m0niker group sweat review 1 - 100NL Absolute
19 February 2008
This week was my turn for the Millennium Group sweat with Brian, Ian, and John and I was playing some 100nl on Absolute Poker. Overall the session turned out alright, with a good deal of interesting spots that generated some very worthwhile discussion post-session. Unfortunately I ended up down a little over a buyin for the session and was forced to play a pretty TAG game based on the tables I was sitting at (not so pleased with this... I'll certainly be making sure I table select better or possibly play at PokerStars for my next sweat). It was really great to have everyone watching and discussing the situations during the session, and really think that I'm learning a ton by having these guys around to bounce ideas off of -- most +EV play of the year was joining this group. Anyway, here are a few hands that I found interesting and worth discussion. I also had 3 key hands played against the same villain that I'll post up in a separate topic that I'd like commentary on as well (separating them due to their villain-specific play). Without further adieu...
Hand 1:
Absolute Poker, $0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem, 6 players
UTG: $79.30
UTG+1: $198.50
Hero: $141.15
BTN: $112.50
SB: $104.30
BB: $40.00
Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is CO
2 folds, Hero raises to $4, BTN calls $4, 2 folds
Felt like this was a pretty standard open raise here given the game's flow. Villain is quite the aggressive player with stats of 25/21/2.9 over a decently large sample. He also has a ridiculously high cold call stat and pretty much plays any 2 cards on the button.
Flop: 
($9.5, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8, Hero raises to $26, BTN calls $18
Given the villain's extremely aggressive nature I elected to check/raise this flop, as I figure him to be betting out literally any 2 cards when checked to here. I'm not really playing my hand as TPTK here so much as I am putting him on a hand that can't continue. A call behind is not what I'm looking for here as it's quite easy for me to pitch to a 4bet shove... reassessing on the turn.
Turn: 
($61.5, 2 players)
Hero bets $32, BTN raises to $82, Hero folds
Obviously I didn't do a good job or reassessing on the turn, as a bet/fold is (after further review) the absolute worst thing I can do in this spot. As Ian pointed out in the post-session review, I took the standard line for a check/raised pot (which is to fire the turn) but failed to fully assess how the turn card affects the villain's range. Villain could certainly see my check/raise on the flop as being 2overs + flush draw and elect to call with 77 or 44 on this flop. If this is the case, he is almost certainly pushing this turn card. Villain could also be on some sort of combo draw, such as As3s or As4s, which would also certainly push this turn. Regardless, I'm being offered 3.5 to 1 and need to call this shove.
I'm also quite interested in seeing what others would narrow this villain's range to, because even with a range of {22-TT, 57s,79s, AsXs, and a few random other spade hands} I'm getting 45% equity, which would indicate getting it all in on this turn regardless of the action. Thoughts?
Final Pot: $125.50
BTN wins $172 ( won +$60 )
Hero lost -$62.00
Hand 2:
Absolute Poker, $0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem, 6 players
UTG: $45.35
UTG+1: $214.75
CO: $66.85
Hero: $94.80
SB: $24.85
BB: $160.05
Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is BTN
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2, CO calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $8, CO calls $8
Pretty standard isolation from the button with KK here. UTG+1 is an unknown villain and CO is playing 31/0/0.6 over several hundred hands.
Flop: 
($31.5, 3 players)
UTG+1 checks, CO checks, Hero checks
Quite the awful flop for me and I elect to check here in a multiway pot fearing a chk/raise (specifically from the CO who has only ~$60 behind). I would fire a flop bet here almost 100% of the time if this hand was heads up, but given the stacks and multiway nature, I'm not wanting to fall too in love with my KK here.
Turn: 
($31.5, 3 players)
UTG+1 checks, CO checks, Hero checks
Lots of debate here as to whether or not I should have fired this turn after being checked to for a second time. I really don't mind the check here, but John voiced his opinion that he would make a 1/2pot bet here in order to prevent a river bluff. I really don't think that I'm in agreement with his logic here, since you would only be getting called by a better hand if you bet this here. If you want to gain $15-20 of value from weaker hands, I think a check here with the intent of calling a mid-sized river bet is a better approach. Since we checked the flop I don't really feel like I can rep an big ace and move anyone off of AJ or AT, so I think playing for a cheap showdown here is best.
River: 
($31.5, 3 players)
UTG+1 checks, CO bets $25, Hero folds, UTG+1 folds
The villain in the CO wakes up with a very strong river bet and I think the T hits too much of his range (AT, JK, TT) to be calling this bet, especially with UTG+1 as the original raiser still left to act. Had the bet been $10-18, I may have called... I'm not 100% sure. The villain actually told the chat that he caught the straight on the river when asked, but I don't put too much weight into that.
Final Pot: $31.50
CO wins $54.45 ( won +$19.45 )
Hero lost -$10.00
UTG+1 lost -$10.00
Hand 3:
Absolute Poker, $0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem, 6 players
UTG: $221.35
UTG+1: $76.70
CO: $199.50
BTN: $87.80
SB: $126.61
Hero: $99.75
Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is BB
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, CO calls $1, BTN raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, UTG+1 folds, CO folds, BTN calls $8
Another standard 3bet preflop with KK against a 41/8/1.9 villain.
Flop: 
($22.5, 2 players)
Hero bets $12, BTN raises to $24, Hero goes all-in $89.75, BTN goes all-in $53.8
My decision to size this bet smaller than usual was made with the intention of looking weak and getting a smaller pocket pair to raise me up. I incorrectly discounted the number of hands he is calling my 3bet with that include a Q (he was a 41 vpip after all); however, I do think he makes the same move with 99+ as well as the hands that include a Q and am getting 45% equity in that scenario. Is this still as terrible a shove as it looked at the time? I tend to think so.
Turn: ($202.05, 2 players)
River: 
($202.05, 2 players)
Final Pot: $178.10
BTN shows:
Hero shows:
BTN wins $174.6 ( won +$86.8 )
Hero wins $11.95 ( lost -$99.8 )
Hand 4:
Absolute Poker, $0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem, 6 players
UTG: $191.15
UTG+1: $201.00
CO: $93.00
BTN: $90.25
Hero: $102.50
BB: $80.80
Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is SB
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.5, BB checks
Decided to just complete with ATo here from the SB. UTG is a semi-regular player with stats of 29/10/1.1 and is pretty aggressive on most flops when checked to.
Flop: 
($3, 3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $2, Hero calls $2, BB folds
At this point I have no reason to believe that the villain has a better hand than me. I've seen him raise AK and AQ preflop from UTG before, so that's likely out of his range and he could easily have a weak Ax or Kx-suited. I could chk/raise here, but don't really think I can rep anything strong given the fact that I only completed from SB.
Turn: 
($7, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $6, Hero calls $6
Villain fires again on the turn, which is pretty standard for him even with weaker hands, but he is extremely passive on the river and I still think that I am ahead of his range a majority of the time. I am almost never making this call here except vs. this particular villain, but it's still probably not profitable here regardless.
River: ($19, 2 players)
Hero bets $11, UTG calls $11
River is gin for me and due to the passive nature of my opponent I decide to lead out and get some value with an $11 bet. I believe Ian was leaning towards a value-shