significant part of why you see it at higher stakes, taking advantage of players who would never, ever check the river with a big hand in the example above. Stop thinking about Nash in poker as only relevant to the endgame and start thinking more about it in early-game decisions when you're up against a tough opponent, especially one you have history with. I would argue that the "you only have a bluffcatcher" situation is pretty commonplace, but regardless, there are numerous other spots that make thinking about equilibrium and how its occasionally counterintuitive conclusions more than mental masturbation, but hookers and blow from all of the bing blang blaow you're going to be singing. -

Mersenneary

R AKE , TOURNAMENT EQUITY AND HOURLY RATE On the first hand of a heads up sit and go, your opponent moves all-in. You estimate your hand to have 50% equity against this player's range. Should the fact that this would result in an expected loss for the tournament after the rake is accounted for nudge you into folding? No, it shouldn't. The rake (and indeed the buyin) is a sunk cost. Sunk costs should not be factored into rational decision making. There is a prize pool and that's all you're interested in. All either things being equal you should want the highest probability of winning it. If that happens to be 50%, you should take it. But wait, you surely couldn't apply this overall? If your long run winrate was 50% you'd eventually go bust due to the rake. So what's the difference? The rake in future SNGs are not sunk costs. Since they have yet to be incurred, you can account for them in your decision making. So how do you do so? Getting back to basics: your goal in poker is to make as much money as you can. (You can certainly have either objectives, such as fun or playing better opponents for the sake of learning in order to hopefully make more in the future, but those are for you to evaluate). There is a finite amount of time that you can play poker, so maximising your hourly expectation will maximise the amount of money you make. (Note that there is nothing special about the use of hours, it's just the standard way of measuring earnings over time). Every decision you make in a SNG should be evaluated on its effect on your hourly expectation. Rake matters because it reduces your expectation on future SNGs. Notably, it matters in

the exact same way as you playing a particularly fishy opponent. In both cases, you have a higher expectation from trying to keep the current tournament going than you than you would starting a new one against a random opponent. Thus, I will evaluate both of them together. Let's start with a simple example. When should you chop a HUSNG? For this example, we'll have a $200 + 10 SNG, assume an even chop and ignore rakeback. (In reality, you must account for rakeback and any other bonuses arising from playing as fully as you would anything else. Note that the value of a VPP is not the average benefit of its effect on your VIP status, but its marginal benefit. If you are planning to play a lot of poker anyway, you can't count it for much. If you're struggling against the clock to rack up VPPs, you might rate a VPP quite highly). What is your opportunity cost for playing the SNG to completion? It is your hourly rate for one table divided by the expected time the SNG will take. Note that it is your expectation for games played now, not "overall". If it is a fishy time of the day and you're playing well, your expectation will be higher than an off-peak time in which you're on your C game. Let's suppose for divisibility's sake that your hourly rate per table is $60 an hour. If the expected time for the SNG is 15 minutes, by playing the SNG you are foregoing $15 in expected profits and must make at least that in the current one to justify continuing playing. Currently, you are being offered $200 to end the SNG right now. Therefore, you must expect to win at least $215 by playing the game out. This equates to a 53.75% winrate. At anything less, you should chop. Interestingly enough, this winrate is large enough to beat the rake. Even someone +EV to play against after the rake can be still be so far from being the most +EV that it's worth taking even money to free yourself up to play someone else. In fact, the rake in this example wasn't important. It was your hourly rate, which all the rake did was presumably to reduce it. Rake here isn't distinguishable from any other characteristics that might serve to change your hourly rate. (Uneven chops are possible if both players acknowledge a reasonable skill gap existing. However if done properly they

would result in players only concerned about money chopping 100% of the time. Poker is mutually a waste of time for two people only interested in money, since any money exchanges must be at the expense of the other. Both players could be made better off if they proposed an uneven chop. The fact that games are not chopped show that at least one player overestimates his/her edge and/or they are not playing for direct monetary reasons (which are outside the scope of this post)). Let's continue to evaluating specific implications of this to poker hands. Since the chopping example already highlighted both players getting all-in, I'll move straight ahead to uneven stacks. Suppose the pot is 200 chips, you have 900 chips, your opponent has 1900 chips and has just moved all-in. How much equity does your hand need to have against his or her range in order to justify calling? You're looking for what has the highest expected value over time. To calculate this you need to determine the probability of winning the SNG under each distribution of chips that could arise minus the loss of EV that occurs from the time it would take to play out the rest of the tournament.

Expected value of calling: ((Probability of winning after calling and winning * Prize Pool)-(Hourly Rate * Expected time in hours for SNG to take after calling and winning))*Probability of winning when called + ((Probability of winning after calling and losing* Prize Pool)-(Hourly Rate * Expected time in hours for SNG to take after calling and losing))*Probability of losing when called Expected value of folding: (Probability of winning after folding * Prize Pool)-(Hourly Rate * Expected time in hours for SNG to take after folding)

(I've ignored the possibility of a chopped pot for simplicity of calculations but you can calculate it in the exact same format). So let's plug some numbers in. Assume you're playing a $200 + 10 SNG, with an hourly rate of $60 an hour 1-tabling. If you call and win, you'll have 2000 chips and figure you'll win according to your chip equity, 66.67% of the time, with an average game length of 10 minutes. If you call and lose, you'll win 0% of the time in no time (after the hand is finished). If you fold, you'll have 900 chips and figure you'll win 30% of the time of the time with a slightly smaller game time (due to a smaller stack) of 9 minutes. So how often do you need to win when you call? ((0.67*400)-(60*(10/60)))*PrW + 0 = (0.30*400)-(60*(9/60)) (266.67 - 10)*PrW = 120.00 - 9 256.67*PrW = 111 PrW = 0.43246 This is less than the 0.45 equity you would need in a standard chip equity calculation. Despite the fact that you're not playing against a player who has an edge against you, it's still worth getting the money in somewhat lighter. You could plug numbers into the above equations, altering them as you wish to describe different scenarios (like the equity of betting yourself and getting called) and get the right answers. However, it may be somewhat difficult to estimate your win percentage at given stack sizes and the expected time to finish a SNG. One way to do so is empirically - if you have a large enough database of SNGs, you could go through all of them and find out your win percentage/time taken at each stack size against opponents of various skill levels. This is probably unrealistic, however. One method is using the "Theory of Doubling Up" from the Mathematics of Poker, Chapter 26. If you can estimate what your overall winrate will be against a player, you can estimate your equity for any stack size. If E is the probability of a player winning the tournament, N is the number of times that player will

need to double up to win and C is the constant probability of that player doubling up, you have the relationship: E = C^N Suppose you know your E to be 55% for an entire SNG against a given player. What is your equity when you have 20% of the chips? For a full SNG, N is 1, since you have to double up once to win. 0.55 = C^1. C = 0.55. Note that N for 40% of the chips is not 2.5. To work out N, take a log to the base 2 of the number of times you will need to multiply your stack to win. N = log2 2.5 = 1.321928 Plug these values into the equation to solve for your equity: E = 0.55^1.321928 E = 0.45371. So this model projects that with 40% of the chips, you will win 45.371% of the time against someone that you would beat 55% of the time with 50% of the chips. Note that both proportionally and absolutely this is a higher return. However, it is not so simple to infer that this means you should be willing to take slightly the worst of it in order to get to this spot. This does not take account the effect on time. When you win a SNG from 40% of the chips, it should on average take longer than winning one from 50% of the chips – there is more ground to make up. If you are the big stack, the gap in equity will not be so large that as a short stack, but the average game length will be smaller as you are more likely to eliminate your opponent than vice versa. I am not sure exactly how to quantify this in a model: if someone else wants to propose one, I‟m open to it.

The problem with this model is that it assumes a constant probability of a double up. This is almost certainly not the case. At low stack sizes, the blinds are larger relative to the effective stacks, so it‟s more likely that your chip equity will be closer to your tournament equity at some levels. However, tournaments go faster whenever blinds are relatively higher. This is the major reason for playing turbos and indeed HUSNGs in general (compared to cash). Both of these factors will need to be accounted for. Nonetheless, we can still infer a number of concepts: - All other things being equal, against players that you have a positive overall winrate against, you should pass up slightly +EV spots in order to avoid stack sizes from becoming too unequal. Conversely, against players that you are an underdog to, you should be more willing to get into spots with shorter stacks all other things being equal. You can see the effect of this by plugging small and large numbers in the equation above. With 10% of the chips, your equity is 13.72%, with 90% it is 91.31%. These numbers are not so useful because they include the higher equity that occurs after double-ups have occurred and stacks become larger. It is perhaps better understood intuitively: it is bad to play with effectively small stack because your potential upside is limited to the size of the short stack. Now, a small stack can be accompanied by factors that you might find desirable (such as higher blinds relative to the stacks, which you may find to increase your hourly rate), but that can be modeled separately. Controlling for the blind/stack ratio shows it clearly: you would rather have 1500 chip stacks and 75/150 blinds for someone you have an edge against than a 50% chance of 2700/300 or 300/2700 stacks and 15/30 blinds. - All other things being equal, you should be willing to make slightly –EV decisions if they result in net favourable blind/stack ratios. Conversely, you should pass up slightly +EV decisions that will result in unfavourable such ratios. The type of tournament you play is evidence as to what this may be: if you play turbos, you‟re presumably doing so because you think your hourly rate will be higher with increased blinds, and the opposite if you play regular speeds. However this is only true on average.

There will be some opponents whom you would have a highly hour rate playing deep stacked, others you would have a higher hourly rate playing short stacked. When combined with the absolute stack size effect above, you have a way to calculate your tournament equity from the chip distributions that arise from a decision. - When you're attempting to estimate your probability of winning and/or the expected time the SNG will take, you need to do so taking into account that you will also be making these calculations in the future. You cannot, for instance, reason that "The average length of a SNG that I've played against a winning player is 10 minutes. Therefore, the expected length of this SNG is 10 minutes." This is incorrect because the fact that you're willing to get the money in slightly bad later will reduce this length. Additionally, you should consider whether your opponent might be aware of these concepts (and also if he or she believes that you are, too). Two winning players who are 50/50 against each other should both be willing to try to shorten game lengths by making slightly -EV raises and calls. But if both are aware of these concepts, they'll shove slightly lighter for value and call slightly wider against their opponent's new lighter shoving range. It's what you might call "implicit chopping." This should tend to an equilibrium, as the more frequent all-in situations make the SNGs shorter and thus reduce the value of getting the money in wider in the first place. -

Nichlemn

C RITICAL P OINTS OF V ILLAIN ' S 3-B ETTING B EHAVIOR Skates Points: Critical Points of Villain's 3-Betting Behavior These are the critical effective stack depths at which your villain makes dramatic adjustments to their preflop ranges when facing a minraise. A good, balanced player should not have these, but most do. Before explaining why, I should define them. There are two: 1) Skates Calling Point (SCP) - This is the effective stack depth at which your villain switches from an all-in or fold strategy to one that incorporates calling. When facing a minraise at 2BB, your villain can only go all-in or fold. At 5BB, nearly all villains will either go all-in or fold. At 10BB, some will mix in calling with some hands. The effective stack depth where the calling frequency becomes significant is the SCP. 2) Skates 3-Betting Point (S3BP) - This is the effective stack depth at which your villain switches their 3-bet sizing from always being all-in (or committing) to having a significant fraction of their 3-bets being non-committing. At 15BB, if a villain 3-bets when facing a minraise, they will almost certainly go all-in with the majority of their range. At 22BB, some villains will keep going all-in, but others might switch to smaller 3-bets. The effective stack depth where the frequency of the non-committing 3-bet size becomes significant is the S3BP. When I say "majority" and "significant", I am referring to a range that does not incorporate AA and KK. Many players play in unbalanced ways with those two hands, and in this case, we would like to remove them from consideration. Some people, when you minraise at 10BB, will flat or min-3-bet with AA or KK and only those hands. This is not what we are looking to isolate. When talking about SCPs and S3BPs, it might be helpful to refer to them as "hard" and "soft". A "hard" SCP is what most players have. If Mr. StandardVillain has been reading 2+2 for the past year, he might have learned that when facing a minraise at less than 20BB, he should either go all-in or

fold. At 20BB though, he should start to call with most hands because he does not want to risk more than 19BB to pick up 2BB. This means that StandardVillain has a hard-SCP of 20. This is a very common behavior among weaker players and mediocre regs at this point in time. Historically, I think this is because the average hero often had a very wide open % (say, 80%), and a very tight call % (say, 12%). Playing the way the StandardVillain played was incredibly profitable. Now, the average hero at higher stakes might still open very wide, but has often adjusted to having a wider calling range, neglecting the primary source of equity won by StandardVillain. As such, many of the stronger players today do not have SCPs at 20, but rather closer to 15. If instead of having a hard-SCP, StandardVillain were to start gradually incorporating hands into a calling range at 18BB, he would have a soft-SCP at 18. Very strong players have soft-SCPs that are very hard to define because they adopt mixed-strategies (they do not always play a given hand the same way). S3BPs are almost always extremely hard (non-gradual), and are usually in the range of 22-25BB. Sure, StandardVillain might always jam 33 if hero limps into him, but the rest of StandardVillain's 3-bet range is likely to have a 3-bet size between the range of 4BB to 6BB. Most people have a fixed 3-bet size that they switch to when the first incorporate non-committing 3-bets. I can not think of one villain I have come across who does not. Of course, we ignore behavior with AA and KK. Now that we've defined these... can you think of any forum members or coaches that have well-defined SCPs or S3BPs? Are they hard or soft? How many of them that have easily recognized hard-SCPs play high-stakes? The answer is probably close to zero, and here's why: If I can notch you into a box, I can read your frequencies and exploit you. Over the course of a match or series of matches, a good hero attempts to best understand the frequencies with which their villain takes each possible action on each street, then utilizes that information to make estimations of villain's range on each street, then utilizes that information to come up with a maximally exploitive strategy to combat those ranges. Although I would be happier putting a lot of caveats and footnotes in there, that is some very rudimentary poker theory. As a consequence, anything that allows the hero to get a better estimation of those frequencies enables the hero to make more precise adjustments to better exploit their villain. ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Stop here, take a breather. You should be able to extrapolate the rest of this article from what I've said already. I will walk you through it, but I strongly encourage you to step back and not continue reading until you try to figure it out on your own. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Hello again! If you play within a well-constructed set of rules, or box, your easily observed frequencies no longer tell a part of the story; they tell the whole story. If after one game with you, I observe what I think to be a hard-SCP at 20, I am immediately estimating a 3-bet frequency I think you have at each depth below that. If I've played many games with you, I can just look at my database and pull the information directly. Then, what do you think my adjustments look like? Fix a stack depth and consider a range of villain 3-bet frequencies. Take a moment to try to come up with my opening range with respect to those frequencies on your own. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Anddddd here you go: If your frequency is lower than 50%, I will raise any two cards. I'm not going to spell that one out for you. If you don't see why that is the case, you need to step back and think about it more. If your frequency is higher than 50%, I will raise any hand that I am also calling a jam with, and fold all hands I would fold to a jam with. So what is the result? I have a raise/fold range if and only if I think your 3-bet frequency is less than 50%. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Now... here is where things really get interesting, despite the simplicity of the topic. Notice that my adjustment is not continuous; I don't gradually add hands into my opening range. Since you are playing within this box that you have defined for yourself, my adjustments are effectively in the binary. I either raise everything, or I raise my calling range, and which strategy I adopt is dependent solely on your 3-bet frequency. (Of course, the size of my raisecalling range will vary based on your 3-bet frequency and the effective stack depth). If I think you 3-bet all-in with 50% of all hands at 15BB, then my raising frequency at 16BB is likely to be 100%, but my raising frequency at 14BB might be something like 40% (and raise-calling my J9s ). If someone were to isolate my hands from 14-16BB, they might see my raising range at something

like 70%. Do you see why their adjustments might be mistaken or flawed? Do you see where I might be able to pick up an edge from this? Do you see how difficult it is for someone with a hard-SCP to compete with me? So what about S3BPs? These are much more interesting because this part of the game is not wel-evolved. At this time, most strong high-stakes HUSNG players have soft-SCPs that are extremely hard to discover. On the other hand, hard-S3BPs are still found in virtually everyone; I'm currently thinking of only a few exceptions. When thinking about a hard-S3BP and the adjustments you can make relating to it, consider how a villain views your calling frequency and 4-bet frequency when facing a non-committing 3-bet. When they 3-bet non-committing, are they polarized? Are they merged? What does their 3-bet frequency look like below the S3BP (when they are only going all-in). Does it increase or decrease on the other side of the S3BP? What does that say about their calling range around the S3BP? What does that mean your opening range should look like? What kind of tricks can you pull? I'm not going to spoon-feed this one to you... figure it out .

-Skates

F INISHING AN OPPONENT HEADS - UP : SAGE , NASH AND CHUBUKOV . Stuff in advance: If you have t2700 and villain t300 and blinds are 15/30, you are indeed the chipleader but this shouldn't adjust your play AT ALL. You're still only 10bb's and should treat it like you both have t300 in chips. Obviously if you make an ev- shove or call here you're going to lose less $$$ in ev than if stacks would be t2000 and t1000 and blinds 50/100 but you're still 10bb's deep and evdecisions stay ev-! Don't think about "I can gamble, if he doubles up, I'm still big chipleader!" make sure your moves are ev+. Maybe I've been a bit to harsh about "it shouldn't affect your play" because sometimes it can. However, this will not be because of your play, but because of villain's play. Some people will shove ATC when they have the chiplead with the 2.7k in chips because they indeed want to finish you quickly, so your callingrange should get wider by a decent percentage. Also if you just won a big pot from villain one way or another this will affect metagame and he may be tilted so you should try and add these into the equation when you calculate ranges and odds and stuff. Just keep in mind that in the end you should only look at the amount of bb's you have. Even if you play a big mtt, there won't come any ICM into play. Suppose first prize is €2k and second prize is €1k, then you already have won the €1k and can just look at the end-game as being a €500 hu sng. Doesn't matter how big the difference between first and second place is really. Sage: Most people have probably heard about this already, you can find a lot of links about it if you google for a bit. Here's an example.

Sage works with a chart and a power-index which is really easy to memorize. You just have to know how shallow effective stacks are and calculate the power index for your hand and see whether you push or fold. Power index is easy to calculate, just take the value of your highest card (ace is 15, not 14, face cards are 11,12,13 obv) and double it; add the value of the other card to it and if it's suited add an additional 2. If you have a pocket pair you add 22 to the number. Then you look in the chart and see if you can push/fold from your button and if you can call if villain openshoves. Note that this becomes slightly ev- for the sb to push starting from 7bb's. Small negative ev, but still ev-. So you should only adapt this when really shallow imo. Also note that this is far from optimal play. If you think villain shoves tight your calling range should be a little tighter but you can shove wider. Basically (since it only works for 6bb's or shallower) this is just a crapshoot and it's almost a "push any two cards" and hope villain folds. 6bb's is really nothing, and you barely need fold equity preflop to make shoving ATC ev+ because there's already 1.5bb's in the pot. Some higher stakes winning players actually DO shove ATC in these spots because villain will often have a way too tight callingrange. Nash equilibrum: Something a little more worked out and interesting is the nash equilibrum.

problem is you just see a chart there and while the chart itself is still pretty easy to figure out, you still need some info to go with it to know what you're doing. Why are we shoving 54s for 20+bb's for example, but not J8o? Let's just say we're playing headsup, we're 100bb's deep and I'm on the button. You know 100% sure I only openshove AA on the button. If I openshove what's your callingrange? Obv only the

other two aces. When I openshove KK+ what's your callingrange? Still, only AA. When I openshove QQ+ your callingrange is KK+ (although KK only has 49.995% equity vs QQ+ it's still an ev+ call due to the sb + bb in the pot). Okay that's for strong hands, now let's look at a range of {AA,54s}. What's your callingrange now? You call with KK? equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 58.174% 57.94% 00.23% 59530656 236778.00 { AA, 54s } Hand 1: 41.826% 41.60% 00.23% 42734028 236778.00 { KK } Appearantly calling with KK will lose you money in the long run. A lot of people think that in the nash pushing chart shoving a hand like 54s is 20bb's+ and 54o for 2.1bb's is because 54s has more equity because of the possibility to hit a flush. This BARELY has anything to do with it. In the small example I gave here the only reason why KK is not an ev+ call is because there's 6 combo's of AA and only 4 combo's of 54s. There's 12 combo's of 54o, so... equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 39.788% 39.56% 00.23% 73162224 417762.00 { AA, 54o } Hand 1: 60.212% 59.99% 00.23% 110931084 417762.00 { KK } this makes KK a snapcall if your range would be {AA,54o}. So they started like this and in the end they came up with an entire chart of all hands you can openshove which is unexploitable for 20bb's or shallower. There's a decent amount of hands which say 20bb's+ but the maker of the chart just assumed that you shouldn't play push/fold deeper. Openshoving A2o for 200bb's would be very likely ev- if villain has a different callingrange than the "nash equilibrum" calling chart. So this is an equilibrum, which means a stalemate position: if both hero and villain use the pushing and callingrange you're gonna be ev0 against each other. If one of the two deviates from one of the charts, he's gonna be ev- against the other. What does this mean? Do NOT use the CALLING chart against a random opponent. Actually, it's better not to use it vs ANY

opponent unless you know 100% sure he uses the nash pushing chart, which is a really rare occassion. Just forget about the callingrange and you'll be better off imo. It only is ev0 if villain uses the pushing chart and will be ev- in pretty much all other cases. Another important thing you have to remember: don't deviate from it if you want to use it. Suppose you're 11bb's shallow and you have Q7o. Nash says you can openshove this and it will be ev0 at worst. HOWEVER, what would you do with QQ+ in this spot? Would you also openshove it? Or limp or minraise in order to induce a shove from villain? If you would also openshove these hands, you can indeed openshove the Q7o as well. If you would play any other hand differently from the chart it becomes totally worthless and would have to be recalculated entirely before the equilibrum can be reached. Can you still openshove this? Hard to determine a new equilibrum so you should go to Chubukov instead. I wouldn't really recommend using this above 12bb's, where there's still room to manoeuvre a bit preflop. Usually 10-12bb's is the part where I start openshoving a lot of my buttons, because minraise/folding becomes too expensive and you need some specific gameflow for your opponent to allow limping (however, if villain allows you to limp, do it as much as possible and try to just stab at it postflop; i sometimes limp some hands which i could shove ev+ for sure but i just don't want to change the dynamics of the match and let villain see some flops because it keeps him passive and happy). One last thing is that you have to take the bb and sb posted with the effective stacks in the chart (so looking for push/fold BEFORE blinds are posted actually). Chubukov: Okay, let's just say you're in a spot now with K3s, there's an aggro push/fold dynamic already and you are on the button with 12bb's effective stacks. Nash says this is a push, but let's just face it, you're probably not gonna openshove QQ+ vs this aggrotard who has attacked all your limps preflop already and will just limp in most of the time. Can you still openshove the

K3s? Look at Chubukov imo.

What is this? This is a chart which says how deep you can be EXPRESSED IN SMALL BLINDS to openshove a hand and be still ev0 at worst when villain has a perfect callingrange due to flipping over your cards (the amount of small blinds is shown in the right column, so just cut in half for bb's obv). Obv AA you can shove for infinite bb's as you chop in worst case. KK will only get called by KK+ so that's a tiny fraction of a random hand and you still have equity when called (like you always do). So you look up K3s and see that you can openshove it for 14.2bb's! That's a whole lot, even though nash gives us almost 20bb's, we can still openshove a ton here without openshoving the top of our range. Basically his callingrange will be any pocket pair, any Ax and K3s+/K4o+ hands. What are the important things to remember from this chart? The fact you can openshove K2o for 10bb's preflop imo. So shoving a pocket pair, Ax or Kx hand for 10bb's or less is always gonna be ev0 at worst, irregardless of villain's callingrange. Again, don't overdo this, even with aggro dynamics there's a lot of play left from 12-20bb's and you can limp/openshove/minraise/fold instead of just openshoving. Given, this will take some time to master because it depends a lot on villain and gameflow but if you get some experience in it it shouldn't be THAT hard to quickly see how villain plays and adapt to it. Cliffnotes: 1) Sage is a bit outdated. Just use nash for 6bb's or shallower because you will probably openshove QQ+ anyway with these stacksizes. 2) Use nash only if you use it correctly, and preferably 12bb's or shallower. 3) Use Chubukov if you dislike minraise/calling a shove, or limp/folding, or folding in general, but openshoving is appearantly ev+, also don't use it over - say - 14bb's imo. Openshoving 33 or K3s for 13bb's is something I do from time to time, against certain opponents it's going to be the easiest way to play these hands. 4) When your opponent openshoves his button for x bb's, don't

use any chart, but estimate a shovingrange and see if you have odds to call with the dead money in the pot. -

Spamz

T HREE BET SHOVING W IT H 25BB EFFECTIVE Situation: You are playing a hypothetical aggressive opponent who is raising his button 2/3rd of the time. Blinds are 25/50, effective stacks 1250 (25 BB). Villain makes his raise. You have: 1) 2 2) A 3) J 4) 7 5) 3

2 2 T 5 2

(for ****s and giggles)

Which of these hands are good to shove over his raise? Depends on what he's calling with: Scenario 1: Villain is a solid (but a bit too tight) player, this is your first three bet shove, and he's going to respect your first raise. He's calling with 66+, ATo+, A9s, KQ. This is 10.4% of hands. He's folding 1 - 10.4/66.7 = 84.4% of the time. You get 150 chips for free when this happens, so add 126.61 to your cEV for this move. What if he calls, though? Here's the equity for each of those hands agaisnt this tight range: 1) 2 2) A 3) J 4) 7 5) 3

2 2 T 5 2

37.94% win, 61.31% lose 29.59% win, 66.68% lose 36.52% win, 62.67% lose 32.29% win, 67.07% lose 25.46% win, 73.82% lose

So the 15.6% of the time you are called, you're obviously a dog.

Here's the loss in cEV for each scenario (equals 15.6%*1250 chips lost * (%lose -%win)): 1) 2 2) A 3) J 4) 7 5) 3

2 2 T 5 2

-45.57 -72.33 -50.99 -67.82 -94.30 (!)

What have we learned from this? Well, if your opponent is opening wide and calling this tight, 3-bet shoving ANY TWO is +cEV. Also, against a tight calling range, the suited connector hands play better than the weak ace, but the pair is of course the best hand to shove against a tighter calling range. This is also why raising to 3x at 25 BB effective is generally a leak -- if you raise to 100 or 125, the P(fold) chip expectation falls to 84.4 and 105.5 respectively. As you can see, in the former case shoving 32o is now bad (lol). Of course, minraises will get called a bit more often, but this post will not deal with post-flop play for now. It's already going to be long enough. Of course, you can't just keep shoving over this raise, because a smart villain is going to adjust, and a dumb villain is going to get pissed off that you're shoving so much and call lighter anyways. Scenario 2: Either you've shoved a couple times over the villain in scenario 1, or you're playing someone who doesn't respect you as much. Villain is now calling 44+, A8o+, A5s+, KJo+, KTs. We repeat the calculations. Villain is now calling with top 15.8% of his hands. You still get a fold 1 - 15.8/66.7 = 76.3% of the time, for a P(fold) chip EV of 114.47. Wooooo. Let's see how your shoving hands are holding up now if called. 1) 2 2) A 3) J 4) 7 5) 3

2 2 T 5 2

win 40.38%, lose 58.74%, cEV = -54.39 win 31.40%, lose 62.13%, cEV = -91.04 win 39.05%, lose 60.06%, cEV = -62.24 win 34.51%, lose 64.75%, cEV = -89.59 win 27.62%, lose 72.44%, cEV = -132.78

Everything but that 32o is still +EV here. The most surprising find

is that A2o fares worse than the low suited connecter here, and that JTs isn't too far off the pair in equity. This is because A2o is crushed by all your opponent's range but the Kx hands, while JTs is still doing OK against the weak aces and low pairs. Moving on... Scenario 3: Villain is tilting or just likes to gamble. He's calling your shove with any pair, any ace, KTo+, K9s+, QJ, QTs, JTs. You know the drill: This is top 26.1%, so P(fold) = 1 - (26.1/66.7) = 60.9%. cEV for folds is 91.3. Your shoving ranges will fare as follows: 1) 2 2) A 3) J 4) 7 5) 3

2 2 T 5 2

win 43.8%, lose 54.97%, cEV = - 54.59 win 32.1%, lose 53.3%, cEV = -103.615 win 31.12%, lose 53.09%, cEV = -107.38 win 37.08%, lose 62.05%, cEV = -122.04 win 27.95%, lose 71.06%, cEV = - 210.70

Yikes, now only the pocket pair is profitable against this range. Let's add a stronger but not amazing Ax hand to this mix: 6) A

8

win 41.98%, lose 47.75%, cEV = -28.2

A ha! Against a wide calling range, a middling A-rag hand fares pretty well. Better even than that low pair. Let's do two more examples before I get to the point: Scenario 4: Villain is a drunk monkey. He's calling that shove with any pair, any ace, K7o+, any suited king, Q8o+, Q6s+, J9o+, J7s+, T7s+, 97s+, 87s, 76s. This is a whopping 39.7% of hands! You only get a fold 1 (39.7/66.7) = 40.8% of the time, and only have 60.72 in +cEV in folding. Let's see how your hands fare. I think I've convinced you that connector hands are bad against a wide call range, so I'll throw out 75s and 32o, and show 22, A2, A8, and JTs, along with a slightly better pair (55): 1) 2 2) A

2 2

win 45.71%, lose 53.04%, cEV = -54.242 win 41.24%, lose 49.54%, cEV = -61.42

3) J 6) A 7) 5

T 8 5

win 43.56%, lose 53.39%, cEV = -72.74 win 48.88%, lose 44.41%, cEV = +33.078 (!) win 51.81%, lose 47.26%, cEV = +33.67 (!)

You can now 3-bet shove A8 and 55 type hands for VALUE here, never mind the small chance you have of a fold! The difference between A8 and A2 and 55 and 22 is HUGE if villain is calling you mega-wide! One more example: Scenario 5: Villain is tight from the button. He's only raising 25%, and calling the same range as the villain in scenario 1. The equity calcs are the same, but your fold EV drops a lot: P(fold) = 1 - (10.4/25) = 58.4%, cEV of a fold is 87.6. Against this villain it is wrong to 3-bet shove A2, but not JTs. Hmmmmmm. Your edge against this opponent comes from him playing mega-passive on the button, of course. What have we learned from this example? 1) Against an opponent you suspect is not calling your 3-bet very often, your edge in 3-bet shoving comes from FOLD EQUITY. On the off-chance you are called, it is best to have a pair or a middling suited connecting hand than a bad ace. 2) Against an opponent you suspect will call your 3-bet shove somewhat wide but not a lot, your edge is still in your fold equity, but suited connector hands drop a bit in value, and marginal aces increase in values. 3) Against an opponent you suspect will call with a lot of his raising range, your EV in shoving comes from the fact that a middling Ax hand or a low-ish pair is a FAVORITE against whatever trash he's calling with. Suited connectors should not be shoved against these opponents. 4) 3-bet shoving any pocket pair over a 3x raise with 25 BB effective is almost never a mistake. -

Insane Steve

P OKER S UCCESS Part I: Introduction We all aim for success in just about every area of our lives. When we are successful, whether it be with friendships, our careers, our physical health, or our sex lives, our overall sense of well being increases. Whether you play poker recreationally or for a living, undoubtedly most of you are trying to achieve a high level of success at the game. We all have different goals: some of us just want to be winners at the $10 husng level, and others are aiming for $500,000 years. As such, while we can make statements like "Spamzor has had a successful couple of years of poker" or "[insert random fish] should probably consider giving up the game or getting coaching", success is something that can only truly be felt from within. At the same time, certain players achieve a high enough level of achievement that they earn the respect of the greater poker community, or in the case of HUNL, the greater sub-community. Players like Skilled_sox, Livb112, Jungleman or Durrrr have achieved such high levels of success that nearly anyone in the know would label them an excellent, and highly successful, heads up player. Being well respected by your peers is a strong indicator of success in any field. While the skill sets required to achieve that particular level of success are likely beyond the scope of my knowledge, I feel I have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to be a successful poker player. In some respects, I've achieved a good amount of success in poker, but ultimately I feel that I've fallen short of my goals so far in my career. Nonetheless, I have a good grasp on the areas in which I've

struggled, and believe I have a solid understanding on the qualities that build a successful poker player. I've broken these qualities down into four pillars, each of which is critical in furthering your success as a player. It's extremely difficult to determine which of these pillars are more important, but because I have a fascination with numbers and percentages, I've decided to give it a shot. Note that these percentages are just estimates and that they may vary depending on your personal goals. For exmample, to achieve a Jungleman-like level of success might require more of an emphasis on "Natural Talent". They are: 1. Natural Talent - 17% 2. Work Ethic - 25% 3. Professionalism - 40% 4. Life Balance & Confidence - 18% It would be almost impossible to achieve a high level of success in poker with high marks in only two of these pillars, and even being weak in one area can be a huge setback. I will now go into detail about each of the pillars, and discuss how they have related to me personally in my poker career.

Part II: The Four Pillars of Success

1. Natural Talent Natural Talent refers not only to your born natural qualities, but also to your upbringing, the types of activities you were exposed to, and your interest in, and propensity for, learning poker.

From a very young age, it was clear that I had a talent with numbers. I remember walking home from school at the age of five and doing two digit by two digit multiplication in my head.

This was when the rest of my class was learning, and trying to memorize, that 6 + 3 = 9. This fascination with numbers remains, and to this day I often assess and analyze daily events or situations in a numerical fashion. Seeing that I was an intelligent and keen-to-learn child, my parents taught me bridge at the age of six. Bridge is an incredibly complicated game, but I had both the mind for the game and the interest; most of my friends were playing with lego or power ranger toys, while I was playing chess, doing puzzles, or playing cards. I would rather solve puzzles out of a MENSA book than watch a Star Wars movie. Every summer, for two months, I would hang out at my cottage with my mother, aunt and uncle, and two cousins. We would play bridge nearly every day, often for hours on end. Without a doubt, this early and frequent exposure to cards has helped my poker career immensly. In addition, I've always been interested in the way people interact socially. One of the reasons that I rarely smoke marijuana these days is that it increases this tendency of mine such that I'm singularly focused on analyzing both my relationships with people and the interpersonal relationships of others that I'm unable to enjoy the present moment or activity. So while this quality can at times be a social burden, it has undoubtedly be instrumental to my success in live poker. I've been fortunate enough, both in my genetic composition and in the way I was raised, to have a skill set that lends itself very naturally towards poker. Poker plays to my strengths in problem solving, logic, numerical evaluation, and human psychology. Nonetheless, you can see that I rated Natural Talent the least important of the four pillars. I believe that Natural Talent on its own is not nearly enough, and that it is merely a seed of potential that requires the other pillars to grow into anything worthwhile.

A strong natural skillset, interest in the game, and plentiful experience in related activities throughout my youth make this my strongest category.

Self Grade: A

2. Work Ethic Work ethic refers to the amount of effort you put into playing, studying, and learning the game of poker. People with a high level of work ethic often study the game away from the tables, talk poker with their peers, and devote a significant portion of time to the game.

In many aspects of life, work ethic has been a problem for me. My grades slipped from middle school to high school, and then even moreso, from high school to college. I simply wasn't inspired by the material, and couldn't be bothered to work hard just for the sake of getting good grades. I've had other goals in life (gaining weight for instance) that I haven't achieved to the extent I wished simply because I didn't put in the required work. Ever since our childood, we're taught that if we work hard, we can accomplish our goals, but the truth is that if you don't find the work at least satisfying and enjoyable to an extent, it can be incredibly difficult to self-motivate. Luckily, my work ethic in poker has always been extremely strong. Over the past three years, I've played nearly every day, and put in 40+ hours most weeks. I am fascinated by the intellectual nature of the game, and driven to play and put myself in new situations that stimulate me. I discuss poker with a number of friends, read threads and post strategy on 2+2, watch training videos, and put in a ton of hours. Nonetheless, while I have a strong work ethic and passion for the game, undoubtedly some of the hours I've spent playing and learning poker have been hours wasted. That is to say, my work ethic is strong, but sometimes misguided. Putting in long sessions when I'm tired or tilted is counter-productive to achieving success in poker.

I've also been quite lazy about reviewing full hand histories. I'll often discuss individual hands or situations with friends, or post difficult spots, but I rarely go through and dissect a full HUSNG or replay a cash session or MTT I've played. While this work can be monotonous, it is crucial in the process of detecting leaks, as sometimes it is in the most seemingly basic spots where we can be making huge errors. This kind of work is akin to going to the driving range - it'll never be as fun as playing a round of golf, but it can often be ten times as helpful.

Overall, I have a love and passion for poker, a strong drive to put in hours and further my understanding of the game, and these qualities give me strong mark in this category. Self-grade: B+/A-

3. Professionalism This pillar is perhaps the broadest of the four, and refers to all the concepts that go into how you manage yourself as a poker player both at and away from the poker table. Related concepts include discipline, self control & playing conditions, money management and spending habits, your setup, and your extracurricular gambling

The most important pillar, and also the one that I've continually failed at. My pitfalls have been numerous, and while it is somewhat painful to even put them to words, if I ever expect to improve in this category, it's mandatory to be honest with these shortcomings and work hard towards improvement. I'll go through each of the concepts I mentioned and briefly outline how they have affected or shaped my poker career. Discipline, Self-control & playing conditions: Definitely not a strong suit of mine - I have always been an impulsive person, which has led to both some amazing opportunities and life experiences (deciding spontaneously to go to Europe, and then

deciding while there to live in Amsterdam for three months ranks highly) and also to some negative points in my life (impulsive actions ruining friendships, etc.). Discipline manifests itself in a number of ways as a poker player - quitting when tilted or tired, playing a manageable number of tables, not going on facebook or surfing the web while playing, and having a set schedule would all be examples of engaging in good discipline as a poker player. Playing while stressed about major life occrurences, playing simply for the sake of gambling, or playing while drunk or under the influence of drugs can be even more harmful. I have, at various times in my career, made nearly all of these mistakes.

Money Management & Spending Habits: Depending on whether or not you play for a living, this is relevant to your poker play only in terms of your poker roll if you are a recreational player, and to both your poker roll and life roll if you are a professional player. I sometimes wonder how someone with as poor money management skills as myself is even able to call himself a professional player. I rented an apartment from June 2009 til June 2010 in Boston. Instead of taking a day or two to find someone to sublet the apartment, I merely paid the rent while I travelled the world. I spent a total of $10,000 on rent and stayed in the apartment for about twenty days. This is quite bluntly a disgusting display of recklessness and poor money management. Other examples include paying expensive phone bills because I use my American phone in Canada at ridiculously high roaming charges, thousands of dollars I've lost in overdraft fees and credit card interest, and an estimated $-85,000 lifetime in table games and recreational gambling (I'll cover this more later) In terms of my poker bankroll, I blatantly disregard conventional bankroll management guidelines, confident that I'll either be able to get a stake or rely on my skill when playing games outside of my roll. It's astonishing that after three years I still exhibit this

recklessness, but it's also difficult to take smaller games seriously after playing higher for so long. My main problem with money management definitely relates to my life roll and my willingness to spend money frivolously on just about anything. This is something I've made some progress on in the last six months or so, largely out of necessity, when a pretty large online downswing depleted my roll. Recently, I've pulled out of this downswing, in large part due to focusing on some of the other factors I'll touch on in this pillar. Setup: It wasn't until the past month that I truly realized how important a good setup is. My best month ever in online poker was August, 2008, when I was living in my hometown of Halifax. I had a very comfortable chair, two monitors and a clean desk. I made $40,000 mostly playing 1/2 NL HU. I had a 48 buy-in day at 100 and 200nl. I kid you not. Up until last month, my setup has been abysmal for the past year. In Amsterdam I had a desktop computer and two monitors, but was working on awful and inconsistent internet, and in an uncomfortable chair. After that, I was playing out of a laptop, often laying in hotel beds, or friends couches, and using inconsistent internet. I returned to Halifax, and to essentially the same setup I had in 2008 (bought 2 new monitors) a month ago, and have made about $45,000 since then (including my 25k bink in the WCOOP HU). It is clear to me that this is no coincidence. I can't stress enough how important it is to be working out of a comfortable chair that supports your back, drinking fluids, playing with a mouse and keyboard you enjoy, and using a large screen. These concepts are often overlooked and I certainly overlooked their importance over the last year of my poker career. Extra-curricular gambling: This might be the most painful thing for me to talk about of all. I'm easily down $85k in extra-curricular gambling over the course of my life. I'm probably down 20k in recreational prop betting (a lot of this was from ping pong), down 45k from blackjack, and 20k from roulette and other table games. Most of this was done in the period of one year from August

2008 until August 2009. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable. Stu Ungar and TJ Cloutier are two examples of excellent poker players (well, maybe not TJ) who had their bankrolls decimated by gambling addictions. One of the problems with gambling for a living is that you are constantly exposed to other forms of gambling, most of which are at best OEV, and usually -EV. For me personally, there is no question that I have a gambling addiction. The obvious awkward irony is that if I were to rid myself of this addiction entirely, I wouldn't be able to gamble for a living. It's imperative that I treat poker like a business, and am driven by success, earning potential, my passion for the game, the competitition, the sense of community, etc., and not by the gambling associated with the game, even while just playing poker. Outside of poker, it's important that I decide what kind of gambling is acceptable and set clear limits for myself. Right now, I'm effectively self-banned from all table games for the next two months ($500 bounty if anyone catches me, and I'll make it a $2k bounty if I break it once). I'm still allowed to prop bet and sports bet, though I'm trying to limit this to an extent too. Not only does table games degeneracy deplete my bankroll considerably, but its also a very unattractive quality. I think when I was a bit younger and first starting to make money playing poker, I thought of dropping 2k at blackjack as somewhat baller. Now I think of it as stupid. Nonetheless, I still sometimes feel the urge to play table games, especially when drunk and at a casino. Until I fully conquer this addiction to table games and recreational gambling, my bankroll will suffer.

Professionalism is by far my weakest pillar. As the most important pillar, it is also the one that has held me back more than any other in terms of achieving success as a poker player. In the past, I've often speculated about how much money I could

have made had I controlled this aspect of the game. Now, I'm aiming to take a much more proactive approach and find out by actually patching up these massive leaks. I've taken several measures already - improved my setup, signed up for a gym membership, gotten better about quitting when tired, and selfbanned myself from table games. The process must only continue if I want to achieve my goals in poker. Self grade: D

4. Life Balance & Confidence Life balance refers to having activities and outlets outside of poker, exercising well, and paying attention to sleep and diet. I include confidence in the title as I feel these quailties lead to an overall sense of personal confidence, which quickly translates to the poker table.

I actually salute my mother for helping drive home how important this concept is. She has always encouraged me to exercise, eat and sleep well, play fewer hours of poker and maintain a life balance. While I have definitely struggled in all of these areas, I have come to realize that her words were not just those of a nagging mother, but in fact the truth. It's very difficult to assess how I've done in this category, because I think in some respects I've done quite well, and in others I've done extremely poorly. While I've played a lot of poker (probably too much poker) in the past few years, I've also done quite a bit of travelling, and have quite a few activities outside of poker that I partake in. I'm lucky to have quite a few good friends spread out over North America (and in a few cases, internationally). This is great because I love travelling, so it's fun having the flexibility as a poker player to travel and see them. In the past year, I've spent at least three weeks in each of the following locations: Amsterdam, Sydney, Melbourne, NYC, Boston, LA, Halifax. I've

also spent smaller amounts of time in Italy, Paris, London, San Fransisco, and Lake Tahoe. I'm also planning a trip to Southeast Asia and Australia with a friend of mine in November. I have a bunch of interests, such as golfing, boating, exploring cities, eating out, seeing movies and shows, bowling, going to the gym, and going out to bars and clubs. Even when stationed in one location for a while, most of my days include at least one of these activities. However, I usually play at least five hours of poker every day, on top of this other stuff. As such, what often happens in an otherwise activity-filled day is that instead of sacrificing poker hours, I sacrifice sleep hours. My sleep schedule is constantly changing as a result of playing long sessions of poker. My diet is another concern. I'll often play long blocks of MTTs (particularly on Sundays) without properly accounting for in advance my eating schedule. I'll typically order junk food as a result, or even go long periods of time without food. Without question, sleep and diet are two issues that I need to work on. Exercise is something that I've been working on lately. I've always golfed a lot, though I'm not sure that qualifies as exercise. Over the summer, I golfed a bunch, played tennis five or six times, did some running, lifted weights a couple times, and went mountain biking once. Not the most athletic summer overall. However, I recently signed up for a gym membership, and my goal is to go 4-5 times a week.

Overall, I am happy with the non-poker activities I have going on in my life, but still think I am playing too many hours of poker overall, and not propertly thinking about a schedule, or taking enough proactive steps to improve my sleep, diet and exercise. Self Grade: C+/B-

Part III: Conclusion

It's been said that golf is a tough way to make an easy living. That quote couldn't be more applicable to poker. In so many ways, what we do as a poker player is easy, and we should never take it for granted. I click buttons for a living, and can make my own schedule and play anywhere in the world. I play cards for a living -- just think about that for a second. But if you don't give poker the respect it deserves, you will never achieve the success you deserve. This is an ongoing process and complacency will only stunt your growth. Never stop evaluating yourself as a person and as a player. Never be satisfied with simply "getting by". Like any job or pursuit, becoming a truly expert poker player takes a large amount of effort and, as I hope I've shown, it's important that this effort is guided and channeled in a positive and effective way. Success is within grasp for all of us, we just need to go out there and get it. -

Rumnchess

BR M ANAGEMENT AND Y OU dboy:*Hey Jimmy, what are you up to?* Little Jimmy:*Playing HU sngs LDO.* d:*Whoa there Jimmy, thats a $33+$1.50* lj:*Yeah I know can beat this level!* d:*That's great Jimmy, but you're BR is only $53.72* lj:*Omg hacker. Well what level should I play?* d:*Let's take a look at some options.* So you want to build a roll playing HU sngs? BR management is absolutely key. Consider using one of the following BR management rulesets. Option #1 Best Option if: You can't stand or would prefer not to have to move down levels. You like to have a very padded roll to feel comfortable playing. Losing a decent portion of your BR tilts you. You are still learning how to own HUSNGs and you aren't quite comfortable playing them yet. BR:$30 - $99 Play $2s BR:$100 - $199 Play $5s BR:$200 - $399 Play $10s BR:$400 - $599 Play $20s BR:$600 - $999 Play $30s BR:$1000 - $2499 Play $50s

BR:$2500+ Play $100s

Option #2 Best Option if: You are fine with having to move down. You want to move up the ranks semi-quickly. BR:$20 - $49 Play $2s BR:$50 - $99 Play $5s BR:$100 - $199 Play $10s BR:$200 - $299 Play $20s BR:$300 - $499 Play $30s BR:$500 - $999 Play $50s BR:$1000+ Play $100s

Option #3 Best Option if You are comfortable playing and adjusting to any stakes and player. You are or have good reason to believe you are a solid winner. (Think 63%+ winrate here) You have very minimal tilt issues. You want to take on a bit more risk and build a roll quickly. You are ok with having to redeposit if you bust early on. BR:$10 - $24 Play $2s BR:$25 - $49

Play $5s BR:$50 - $99 Play $10s BR:$100 - $149 Play $20s BR:$150 - $249 Play $30s BR:$250 - $499 Play $50s BR:$500+ Play $100s Beware of option 3. A 15 buyin downswing (although rare) will knock you down through 3 levels. But something else to consider is that if you believe yourself to be +EV at the 100s, then it might be +EV to sacrifice a little risk of ruin in order to get up to that level. There is an opportunity cost of sticking around at the lower levels for a long time. So that is something to think about. I like option 2 and think it is a nice balance. I have used option 2 to build a roll from the 5s up to the 50s twice with no problems. Option 3 definitely has some gamble in it, but the reward to the +EV player is definitely worth the risk. That said, if you can't redeposit you should not consider option 3. Option 1 is more for helping a player who is more prone to tilt. It causes less dramatic BR swings and should keep you more cool in your sessions. It will definitely take longer to reach the higher buyin games, but if you are highly prone to tilt it may be the best option for you. -

Dboy23

S UCCESS , F AILURE , AND THE D OW NSW ING M INDSET In my last few and most successful years as a poker player I‟ve come to notice that my outlook on the game contrasts that of many others. I‟ve struggled over the past few weeks to put into words where my thinking differs and what I believe is the reason for my calm disposition. The tangents I indulge support my explanation, as well as cover my thoughts on success and failure. As I don‟t have the humility to prevent me from voicing my opinion on this subject, I feel obliged to do so.

Being a perfectionist, it is ironic that I should first start by excusing the imperfection of my post. However, writing is similar to poker in that perfection is impossible, much to my dismay in both cases. I‟ll quote John Steinbeck: Quote: Very few people ever mature... But sometimes... awareness takes place- not very often and always unexplainable. There are no words for it because there is no one ever to tell. This is a secret not kept a secret, but locked in wordlessness. The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness. This is something you need to understand for yourself in order to appreciate the mindset I take when approaching the game and the variance that comes with it. Downswings are especially difficult to recover from because there are multiple forces working against you. Most visibly, you‟re stuck and need to win to recover what you‟ve lost. The simple financial loss is only the beginning, though. Secondly, you‟re frustrated and stressed. (Especially when you‟re playing for a living where winning is a necessity) Thirdly, you‟ve lost confidence in your abilities- the second worst part of the nightmare. And lastly, feeling sorry for yourself is the final nail in the coffin. Like using multiple drugs simultaneously, the effects are multiplied and can be catastrophic. In the midst of such a trying time, “it will all even out in the long run” is hardly reassuring. After reading both Irieguy‟s "The Difference Between Success and Failure"

and Gigabet's "Almost There With Success and Failure"

I‟ve come to the conclusion that both players have a good sense of variance yet have no teachable methods to weather the storm. (Or rather, outlooks to take) Irieguy touches on some important yet under appreciated subjects. Among reminding us that complaining is bad and musing that emotional stamina varies from person to person, he leaves us this little gem of brilliance. Quote: Everybody will eventually run worse than they thought was possible. The difference between a winner and a loser is that the latter thinks they do not deserve it. This could be one of the most important statements ever posted on 2+2, measuring by how much it can help most players. (I‟ve only been reading since late ‟03, but this is certainly up there with the most helpful of what I‟ve read). Feeling sorry for yourself is the single worst thing that can happen as a result of a downswing. I see it on the forums every day- it consumes players. Posting downswing graphs for sympathy, comparing who runs worse, all in a desperate attempt to prove your own abilities to yourself because of the doubt your recent misfortunes has instilled in you. Gigabet responds to Irieguy‟s statement, Quote: This statement is truer than anyone can know(even though I think most of you do know, it just seems impossible for me to believe that someone else can understand). What he says about winners and losers though, will keep you from attaining a more complete game. There are no winners or losers, to think that, is to let yourself be affected by negative variance. If you are not in the positive for the day, then you therefore must be a loser, and so the downward spiral begins. All of those negative ideas must be eliminated from your mind, or you will not perform to your potential. The trick is recognizing these negative ideas, since there are so many and so commonplace in our society, it is a large task indeed to sort them out as real, or just ideas created by the masses. Our labels for winners and losers simply identify individuals who play the same game a different way. Just because one person doesn't achieve the same goal that I strive for, doesn't make that person a "loser." Everyone is the same, and everyone has the same potential, some just direct their energies in different directions. The sooner you can get that into your head and really believe it, the sooner you will start to have a real understanding of the game. Now here‟s where Gigabet and I differ in our opinions of approaching variance. He believes that by eliminating “winners” and “losers” from the equation, we become content with our own set goals and abilities, despite others‟ more impressive results. However, everyone is not the same, and everyone has a different potential as a player. On a very basic level, before becoming a winner, one must figure out what is preventing success. Eliminating successful people from the equation is not

a good place to start. The difference between winners and losers is that some people are able to overcome the delusionality that results from downswings, whereas others are not. Never in my life have I seen such delusionality as I have in poker. The poker world runs on it, because losers are given a taste of what they believe is success, when in fact it is simply the deceiving placebo. (And yes, I know some players play for enjoyment while recognizing they are outmatched, but I think the percentage of players who truly believe they have an edge is generally underestimated). What is unbelievable to me is to what extent such delusionality can reach. For example.

What kind of close-mindedness does it take to guard your poker prowess with such insistence upon bad luck? As winning poker players, we profit from others‟ delusionality and so the less delusional we become, the better off we are. Keeping an open mind to the reason(s) for your downswing is as important as learning how to properly balance your preflop 4-betting range. I‟ve experienced a collective sense of open-mindedness in the heads up forum, where people aren‟t afraid to concede their opinion as ludicrous, and quickly default to well-intended questioning. I believe this is because of the nature heads up poker. There is no quick-learn formula to grind out a few bb/100 while playing heads up; you need to learn for yourself what works and doesn‟t, and having an open mind to different strategies is imperative. Occasionally in other forums, posters will fiercely defend their position, contradicting themselves often as they attempt to strengthen their argument, which eventually leads to a huge waste of time and energy. But worst of all, they fuel their delusionality. Poker is a competition, but nothing near the competitive level that conventional sports are, such as basketball or golf. (At least at this point in time, anyway) Poker players lack the healthy competitive nature created by these atmospheres because of the

influence luck has on the game. When losing a tennis match, you generally respect your opponent because of his superior abilities. Very seldom in poker do we credit someone‟s poker prowess for beating us, because we‟re usually playing against others who are worse; which is the nature of the game. Athletes are able to overcome the difficult times generally due to the fact that there is little luck involved in their sport; their failures are a direct result of their personal shortcomings- igniting their determination to work that much harder in order to achieve success. Poker players on the other hand experience a different breed of failure that is often very much not their fault. It is difficult to recognize when we‟re at the peak of our poker prowess because we are seldom know whether or not to credit our successes to variance. Similarly, when we cannot take responsibility for our failures with any degree of certainty, it‟s not easy to work harder than before to prove ourselves successful. Doubt in your cause weakens the determination to become successful. Humans were not designed to bear the type of variance that comes with poker. We don‟t innately understand how long-run odds work, and our frustration is a result of what we believe should not have happened. We don‟t think it should happen because of our built-in shortsighted outlook on bad luck. It was never necessary for us as a species to understand this type of bad luck because any one who experienced a string of misfortune would simply not survive. What you need to do as a poker player to survive the variance is to treat it as a challenge to yourself. Where you can‟t physically push yourself as in other sports, you need to mentally push yourself to not be bothered by the variance. When you don‟t care whether variance is being equally fair to you and everyone else, losing in poker is just a competition of how strong you are mentally. When you don‟t need others‟ sympathy and confirmation of your misfortune (rather than your own lack of abilities) your confidence has finally reached its prime. Personally, I enjoy proving that after I hurricane off ten buyins, I can talk to a friend as if I just won the lottery. I take pride in having physical endurance, and I have developed the same ecstasy for my strong mental endurance.

So treat variance as an entity that has the sole purpose of upsetting you to the point where you fall to your knees and cry like a four-year-old, blurry eyes squinting at an EV graph that is in fact the crooked, satisfied smile of variance. -

Scansion

Y OU SUCK AT POKER I have been thinking about what to write for a pooh-bah post for sometime. I don't think many of you know who I am, outside of this forum. I will start by saying I do not have a lot of new content as far as strategy goes. This is very TLDR, and it's probably full of grammar mistakes, or something... but I tried to make it easy to read. I've been around the forum for a long time now, and started playing poker before the UIEGA. I've played many different games in my goal to become great at poker, and it never really took off for me. I make consistent money now, but I don't play the super high stakes games, and I don't really think I am the best poster when it comes to strategy. However, I haven't had a formal job for many months now, and have no intentions of getting one anytime soon. So, I still feel obligated to give something back, or better yet, pay it forward. Looking back on the years I have spent on this game, and the numerous ups and downs in a poker career that has been less than stellar up to this point makes me wonder what kept me going. One of the hardest things I have ever done in my life was being a mediocre poker player. When you are marginally above break even, you still take the same swings that everyone else does, but you also don't really make any serious money doing it. You get to a point where you should realize you aren't very good, but your ego won't let you. So you end up being gratified and tortured by your results. One month you win 10K and you think "finally this game makes sense", then midway through the next month you get hit by negative variance in the cards and your play. Of course, at the time you won't admit that your play has everything to do with your results. And one night, you tilt off 40 buyins because you can't accept losing. Your ego just won't let you.

Yeah, that's right 40 buyins over one 20hr session. I mean, no breaks, no food, not missing a single hand. It's not the first time either... or the last. You read numerous posts that if you lose that much in one session, you should quit, or you are horrible at poker if you take those kinds of downswings, but you can't quit. You think you have a borderline gambling problem, but you still made some money. And you are doing something that society generally feels as being pretty stupid, so you better ****ing succeed. You think... if I just didn't tilt... I would have $XXXXXX.XX. I would be playing $10-20 or 25-50 by now. But you aren't... you are busto. You know you aren't stupid. You have an engineering degree, so why are these idiot dropouts making all this money and you aren't? How can they be better at a game like this? Well, I got news for you, they are better. If you are tilting, or otherwise not playing your A game, that is all part of who you are as a poker player. It took me a long time to learn this. Every time you sit down at the table, you are demonstrating who you are as a poker player(even sometimes when you are away from the table). If you play amazingly well, then once a month you go on tilt and you take your entire roll and put it in a high stakes game, you have a major leak and that means you aren't an amazing player, despite playing amazing for most of the month. Most players don't have leaks this severe, but I hope you get my point. You can't pick and choose how good you are based only on when you are playing well. You need to look at all your play and all your skills. Even if you are only playing when you are feeling good; you are missing out on money and good games, and you aren't giving yourself a chance to improve your B and C game. And trust me, if you need to play one day and aren't feeling tip-top, you will really wish you spent some time working on those aspects of your game. I went through all of this... then I hired a mental coach and actually started winning constantly and figured out my tilt game. I am still working on it all, but it is coming along.

Now I focus on other things. I am working on taking my ego out of the game. I also decided that I don't care about the stakes I play, or the money I make, as long as I have enough to live on. I stopped compulsively checking my cashier, and don't even know if I am up or down for the month. This act alone takes money out of the game, and you can focus on what really matters. So when thinking about what to write, I wanted to offer the community something that I have that most others don't seem to have. Then I realized that that is a pretty arrogant thing to even think about, considering how much I have struggled to get to where I am. Instead, I took the selfish way out and decided to write something that I want to write about. Or more accurately, what I would tell myself back when I was starting out. So this is a note to the old me, hopefully by sharing it someone else may learn from my mistakes: You are not as good as you think you are. But that is okay. In fact, it is amazingly powerful if you can truly understand just how much you suck. It's even more powerful if you can understand why you suck. This is the first step in learning to improve and improving is what this game is all about. I know things have always come easy for you in school and all the way through university. You never applied yourself for more than a few weeks and you did fine. People always told you how smart you are, and how they wish they could learn as quickly as you. This is the first time in your life that you are facing something that you really have to work at to succeed intellectually. And don't kid yourself... YES! You need to work! ALL THE TIME! Trust me, it's sooo much easier that way. I know you are reading this, and you think it is for someone else. But it's not.... believe it or not, I am talking to you. I am you! I was where you are right now years ago. Sure, you have had some success at this game, but what if you could do more? I

know you've thought about it...but do you really know how to get there? Do you even know the things you need to improve? Do you really know why you lose? Do you know your biggest leaks? Do you have a plan to fix them? Is it working? Do you tilt? Do you know why? I do... I know something even bigger about you. You hate making mistakes. It makes me smile knowing this, I wish you could understand why... You hate making them so much, that you justify losses to yourself by saying you ran bad. How many times have you seen people complain about running bad? How many threads have you read about bad beat stories, EV graphs, doomswitch complaints, and chat window beratings? Now think about how many times you've seen someone say, “I have these mistakes, how do I fix them?” Poker is weird that way... If we were playing basketball and couldn't make a free-throw we would probably ask someone better than us to help us with our technique. We would probably get a lot of weird looks if we just complained about our unlucky free-throw or how bad we run at basketball. You know this game rewards skill over the long run. But when you are losing, you complain, you grind and you try to win it back in one shot when you KNOW you aren't playing your best... Essentially, you try to get lucky. You don't realize that losing is the BEST thing for your game! If this game was easy, and you won all the time from the start, how much effort would you put into improving? If you make a big call, suckout, or sniff out a bluff and got lucky you probably won't think twice about it. It would be like school, and you would just coast through. But if you lose and lose and lose, you can start asking questions. Failure doesn't exist if you keep trying and keep improving. Failure happens when you keep doing the same damn thing, and keep getting the same stupid result until you can take no more and you give up. Mistakes are necessary and are the best opportunities for growth. Seek them out and be proud!! Because

when you find one, you can fix it and that means more money and confidence. You have a long way to go and a lot to learn. But remember, every thing you learn compounds on itself in this game. You don't learn to win overnight, you pick up little things here and there, and eventually, you have built a game that wins and continues to grow. Your Best Bud, You.

I ****ing love this game. I realize I am far from an amazing player, but it doesn't matter. This game challenges a person on so many levels and I can't think about how much I have grown and learned from this game outside of poker. Taking my ego out and realizing that I suck at poker has been one of the best things that ever happened for my game. When you know you suck, you can work and improve. If you are 'just running bad', there isn't a ****ing thing you can do. Now this next part is going to sound weird to a lot of good players. I don't lose confidence when I am running bad. Seriously. The cards I am dealt have nothing to do with how I interpret my skill, and that is what confidence means to me. If I do lose confidence, it's because I am not analyzing my game enough. Try it. The next time you feel like crap from a session, go over every hand and WRITE DOWN all spots you got unlucky and all the mistakes you made. Find out exactly why you lost, and don't make any excuses. It might sound odd, but if you force yourself to do it, you will feel better. It is a privileged to play this game everyday, and I am very grateful that it is my job. I know this post isn't likely to help anyone a huge amount, but I also know that it might help someone a little and little improvements reap big rewards in this game. -

Hince

MJW 006 SPEW S RANDOM THOUGHT S ... Now that you‟ve opened this thread, let me warn you... Unlike some of the smart individuals around this forum, I‟m unable to deliver a long-winded, well thought out, and constructed article on something strategy specific in this pooh-bah post. So if that is what you‟re looking for, then hit the back button and slowly slink out Instead, I am going to do something very typical of myself. I‟m going to write something generalised, certainly non-factual, and what will at some point become the definition of nonrevolutionary. Yes. I will be spewing my opinions in this thread. Being serious though, I have learnt a lot in my time as a poker player and as a member of these forums. What I intend to do is to share some of the things I have learnt along the way. It won‟t be strategy specific, nor will it be mind-blowing. But there are some things that I really believe in and I guess my intention is to share them with whoever cares...

#1 Opinion: Finding your Niche This applies in a much broader sense when you first decide to play poker. Do you play MTT‟s, 6m cash, SNG‟s etc etc... I went through several different forms of poker before I found one that I felt really comfortable with (which was obviously husng). In regards to HUSNG‟s, you obviously have the option of playing many different formats if we take into account the different structures on different skins. Although poker is a skill and all formats can be learned by a competent individual, I personally believe that we will have a natural propensity to be better at a certain format than another. Many factors obviously influence which it is that we are going to be better at, but I think it‟s important to try to establish what your most profitable format is. It‟s kinda like how people (fish) see

their hero (Phil Hellmuth) on the tv and want to be like him so they automatically play MTT‟s, and likely never venture into trying out other games. Well that could be you! You play turbos on FTP because of X,Y and Z reason, yet you have never tried out any other format... Do you beat the game you chose? Yeah sure, but it doesn‟t mean it‟s necessarily your best game. People are scared of change, and if something ain‟t broke, why fix it??? Well why not give yourself the opportunity to upgrade it?

#2 Opinion: The Different Sides of Variance People tend to think of variance in one way only, and I think that is an ignorant approach. People say “eh i‟m running so f****** bad right now. Stupid variance” (and this is the only type of variance). In reality every time we sit down and play we are experiencing variance, whether it be good, bad, or ugly. The first side of variance is the one we most often consider and that is how we are running in all-ins. Are we getting sucked out on? Are we holding? Etc etc... The second side of variance is the coolers and setups. I guess this is the second most complained about scenario (because we rarely hear when hero is getting the good side of it). The third side of variance is the situational variance that we encounter. By this I mean, are we just getting no hands or are we missing every single flop. Conversely, are we getting a ton of hands and hitting a ton of flops...? Or is it somewhere in between? I hear you thinking, „yeah I‟m no idiot, I know all of this!‟... Well have you ever considered the fact that it‟s likely that all of these factors are working at the same time? Every time we sit down for a match we are experiencing all of these factors, which leads me to my real point. Don‟t think that just because you‟re a ton below EV that it is your true expectation. It‟s easy to review your game and say well I got 3-outered 6 times in 10 matches so obviously i‟m just running bad. Ask yourself also, “was I running good situationally?”, “were all of the coolers and setups in my favour to begin with?”. When trying to examine the variance that we are

being affected by we must consider more than just the factors that are blatantly obvious, and instead try to understand everything that was out of our control to best critically examine what we can control.

# 3 Opinion: Poker Friends This has probably been the most influential factor of my poker life. 2p2 is a good place to learn but it‟s full of ****ty posters and equally ****ty posts. When you can filter out the crap you can find a lot of smart individuals who are also good people. I‟ve spent a lot of time talking to numerous people online over MSN, AIM, and Skype. This has allowed me to keep my sanity when I‟m sitting in front of a computer grinding by myself for so many hours. I am a very social person, so it‟s hard for me to go from constantly being around people at work and university to sitting in front of a computer for many hours of the day for work. To go with this, I have learnt an absolute ton from the people that I talk to on a daily basis, more than I could learn from some training site, coaching, or from the forums themselves. Obviously I have been lucky in the people I associate with, but this will be true in a lot of cases. We don‟t always talk about poker, in fact it makes up a pretty small % of the conversations we have. But it does allow me to keep my sanity and have some fun along the way with people I truly consider friends.

#4 Opinion: STOP being results oriented Here we go again...! No not really, I‟m not going to go into this really as too many people have done so in the past. However, I cannot emphasise this enough... STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR RESULTS!!! STOP LOOKING AT YOUR SHARKSCOPE!!! STOP THINKING ABOUT BEING DOWN FOR THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH!!!! START THINKING ABOUT YOUR PLAY AND CRITICALLY ANALYSING IT~!!!!!!

#5 Opinion: Maintaining life balance This is so simple but I cannot stress the importance of this enough. If you are not happy in yourself and your life then it is very unlikely that you are going to be in a positive frame of mind when it comes to playing poker. Grinding mindless amount of hours is not going to make you happy, even if you are making a ton of money (except in some very rare circumstances/people). You really should try to interact with real people and you should try to do things that make you happy outside of poker. They say that exercise etc makes you more focussed and so on (which could be true), but in reality it should be amended to doing things that make you feel good about yourself or doing things that make you happy will make you more focussed and relaxed at the tables.

#6 Opinion... If anything stands out in this post I guess it should be to not lie to yourself. I know that I‟m no poker genius; hence, I‟m not attempting to write anything super deep rooted. I understand that there are many players better than me and that I have a ton to learn. I also know who I am as a person, and I don‟t attempt to hide my true nature so that I look like something I am not... (If you haven‟t worked out that I‟m mildly sarcastic, don‟t take myself too seriously, and that I‟m an utter smart ass by now then maybe you need to work on your hand-reading skillz). Don‟t kid yourself into thinking you‟re smarter, better, or know more than you do... There is also no point in trying to convince others that you are smarter, better, or know more than you do... The only way to move forward in both life and poker is to be honest with yourself and focus on learning to become a better person and/or a better poker player. -

Mjw006

SPAMZ ' FIRST HAND HISTORY R EVIEW Quote: Hand #1 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289439 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1500 M = 50 BB: t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 8 Hero wins t40

J

J

Obviously a "std" raise though just pointing out that I'm still planning on doing something about betsizing in the future and minraising vs raising 3bb's will defenitly come up there as well. Just pointing out for now that at 10/20 level I prefer 3bb's as well, just because there's still a lot of room (read: more room than at 15/30 level) to manoeuvre postflop when pot is 6bb's with 72bb's behind. Quote: Hand #2 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289440 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1520 M = 50.67 BTN/SB: t1480 M = 49.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 8 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 8 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

K

K

Quote: Hand #3 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289441

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1530 M = 51 BB: t1470 M = 49 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T 8 Hero calls t10, BB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) 7 7 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) A (2 players) BB bets t40, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Great, you limped! I think it's a good idea to limp early on. Mainly because it's good/cheap info you get about villain what he does in general vs limps, something which you can (and should) use later on when stacks get shallower and/or blinds go up. I also think T8o is a good hand to do it with, mainly looking for weakest part of medium strength hands to limp, 96s, K2o, stuff like that. Either hands which can still flop toppair/middle pair or some sort of draw or can be checked down and still be the best hand (K-high or Q-high usually) on some boards. Ok, so you limped and he raised to 3bb's, what do we do here? I think calling preflop isn't the best way to play here, I think it's important you fold here for future purposes. Let's just start with pointing out that vs a really aggro opponent limp/calling here can defenitly be a good play (someone who 3bets a ton and raises most limps) because we have a semi-decent hand which can still flop something decent + we have position. However, in this spot, we have absolutely no idea what type of opponent we're dealing with here. Given the fact that he folded two previous hands, I don't think he's the type of guy to "bully" and start raising almost any two cards here tbh; this could be the case, some opponents just look at the limp and see "oh, he's weak, let's raise him off his hand!" but when he folded first two hands (one on the button) I think that you're looking at a more tightish range. Another thing why I wouldn't call preflop is for the fact I want to test and limp some more hands in before blinds go up and see what he does. Let's just say you fold here, you limp again in 8 hands, will he blindly raise again because we folded here or not? If yes, you can safely fold again (only invested t10 again) and use this to limp/shove a ton of hands in later stages of the game. If he checks, you can easily limp a bunch of (even) trashy hands till blinds get really high. Vs people who are passive vs limps you can probably limp/fold as low as 7bb's shallow imo, though you have to know that they let you do this and for that, it's important to notice this early on. As far as postflop goes (if you do indeed decide to limp/call), I think you played it fine. I don't think he's folding any pocket pair or broadway cards on a low paired flop like that, and I wouldn't try to bluff early on in general. On turn there's a decent chance

we're drawing dead so easy fold. If he checks turn again and you pick up an openender I would bet though, because he will have A-high or two mere overs a lot on a coordinated board and getting better hands to fold is pretty valuable at that point. Quote: Hand #4 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289442 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1470 M = 49 BTN/SB: t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 6 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Weird, all of a sudden he opens 4bb's. I'm really not used to this but can imagine it happens more on stars due to lack of potbetbutton. I like your fold here, especially since we have close to 0 postflop reads except for that he represented an A oop (but nothing concerned cbetting in position/doublebarreling/etc.). I think my defendingrange here would be like two broadwaycards, probaly A9/A8s as well and pocket pairs. 3betting with AQ+TT+ here I think, 99 being close, probably mix up between flatting/3betting. You're mainly looking for toppair here obv, since pot will be quity big postflop already, and a range of AJ-A9/KT+/QT+/JT will defenitly work for that. Quote: Hand #5 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289443 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1450 M = 48.33 BB: t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

8

Flop: (t120) 7 9 3 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks K 8 Hero wins t120 Again, quite standard hand, but a short thing about cbet-sizing here. I think anything from 60-80 is good to cbet (on a board like this, but in general as well, don't make it too big). Thing to keep in mind is that it's headsup, and most of the hands you will be

playing will be no pair vs no pair; it doesn't take a genius to figure out your cbets will be (semi-)bluffs most of the time so we want to keep them as small as possible so they become as good risk/reward as they can; half pot is my standard most of the time, 80 into 120 is good as well but I wouldn't really do any bigger (unless you have a read/note that villain doesn't care about betsizing and will call/fold for pot or 1bb, this way you can obv bet bigger for value etc, but we don't have that read here). Quote: Hand #6 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289444 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1510 M = 50.33 BTN/SB: t1490 M = 49.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 3 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

K

K

Quote: Hand #7 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289445 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1520 M = 50.67 BB: t1480 M = 49.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks T Hero wins t40

7

7

Quote: Hand #8 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289446 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1540 M = 51.33 BTN/SB: t1460 M = 48.67

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 3 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

6

6

Ok, so far he seems to be pretty nitty, defenitly something to keep in mind. He folded 5/8 hands, I know this is a really small sample but he's defenitly not going to be a maniak and most of the time he will end up being quite tight for rest of the match. Quote: Hand #9 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289447 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1550 M = 51.67 BB: t1450 M = 48.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Q Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t140, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Given that we just noticed how nitty this opponent has been so far, I would try and start raising close to 100% of my buttons, again, still with the occassional limp mixed in. This wouldn't be a bad hand to limp in with either fwiw, though in general you should try raising as much as you can if he folds his bb a lot. Obv fold vs his 3bet pre, your hand worth nothing. Note that he opened to 4bb's once, and he 3bet you now, so I suspect him to play all the hands he plays (or at least most of them) quite agressively. Quote: Hand #10 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289448 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1490 M = 49.67 BTN/SB: t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 5 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 5 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

T

T

Quote: Hand #11 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289449 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1500 M = 50 BB: t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 8 Hero wins t40

6

6

Quote: Hand #12 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289450 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1520 M = 50.67 BTN/SB: t1480 M = 49.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

3

Flop: (t40) 3 8 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t40) 2 (2 players) Hero bets t20, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 2 Hero wins t40

3

Haha, ok, so appearantly he's not as tag-ish as I thought he would be. He probably just happened to have a hand last couple of times as far as I'm concerned. Check preflop is fine, even though I suspect his limping not to be THAT strong, I still think it has a decent amount of limp/calling hands in there given that he folded a bunch of buttons before I can't imagine him limping hands like 82o, and will defenitly have some hands like J9s included. Vs buttonlimps in general, I think the best way to act vs them is with "selective agressiveness" as bluemage would put it. Don't blindly raise them, fish will limp/call a bunch anyway and it sucks being oop with a marginal hand which doesn't flop too well. You can raise bluff him once (after checking first 3 times for example) but don't overdo it. Just try to widen your valueraising range a bit (like include hands like Q9o for raising limps if you think villain is weak most of the

time) and you will not need to raise them that much. Flop check is also fine, fwiw I would probably check/fold here if he bets pot. We just have a really marginal hand and not a lot of cards which improve us, and we don't know if (any) of our outs are good (two pair could give him a straight etc). If he bets 1bb I would be more inclined to call. Reason why I don't lead here is to see if he bets 100% when checked to him, which is why I check most of the time the first couple of buttons villain limped. He checked back, so we should be inclined to (bluff) lead out some more in the future given that he's not autostabbing. Turn is obviously a mustbet. I don't mind your 1bb bet tbh. I think he would bet flushdraws on flop, as would he bet toppair and middle pair before more overcards come, so mainly looking at straightdraws and bottom/3rd pair to get value from and you're doing great against pretty much all those hands. Sucks a bit if he calls and river is a 6 but I think you can safely check/fold given that I doubt he's turning a lot of onepair hands in a bluff (76o for example) and if he valuebets them he's probably going to bet them pretty small (which I doubt a random fish does a lot, valuebetting thin). Quote: Hand #13 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289451 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1540 M = 51.33 BB: t1460 M = 48.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

Q

Flop: (t120) 3 7 Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks A Q Hero wins t120 I don't mind your bet of 80 here because in general there's no need to balance your range vs a fish, however note that the board of is REALLY dry and a bet of 60 will probably work just about as much to make him fold just because there's not much he can call you with here. Quote: Hand #14 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289452 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1600 M = 53.33 BTN/SB: t1400 M = 46.67

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

J

Flop: (t40) J Q 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t40) A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t40) Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t40 Hero shows K J (two pair, Queens and Jacks) BTN/SB mucks 3 T Hero wins t40 Ok, so this is the part where you raise. Even if his limpingrange consists of medium strength hands, you're doing GREAT vs those, and have them dominated A LOT. So just raise for value, to like 60-80, any amount is reasonable from 60 to 80 imo, you actually WANT him to call so 80 may be too big imo. Given that he didn't autobet last time we checked to him in a limped pot, I think this is a good spot to lead out for 30 yourself. If he has nothing, it's unlikely he's going to put more money in the pot anyway himself. So just lead, try and get value from weaker Jx, 7x, flushdraws and straightdraws too. If you don't bet flop, I would defenitly minbet the turn. There's a second flushdraw out there and if you just bet 1bb a lot of people will call with Kx (while drawing to 4 outs to chop) because they have a bit of showdown as well with their highcard. After checking 3 times, river is indeed a check though I would defenitly put some more money in the pot if I were you at some previous point in the hand. Just try and have him bet his T8 as a bluff or whatever he checked back twice. I don't expect him to bet a lot on this river fwiw, though I don't see too much value in betting either given that you chop with Jx so only looking at 7x (which villain may bet himself) so yeah try to bluffcatch now. Quote: Hand #15 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289453 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1620 M = 54 BB: t1380 M = 46 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t20 (Rake: t10) Yeah probably one of the 5% of hands I would consider just folding vs him.

Quote: Hand #16 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289454 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1610 M = 53.67 BTN/SB: t1390 M = 46.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

3

3

Quote: Hand #17 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289455 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1620 M = 54 BB: t1380 M = 46 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

7

Flop: (t120) 6 9 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) T (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB calls t80 River: (t280) 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t280 Hero shows 6 7 (two pair, Nines and Sixes) BB shows Q 3 (a pair of Nines) Hero wins t280 I would defenitly cbet here. You flopped two pair, it's unlikely he has something better on this board so just bet for value against straightdraws/flushdraws/acehigh/overcards/low pocket pairs. Vs some opponents you can check back because they will autostab turn, but against this guy, I wouldn't count on it since he doesn't seem to stabbing when he didn't hit anyway. So only way some money is going to go in on turn/river if he hit something better (like JT and a J pops up on turn). It's going

to be pretty rare like in this case that he's going to turn a flushdraw (or straightdraw sometimes) and that's going to c/c it again. Just bet flop, take it down and be done with the hand. I know this sounds like "bet for protection" against this kind of opponent and betting for protection in general is a stupid reason to bet, but you can take down the pot and there's actually some worse hands he can call here with. It's also good info if he c/c's with - say - A3o and checks it down unimproved. Or he just calls with a flushdraw on flop and doesnt bluff river (something I expect him to do, not bluff very much, but we can't be sure of that just yet in a raised pot. Quote: Hand #18 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289456 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1760 M = 39.11 BTN/SB: t1240 M = 27.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with T BTN/SB raises to t90, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Hmmmz, really weird here imo. So far he seems to be pretty "passive" preflop and nitty too, so I think indeed his raising range is quite strong. However, I think I would still defend, just because we're not doing that miserable againts a decent amount of his hands and he's just so easy postflop to play. He doesn't seem to bluff, and even if he does know the concept of cbetting I doubt he's going to double barrel a lot unless he has a real hand. I don't mind a fold preflop because he's kind of nitty, but calling looks better given how he plays post. Quote: Hand #19 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289457 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1730 M = 38.44 BB: t1270 M = 28.22 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T 5 Hero raises to t75, BB raises to t150, 1 fold Final Pot: t150 BB wins t150 Ok, 2.5bb's is good, again not going to go deeper into raise sizing preflop but I think the shallower you get indeed, the smaller you should raise and from 40bb's I think indeed 3bb's is a bit too big so I would either minraise or make it t75 here as well.

Then, he clicks it back, hmmmz. Ehm, you're getting 3 to 1 on your money here, I don't expect you to have the best hand here a lot but odds are just to good given the way he plays postflop. As far as I'm concerned, I'd try and play as much pots as possible vs this guy because he doesn't seem to tricky, and that includes calling preflop here. I wouldn't be too surprised if he has a hand like KQ, will check/call it on a 358cc board, and check down the rest of the hand when the board runs out Ax turn and 6x river. 3-1 is decent enough odds to call with a lot of holdings in position vs this villain. Quote: Hand #20 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289458 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1655 M = 36.78 BTN/SB: t1345 M = 29.89 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks

6

Flop: (t60) K 9 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t30, Hero folds Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Given that you checked all limped pots to him so far I would lead out here and I think he'll give you at least some credit for it. If you would've lead out a couple of times already I think c/f'ing this board would be best just to keep him passive/honest and to show that you don't try to win every pot but you haven't lead out a single time on flop so I would do it here. Quote: Hand #21 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289459 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1625 M = 36.11 BB: t1375 M = 30.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

Q

Flop: (t150) 5 6 2 (2 players) BB bets t60, Hero raises to t150, BB folds Final Pot: t270 Hero mucks 9 Q

Hero wins t270 Wow, I really didn't expect any fold equity here with your raise. Or at least very little. I know his betsizing makes him look weak (and he will be weakish a decent percentage of the time), but I just don't think you can make him fold with an extra 90, he will be getting good odds, and we don't even beat a hand like K4o here. He just seemed too fit/fold in previous hand to try and go for a cheap bluff here. I would just fold vs his donkbet tbh, just let him win this pot here, so he will give some respect if we raise next time when he leads. If you DO decide to bluffraise here, I would make it sligthly bigger, 180 or 190 or something, to try and maximize fold equity on the flop since we rarely have showdown value here after getting called here. Quote: Hand #22 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289460 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1760 M = 39.11 BTN/SB: t1240 M = 27.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 5 1 fold Final Pot: t45 Hero mucks 5 Hero wins t30 (Rake: t15)

6

6

Quote: Hand #23 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289461 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1775 M = 39.44 BB: t1225 M = 27.22 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15) Quote: Hand #24 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players -

View hand 289462 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1760 M = 39.11 BTN/SB: t1240 M = 27.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t45 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t30 (Rake: t15)

5

5

Quote: Hand #25 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289463 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1775 M = 39.44 BB: t1225 M = 27.22 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

8

Flop: (t150) 2 7 K (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB folds Final Pot: t150 Hero mucks 5 8 Hero wins t150 Looks fine; again, dry board, so a little smaller (half pot) will do the trick here as well. Quote: Hand #26 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289464 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1850 M = 41.11 BTN/SB: t1150 M = 25.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks

4

Flop: (t60) 7 4 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t30, Hero raises to t110, BTN/SB raises to t1120 all in, Hero calls t1010

Turn: (t2300) J River: (t2300) A

(2 players - 1 is all in) (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t2300 Hero shows 4 4 (three of a kind, Fours) BTN/SB shows K 6 (a flush, King high) BTN/SB wins t2300 Ehm, given that you haven't raised so far vs his limps preflop, I think this is a good spot since he will fold a decent percentage of the time. I don't hate a check either fwiw, I think here it can go either way and I would probably do both ingame from time to time. Flop: LEAD, really, lead! I think he will be checking back some holdings like T6o which have great implied odds vs our hand and will check back a ton but will defenitly call a bet from time to time. Vs someone who stabs 100% (or close to it) this is an easy checkraise on flop given that it's unlikely for him to have bottom pair since we hold two casecards so villain's range will be draws/nuts/air and he won't check back too much with showdown value. Vs this opponent however, I would just lead out 50 here given the drawyness of the board. As played, raisesize on flop looks a bit small since he probably has a piece of the board you can go a little bigger here (120-150). Obv snapcall shove and try to pair the board next time. Quote: Hand #27 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289465 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t700 M = 15.56 BB: t2300 M = 51.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15) Quote: Hand #28 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289466 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t685 M = 15.22 BTN/SB: t2315 M = 51.44

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with K BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks

T

Flop: (t60) K J 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero calls t60 Turn: (t180) A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t180) 4 (2 players) Hero bets t100, BTN/SB calls t100 Final Pot: t380 Hero shows K T (a pair of Kings) BTN/SB mucks K 8 Hero wins t380 Again, you're being a little too passive here. There's defenitly some value in raising preflop. With these stacksizes, I wouldn't make it too big. You can minraise (keeps in a lot of hands) or go to 3bb's or anything in between (anything bigger will make you committed too much either pre- or postflop with these stacksizes). Ok, now flop. Ehm, we know now that he indeed bets a flushdraw on the flop, but will probably check back his airhands. I think both checking and leading can go here. However, if you do check, it's too checkraise! He raised a couple of times preflop, so KJ+/AK/KK+/JJ is probably not in his range. I know it's the first time he bets pot but you're mainly only afraid of K5/55/J5 here and if you checkraise he'll jam his flushdraws a bunch of the time (or call with them), and will very likely stack off with any Kx hand here as well and he will have you beat only a real small percentage of the time. I think you missed out a great double up spot here tbh, even if you check preflop, it's not too hard to put in 22bb's if villain pots it on the flop. Quote: Hand #29 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289467 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t875 M = 19.44 BB: t2125 M = 47.22 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t60 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t60

3

3

Minraising looks fine, but limping to see what he does vs limps when stacks get shallower would be fine too. Quote: Hand #30 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289468 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t905 M = 20.11 BTN/SB: t2095 M = 46.56 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with T BTN/SB raises to t90, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Quote: Hand #31 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289469 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t875 M = 19.44 BB: t2125 M = 47.22 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

A

Flop: (t120) 7 Q A (2 players) BB bets t90, Hero raises to t240, BB raises to t690, Hero raises to t815 all in, BB calls t125 Turn: (t1750) 4

(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t1750) 3

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t1750 Hero shows K A (a pair of Aces - King kicker) BB shows A 6 (a pair of Aces) Hero wins t1750 Raise-size looks fine, nh sir. Quote: Hand #32 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289470 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t1750 M = 38.89 BTN/SB: t1250 M = 27.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 1 fold Final Pot: t45 Hero mucks 9 Hero wins t30 (Rake: t15)

A

A

Quote: Hand #33 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289471 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1765 M = 23.53 BB: t1235 M = 16.47 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t100, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t100 Hero mucks J 4 Hero wins t100 Given that he seems so fit/fold postflop you can defenitly raise here. I don't expect him to shove over minraises a lot either so you can try stealing a lot vs this opponent. Quote: Hand #34 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289472 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1815 M = 24.20 BTN/SB: t1185 M = 15.80 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with A Q BTN/SB calls t25, Hero raises to t175, 1 fold Final Pot: t100 Hero mucks A Q Hero wins t100 I think you want to keep this opponent in preflop so I would just make it 150 here. He's not tricky and we have a little more room to manoeuvre postflop. Quote:

Hand #35 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289473 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1865 M = 24.87 BB: t1135 M = 15.13 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t75 BB wins t50 (Rake: t25) Quote: Hand #36 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289474 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1840 M = 24.53 BTN/SB: t1160 M = 15.47 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with A BTN/SB calls t25, Hero checks

T

Flop: (t100) 6 A J (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t100) J (2 players) Hero bets t50, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t100 Hero mucks A T Hero wins t100 Again, really passive how you played this hand. I would make it 150 again preflop and expect to get called by a ton worse. Flop is fine if you check though, given that he bets any piece/draw so far and if he has nothing he checks anyway so yeah. Turnbet is unnecessary once flop goes check/check imo, he just has nothing and it's really unlikely he has a hand he can call turn with, let alone call turn AND river with on this board. Just check, hope he hits a pair on river and try to get a small bet there. Quote: Hand #37 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289475

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1890 M = 25.20 BB: t1110 M = 14.80 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

K

Flop: (t200) 9 Q 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t200) 8 (2 players) BB bets t100, Hero calls t100 River: (t400) 4 (2 players) BB bets t250, Hero folds Final Pot: t400 BB wins t400 Preflop fine obv vs him. However, although I'm sure this is a checkback/give up vs a ton of players, this particular opponent just seems to lead out with a made hand a decent percentage and still defends with some more marginal hands so I think cbetting is in order here. You don't have a lot of equity when getting called but betting 100-120 here seems fine and he will defenitly fold enough of the time to make it ev+. If you don't cbet I think turn is a clear fold, you be drawing very thin/dead here and he doesn't seem like the person to lead with a weak range or with draws here. You only have 3rd pair and most rivers will suck basically and his betting is ranged towards better made hands a ton if you ask me. Either cbet and give up or just give up from flop (unless you turn a K obv). Quote: Hand #38 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289476 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1690 M = 22.53 BTN/SB: t1310 M = 17.47 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB calls t25, Hero checks

J

Flop: (t100) 7 K 2 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t100) 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t100) A

(2 players)

Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t100 Hero shows 5 J (high card Ace) BTN/SB shows 6 Q (high card Ace - King+Queen kicker) BTN/SB wins t100 I'm not saying you should lead out here, but you should defenitly see it as an option. IMO too much people expect villain to "cbet" (there hasn't been a raise preflop so you can't really talk about cbetting) while this is not standard for a lot of villains and sometimes it's just better to lead out. Here it can go either way, since he checked down T-high before I don't mind just c/f'ing. You haven't lead out in any spot before, I don't advise it TOO much but defenitly see it as something you should try implementing in your game. Quote: Hand #39 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289477 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1640 M = 21.87 BB: t1360 M = 18.13 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

2

Flop: (t200) 9 3 K (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t110, BB folds Final Pot: t200 Hero mucks 7 2 Hero wins t200 Quote: Hand #40 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289478 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1740 M = 23.20 BTN/SB: t1260 M = 16.80 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t150, 1 fold Final Pot: t100 BTN/SB wins t100 Quote:

2

Hand #41 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289479 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1690 M = 22.53 BB: t1310 M = 17.47 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

J

Flop: (t200) 2 3 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t200) A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB folds Final Pot: t200 Hero mucks K J Hero wins t200 I think you can profitably cbet any type of board vs this opponent, though I can see why you checked back here and would do it myself a decent percentage of the time. Thing is he will be floating wide-ish here (any pair, openender, gutshot, and probably overcards too) but he will unlikely bluff them as far as we know, but in general his callingrange will consist of more pairhands than draws here. If you check back flop I don't mind the turnbet, since he's now very likely to be folding his weak/marginal pairs anyway. Quote: Hand #42 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289480 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1790 M = 23.87 BTN/SB: t1210 M = 16.13 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with K Q BTN/SB raises to t150, Hero calls t100 Flop: (t300) K J Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t300) T (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t300) 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t150, Hero calls t150

Final Pot: t600 Hero mucks K Q BTN/SB shows 6 6 BTN/SB wins t600

(a flush, King high)

Given stacksizes, I think leading flop and shipping every good turn is by far best play. Even if you don't lead out flop a lot in limped pots, I would've expected that you do it at least in some spots with hands like this when it's a raised pot. Board is really drawy and there's defenitly a ton of hands he's calling with that we're in decent shape against. Turn obv is a c/f, so is river imo. I really really doubt he is ever bluffing here, or valuebetting a worse hand even... You only need to be good once every 4 times but you really don't get there vs this opponent. Quote: Hand #43 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289481 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1490 M = 19.87 BB: t1510 M = 20.13 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 6 Hero raises to t100, BB raises to t250, Hero calls t150 Flop: (t500) 2 3 Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t240, BB folds Final Pot: t500 Hero mucks 5 6 Hero wins t500 Well, he's really easy to play postflop, but imo this is a fold preflop. I know I advised you to call with the T5s but you got better odds there, and blinds were lower so effective stacks deeper than here. 65o is really a marginal hand and you can't expect him to c/f the flop as often as he did here. You only have a little over 2 potsized bets left postflop, which is too little for a hand like 65o. Quote: Hand #44 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289482 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1740 M = 23.20 BTN/SB: t1260 M = 16.80 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB calls t25, Hero checks

9

Flop: (t100) 8 8 J (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t100) Q (2 players) Hero bets t60, BTN/SB calls t60 River: (t220) J (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t150, Hero folds Final Pot: t220 BTN/SB wins t220 Interesting hand here. Preflop looks fine, given you checked so much and that he folded to the one time you raised, I think raising here would be fine too. Flop you can again, lead out, don't fall into the habbit of autochecking flop. Given you checked each time before, I would lead out here some percentage of the time at least. Turn is a good card fire with some equity, yeah, he's defenitly folding some Kx/Ax hands here so leading looks good. River I would make a fake blocking bet fwiw. I'd expect him to bet Jx or 8x a bunch on the flop, so he either has Tx/9x/KT/flushdraw/Qx here. Just make a small bet, like 90 or something, and let him fold his chops or better hands (KXcc for example). This move doesn't need to work too much for it to be profitable and he will have a busted draw enough of the time and will rarely bluffraise you. Quote: Hand #45 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289483 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1630 M = 21.73 BB: t1370 M = 18.27 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

7

Flop: (t200) 8 Q 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB folds Final Pot: t200 Hero mucks K 7 Hero wins t200 Quote: Hand #46 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289484

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1730 M = 23.07 BTN/SB: t1270 M = 16.93 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t75 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t50 (Rake: t25)

A

A

Quote: Hand #47 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289485 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1755 M = 23.40 BB: t1245 M = 16.60 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t100, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t100 Hero mucks Q 4 Hero wins t100 Quote: Hand #48 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289486 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1805 M = 24.07 BTN/SB: t1195 M = 15.93 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t150, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t100 BTN/SB wins t100 Quote: Hand #49 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players View hand 289487 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t1755 M = 23.40 BB: t1245 M = 16.60 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with K K Hero raises to t100, BB raises to t1245 all in, Hero calls t1145 Flop: (t2490) 9

3

Turn: (t2490) 4

(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t2490) Q

T

(2 players - 1 is all in)

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t2490 Hero shows K K (a pair of Kings) BB shows 4 4 (three of a kind, Fours) BB wins t2490 Obv std, run better though Quote: Hand #50 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 289488 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t510 M = 3.40 BTN/SB: t2490 M = 16.60 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

7

Final Pot: t150 Hero mucks K 7 Hero wins t100 (Rake: t50) Quote: Hand #51 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 289489 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t560 M = 3.73 BB: t2440 M = 16.27 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 1 fold Final Pot: t150

3

BB wins t100 (Rake: t50) Too bad we all of a sudden gotten from 20bb's to 5bb's. Obv fold here though... Quote: Hand #52 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 289490 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t510 M = 3.40 BTN/SB: t2490 M = 16.60 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 7 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t150 Hero mucks 7 T Hero wins t100 (Rake: t50) Quote: Hand #53 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 289491 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t560 M = 3.73 BB: t2440 M = 16.27 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t560 all in, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t200 Hero mucks J 4 Hero wins t200 Yeah nash says this is 5.4bb's but I highly doubt his callingrange is perfect (and probably too nitty). Quote: Hand #54 Poker Stars $11.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 289492 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t660 M = 4.40 BTN/SB: t2340 M = 15.60 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with A

6

BTN/SB raises to t600, Hero raises to t660 all in, BTN/SB calls t60 Flop: (t1320) A

T

7

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t1320) J

(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t1320) J

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t1320 Hero shows A 6 (two pair, Aces and Jacks) BTN/SB shows K T (two pair, Jacks and Tens) Hero wins t1320 Std getting it in with Ax for fold imo. Thing with flatting is that we flop reasonably good (mostly toppairs or 2nd pairs or strong draws) and he's almost always leading out if wwe hit if you ask me. Think it's pretty close but you have enough behind to not have to jam here I think, though picking up the dead money is fine again. Think you can do both, flatting or jamming. If this is his first hand back, I agree that jamming is obv ev+ as well.

Quote: Hand #99 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379005 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t310 M = 3.44 BTN/SB: t2690 M = 29.89 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB calls t30, Hero checks

3

Flop: (t120) J 7 Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero folds

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120

Quote: Hand #100 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379006 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t250 M = 2.78 BB: t2750 M = 30.56 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 8 Hero raises to t250 all in, BB calls t190 Flop: (t500) Q

J

7

Turn: (t500) K River: (t500) 2 Final Pot: t500 Hero shows 5 8 (a flush, King high) BB shows 2 A (a pair of Twos) Hero wins t500

Quote: Hand #101 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379007 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t500 M = 5.56 BTN/SB: t2500 M = 27.78 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 7 7 BTN/SB raises to t120, Hero raises to t500 all in, BTN/SB calls

t380 Flop: (t1000) A

7

J

Turn: (t1000) T River: (t1000) 3 Final Pot: t1000 Hero shows 7 7 BTN/SB shows K Hero wins t1000

(three of a kind, Sevens) A (a pair of Aces)

Std, nice hand!

Quote: Hand #102 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379008 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1000 M = 11.11 BB: t2000 M = 22.22 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero calls t30, BB checks Flop: (t120) 9 8 J (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) 2 (2 players) BB bets t120, Hero calls t120 River: (t360) 6 (2 players) BB bets t180, Hero calls t180 Final Pot: t720 Hero mucks T 2 BB shows 3 6 (a pair of Sixes) BB wins t720

2

Wow. Ehm, preflop, to start with, I don't mind as much, however, I wouldn't mind minraising either since it's suited which means we can jam all his potleads when we flop a ten/flushdraw and also some openenders probably or just random flops on AQx or smth (since he donked these type of boards a lot before and his texture awareness means he's probably not doing it for value). But okay, we limp, fair enough. How can you NOT bet the flop? Even if it's just protecting your equity when he has worse? He'll donk turn A BUNCH if you ask me and unless you plan on jamming over a turn potbet (which I think is too much of an overbet), just bet flop! This guy is actually capable of checkraising and folding to your jam so plz plz bet flop here.

Quote: Hand #103 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379009 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t640 M = 7.11 BTN/SB: t2360 M = 26.22 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with K J BTN/SB calls t30, Hero raises to t640 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Standard obv.

Quote: Hand #104 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379010 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t700 M = 7.78 BB: t2300 M = 25.56

Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t60 BB wins t60

Quote: Hand #105 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379011 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t670 M = 7.44 BTN/SB: t2330 M = 25.89 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Since the hands he folded before where because he was sitting out, I'd still assume he's minraising wide and folding at least some percentage (and sometimes calls worse like QJT9 pick 2) so I'd just jam here for 11bb's effective.

Quote: Hand #106 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379012 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t610 M = 6.78 BB: t2390 M = 26.56 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t610 all in, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #107 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379013 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t670 M = 5.58 BTN/SB: t2330 M = 19.42 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t160, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160

Quote: Hand #108 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379014 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t590 M = 4.92 BB: t2410 M = 20.08 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t590 all in, 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Yeah no need to get fancy, given the stacksizes I think his callingrange is wide enough to just openjam. Minraising will even be noticed by a fish here if you ask me.

Quote: Hand #109 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379015 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t670 M = 5.58 BTN/SB: t2330 M = 19.42 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with T Q BTN/SB raises to t160, Hero raises to t670 all in, BTN/SB calls t510 Flop: (t1340) 3

4

9

Turn: (t1340) 8 River: (t1340) J Final Pot: t1340 Hero shows T Q (a straight, Queen high) BTN/SB shows A A (a pair of Aces) Hero wins t1340 Nh lol, and agreed, to shallow to not get it in here and he hasnt openjammed before iirc so his range isnt necessarrily superstrong though we never been this shallow before in this spot, still obv getting QT in.

Quote: Hand #110 Full Tilt Poker $80 + $4 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 379016 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1340 M = 11.17 BB: t1660 M = 13.83 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t160, BB calls t80

A

Flop: (t320) A K 5 (2 players) BB bets t80, Hero calls t80 Turn: (t480) 2 (2 players) BB bets t400, Hero raises to t1100 all in, BB calls t700 River: (t2680) 9

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t2680 Hero shows 6 A (a pair of Aces) BB shows 8 A (a pair of Aces) BB wins t2680 Ehm, not THAT big a fan of preflop really. I'd probably limp, would be inclined to openjam A6o though suited is obv a ton better but minraising seems fine. Postflop looks fine. I might call turn though it's superdrawheavy now with the multiple gutters and flushdraws so I guess he's not getting away from a combodraw or pair + draw anyway. Sick that he had you beat here fwiw...

SPAMZ ' SEVENTH HAND HISTORY REVIEW Quote: Hand #1 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681555 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1500 M = 50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20 Pretty nitty fold if you ask me lol. I'd just open most buttons really with anything semi-connected or suited (you can still flop a straight with this) because a lot of your profit will come from bad players call too much oop and play face-up post.

Quote: Hand #2

Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681556 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1510 M = 50.33 Hero (BB): t1490 M = 49.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

5

Flop: (t40) T 2 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t40) 2 (2 players) Hero bets t40, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Hmmm, every chip counts really, and I don't think that a bet of t40 will get more folds than a bet of t30 really. Especially since I've been playing more superturbo's lately, I type a lot of betsizing (esp in limped pots where otherwise you're forced to do half pot or full pot). If you think you can get more Ax or Kx hands to fold by betting pot, by all means do so, but I think t30 will do the same trick (and might also let him call a dominated draw like 86o) because he's never folding two pair/trips anyway. I wouldn't mind a check/call here either, nor do I leading. It's pretty hard to say which is better in a vaccuum really, just because our Q-high is on the edge of having (some) showdown value and villains tendencies to bluffcatch with A-high on paired boards for example.

Quote: Hand #3 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681557 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1490 M = 49.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Std open obv, although A6o cant flop straights nor flushes.

Quote: Hand #4 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681558 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K BTN/SB raises to t40, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 You seem to be pretty nitty heh. Fwiw, I would 100% defend here vs minraise and get some postflop reads. Even if we don't get to showdown it doesn't mean we will have nothing of notes on his tendencies. This way we'll definitly be able to adapt better in the future when playing a little more marginal hands oop when stacks get somewhat shallower to fully exploit.

Quote: Hand #5 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681559 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1490 M = 49.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Suited and connected!

Quote: Hand #6 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681560 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

4

Flop: (t40) 2 3 4 (2 players) Hero bets t40, BTN/SB calls t40 Turn: (t120) 7 (2 players) Hero bets t60, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Tell the dealer to shuffle the deck properly! Anyway, this is a spot where I don't mind leading for full pot. Regardless of your betsize, villain will likely call with a huge range anway and that range will not be dependant of your size that much. Turnbet seems a little bit low fwiw, I'd rather do 80 or even 100 tbh and get max value from all the draws.

Quote: Hand #7 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681561 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BTN/SB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with J K Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t160, Hero calls t100 Flop: (t320) 8 T 4 (2 players) BB bets t360, Hero folds Final Pot: t320 BB wins t320 Bleh standard; not much we can do here, preflop is pretty standard, 4bet/getting it in doesn't look good without reads here obv, also no reason to fold vs 3bet really... Flop is not the worst to float and take away on later streets, but his sizing + the fact you have no spade make it an easy muck obv.

Quote: Hand #8 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681562 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1570 M = 52.33 Hero (BB): t1430 M = 47.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t100, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

K

Heh, he's standard to use weird betsizing. No clue what they mean so far but already seen 2 in 8 hands now, don't forget.

Quote: Hand #9 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681563 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1590 M = 53 Hero (BTN/SB): t1410 M = 47 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

A

Flop: (t120) 9 T K (2 players) BB bets t140, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Hmmm weird, third time he overbet pot now (while you're playing on ftp which means there's a potbutton present). Preflop obv standard, not to sure about flop. Thing is if he does this a lot - given that it's a reg speed - we actually have a bit of time to wait for a somewhat better holding than just bottom pair ace kicker so I don't mind a fold here untill he starts doing it a lot in future hands. If there was a club on board it's obv better to float than now; about random tendencies... ehm I think most of the time this is actually a piece of the board, though not always. If randoms don't have a piece here, but overbet it anyway, they usually give up after flop in my experience; if they do have a piece, they're firing all blank turns. So yeah, just pitch it now, we'll see later.

Quote: Hand #10 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em

Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681564 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1650 M = 55 Hero (BB): t1350 M = 45 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

4

Flop: (t40) T 9 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t40) T (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t40) 4 (2 players) Hero bets t40, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Ehm, I'd probably lead turn here for t20 or t30 and have him bluffcatch all his highcard hands and/or gutshots and stuff. It also protects our equity if he never stabs at pot on turn for example when we check to him since pretty much all hands have 9 outs with the board being single paired already. Also, ask for a new dealer lol.

Quote: Hand #11 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681565 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1630 M = 54.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20 Yeah might fold some of the weaker offsuit connectors vs him after seeing his couple overbets.

Quote: Hand #12 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681566 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t40, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Yeah I don't even defend this though it's soooooted.

Quote: Hand #13 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681567 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1660 M = 55.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1340 M = 44.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

J

Quote: Hand #14 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681568 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

2

Flop: (t40) 8 Q K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t40) 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t40) 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB shows 4 Q (two pair, Queens and Sevens) Hero shows 3 2 (a pair of Sevens) BTN/SB wins t40 I wouldn't mind a flop stab here tbh for t30 or something, since he doesn't seem to be stabbing himself and he raised couple of buttons before (which makes it more likely that he's raising his good hands and limping mediocre/bad/monsterhands) and it's not a board you get a lot of floats on really since undercards don't want to take it away later. Turn is too late too stab with your hand I feel, since you'll get called by a lot of draws/pairs and you'd have to know some rivertendencies from him I guess to know what your bestline is on what rivers. But checking down and giving up is not bad either, just note that he didnt bet his Qx.

Quote: Hand #15 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681569 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1660 M = 55.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1340 M = 44.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #16 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681570 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20

Quote: Hand #17 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681571 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1630 M = 54.33

Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #18 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681572 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1610 M = 53.67 Hero (BB): t1390 M = 46.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20 Would probably either not 3bet here or make a small 3bet to keep his dominated hands in if he were to raise his button. Reason for flatting would be that with villain's betsizing it wouldn't be too hard to get stacks in if we flop toppair really, and i don't want to get 4bet of the hand (which he could easily do with A6o for example to "protect" his hand or whatever he thinks of it), so yeah, I'd just flat, even 5bb open easy call if you ask me.

Quote: Hand #19 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681573 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1600 M = 53.33

Hero (BTN/SB): t1400 M = 46.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

3

Flop: (t120) 6 T 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) 5 (2 players) BB bets t20, Hero calls t20 River: (t160) J (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t160 BB shows 2 K (King Jack high) Hero shows K 3 (King Jack high) BB wins t80 Hero wins t80 Yeah I would just give up on that flop. Cbetting air here has to do with how much of the time you think villain defends A-rag/K-rag and more importantly Q-rag and J-rag. If you think this is enough of the time, then by all means, cbet this board because they wont be spazzing a lot here to try and get you off your hand on a board like this with total air. However, since villain been somewhat nitty against our 3x opens, I'd just give up (peeling turn getting ridic good price is okay though still closer than you might think, especially since he might overbet river).

Quote: Hand #20 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681574 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1600 M = 53.33 Hero (BB): t1400 M = 46.67

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with A Q BTN/SB calls t10, Hero raises to t80, BTN/SB calls t60 Flop: (t160) 2 2 7 (2 players) Hero bets t69, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Nh, bit weird betsizing on flop though. Would just make it t80 tbh.

Quote: Hand #21 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681575 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1520 M = 50.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1480 M = 49.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

9

Flop: (t120) 8 5 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t69, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Nh, note that you should fire turn and/or river a lot depending on cards that come since villains love floating 2 overs here or just Ahigh (also we have LOTS of backdoors so betting our equity will never hurt on turn).

Quote: Hand #22 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681576 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1460 M = 48.67 Hero (BB): t1540 M = 51.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t40, 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #23 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681577 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1480 M = 49.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1520 M = 50.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

T

Flop: (t120) J 3 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t69, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Std obv, just note that he seems to play somewhat nitty and fit or fold which means our A9 fold on the KT9r flop was pretty good since it's way more likely he just had a hand. Note that this doesn't mean he can't start spazzing if you take down too much pots with just cbetting however.

Quote: Hand #24 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681578 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1420 M = 47.33 Hero (BB): t1580 M = 52.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

K

Flop: (t40) Q 3 K (2 players) Hero bets t40, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Wowow. How did you not raise here pre? Only hand we've seen him limp before in showdown was Q5o and he limp/called 1/1 so far so - while this isn't 100% sure obv - there's so much value in raising here and unlikely he has us in bad shape really. Just raise preflop, make it t80 or something and have him call with A LOT of dominated hands. If you're scared that he won't call dominated holdings too much, just make it 3bb's (which I doubt, but just talking about other players than this villain fwiw).

Quote: Hand #25 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681579 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1400 M = 46.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1600 M = 53.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20 Might open a bit more again now, since he just seems to bet when he has something and our cbets will take away pots a lot, though 52o is agreed too weak.

Quote: Hand #26 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681580 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 If he minraised I probably defend and try to play a small pot when we flop bottom pair (usually call one bet and fold to further resistance) and make it huge when we hit something nice obv (and if we flop like trips or huge draw or something we really have a lot of implied odds if villain just has a piece of the board; pretty sure we can get stacks in on 228 for example if he has like K8 with the way he bets). That being said I might like defend even vs the 3x here.

Quote: Hand #27 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681581 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 1 fold Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20

9

Just open this and he'll check/fold if he doesn't hit (since he done this so far) or just folds preflop.

Quote: Hand #28 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681582 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1440 M = 48 Hero (BB): t1560 M = 52 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20

Quote: Hand #29 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681583 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 7 Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Looks like he has a big hand; I'm not a huge fan of folding vs 3bets but 97o is definitly too weak to play vs this opponent.

Quote: Hand #30

Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681584 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1490 M = 49.67 Hero (BB): t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB raises to t100, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Heh, he started again lol. With his frequency, I guess he just has a hand whenever he does this until proven otherwise (whether this hand is AA/22/AQ/... doesn't matter atm really).

Quote: Hand #31 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681585 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1510 M = 33.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1490 M = 33.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30 Yeah, just pitch this one.

Quote: Hand #32 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681586 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1525 M = 33.89 Hero (BB): t1475 M = 32.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #33 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681587 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1510 M = 33.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1490 M = 33.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t90, BB calls t60

8

Flop: (t180) 3 T 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t180 Hero wins t180 Standard. I don't mind making it 3bb's preflop though I'd as default minraise here, but given that he will c/f a lot of flops or otherwise let us know he wants to rumble it's just more ev+ to take that extra bb postflop more often.

Quote: Hand #34 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681588 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1420 M = 31.56 Hero (BB): t1580 M = 35.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q A BTN/SB raises to t120, Hero calls t90 Flop: (t240) 5 5 6 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t240, Hero folds Final Pot: t240 BTN/SB wins t240 First interesting hand really. Had a bit of discussion about this with some other players and nobody really agreed lol. Most really agreed that AQo is a bit too strong to just flat here even though we assume that all his big bets are in general big(ish) hands. Reason for still 3betting is that a player like villain, will not fold a dominated hand like Ax or KQ/QJ/QT. Reason for this is that "bad nits" (or whatever you put people like this in a category) just can't fold a hand, even though their range is pretty strong, ergo your range is even stronger, but they just don't realize it and have a good hand themselves so wtf! Villain must be bluffing here! (they think) Would be slightly more inclined to flat AQs preflop fwiw (which might surprise some of you; indeed, AQs has a bit more equity against a standard getting it in range, however, plays a lot easier with the added affect of being able to flop a flush(draw) which will happen around 10% of the time, which isnt to be underestimated, since you only flop a pair one in 3 so that's an additional 1/3 times you'll be able to continu after the flop). Okay, 3betsizing then. Ehm, you can do a lot of things with this really (just to make clear, once we 3bet we're never ever folding to a jam). I wouldn't even mind just a jam here; he's a bad nit it seems, once they have a piece of a hand they go with it. Whether it's 77 or AT doesn't matter, they usually just look at their own cards and that's it.

If you just want to make it smaller, 500/jam any flop basically is an okay strat and will get calls preflop and folds post a ton (c/f'ing some "worst flops" obv like K98hhh or smth I guess). Other size would be like 300 and then still have a little manoeuvrability postflop with 600 in the pot and almost 2 potbets left. I wouldn't make it 400 or smth fwiw, because then we have like 1.25 potbets left which sucks on a decent amount of boards where we're not happy bet/calling it off but c/f'ing sucks about as much. I think I prefer the 300 fwiw though all options look close (with just jamming being the easy way out but probably least ev+). If you decide to flat pre, then c/f looks like only option here against potbet. Surely he might have AJ/AT/KQ once in a while, but against the rest of his range we're doing pretty poorly on this bad flop. Quote: Hand #35 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681589 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1540 M = 34.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t1460 M = 32.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 Hero raises to t90, BB calls t60 Flop: (t180) 7 K A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t180 Hero wins t180 Nh, well played.

Quote: Hand #36

Q

Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681590 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1450 M = 32.22 Hero (BB): t1550 M = 34.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #37 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681591 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1435 M = 31.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1565 M = 34.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #38 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681592 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1405 M = 31.22 Hero (BB): t1595 M = 35.44

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Def defend this if it's suited.

Quote: Hand #39 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681593 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1435 M = 31.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1565 M = 34.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #40 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681594 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1405 M = 31.22 Hero (BB): t1595 M = 35.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks Flop: (t60) 5 T 7 (2 players) Hero bets t30, BTN/SB folds

8

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60 Wow, checking again are we? Why now? Villain so far seemed to play sooooooooo faceup postflop. I don't think he's the floating type of guy from all the previous limped pots we had and you stabbed/vbet, so wow, just raise man. His limpingrange also will consist mainly of hands that have max 1 overcard here, and given that he limp/called 1/1, just raise it up man and vbet him all day on multiple streets.

Quote: Hand #41 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681595 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1375 M = 30.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1625 M = 36.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30

Quote: Hand #42 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681596 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1390 M = 30.89 Hero (BB): t1610 M = 35.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks

2

Flop: (t60) 4 Q 6 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero folds Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Not the best structure to stab on and you stabbed a bunch before so c/f looks best.

Quote: Hand #43 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681597 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1420 M = 31.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1580 M = 35.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30 Just raise really, he c/f flop already soooooo much.

Quote: Hand #44 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681598 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1435 M = 31.89 Hero (BB): t1565 M = 34.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold Final Pot: t30

2

Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #45 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681599 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1420 M = 31.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1580 M = 35.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t90, BB calls t60

9

Flop: (t180) T A 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t180 Hero wins t180 See? Do you need J9hh to be profitable here? Doubtful.

Quote: Hand #46 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681600 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1330 M = 29.56 Hero (BB): t1670 M = 37.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks Flop: (t60) A T 2 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t60) 5

(2 players)

5

Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t60) 6 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB mucks 7 8 Hero shows 9 5 (a pair of Fives) Hero wins t60 Minbet turn here to protect equity and have him call some worse hands (mainly one-card gutters who - if they have a broadway with it - will call turn and check back river most of the time anyway; given how he played so far, he might like call 64o on turn and check back all rivers but 3x really).

Quote: Hand #47 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681601 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1300 M = 28.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1700 M = 37.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #48 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681602 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1270 M = 28.22

Hero (BB): t1730 M = 38.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with A 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #49 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681603 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1255 M = 27.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1745 M = 38.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 Hero raises to t90, BB calls t60

5

Flop: (t180) 9 6 K (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t180) 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t180 Hero wins t180 How can you not cbet here? Pretty sure he donks pot with a K here given how he did it on KT9r to "protect" his hand against 4flush or 4straight boards, same with two pair/set/low flushes really, maybe even a strong 9. Also, don't forget, fish love suited hands, so either he flopped a flush here or just has a hand that can't stand much so just fire the flop and expect to pick up the pot a lot vs this opponent.

Quote:

Hand #50 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681604 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1165 M = 25.89 Hero (BB): t1835 M = 40.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #51 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681605 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1150 M = 25.56 Hero (BTN/SB): t1850 M = 41.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t90, BB calls t60

6

Flop: (t180) 4 A 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t180 Hero wins t180 Well, you get good boards to cbet fwiw, but std obv. =)

Quote: Hand #52 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681606

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1060 M = 23.56 Hero (BB): t1940 M = 43.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero checks

8

Flop: (t60) 8 8 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t60) K (2 players) Hero bets t30, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60 I don't mind betting either flop or turn here really. Reason I like betting flop slightly better is because he can easily have 2 overcards to the 5 there (whether it's with a gutter or not doesn't matter) and although he doesn't look like a floater, even they will call with mere overs a decent amount of the time. Also, if you want to build a pot against an opponent like this, it's best if you do it early on when your hand is likely still good, not when they caught up and start raising when they hit their straight/flush. Pretty sure he calls with straightdraw (gutter or OE) or flushdraw on flop, but will check them back most of the time anyway. Same with weak Ax hands, medium pocket pairs or Kx if that's in his range.

Quote: Hand #53 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681607 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1030 M = 22.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1970 M = 43.78

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #54 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681608 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1000 M = 22.22 Hero (BB): t2000 M = 44.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with A BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

7

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Std obv. Cutoff here for getting it in would be like AJ+ 77+ here probably. 22-66 looks like a fold because his range can still consist of smallish-mid pocket pairs and he's calling a jam with those anyway if you ask me. AQ/AK/77-JJ i'd just jam i guess; QQ+ normal 3bet; AJ doubt between flat or shove; flattingrange would be like AT/KQ/KJ and the occassional AJ if i dont feel like jamming.

Quote: Hand #55 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681609 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1030 M = 22.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t1970 M = 43.78

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30 Just raise ATC that aren't in bottom 15% or something imo.

Quote: Hand #56 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681610 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1045 M = 23.22 Hero (BB): t1955 M = 43.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q 9 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) A 2 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) T (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t120) 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB shows Q 8 (a pair of Threes) Hero shows Q 9 (a pair of Threes) Hero wins t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Pretty sure turn is a good spot to bet and if he calls, again on river. Just pick it up, he bets Ax here almost 100% of the time if you ask me on this flop (because of 3 to straight), probably also all his pocket pairs before overcards falling. So on turn, just hope he didnt hit his T and bet to take up the pot a lot.

Bleh, river looks thin looking afterwards if he calls turn. Fwiw, he just minraised so I guess KQJ pick 2 is a bit less in his range since KQ/KJ could be in his 4x range but we dont know that. So yeah, might be better to just give up once he calls turn.

Quote: Hand #57 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681611 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1045 M = 23.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t1955 M = 43.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #58 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681612 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1015 M = 22.56 Hero (BB): t1985 M = 44.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 7 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #59

5

Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681613 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1000 M = 22.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t2000 M = 44.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t90, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #60 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681614 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t970 M = 16.17 Hero (BB): t2030 M = 33.83 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with A 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Also, dont EVER flat here, if he would 4x. His range is strong, dont let his overcards whiff the flop or pocket pair have multiple overcards. He's stacking off most preflop (you might just want to click it back or smth).

Quote: Hand #61 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em

Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681615 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t950 M = 15.83 Hero (BTN/SB): t2050 M = 34.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 T Hero raises to t80, BB raises to t120, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t240) 2 7 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t240) A (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t240) Q (2 players) BB bets t40, Hero calls t40 Final Pot: t320 BB shows K Q (two pair, Queens and Twos) Hero shows 8 T (a flush, Ace high) Hero wins t320 Weird hand really; after he checks both flop and turn, just stab it imo. Not being results oriented, but his hand looks like what it is really... He almost never has Ax here, mid pocket pair or KQJT pick 2 at best if you ask me. If he has a club he might call but then we take it away on river anyway; he'll fold so much of his range here on turn once you bet, def best move to make.

Quote: Hand #62 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681616 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t790 M = 13.17 Hero (BB): t2210 M = 36.83 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with J

J

BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero raises to t280, 1 fold Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Ehm, I think his minraises in general are a bit weaker so I wouldn't go that that big fwiw. If he 4xed jamming would obv be standard to get it in. I really dont like your sizing fwiw, also note that it's your first 3bet so far so it'll look somewhat scary if he's not braindead. I think 200-220 >>>>> flatting >>>>>> jamming >>>>>>>> this size really. I don't think he's calling all that much with this size and stacksizes really; at least when jamming he might like call 33 or Ax because he thinks we're full of **** and we're just jamming our bull**** hands or something. Flatting is not bad because he plays so retarded post.

Quote: Hand #63 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681617 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t710 M = 11.83 Hero (BTN/SB): t2290 M = 38.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40

7

Flop: (t160) 3 5 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160

Quote: Hand #64 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681618

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t630 M = 10.50 Hero (BB): t2370 M = 39.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 8 5 BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t160) 7 6 2 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t550 all in, Hero folds Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160 I don't get it. You fold 32hh to a 3x while being 70bb's deep but this you can defend you think? I'd just let this go, especially because he doesnt raise buttons all too much to begin with. Also, we're pretty shallow here and this hand just flops bottom pair or middle pair way too much. If you think you can bluff him off a hand he misses with, that's fine but: 1) we're too shallow to do this effectively imo 2) you might as well start defending almost ATC then imo Just pitch it preflop imo, esp vs him.

Quote: Hand #65 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681619 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t710 M = 11.83 Hero (BTN/SB): t2290 M = 38.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) A T 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t89, BB folds

6

Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Bleh, I'd just minbet with your hand, these stacksizes and this board really. Try to let him float with his no equity hands as much as possible or let him spazz with them.

Quote: Hand #66 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681620 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t630 M = 10.50 Hero (BB): t2370 M = 39.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB calls t20, Hero checks

2

Flop: (t80) 6 7 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t40, Hero folds Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80 Std, not doing fancy on this board nor preflop imo.

Quote: Hand #67 Full Tilt Poker $30 + $1.50 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681621 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t670 M = 11.17 Hero (BTN/SB): t2330 M = 38.83 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) K

8

K

(2 players)

A

BB bets t590 all in, Hero calls t590 Turn: (t1340) A

(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t1340) 7

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t1340 BB shows 7 8 (two pair, Kings and Eights) Hero shows A A (a full house, Aces full of Kings) Hero wins t1340 Snap obv and expect to see 8x like 95% of the time or something; He started defending a lot preflop later in the game so minraising pre is indeed the best option.

SPAMZ ' EIGHTH HAND HISTORY REVIEW Quote: Hand #1 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681673 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1500 M = 33.33 BTN/SB: t1500 M = 33.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with A BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Folding Ax for just a minraise is something I wouldn't do really. People play so bad postflop and it's quite important to defend semi-widely to get some early postflop reads from unknowns.

Quote: Hand #2 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681674 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1470 M = 32.67 BB: t1530 M = 34 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

J

Flop: (t120) 2 T K (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Std hand obv.

Quote: Hand #3 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681675 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1530 M = 34 BTN/SB: t1470 M = 32.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 5 7 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero raises to t180, BTN/SB calls t120 Flop: (t360) J 8 2 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t360) 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t200, Hero folds Final Pot: t360 BTN/SB wins t360

First folding Ax then 3betting 75s from the start? Hah, sounds like something a cash player would do. Ehm, I'm totally not a big fan of this, especially in the ftp turbo structure people just don't fold vs 3bets so it's really unnecessarry to start 3betting air early on without reads (though your hand isn't the worst to flop some equity with obv), just because they don't fold, I'd go with a wide 3bet valuerange to start off with and take it from there. =) Just play postflop imo, a lot more interesting instead of the preflop wars that are standardly being eld nowadays. People just make so much bigger mistakes postflop really... Also, don't expect to get THAT much metagame/balancing going against a random. Big chance he'll decline after one game and you'll never see him again.

Quote: Hand #4 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681676 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1350 M = 30 BB: t1650 M = 36.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #5 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681677 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t1380 M = 30.67 BTN/SB: t1620 M = 36 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t90, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 He doesn't seem to have a std openingsize so going to showdown with either sizing will be very valuable if we ever have the chance.

Quote: Hand #6 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681678 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1350 M = 30 BB: t1650 M = 36.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

A

Flop: (t120) 4 4 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Std cbet, surprised he didn't float his 2 overs here as people usually do. =)

Quote: Hand #7 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681679 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t1410 M = 31.33 BTN/SB: t1590 M = 35.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t90, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #8 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681680 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1380 M = 30.67 BB: t1620 M = 36 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

Q

Flop: (t120) 8 2 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 He seems to play pretty fit/fold so far (3/3 right?) but doesn't mean he can't spazz if you take it away too much with cbets however.

Quote: Hand #9 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681681 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1440 M = 32

BTN/SB: t1560 M = 34.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 6 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero raises to t180, BTN/SB calls t120 Flop: (t360) 5 J 4 (2 players) Hero bets t150, BTN/SB calls t150 Turn: (t660) 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t300, Hero folds Final Pot: t660 BTN/SB wins t660 Stop 3betting suited connectors, seriously. You'll notice it yourself once you start playing more ftp turbo's I guess but in my experience, people just don't fold vs 3bets enough to justify doing stuff like this readless.

Quote: Hand #10 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681682 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1110 M = 18.50 BB: t1890 M = 31.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) 9 T Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t160) K (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160

6

Don't hate the checkback on flop tbh. We've been cbetting 100% so far and this board usually hits a defendingrange quite hard. Once he checks the turn stabbing looks good, nh.

Quote: Hand #11 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681683 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1190 M = 19.83 BTN/SB: t1810 M = 30.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80 He 3x's when stacks getting shallower as well. Time to get a hand we can jam over it I guess.

Quote: Hand #12 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681684 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1150 M = 19.17 BB: t1850 M = 30.83 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) 5 A J (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t160

6

Hero wins t160 He defends a lot, probably because we're "just" minraising, so we should cbet some boards we normally shouldnt because it would hit his range somewhat hard (like T97ss or smth); he'll have enough unconnected Ax/Kx/Qx in his range to make that profitable.

Quote: Hand #13 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681685 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1230 M = 20.50 BTN/SB: t1770 M = 29.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with J BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

7

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80 I probably defend here though we don't have any reads oop in raised pots which could make it a bit harder I guess.

Quote: Hand #14 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681686 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1190 M = 19.83 BB: t1810 M = 30.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) 7 K 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks

2

Turn: (t160) T (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t160) 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB folds Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Just cbet here as said before, his preflop range so far looks huge and he doesn't seem to spazz a lot and we have absolutely no showdown value.

Quote: Hand #15 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681687 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1270 M = 21.17 BTN/SB: t1730 M = 28.83 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with T 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #16 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681688 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1290 M = 21.50 BB: t1710 M = 28.50

Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40

3

Flop: (t160) K J 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 He's probably defending close to ATC really.

Quote: Hand #17 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681689 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1370 M = 18.27 BTN/SB: t1630 M = 21.73 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with K BTN/SB raises to t100, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t100 BTN/SB wins t100 Again, I probably defend here, but given that you had to show your e-penis by putting pressure preflop in the first blindlevel, again not going to be easy. =) Jamming looks ev+ as well, even if he calls perfect (which will almost never be the case) but he's opening a decent amount of buttons.

Quote: Hand #18 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681690 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t1320 M = 17.60 BB: t1680 M = 22.40 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

6

Flop: (t200) 9 K 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t200) Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t200) T (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t200 Hero shows 9 6 BB mucks 3 3 Hero wins t200

(a pair of Nines)

Just cbet and take it down a ton if you ask me. Once he calls flop I'd just give up later streets. Notice how he didn't jam this preflop but just defended and checked it down with very little showdown on this board.

Quote: Hand #19 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681691 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1420 M = 18.93 BTN/SB: t1580 M = 21.07 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 3 4 BTN/SB raises to t100, Hero raises to t250, BTN/SB calls t150 Flop: (t500) Q 5 K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

Turn: (t500) 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t500) 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t250, Hero folds Final Pot: t500 BTN/SB wins t500 E-penis in this hh imo. Again, unnecessarry and don't expect too much folds in general. Everytime you 3bet so far I would've loved a flat so much more.

Quote: Hand #20 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681692 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1170 M = 15.60 BB: t1830 M = 24.40 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t100, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t100 Hero wins t100 Since he doesn't seem jamhappy, I wouldn't start limping untill he gives a reason for us to do so (esp since he flatted 33 there, just keep minraising and cbetting).

Quote: Hand #21 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681693 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1220 M = 16.27

BTN/SB: t1780 M = 23.73 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t100, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t100 BTN/SB wins t100

Quote: Hand #22 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681694 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1170 M = 15.60 BB: t1830 M = 24.40 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t100, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t100 Hero wins t100 Booooooooo!

Quote: Hand #23 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681695 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1220 M = 16.27 BTN/SB: t1780 M = 23.73 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold Final Pot: t50

6

Hero wins t50 Weeeeeeee!

Quote: Hand #24 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681696 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1245 M = 16.60 BB: t1755 M = 23.40 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t100, BB calls t50

7

Flop: (t200) K Q 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t75, BB calls t75 Turn: (t350) 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t225, BB calls t225 River: (t800) 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t800 Hero shows 9 7 BB mucks 3 K Hero wins t800

(a flush, King high)

I don't mind your cbetsize too much because on a board like this in general it doesn't really matter that much since he plays pretty straightforward anyway. Watch out that he can spazz more often or start bluffraising when you use this sizing. Turn I wouldn't fire tbh, once he calls flop he's got a piece and is unlikely folding turn. Just take your freecard with your medium strong drawing hand if you ask me. Also, note how you "sucked out" and that he may start playing

back a bit more now.

Quote: Hand #25 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681697 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1645 M = 21.93 BTN/SB: t1355 M = 18.07 Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB raises to t100, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t100 BTN/SB wins t100

Quote: Hand #26 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681698 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1595 M = 17.72 BB: t1405 M = 15.61 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t60 BB wins t60 Don't hate the fold really given the last hand but in general, I'd keep minraising as much as possible untill we hit < 20bb's where I might start mixing it up or smth.

Quote: Hand #27

Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681699 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1565 M = 17.39 BTN/SB: t1435 M = 15.94 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120

Quote: Hand #28 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681700 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1505 M = 16.72 BB: t1495 M = 16.61 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t120, BB calls t60

2

Flop: (t240) 6 3 A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB calls t120 Turn: (t480) Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t480) K (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t255, BB folds Final Pot: t480 Hero wins t480 Looks fine. He doesn't look like the person who flaots Kx on this flop too much really and I doub't he'll be calling 4th pair on river.

Quote: Hand #29 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681701 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1745 M = 19.39 BTN/SB: t1255 M = 13.94 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 I'd defend here. For some reason you seem to be afraid to play pots oop.

Quote: Hand #30 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681702 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1685 M = 18.72 BB: t1315 M = 14.61 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t60 BB wins t60 Just minraise, T2o I fold but Q6o with a person unlikely to jam over minraises is a definite raise here.

Quote: Hand #31 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681703

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1655 M = 18.39 BTN/SB: t1345 M = 14.94 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t120, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Again, defendaments.

Quote: Hand #32 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681704 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1595 M = 17.72 BB: t1405 M = 15.61 Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 8 Hero raises to t120, BB raises to t420, 1 fold Final Pot: t240 BB wins t240 First 3bet of him, weird sizing with these stacksizes. 8-high never good obv. It's suited though...

Quote: Hand #33 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681705 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1475 M = 16.39 BTN/SB: t1525 M = 16.94

Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is BB with K 8 BTN/SB raises to t120, Hero calls t60 Flop: (t240) 7 J 6 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t240) 4 (2 players) Hero bets t155, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t240 Hero wins t240 Wow, you defended! Stabbing turn seems fine when he doesn't cbet.

Quote: Hand #34 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681706 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1595 M = 13.29 BB: t1405 M = 11.71 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t160, BB calls t80

Q

Flop: (t320) Q 6 T (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB folds Final Pot: t320 Hero wins t320 Yeah keep minraising here, under other circumstances, limping might be better but not here. Betting flop small also looks good.

Quote:

Hand #35 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681707 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1755 M = 14.62 BTN/SB: t1245 M = 10.38 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 8 T BTN/SB raises to t160, Hero raises to t1755 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t320 Hero wins t320 Looks ev+, flatting probably isn't too bad either (given villain's oop tendencies and his lack of cbetting 1/1 times, he looks like a really fit/fold player in which case I think flatting pre might be better but we have no idea about how accurate that is).

Quote: Hand #36 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681708 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1915 M = 15.96 BB: t1085 M = 9.04 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t1915 all in, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Yah don't mind this. Easy solution since K6o doesn't flop THAT well though he's really fit/fold/passive post so I wouldn't mind MR/fold and cbet smallish if he flats.

Quote: Hand #37

Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681709 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1995 M = 16.62 BTN/SB: t1005 M = 8.38 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with T 9 BTN/SB raises to t1005 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160 Spitejam!

Quote: Hand #38 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681710 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1915 M = 15.96 BB: t1085 M = 9.04 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t1915 all in, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 This is pretty close between openjam and MR/call (minraise/fold is not really an option fwiw, just stove a bit and you'll see why), I think minraising will be better here really. Just note that he probably won't be folding any Ax with these stacksizes, nor most strong Kx's or any pocket pair. Therefore it doesn't really matter if we minraise/call or openjam since his getting it in range will be pretty much the same. The only thing we can hope for is that he: - either spazzes pre and jams some suited connectors - flats (which is more likely) and we play a big pot in position with an easy to play hand

I usually would prefer KT+ or smth for MR/calling be better over openjamming in spots like this but given the likelyness of villain flatting pre I think QT/QJ would be my cutoff here.

Quote: Hand #39 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681711 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1995 M = 16.62 BTN/SB: t1005 M = 8.38 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #40 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681712 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t2035 M = 16.96 BB: t965 M = 8.04 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t2035 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Looks fine/best.

Quote: Hand #41

8

Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681713 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t2115 M = 17.62 BTN/SB: t885 M = 7.38 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t885 all in, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160

Quote: Hand #42 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681714 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t2035 M = 16.96 BB: t965 M = 8.04 Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t80 BB wins t80

Quote: Hand #43 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681715 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1995 M = 16.62 BTN/SB: t1005 M = 8.38

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t160, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160

Quote: Hand #44 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681716 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1915 M = 12.77 BB: t1085 M = 7.23 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t1915 all in, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t200 Hero wins t200 Same here I guess, MR/call looks better than openjam.

Quote: Hand #45 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681717 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t2015 M = 13.43 BTN/SB: t985 M = 6.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t985 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 BTN/SB wins t200

T

Quote: Hand #46 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681718 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1915 M = 12.77 BB: t1085 M = 7.23 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 8 Hero calls t50, BB raises to t1085 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 BB wins t200 Don't mind this since he doesn't seem too aggro before (apart from the openjamming button but that's std for 95% of players) and you'll be able to stab a lot postflop.

Quote: Hand #47 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681719 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1815 M = 12.10 BTN/SB: t1185 M = 7.90 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with A 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t100 Hero wins t100

Quote: Hand #48 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681720

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1865 M = 12.43 BB: t1135 M = 7.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t1865 all in, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t200 Hero wins t200 Don't mind a limp here again though openjamming looks fine as well.

Quote: Hand #49 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681721 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1965 M = 13.10 BTN/SB: t1035 M = 6.90 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 7 6 BTN/SB raises to t1035 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 BTN/SB wins t200

Quote: Hand #50 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681722 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1865 M = 12.43 BB: t1135 M = 7.57

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero calls t50, BB checks

6

Flop: (t200) 3 3 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t100, BB raises to t1035 all in, Hero folds Final Pot: t400 BB wins t400 Would probably bet more than 1bb; t100 just looks like a stab to a lot of players, t110 for example will result in a decent amount more fold equity compared to what we risk.

Quote: Hand #51 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681723 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1665 M = 11.10 BTN/SB: t1335 M = 8.90 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t200, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t200 BTN/SB wins t200

Quote: Hand #52 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681724 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1565 M = 10.43 BB: t1435 M = 9.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 2

9

1 fold Final Pot: t100 BB wins t100

Quote: Hand #53 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681725 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1515 M = 10.10 BTN/SB: t1485 M = 9.90 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 2 3 BTN/SB raises to t1485 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 BTN/SB wins t200

Quote: Hand #54 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681726 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1415 M = 9.43 BB: t1585 M = 10.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t200, BB calls t100

3

Flop: (t400) T Q A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t250, BB raises to t500, Hero folds Final Pot: t900 BB wins t900

Looks fine vs this opponent. Cbetting might be closer than it looks since I don't think he's defending a lot of the weaker crap/lower cards this shallow really. Also, cbet is unnecessarry big if you ask me.

Quote: Hand #55 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681727 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t965 M = 6.43 BTN/SB: t2035 M = 13.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with 9 7 BTN/SB raises to t2035 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 BTN/SB wins t200

Quote: Hand #56 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681728 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t865 M = 5.77 BB: t2135 M = 14.23 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t865 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t200 Hero wins t200

7

Quote: Hand #57 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681729 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t965 M = 6.43 BTN/SB: t2035 M = 13.57 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BB with A 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t100 Hero wins t100

Quote: Hand #58 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681730 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1015 M = 6.77 BB: t1985 M = 13.23 Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t1015 all in, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t200 Hero wins t200

Quote: Hand #59 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681731 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1115 M = 6.19

BTN/SB: t1885 M = 10.47 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BB with 7 7 BTN/SB raises to t1885 all in, Hero calls t995 all in Flop: (t2230) 3

2

K

Turn: (t2230) T River: (t2230) 9 Final Pot: t2230 Hero shows 7 7 BTN/SB shows A Hero wins t2230

(a pair of Sevens) 3 (a pair of Threes)

Solid flop.

Quote: Hand #60 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681732 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t2230 M = 12.39 BB: t770 M = 4.28 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 4 Hero raises to t2230 all in, BB calls t650 all in Flop: (t1540) 8

8

2

Turn: (t1540) J River: (t1540) T Final Pot: t1540 Hero shows 6 4 (a pair of Eights) BB shows T K (two pair, Tens and Eights)

BB wins t1540

Quote: Hand #61 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681733 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1460 M = 8.11 BTN/SB: t1540 M = 8.56 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #62 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681734 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1520 M = 8.44 BB: t1480 M = 8.22 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Stop getting 3-high imo.

Quote: Hand #63

3

Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681735 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1460 M = 8.11 BTN/SB: t1540 M = 8.56 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BB with J J BTN/SB raises to t240, Hero raises to t1460 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t480 Hero wins t480 Weird from him here.

Quote: Hand #64 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681736 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1700 M = 9.44 BB: t1300 M = 7.22 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 5 Hero calls t60, BB raises to t1300 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t240 BB wins t240 A bit too weak/shallow to limp here, esp since you jammed previous hand I expect him to jam a lot over your limp.

Quote: Hand #65 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 681737 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1580 M = 8.78

BTN/SB: t1420 M = 7.89 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #66 Full Tilt Poker $220 + $10 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 682317 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1640 M = 9.11 BB: t1360 M = 7.56 Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BTN/SB with A J Hero raises to t1640 all in, BB calls t1240 all in Flop: (t2720) A

2

9

Turn: (t2720) 3 River: (t2720) 6 Final Pot: t2720 Hero shows A J (a pair of Aces) BB shows A 4 (a pair of Aces) Hero wins t2720 Nh, gg.

SPAMZ ' NINTH HAND HISTORY R EVIEW In this hh review, hero is Maruchan and villain is mjw006/matt. I got both hh's and will fill in villain's hand and thoughts where I think it's interesting enough to discuss. Quote: Hand #1 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715401 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1500 M = 50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

5

Flop: (t80) Q J 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB folds Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80 Hmmm, T5o is like bottom 25% of hands all-in equity wise. I'm not saying you should open 75% or less but from playability perspective T5o doesn't have much going really. I'd way rather

open 64o than T5o really. Hands I'd not open are pretty much T2o-T5o, 92o-94o, etc. Matt had 32cc in this spot and think is pretty std defend with something that can flop pretty hidden monsters (especially since he checkraised low paired boards 24/7 ). I wouldn't mind a bluffcheckraise on this board since there's little unpaired hands that maruchan can continu with and even 6x would be best to just fold to flopcheckraise I guess (depending on kicker/backdoorz/blockerz), though I obv wouldn't do it all the time and starting out a bit slower till you have some more reads is better.

Quote: Hand #2 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715402 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1460 M = 48.67 Hero (BB): t1540 M = 51.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20

Quote: Hand #3 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715403 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1450 M = 48.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t40, 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #4 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715404 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Interesting that matt 3x'es and maruchan minraises. Might get into some intersting spots lately especially if they start mixing up openingsizes.

Quote: Hand #5 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715405 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1450 M = 48.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t40, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

J

Quote: Hand #6 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715406 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Pretty boring "I got a hand/I don't have a hand" spots so far. =)

Quote: Hand #7 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715407 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1450 M = 48.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20 Flop: (t80) 4 8 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t80) Q (2 players) BB bets t60, Hero calls t60 River: (t200) 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t200 BB shows J K

(King Queen high)

5

Hero shows 2 5 Hero wins t200

(a pair of Fives)

Somewhat more interesting hand that can go in all sort of lines really. Matt could def make a - not too big - 3bet pre here though calling is fine as well. I'm not used to reg speeds so I don't know how cool you are/should be with getting it in with one pair for like 73bb's on a (semi-dry/dry/wet) flop though it's obv not a problem in turbo's where stacks are 50bb's or less (though I don't think it's that much of a problem against a somewhat competent/aggro player). Matt checked the flop. Ehm, again, can go either way, I think he can definitly lead flop here and fire pretty much all turns he can think of because in general, people will call flop and fold turn a bunch. Not a huge fan of doing this all the time with just 2 overs and nothing else on a board like this, but this is a flop I donk with a wide range and hands like KQJT pick 2 are definitly a slight portion of my range. Maruchan doesn't cbet, guess that's alright some percentage of the time though cbetting and protecting equity will be slightly better against unknowns I'd say. I wouldn't be worried about getting checkraised here since pretty much all 6x or 7x have 40% equity anyway so we can safely fold our middle pair no kicker. Turn is pretty standard from both really, matt stabbing after fail of cbetting which probably makes maruchan's range weaker and will get folds from A-high a decent percentage of the time and he could have best hand even. After you check flop you can't really fold turn in maruchan's spot readless, so calling is correct as well there. River I think matt shouldve bet like t80 with his entire range if you ask me. After maruchan checking back flop and calling turn his range is like 5x 4x mainly, some hands like A3 maybe and some Qx obv as well, and most of them will fold on river when you bet smallish like t80 (which you can still vbet with Qx or strong 8x against an unknown since I don't expect to get bluffraised readless too often).

Quote: Hand #8 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715408 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1350 M = 45 Hero (BB): t1650 M = 55 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #9 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715409 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1370 M = 45.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 6 Hero raises to t40, BB raises to t140, 1 fold Final Pot: t80 BB wins t80 Matt had AQo here. Standard hand from both parts, though 63o is pretty much the absolute bottom of my opening range.

Quote: Hand #10 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715410 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) 7 4 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t80, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Std hand. Again, wouldn't hate a donklead here, but given frequency, just do it when you have the Kc for example which will not let you do it too often and will have SLIGHTLY better equity. Like... in general, if you wanna bluff, just make sure you got some sort of (backdoor) draw. Just total random crap ass bluffing is way inferior to semi-bluffing with like as low as a gutshot or backdoor flush + straightdraws. Matt had T7o fwiw, std obv for him as well to cbet his toppair.

Quote: Hand #11 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715411 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BTN/SB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 Hero raises to t40, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

A

Quote: Hand #12 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715412 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1450 M = 48.33 Hero (BB): t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Matt had 72o here, pretty sure I'd just fold that even though he didn't get any hands so far. Just muck it, no reason to play this at this point really vs someone who's not braindead/ultrabad.

Quote: Hand #13 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715413 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BTN/SB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

4

Flop: (t80) 9 6 A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB raises to t140, Hero folds Final Pot: t160 BB wins t160 In general, this is well-played obv, however, against matt, I might like either check back somewhat more or float flops where he's not repping too much (but that's just because I know his game a

bit I guess so without these reads it's not so obv), esp with the backdoor flushdraw which are hearts . But yeah, std played from both sides, matt had A6o fwiw, sizing looks fine as well.

Quote: Hand #14 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715414 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1550 M = 51.67 Hero (BB): t1450 M = 48.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

9

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #15 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715415 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1570 M = 52.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1430 M = 47.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20 Flop: (t80) 6 6 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB folds Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

8

Std once again, matt had T7o and I'm happy he didn't checkraise to rep trips once again. Ehm, if I were matt and had KJo with a club here, I probably float because maruchan will most likely be betting J/K turn, also still comfortable calling a turnbet when A falls because I expect maruchan to bet that a lot and once we call there our hand looks like Ax A TON so I doubt he's firing river as a bluff ever and we will have best hand most of the time given maruchan opens fairly wide on button so far.

Quote: Hand #16 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715416 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1530 M = 51 Hero (BB): t1470 M = 49 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 8 A BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) J K 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t80, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Looks fine. Wouldn't start getting fancy on a board like this. You'll flop some equity (as low as gutshot again or like backdoor flush or smth) often enough if you want to checkraise bluff here.

Quote: Hand #17 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715417 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1590 M = 53

Hero (BTN/SB): t1410 M = 47 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 4 Hero raises to t40, BB raises to t140, 1 fold Final Pot: t80 BB wins t80 Just dump this **** on button really. Matt had 53dd here and don't mind the 3bet with these stacksizes though wouldn't mind a flat at all either (don't mind 3bet since maruchan called 0/1 3bets so far, small sample obv, but still).

Quote: Hand #18 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715418 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1630 M = 54.33 Hero (BB): t1370 M = 45.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with J K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) 5 J 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero raises to t180, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t240 Hero wins t240 I wouldn't mind a 3bet here though idk how much matt will 4bet bluff given that our hand looks like a spite 3bet so meh, flatting looks better. KJs also plays way more easily, rather 3bet KJo. Matt had Q8o, and though it's not a bad board to bluffcheckraise vs a non-spazzy ABC-player, I wouldn't start playing back yet since maruchan doesn't really give any reason to do so.

Quote: Hand #19 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715419 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1510 M = 50.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1490 M = 49.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

9

Flop: (t80) 7 A 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB folds Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80 Std, matt had an underpair here. If you really want to continu with an underpair on a board like A94r and you have 33 here or smth. It's def better to checkraise the flop at least some percentage of the time. There's some reason to do that: 1) If we get called, we got 2 clear outs and are now in a somewhat more bloated pot and can get stacks in on turn/river (obv unless villain has higher set or 52 but you get what i mean: if you bluff, have some outs/backdoor equity, even if it's just 2 outs, it beats a total random bluff). 2) If villain doesn't stab, he'll have like 30-ish percent equity with his 2 livecards/backdoorz/counterfeddaments on turn/river so we're protecting our equity a bit. It's just that I see a lot of players checkraise bluff here with no equity at all on certain boards, not even an overcard vs 2nd pair for example. There's really no reason to do that, if your frequency of bluffing equals the times you have SOME equity, it's way better obv. Big difference between checkraising J T on AQ3hh compared to 98ss for example, just realize this (though with the straightdraws out there, I wouldn't advize it here).

Quote:

Hand #20 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715420 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 6 8 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) A 2 T (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 86o is a bit loose but still good enough to defend imo. Especially if you have no real reads postflop it's not standard for someone to 2barrel/3barrel too much yet since he has no idea how stationy we are so that's fine.

Quote: Hand #21 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715421 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1530 M = 51 Hero (BTN/SB): t1470 M = 49 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

9

Flop: (t120) 3 A 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB raises to t180, Hero folds Final Pot: t240 BB wins t240

Same as before, matt had Q9o here and I'd prefer a checkraise with like 4x or 5x way more here than just a random total bluff. Even just changing his hand to Q9dd or smth would be way better, not because our 4% more equity when getting called is huge, more because we can fire a bunch of turns easily since we actually pick up enough equity that we don't have to fire river too much to profitably barrel the turn. Game's getting interesting, a lot of checkraises and some 3bets going on. =)

Quote: Hand #22 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715422 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1650 M = 55 Hero (BB): t1350 M = 45 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20 You fold 74o on button and raise 72o matt? roflcopter -hax

Quote: Hand #23 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715423 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1640 M = 54.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1360 M = 45.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

8

Flop: (t120) 4 9 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) 6 (2 players) BB bets t80, Hero calls t80 River: (t280) J (2 players) BB bets t120, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds Final Pot: t280 BB wins t280 Same hand as the KJ vs 52 on 458Q7 early on which just proves that you should fire 40% of pot with almost your entire range on river either as bluff or for thin value. Only difference here is that 3flush on the turn will get floated by like a single high heart in which case you'll have somewhat more foldequity on river.

Quote: Hand #24 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715424 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1780 M = 39.56 Hero (BB): t1220 M = 27.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 6 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #25 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715425 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1765 M = 39.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t1235 M = 27.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 A Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Matt's been 3betting SOMEWHAT active but not nearly enough to start getting fancy yet really so just fold to 3bet yeah.

Quote: Hand #26 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715426 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1825 M = 40.56 Hero (BB): t1175 M = 26.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #27 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715427 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1855 M = 41.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t1145 M = 25.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2

8

Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30 Flop: (t120) 7 A 3 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB calls t60 Turn: (t240) 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t240) 7 (2 players) BB bets t210, Hero folds Final Pot: t240 BB wins t240 Just fold preflop here, really. Same concept as the postflop "bluffwithequity" part: 82o just doesn't flop anything worthwile. Interesting spot though, matt had K9o and decided to turn his hand into a bluff on the river to fold out 2x or 3x. Sizing looks fine since his range consists mostly of 7x and I expect him to checkraise diamond or gutters most of the time so nice hand.

Quote: Hand #28 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715428 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1975 M = 43.89 Hero (BB): t1025 M = 22.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 5 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) 6 6 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero calls t60 Turn: (t240) A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t150, Hero calls t150

River: (t540) 8 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB requests TIME, BTN/SB bets t325, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds Final Pot: t540 BTN/SB wins t540 Interesting hand. Like I was talking about the KJ float on low paired board, pretty sure matt is not bluffing river here too much once you call twice because your line looks like Ax A LOT. You can opt to checkraise flop if you don't know his barreling frequencies since all turn/rivers will suck pretty much and it's not gonna be hard to bluff you off a 4 by the river in general (unless in a spot like this where matt shouldn't be bluffing that much) because if 2 different overcards come you're gonna have a hard time bluffcatching and matt can valuebet/bluff quite a big range obv.

Quote: Hand #29 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715429 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2245 M = 49.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t755 M = 16.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 A Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t2245 all in, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120 Matt had AK here, pretty sure I'd just make a normal 3bet here with your hand since you don't have any push/fold history yet (unless in previous games which I don't know about). Just make it like 160-200 or something and prepare to get 4bet jammed on a lot by dominated hands.

AK is also good enough to like bet/call almost any board when maruchan would flat pre and pot is 360 with 560 behind or something. I wouldn't mind a jam with 20bb's or less but 25bb's is a bit much if you ask me.

Quote: Hand #30 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715430 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t2305 M = 51.22 Hero (BB): t695 M = 15.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t30

Quote: Hand #31 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715431 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2290 M = 50.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t710 M = 15.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30 Flop: (t120) K 8 T (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks

6

River: (t120) Q (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t120 BB shows 8 A (two pair, Queens and Eights) Hero shows 4 6 (a pair of Queens) BB wins t120 A bit too weak to defend with 64o at these stacksizes really. Again not the worst spot to bet turn and smallish river with almost entire range though I'd prefer at least SOME equity to do this (diamonds/Ax/Jx/9x obv).

Quote: Hand #32 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715432 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t2350 M = 52.22 Hero (BB): t650 M = 14.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #33 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715433 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2380 M = 52.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t620 M = 13.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with A

Q

Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #34 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715434 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t2350 M = 52.22 Hero (BB): t650 M = 14.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #35 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715435 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2380 M = 52.89 Hero (BTN/SB): t620 M = 13.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30 Flop: (t120) A J 3 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

K

Quote: Hand #36 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715436 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t2320 M = 51.56 Hero (BB): t680 M = 15.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Always curious why people defend like 64o but then for 1bb shallower stacks fold 75o. =)

Quote: Hand #37 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715437 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2350 M = 52.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t650 M = 14.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60 Matt had K3o here which I probably defend since it's not the worst bluffcatcher on some boards that maruchan won't be firing too much and we can still flop toppair with it and checkraise some boards as total bluff so that maruchan is in a ****ty spot regarding stacksizes.

Quote: Hand #38 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715438 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t2320 M = 51.56 Hero (BB): t680 M = 15.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 6 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) J 8 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) 6 (2 players) Hero bets t80, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Preflop defend again, questionable though I do this from time to time as well. Flop I'd check yeah, turn is a definite lead and I like your sizing a lot. Matt had A7o here and given that this board should smack maruchan's range pretty hard I like the checkback/give up (and bluffcatch some turns/rivers I guess or catch a 5outer to turn gin) since even hands like Q9o have like 40% here on this board and getting it in vs a checkraise is gonna be spew and you're gonna get checkraised so much here so looks fine.

Quote: Hand #39 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715439 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t2260 M = 50.22 Hero (BTN/SB): t740 M = 16.44

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

6

Flop: (t120) Q 6 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) 2 (2 players) BB bets t80, Hero calls t80 River: (t280) 7 (2 players) BB bets t180, Hero raises to t600 all in, BB folds Final Pot: t640 Hero wins t640 Fwiw, maruchan, you should def cbet more. Don't go into autochecking back bottom or middle pair really, cbetting will pick up the pot a lot really. If in this spot for example, matt checkraises, I'd just jam with middle pair (esp with a blocker against hands like 87). His checkraising will be a bluff enough % of the time to 3bet jam the flop I guess and if he has top pair so be it.

Matt had A2cc here, which I would've probably just jammed pre given that maruchan opens almost all buttons (though I don't mind flatting since it's suited really). Turn I probably c/f if I were matt, again, somewhat similar board to 2 previous times with lack of cbet but maruchan's range is pretty much middle/bottom pair at this point and no need to try to bluff him off it on this turn really given the boardstructure (and the fact that we will have cards 7-J a lot more than 2-6 in our range). Maruchan: checking back bottom/middle pair will just let your opponent either: - outdraw you on turn - put you in awkward spots when villain leads A TON of turncards - play pretty much perfect against your range on later streets with almost his entire range on certain board textures if he's somewhat thinking

Quote: Hand #40 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715440 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1940 M = 32.33 Hero (BB): t1060 M = 17.67 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80

Quote: Hand #41 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715441 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1980 M = 33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1020 M = 17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40 Flop: (t160) 3 3 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB calls t80 Turn: (t320) 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t320) A (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t320 BB mucks 9 Q Hero shows K 9

(a pair of Threes)

9

Hero wins t320 Float much yo? I don't mind the float THAT much but the better your absolute handstrength the better your float obv. Having KJ like I talked about earlier will be way better for a couple of reasons.

Quote: Hand #42 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715442 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1820 M = 30.33 Hero (BB): t1180 M = 19.67 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with K J BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t160) 5 8 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t80, Hero folds Final Pot: t160 BTN/SB wins t160 I don't think matt is too much of a spazzer so I wouldn't 3bet trying to get it in at this point so hand looks std from both.

Quote: Hand #43 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715443 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1900 M = 31.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1100 M = 18.33 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with Q T Hero raises to t80, BB raises to t220, Hero calls t140

Flop: (t440) J 6 4 (2 players) BB bets t250, Hero raises to t880 all in, BB folds Final Pot: t940 Hero wins t940 Matt had A9dd here and fwiw I really don't think he can cbet/fold this flop. You only need 28% to breakeven for a cbet/call here. Just look at this range which includes only toppair+ or flushdraws and it's a range that's not too wide/tight. Board: Jh 6s 4h Dead: equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 15.490% 15.49% 00.00% 10428 0.00 { Ad9d } Hand 1: 84.510% 84.51% 00.00% 56892 0.00 { QQ+, KhQh, KJs, KhTh, Kh9h, QJs, QhTh, Qh9h, J9s+, Th9h, Th8h, 9h8h, KJo, QJo, J9o+ } 15.5%, far from enough you think obv. However, just add like one hand in, say KQ, and also 87s that he defends for example and see how our equity shoots up: Board: Jh 6s 4h Dead: equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 27.158% 27.16% 00.00% 23391 0.00 { Ad9d } Hand 1: 72.842% 72.84% 00.00% 62739 0.00 { QQ+, KJs+, KhTh, Kh9h, QJs, QhTh, Qh9h, J9s+, Th9h, Th8h, 9h8h, 87s, KJo+, QJo, J9o+ } over 27% already and this only includes one spazzhand that we beat really. Especially with the cbetsize matt used I think this just invites getting jammed on by maruchan's entire range so either cbet/fold smaller (180-ish) or bet like this and then call a jam.

Quote:

Hand #44 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715444 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1430 M = 23.83 Hero (BB): t1570 M = 26.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold

7

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #45 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715445 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1410 M = 23.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1590 M = 26.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with K T Hero raises to t80, BB raises to t220, 1 fold Final Pot: t160 BB wins t160 Idk how you can fold here really. His frequency of 3betting so far has been high enough imo so that we're definitly not always dominated here (far from).

Quote: Hand #46 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715446 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1490 M = 24.83 Hero (BB): t1510 M = 25.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

9

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80

Quote: Hand #47 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715447 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1530 M = 25.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1470 M = 24.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t80, 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #48 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715448 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1490 M = 24.83 Hero (BB): t1510 M = 25.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40 Sick dodge matt!

Quote: Hand #49 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715449 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1470 M = 24.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1530 M = 25.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t80, 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #50 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715450 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1430 M = 23.83 Hero (BB): t1570 M = 26.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with J J BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero raises to t235, 1 fold Final Pot: t160 Hero wins t160 Obv 3bet but sizing looks a bit weird. 220 seemed to be standard so far, I would probably just use the same sizing here.

Quote: Hand #51 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715451 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1350 M = 22.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1650 M = 27.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t80, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #52 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715452 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1310 M = 21.83 Hero (BB): t1690 M = 28.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80

Quote: Hand #53 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715453 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1350 M = 22.50

Hero (BTN/SB): t1650 M = 27.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 1 fold Final Pot: t40 BB shows K K BB wins t40

2

(a pair of Kings)

Sick dodge from both sides.

Quote: Hand #54 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715454 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1370 M = 22.83 Hero (BB): t1630 M = 27.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80

Quote: Hand #55 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715455 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1410 M = 23.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t1590 M = 26.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t80, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #56 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715456 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1370 M = 22.83 Hero (BB): t1630 M = 27.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with Q 6 BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero raises to t230, BTN/SB calls t150 Flop: (t460) 5 Q 6 (2 players) Hero bets t230, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t460 Hero wins t460 Don't mind the bluff3bet too much really. I'd cbet slightly bigger to give him more incentive to bluffjam (like 250-280 will get more jams I think). Or maybe even just check in general, given that you didn't cbet middle/bottom pair so far (though this is a 3bet pot and obv a different spot, still...) I feel that matt will try and bluff you off a weak pair often enough here. Matt had T9 here, looks fine, I'd play it the same.

Quote: Hand #57 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715457 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1140 M = 19 Hero (BTN/SB): t1860 M = 31

Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40

5

Flop: (t160) K 4 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB raises to t230, Hero calls t150 Turn: (t620) A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t400, BB folds Final Pot: t620 Hero wins t620 Matt just LOVES to checkraise paried flops. He had QT with a diamond here, don't mind it too much really in this spot. Your turnbet seems a bit big fwiw but nothing too weird.

Quote: Hand #58 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715458 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t830 M = 13.83 Hero (BB): t2170 M = 36.17 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t80, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80

Quote: Hand #59 Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.25 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 715459 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t870 M = 14.50 Hero (BTN/SB): t2130 M = 35.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with K J Hero raises to t80, BB raises to t870 all in, Hero calls t790 Flop: (t1740) 6

5

K

Turn: (t1740) 8 River: (t1740) 9 Final Pot: t1740 BB shows 4 4 (a pair of Fours) Hero shows K J (a pair of Kings) Hero wins t1740 It's close really, we don't have much push/fold action so far which probably makes this a fold I guess. Only time was around 25bb's and matt had AKo though we didn't have any showdown. Pretty sure his range is gonna be mainly Ax and low pocket pairs and messing with stove a bit and adding like 2 spazzhands which we crush makes it like a coinflip so just flip a coin really or see how much you wanna gamble.

SPAMZ ' TENTH HAND HISTORY R EVIEW Villain is yaqh from 2+2 for who I did a hh review before (though I don't remember too much of his game particularly, so I'm just gonna assume villain is a winning reg)

Quote: Hand #1 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717744 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1500 M = 50 BTN/SB: t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 Standard fold, no need to get fancy first few hands obv.

Quote: Hand #2 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717745

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1480 M = 49.33 BB: t1520 M = 50.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

A

Flop: (t80) 6 5 J (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB calls t60 Turn: (t200) 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t100, BB calls t100 River: (t400) 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Final Pot: t400 Hero shows 5 A (two pair, Sixes and Fives) BB shows 5 9 (two pair, Nines and Sixes) BB wins t400 Biggish pot from the bat. Ehm, interesting spot. Preflop and flop are both standard/fine for both obv. Turnbet is interesting and I don't mind it, though it can go either way. I would expect a good player to checkraise most draws on this type of board anyway, so he either has like trips now, Jx that he didn't raise on flop, or a worse 5x and some pocket pairs between J and 6. Two things to notice though: 1) If yaqh has flatted any random draw or float or whatever, he can definitly be aware that his range has most 6x hands in it so he can definitly checkraise bluff this turn against you. 2) Yaqh really shouldn't be calling on turn here with mere 5x if you ask me. I don't expect to be barreled a lot here and we're pretty much crushed by any valuerange here. Even like a flushdraw still has 2 live overs, 8 clean clubs and 3 jacks to counterfed (which is something you shouldn't take too lightly really, having almost playing the board once every 15 times you're in this spot and **** you can do about it). Looking back I don't really feel the need to bet the turn here with

A5 given that I don't think he calls too much with 5x anyway (he shouldn't really), and if he has some sort of draw we can bluffcatch river anyway on a decent enough amount of cards and we don't risk on getting bluffcheckraised on turn (which yaqh should've done instead of calling). Main reason for not betting is that there's just so little value in it (if at all, doubt we beat yaqh's range that continues past this point by much) and you're often just valuetowning yourself.

Quote: Hand #3 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717746 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1280 M = 42.67 BTN/SB: t1720 M = 57.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20

Quote: Hand #4 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717747 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1290 M = 43 BB: t1710 M = 57 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t40, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

9

Quote: Hand #5 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717748 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1310 M = 43.67 BTN/SB: t1690 M = 56.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with J Q BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) K 5 6 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero raises to t200, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t240 Hero wins t240 I don't mind a checkraise here that much given that we have enough cards to double barrel as a (semi-)bluff with all our backdoor equity and it's not a board villain has a ton of hands on that he can continu with anyway.

Quote: Hand #6 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717749 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1430 M = 47.67 BB: t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A 6 Hero raises to t40, BB raises to t140, Hero calls t100 Flop: (t280) J 4 5 (2 players) BB bets t180, Hero folds

Final Pot: t280 BB wins t280 Preflop looks close but fine I guess with those stacksizes behind. Idk how much of a spite3bettor yaqh is really given we checkraised him last time though it's not completely relevant. I wouldn't get too fancy right away but if you want to continu on certain boards where you don't flop a pair or decent draw, this is about as good as it gets. Vs AA for example you still got close to 10% equity which just comes from backdoor straights and flushes obv and there's a ton of turncards that give us a decent amount of equity that we can either take it away on or jam over a double barrel and barely need fold equity to make it the correct play. Also, I don't expect him to think that we call 3bets too light early on and once we call the flop our range will be like Jx, some middling pocket pairs, and maybe a float with KQ/AQ/AK if we didn't 3bet those. Also note that your Ax is about as bad as it gets, A2s-A5s is pretty much always gonna be better/easier to play since flopping a gutshot will add a whopping 20% equity to our hand. However, just folding is fine as well obv, just pointing some things out here in case you're getting carddead against an aggro opponent or smth. =) Quote: Hand #7 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717750 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1290 M = 43 BTN/SB: t1710 M = 57 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40

5

BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #8 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717751 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1270 M = 42.33 BB: t1730 M = 57.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

9

Flop: (t80) 9 K A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB folds Final Pot: t80 Hero wins t80

Quote: Hand #9 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717752 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1310 M = 43.67 BTN/SB: t1690 M = 56.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 7 K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) 8 T 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

River: (t120) 4 (2 players) Hero bets t80, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Interesting hand. Flop you can opt to lead since in general, the T and 8 will hit your range a bit harder than it would hit villains range (which is just a lot bigger in general obv) and you can do it with a wide range of hands really since I don't expect too much random floats for more than 1 street. Once it gets checked through though, I kind of prefer leading turn here. Not that he can't have a better king here, but I would expect his checkbackrange to be more like Ax or low pocket pairs, so I'd much rather c/c A5hh on an Ac turn then K7hh on Kc turn because of potcontrol and he's more likely to be betting those. Also, the board is quite drawy, and yaqh can think that you won't be leading 8x or Tx on this turn and can decide his 55 is good enough to call turn and bluffcatch a ton of rivers for example. Or call a turnbet with AJ/AQ while otherwise he would probably check back again.

Quote: Hand #10 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717753 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 BB: t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20

7

Quote: Hand #11 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717754 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #12 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717755 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1340 M = 44.67 BB: t1660 M = 55.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t40, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #13 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717756 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20

Quote: Hand #14 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717757 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 BB: t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20

Quote: Hand #15 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717758 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20 Looks like he's somewhat nitty'er than I'd expect to open his buttons, though obv very small sample but still... He's not autoraising ATC. =)

Quote: Hand #16 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717759 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 BB: t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Hero raises to t40, 1 fold

8

Final Pot: t40 Hero wins t40

Quote: Hand #17 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717760 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1390 M = 46.33 BTN/SB: t1610 M = 53.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote:

4

Hand #18 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717761 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1370 M = 45.67 BB: t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold

9

Final Pot: t20 BB wins t20

Quote: Hand #19 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717762 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1360 M = 45.33 BTN/SB: t1640 M = 54.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 6 T BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) J 4 K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero raises to t200, BTN/SB calls t140 Turn: (t520) A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t520) 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t520 Hero shows 6 T (a pair of Fours) BTN/SB shows 7 K (two pair, Kings and Fours)

BTN/SB wins t520 Another interesting hand. Preflop looks fine, flop looks standard from both players without metagame. From yaqh's point of view: If you have some history to suspect villain spazzes, you can just make a small 3bet to 430-ish on flop and expect to get jammed by any Kx/Jx/4x/flushdraw/straightdraw/random napkins from time to time and we pretty much crush that range and villain will think you're bluffing often enough. However, against a somewhat more normal/good/nonspazzy player, flatting flop seems fine. It keeps in all worse draws and we're only just flipping against a hand like KT really so no need to do that if we don't have to (unless you think villain would be able to fold a hand like that on flop if you took some particular action, which I doubt). From IT's point of view: I don't see why you're not barreling turn really... You picked up some extra outs and - while this is not the case now - your flushdraw is gonna be live here 90%+ of the time if you ask me. Which hands of villain improve on this turn? AK/AJ/QT/AhXh/AQ/AT and that's about it really... If he's any good he should know that with a hand like QJ/JT you may have turned some more equity against toppair from the flop, but in general that card wasn't too good for his range (especially since you never 3bet pre before which means your flattingrange can include big hands like AT+ or JJ+ as well). Also, note how little he has to fold on turn really to make barreling profitable! Let's assume our flush is always good and our 3 outs to nuts may have no implied odds but if we hit we will never lose the pot really, so we got 12 outs on 46 cards to come. Just looking at pot odds, you're gonna bink 27.xx% of the time on river. That means that - if we were to check - we can call up to 60% potbet with ZERO implied odds! That's huge! Why don't you just bet it yourself then for around that size? Any time villain folds we gain immediate profit (and trust me, on this board, villain should/will fold a lot of Jx and some Kx as well and you can still vbet like AT+/QT/strong Kx on this card). If he calls, and we miss, fine. I'd probably just give up. Maybe make a fake blockbet depending on rivercard. If we bink, NICE, huge pot, try to get some value by betting accordingly.

Quote: Hand #20 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717763 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1100 M = 36.67 BB: t1900 M = 63.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t40, BB calls t20

T

Flop: (t80) 5 2 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t40, BB raises to t120, Hero folds Final Pot: t160 BB wins t160 Wouldn't mind a float here with a wide range and these stacksizes to bluffraise some turns though just do it like when you have the ace of spades instead of the ten of spades for frequency. Also more a fan of floating KsQx here for some reason I got from sklansky's limit book iirc. Two things to notice here: 1) An ace will help your range a lot more in general if you call/float this flop so if he c/f's on Ax turn, it doesn't matter whether we had Ax or KQ. 2) People tend to defend way more Ax than Kx or Qx in general. So he can easily have A5/A6 here in which case we only have 3 outs and bad reverse implied odds on an ace hitting. 3) People won't put too many Kx/Qx hand into your floating range compared to Ax so you have some implied odds on them when hitting.

Quote: Hand #21 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717764 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t1020 M = 34 BTN/SB: t1980 M = 66 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

A

Final Pot: t20 Hero wins t20 BOOOOOOOO, open you nit!

Quote: Hand #22 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717765 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1030 M = 22.89 BB: t1970 M = 43.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 1 fold

5

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30

Quote: Hand #23 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717766 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1015 M = 22.56 BTN/SB: t1985 M = 44.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) A

2

3

(2 players)

Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Wouldn't mind a float here since I don't expect to get barreled too often on this board but would prefer like a diamiond in our hand.

Quote: Hand #24 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717767 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t955 M = 21.22 BB: t2045 M = 45.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

9

Flop: (t120) 6 8 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t120) 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB calls t90 River: (t300) T (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t180, BB requests TIME, BB calls t180 Final Pot: t660 Hero shows T 9 BB mucks Q 8 Hero wins t660

(two pair, Tens and Fives)

Ehm, I don't mind a checkback on this board too much really, since he checkraise a really wet board before and we folded (though floptexture was a ton lower than this last time). Thing is, I feel that against a decent player you have to balance your range a bit here not to get bet of almost every turncard. So if you want some strong checking back hands in your range here

(I had a good discussion about this with barewire a couple of weeks ago), you should pick some flushdraws imo like even pair + gutter + fd like 95dd or 54dd or just like 432dd pick two or basically any flushdraw that can continu on a ton of turncards if we get lead. There's just no way somebody will put you on a strong hand/draw like that checking back and we have decent implied odds when we do hit. If there's a flushdraw and straightdraw out there, flushdraw is the king obv. If I were yaqh I'd probably lead this board tbh, because I don't expect this to cbet that lightly to begin with like hero indeed did not do. As played I'd either lead turn or c/c since once we check I believe that hero will rep the 5 pretty bad or try to just stab with ATC (whether it's A-high or trips) because it looks like we caught no piece of the board and just gave up. But yeah, yaqh, I'd probably lead flop here with your hand. Riverbet from hero seems fine, and calling is pretty close if I were in yaqh's spot though I wouldn't get to river this way really (this being one of the reasons, checkraising flop with Q8 would be somewhat overvalueing our hand on a drawy board like that and half the deck are "guessing cards" for us and we don't know yet how much hero barrels really (but given from the T4hh hand, I don't think hero will fire that liberalitly on every turn card in which case c/c with Q8 because slightly better).

Quote: Hand #25 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717768 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1285 M = 28.56 BTN/SB: t1715 M = 38.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #26 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717769 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1255 M = 27.89 BB: t1745 M = 38.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

7

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #27 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717770 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1285 M = 28.56 BTN/SB: t1715 M = 38.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 7 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 I probably defend here vs just a minraise with not too much wildness happening before.

Quote:

Hand #28 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717771 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1255 M = 27.89 BB: t1745 M = 38.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 1 fold

T

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30

Quote: Hand #29 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717772 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1240 M = 27.56 BTN/SB: t1760 M = 39.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 5 T BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) 7 Q 9 (2 players) Hero bets t90, BTN/SB calls t90 Turn: (t300) Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t300) J (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t300 Hero shows 5 T (a pair of Queens) BTN/SB mucks 3 4

Hero wins t300 Interesting, another flushdraw against flushdraw. Finally a donkbet, I like. Float from yaqh is also fine, flushdraw > straightdraw, no need to start raising flop here because with all the draws out there I expect to get jammed a ****ton. Turncard is really really interesting imo. I don't expect yaqh to fold 2nd pair here really, or KK+ if he flatted that, but I still wouldn't mind a bet to get out draws. Thing is, there's just so many draws out there that we can just fire again with our hand (that still has equity, esp once yaqh calls the turn, I'm guessing our Tx is good around 75% of the time or something) and our flush will be live most of the time again. If he has Qx he can raise us of our hand, but it's not like we're gonna be c/c'ing with a Thigh flushdraw on an already paired board anyway or smth. We can def have Qx here in our range, a bunch of draws and a decent amount of 9x as well (maybe even 7x) so I think leading again here looks fine given the boardtexture (though I'm not a huge fan of leading pairing boardcards in general too light). That being said, I really think yaqh should bet the turn here once hero checks to him. His range is pretty much faceup to draws at this point and yaqh can def have Qx or strong top two pair in his range here (which is std to flat the flop with imo if we get lead most of the time, unless we have like KQ or QJ which has a blocker or smth). If you had like the nutflushdraw I don't mind checking back because: 1) We have showdown value for some part and can't really valuebet against draws at this point (hero shouldn't be c/c'ing any draws at this turn really, unless it's to checkjam most rivers whether he hits or misses to rep trips/boat I guess but that's really FPS). 2) We keep in worse flushdraws (which is a small part of one's range, but just keeping in worse draws in general is good because if hero has an openender, two of his straightouts are flushes for us and 2 of his pairouts as well).

Quote:

Hand #30 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717773 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1390 M = 30.89 BB: t1610 M = 35.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t30

Quote: Hand #31 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717774 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1375 M = 30.56 BTN/SB: t1625 M = 36.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) T 4 Q (2 players) Hero bets t90, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 I'd prefer a checkraise here a bit more since I expect a decent amount of cbets on this texture fwiw though leading is fine as well obv.

Quote: Hand #32

Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717775 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1435 M = 31.89 BB: t1565 M = 34.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 4 Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120

Quote: Hand #33 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717776 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1375 M = 30.56 BTN/SB: t1625 M = 36.11 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with J BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #34 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717777 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1345 M = 29.89 BB: t1655 M = 36.78

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

6

Flop: (t120) 9 Q 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120 Cbet size looks a bit big in general I guess though you've been using that on wet boards that you lead out as well so I don't mind it as much really given that you use it for all t120 pots so far regardless of position.

Quote: Hand #35 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717778 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1405 M = 31.22 BTN/SB: t1595 M = 35.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q J BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) 4 4 A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t30, Hero raises to t120, BTN/SB raises to t210, Hero folds Final Pot: t360 BTN/SB wins t360 Repping much yo? You've taken a ton of pots lately, I'd just let this one go and not try to win every hand. Pick something with at least SOME equity when called, 53s or a low-mid pocket pair or some backdoor flushdraw perhaps. You shouldn't be checkraising this board often really.

Quote: Hand #36 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717779 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1225 M = 27.22 BB: t1775 M = 39.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #37 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717780 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1255 M = 27.89 BTN/SB: t1745 M = 38.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 5 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 I defend here once in a blue moon though I'd prefer hearts obv in 2010.

Quote: Hand #38 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717781 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t1225 M = 27.22 BB: t1775 M = 39.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t60 Hero wins t60 Std, like your sizing.

Quote: Hand #39 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717782 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t1255 M = 27.89 BTN/SB: t1745 M = 38.78 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with T T BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero raises to t210, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #40 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717783 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1315 M = 29.22 BB: t1685 M = 37.44 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t30

5

Flop: (t120) T 7 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t60, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #41 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717784 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BTN/SB): t1290 M = 21.50 BB: t1710 M = 28.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t80, BB calls t40

Q

Flop: (t160) 3 T 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t160) 3 (2 players) BB bets t80, Hero raises to t280, BB raises to t480, Hero folds Final Pot: t720 BB wins t720 You get 2 buttons in a row? MBN to be you sir. a hand or smth here I guess.

HH file missed

Ehm, again FPS much? Repping a really narrow range. There's no shame in cbetting and just folding when you get raised really, although villain is only repping like one card of the board. I wouldn't mind like cbetting t80 here and if he raises to t240 or smth and you think he's fos a lot, then you can like either jam or make it 640 which looks super committing.

Quote:

Hand #42 Full Tilt Poker $100 + $5 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 717785 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t930 M = 15.50 BTN/SB: t2070 M = 34.50 Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with A J BTN/SB raises to t80, Hero raises to t280, BTN/SB calls t200 Flop: (t560) Q 4 J (2 players) Hero bets t650 all in, BTN/SB calls t650 Turn: (t1860) 9 River: (t1860) K

(2 players - 1 is all in) (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t1860 Hero shows A J (a pair of Jacks) BTN/SB shows Q T (a straight, King high) BTN/SB wins t1860 Don't mind it too much, yaqh's call pre looks pretty bad with only slightly over pot behind. Even if your range would be superwide and include some mid-small pocket pairs and almost no QQ+ with your sizing and for the rest AT+ and KJ+ or smth, he's still not getting the odds to call pre if you ask me since he has to go with any piece of the board he catches and in general your range will have him dominated way more often than the other way around.

SPAMZ ' ELEVENTH HAND HISTOR Y REVIEW Quote: Hand #1 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 722998 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1500 M = 50 Hero (BB): t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #2 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 722999 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1520 M = 50.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1480 M = 49.33

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t40

J

J

About the loosest I'd open vs unknown but seems fine.

Quote: Hand #3 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723000 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1500 M = 50 Hero (BB): t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

Quote: Hand #4 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723001 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1490 M = 49.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t30

3

BB wins t20 (Rake: t10) Open J4o but not Q3o? Bit weird if you ask me.

Quote: Hand #5 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723002 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1500 M = 50 Hero (BB): t1500 M = 50 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with T BTN/SB calls t10, Hero checks

2

Flop: (t40) A 5 5 (2 players) Hero bets t30, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks T Hero wins t40

2

I don't mind a lead in a good spot though wouldn't do it this early. 1) It's great info to see how he plays limped pots since he'll likely do it again... Like does he stab 1bb or 2bb, does he check back non-hit hands, etc. 2) If we c/f couple of times and lead other boards he'll think we just play fit/fold quite easily.

Quote: Hand #6 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723003

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1480 M = 49.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1520 M = 50.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 2 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 2 Hero wins t40

9

9

He doesn't seem to defend too light OOP so far so open a ton if you ask me. Small sample, etc, I know, but we have to work with what we got.

Quote: Hand #7 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723004 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1460 M = 48.67 Hero (BB): t1540 M = 51.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 8 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 8 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

T

T

Quote: Hand #8 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723005 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1450 M = 48.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1550 M = 51.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 1 fold

6

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t20 (Rake: t10) Just open, really. Your openingrange seems to be totally random so far. Care to explain a bit or something? Quote: Hand #9 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723006 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1460 M = 48.67 Hero (BB): t1540 M = 51.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #10 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723007 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1480 M = 49.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1520 M = 50.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6

3

1 fold Final Pot: t30 BB wins t20 (Rake: t10) Agree that this is a fold though.

Quote: Hand #11 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723008 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1490 M = 49.67 Hero (BB): t1510 M = 50.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) Q 8 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t80, Hero folds Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 Looks std, no need to get fancy, nh.

Quote: Hand #12 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723009 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1550 M = 51.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1450 M = 48.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 7 Hero wins t40

J

Quote: Hand #13 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723010 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1530 M = 51 Hero (BB): t1470 M = 49 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks K Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

A

A

Quote: Hand #14 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723011 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1520 M = 50.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1480 M = 49.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with K 4 Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120

Quote:

Hand #15 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723012 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1580 M = 52.67 Hero (BB): t1420 M = 47.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t30 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

Quote: Hand #16 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723013 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1570 M = 52.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1430 M = 47.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 9 Hero wins t40

9

9

Quote: Hand #17 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723014 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1550 M = 51.67 Hero (BB): t1450 M = 48.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 6 6 BTN/SB raises to t40, Hero calls t20 Flop: (t80) T 7 A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t80) K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t40, Hero folds Final Pot: t80 BTN/SB wins t80 I'd lead a bunch of hands here on turn after he checks back flop but not 66, just doesn't have equity at all. =)

Quote: Hand #18 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723015 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1590 M = 53 Hero (BTN/SB): t1410 M = 47 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

5

Flop: (t120) J 9 6 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks A 5 Hero wins t120 Cbetting here looks REALLY close. He doesn't seem to defend too light so there's only so many hands we'll let him fold by cbetting. Ax mainly, 22-55/77-88 and that's about it really on this type of board. I don't mind it as much with the Ad since we have

some (barreling) equity but I probably just give up on this and check back. Might cbet like AQ with a diamond or something but looks to me like the fold equity you have is pretty minimal and chance of improving not that great either.

Quote: Hand #19 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723016 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1530 M = 51 Hero (BB): t1470 M = 49 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K T BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero raises to t200, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks K T Hero wins t120 Why are you 3betting this? He seems pretty TAG-ish so far and I don't think there's gonna be too many dominated hands in his callingrange. Seems like you're wasting your easy to play/strong hand by turning it into a bluff really. Wouldn't mind a 3bet with K2o for example against this opponent (who I think will fold a decent amoun), but KT is just a waste imo.

Quote: Hand #20 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723017 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1470 M = 49 Hero (BTN/SB): t1530 M = 51 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

4

Flop: (t120) A 8 A (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB raises to t200, Hero calls t120 Turn: (t520) 3 (2 players) BB bets t444, Hero folds Final Pot: t520 BB wins t520 Why are you calling flop here, really? You think he's full of **** that much? This is your equity against a RANDOM hand (which includes like 32o etc): Board: Ah As 8h Dead: equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 53.184% 50.76% 02.42% 543240 25926.00 { 4h4s } Hand 1: 46.816% 44.39% 02.42% 475098 25926.00 { random } Not doing too great right? Just think about the fact that you're gonna end up with playing the board 12% of the time alone or something. If you really think he's fos that much, 3bet flop to 380 or something small and that's it, calling is just never an option really (that being said I would just fold here and move on, esp since he c/f'ed the J96dd flop it's a bit less likely he will go out of line). Also, if he has a flushdraw, he has you beat equitywise. + You're gonna hate life on every turn (except 4x obv), even if he doesn't bet, what's the plan if he checks on 9s turn or smth? Quote: Hand #21 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723018 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1730 M = 57.67 Hero (BB): t1270 M = 42.33

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

A

A

Quote: Hand #22 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723019 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1720 M = 57.33 Hero (BTN/SB): t1280 M = 42.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

K

Flop: (t120) 5 2 T (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB calls t80 Turn: (t280) 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t280) 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t160, BB calls t160 Final Pot: t600 BB mucks 9 K Hero shows 8 K Hero wins t600

(a pair of Eights)

Like it a lot, betsizing looks fine. Nh, well played.

Quote:

Hand #23 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723020 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1420 M = 47.33 Hero (BB): t1580 M = 52.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

K

K

Quote: Hand #24 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723021 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BTN/SB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with J Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks J Hero wins t40

9

9

Quote: Hand #25 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723022 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1390 M = 46.33 Hero (BB): t1610 M = 53.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 6 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

9

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #26 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723023 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BTN/SB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks K Hero wins t40

J

J

Quote: Hand #27 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723024 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1390 M = 46.33 Hero (BB): t1610 M = 53.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 3 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 3 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

2

Quote: Hand #28 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723025 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1380 M = 46 Hero (BTN/SB): t1620 M = 54 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 2 Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120

Quote: Hand #29 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723026 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1440 M = 48 Hero (BB): t1560 M = 52 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks 2 Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

6

6

Quote: Hand #30 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723027 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t40

4

4

Quote: Hand #31 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723028 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

K

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40 I defend here, he probably doesn't spazz that much. Lead a bunch of flops/turns vs this guy though, he'll play pretty fit/fold if you ask me.

Quote:

Hand #32 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723029 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1430 M = 47.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1570 M = 52.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Hero raises to t60, 1 fold Final Pot: t40 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t40

4

4

This really must be your favorite hand. Quote: Hand #33 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723030 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

7

7

Quote: Hand #34 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723031 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: t1400 M = 46.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1600 M = 53.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t20 (Rake: t10)

Quote: Hand #35 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723032 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1410 M = 47 Hero (BB): t1590 M = 53 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 9 T BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t40 Flop: (t120) 5 9 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) 3 (2 players) Hero bets t80, BTN/SB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks 9 T Hero wins t120 Looks fine. Wouldn't mind a lead flop here either because I expect most villains to peel at least one then fold turn unimproved. I'd expect a lot of people to even call a 2nd barrel with any Ax hands on this turn and check back river as well fwiw. Quote:

Hand #36 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723033 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1350 M = 45 Hero (BTN/SB): t1650 M = 55 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold

J

Final Pot: t30 BB wins t20 (Rake: t10)

Quote: Hand #37 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723034 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1360 M = 45.33 Hero (BB): t1640 M = 54.67 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t40 BTN/SB wins t40

Quote: Hand #38 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723035 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1380 M = 46

Hero (BTN/SB): t1620 M = 54 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 5 Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

T

Flop: (t120) 4 2 5 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB folds Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks 5 T Hero wins t120

Quote: Hand #39 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723036 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1320 M = 44 Hero (BB): t1680 M = 56 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with Q 1 fold Final Pot: t30 Hero mucks Q Hero wins t20 (Rake: t10)

8

8

Quote: Hand #40 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723037 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1310 M = 43.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1690 M = 56.33

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 T Hero raises to t60, BB raises to t180, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 BB wins t120

Quote: Hand #41 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723038 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1370 M = 45.67 Hero (BB): t1630 M = 54.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with J K BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero raises to t200, 1 fold Final Pot: t120 Hero mucks J K Hero wins t120 He folded to your first 3bet so again I don't see the value in 3betting a hand like this. Especially suited, plays soooo easy postflop really and we want to keep dominated hands in. Quote: Hand #42 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723039 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1310 M = 43.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1690 M = 56.33 Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with T Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40

9

Flop: (t120) 3 K T (2 players) BB bets t80, Hero raises to t220, BB folds Final Pot: t280 Hero mucks T 9 Hero wins t280 Why on earth are you raising here? All hands that continu here have like 35% equity against you or more (naked flushdraw), other hands have us crushed (better Tx or Kx) and we're flipping against QJ. Those hands will stay in the pot if we raise, on a board like this, all other hands have like 10% (two undercards i'm talking about) and that's it. Just flat and see a turn.

Quote: Hand #43 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723040 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1170 M = 26 Hero (BB): t1830 M = 40.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 9 9 BTN/SB calls t15, Hero raises to t105, BTN/SB calls t75 Flop: (t210) A 5 T (2 players) Hero bets t150, BTN/SB calls t150 Turn: (t510) A (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t510) 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t360, Hero calls t360 Final Pot: t1230 BTN/SB shows J A Hero mucks 9 9 BTN/SB wins t1230

(three of a kind, Aces)

Raise preflop seems fine for obvious reason, so does cbet. Turn I like a check, just give up really. No chance we bluff him off Tx or Ax, and trying to get value against 5x looks thin because he can fold those so we don't really beat his callingrange if you ask me. River is 100% check/fold once you decide to check though! KJ/KQ check back for showdown value, QJ might do the same, 432 pick two either rivered a pair or a straight and straights bet. Tx will bet if you check, so does Ax, 5x won't. However, given that he called in that ridic spot with K9-high, I feel that a small bet is by far best play here. 150-200 would do the trick and you'll get called by KQ/KJ/43/42/5x and maybe QJ or some small pocket pairs.

Quote: Hand #44 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723041 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1785 M = 39.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1215 M = 27 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with A Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

Q

Flop: (t150) 8 2 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB raises to t240, Hero folds Final Pot: t330 BB wins t330 Fwiw, I'd love a float here 1000x more than the 44 on AA8hh really. Villain seems stationy enough that our overcards will have some implied odds, we got a backdoor 2card flushdraw as well which adds another 4% equity. We're getting over 3-1 on the checkraise so I think peeling is pretty close to being ev+. Hard to do the math here really and - as said before - slightly better to peel here with KQcc for example but still I'd definitly consider it

vs this guy. Not saying I'd do it as a standard, definitly would consider vs villain though.

Quote: Hand #45 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723042 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1950 M = 43.33 Hero (BB): t1050 M = 23.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 6 1 fold Final Pot: t45 Hero mucks 6 Hero wins t30 (Rake: t15)

Q

Q

Quote: Hand #46 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723043 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1935 M = 43 Hero (BTN/SB): t1065 M = 23.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with T 1 fold Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15)

4

Quote: Hand #47 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723044 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1950 M = 43.33 Hero (BB): t1050 M = 23.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 2 BTN/SB raises to t75, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Probably defend here and donk a bunch of flops/turns again. Quote: Hand #48 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723045 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1980 M = 44 Hero (BTN/SB): t1020 M = 22.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with K Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

7

Flop: (t150) 2 T J (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t150) K (2 players) BB bets t90, Hero calls t90 River: (t330) 7 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t240, BB calls t240 Final Pot: t810 BB mucks J Q Hero shows K 7

(two pair, Kings and Sevens)

Hero wins t810 I don't hate a checkback that much since he seems really checkraise happy so far (well, to some extent), though I think he won't be doing it as a bluff TOO much anymore (if he ever had a bluff before) and most people play straightforward on a flop like this (they just fold 2 cards between 3 and 9 really, or low pocket pairs). Rest of hand seems fine as played, like your river sizing since he will bluffcatch a lot.

Quote: Hand #49 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723046 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1575 M = 35 Hero (BB): t1425 M = 31.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 6 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

Q

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #50 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723047 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1605 M = 35.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1395 M = 31 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 1 fold

3

Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15)

Quote: Hand #51 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723048 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1620 M = 36 Hero (BB): t1380 M = 30.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 3 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60

Quote: Hand #52 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723049 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1650 M = 36.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1350 M = 30 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 Hero raises to t75, 1 fold Final Pot: t60 Hero mucks 9 Hero wins t60

8

8

Quote: Hand #53 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723050 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1620 M = 36 Hero (BB): t1380 M = 30.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 I definitly defend this.

Quote: Hand #54 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723051 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1650 M = 36.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1350 M = 30 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with Q 1 fold

4

Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15)

Quote: Hand #55 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723052 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN/SB: t1665 M = 37 Hero (BB): t1335 M = 29.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with K 6 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) K 7 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t60, Hero calls t60 Turn: (t240) T (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t120, Hero calls t120 River: (t480) 3 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t270, Hero calls t270 Final Pot: t1020 BTN/SB shows Q Hero shows K 6 Hero wins t1020

Q (a pair of Queens) (a pair of Kings)

Looks fine, well played, river is close though. I can definitly see him valuebet less (we still beat 2 Kx hands, not much but still), a strong Tx or QQ-JJ here. Backdoor hearts also missed etc, blabla, std hand, well played.

Quote: Hand #56 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723053 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1155 M = 25.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1845 M = 41 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t75, 1 fold Final Pot: t60 Hero mucks 6

8

8

Hero wins t60

Quote: Hand #57 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723054 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1125 M = 25 Hero (BB): t1875 M = 41.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with Q BTN/SB raises to t60, 1 fold

2

Final Pot: t60 BTN/SB wins t60 Again, I'd defend here vs minraise. Quote: Hand #58 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723055 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1155 M = 25.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1845 M = 41 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 1 fold Final Pot: t45 BB wins t30 (Rake: t15)

Quote: Hand #59

6

Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723056 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1170 M = 26 Hero (BB): t1830 M = 40.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 2 2 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) 9 Q J (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) 7 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks River: (t120) Q (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB mucks 6 K Hero shows 2 2 (two pair, Queens and Deuces) Hero wins t120 Looks fine, just give up once a flop like that hits, turncard isn't too good either. River looks really thin, even though he's stationy, he'll have 9x or 7x or a pocket pair a bunch of the time that still beats us so just check and hope to take it down. Wouldn't mind a 3bet pre either since he folded to all 3bets pre and if he does call, we can still flop a set or cbet/give up certain textures. Quote: Hand #60 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723057 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1110 M = 24.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1890 M = 42

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

A

Flop: (t150) 5 4 2 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB raises to t210, Hero folds Final Pot: t330 BB wins t330 Looks fine, given that an 8 can give us the 2nd best hand some of the time, just fold. Might check back flop though and call a lot of turn barrels from him. Or float vs the checkraise with like AThh some %. Quote: Hand #61 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723058 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1275 M = 28.33 Hero (BB): t1725 M = 38.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 4 1 fold Final Pot: t45 Hero mucks 4 Hero wins t30 (Rake: t15)

A

A

Quote: Hand #62 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723059 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1260 M = 28

Hero (BTN/SB): t1740 M = 38.67 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

5

Flop: (t150) J 9 T (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks Turn: (t150) 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero checks River: (t150) 4 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets t90, BB folds Final Pot: t150 Hero mucks 6 5 Hero wins t150 I like it, well played. Flop is pretty horrible to cbet and we're gonna be able to take it away on at least some turns/rivers if he checks to us.

Quote: Hand #63 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723060 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN/SB: t1185 M = 26.33 Hero (BB): t1815 M = 40.33 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with 8 9 BTN/SB raises to t60, Hero calls t30 Flop: (t120) K A 5 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB checks Turn: (t120) K (2 players) Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t120, Hero folds

Final Pot: t120 BTN/SB wins t120 I wouldn't mind a floplead on this board fwiw, he'll play really straightforward if you ask me and fold a bunch of hands that have no equity on this texture anyway.

Quote: Hand #64 Poker Stars $5.00+$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 723061 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: t1245 M = 27.67 Hero (BTN/SB): t1755 M = 39 Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 Hero raises to t75, BB calls t45

A

Flop: (t150) 7 7 J (2 players) BB bets t90, Hero raises to t210, BB raises to t480, Hero calls t270 Turn: (t1110) K (2 players) BB bets t690 all in, Hero calls t690 River: (t2490) K

(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t2490 BB shows Q T (two pair, Kings and Sevens) Hero shows 7 A (a full house, Sevens full of Kings) Hero wins t2490 I really don't like the flop raise here fwiw. We don't have any incentive to think that he'll spazz out like he did (although you did raise 1/1 donkbets, but that's been a while ago). Also, notice how he didn't donkbet his QJ on JT2tt but lead/folded a KT3tt board and checkraised a ton before (or check/folded or check/called) so if you ask me, his leads are just fos all the time and his checkraises are valuehands (and

sometimes (semi-)bluffs maybe, no showdown from that so far). Would be really valuable if you could get some rematches against this guy fwiw because that's a pretty big tell we got here that's easy to exploit. Just call the floplead and let him fire most turns here.

A B AD H ABIT OF 3- BETTING AND R ANGE C HOICE First I'd like to start of with the concept of c-betting, and how it's been widely overused. In a vaccuum, the c-bet is essentially the perfect play to make at all times regardless of your holdings and playing against a player X. The reason being that since your opponent will hit a hand (including a pair or better or some kind of draw) around 1/3 of the time, you will show automatic profit betting any flop, even hands that have showdown value. The problem is that when taken out of the context of a vaccuum players are still c-betting against players that they have specific reads on with hands that either do or do not have showdown value, and they c-bets aren't working. This is because rarely can a hand be taken in a vaccuum. Sure, c-bets can be highly profitable, but if you are c-betting 100% of the flops that you've raised preflop then your opponents will adjust (even the BAD opponents), and what should be a highly profitable strategy has just become an exploitable one. This is what is happening with 3-betting. When player X raises on the button, many players will 3-bet way too many of their hands from the blinds (not 100%, but a number

that's exploitable). While, in a vaccuum, 3-betting every single time is most likely a +ev play, by virtue of the fact that we aren't playing in a vaccuum, makes it highly exploitable. The reason 3betting has become so rampant is that many players aren't willing to battle against 3-betting as they are against C-betting, however, those who are absolutely dominate rampant 3-bettors. So what hands should we 3-bet against what players? That could turn into a very long post, so I'd like to narrow my focus to one hand: KQ. Let's use the example of a 25/22 button opening and we are in the BB after the SB has folded. We know that KQ is doing really well against button's range and we know that the button is probably raising too often on the button. So what do most people do? They go right ahead and repop right there. Now, unless you have such extensive history with the button where you can go broke on any TP flop, I contend that repopping here is an egregious mistake. For some reason, many people in today's games feeling that outplaying someone comes just as much preflop as it does postflop, which leads to some very serious leaks (too loose preflop to work on image, then too passive preflop when people adjust and hero misses everything). It's more important to think about how someone's preflop game can HELP someone's postflop game. So, back to KQ. So, if we reraise with KQ, we give the button 3 decisions, F/C/R. It's likely he's going to fold the majority of his hands, let's say KT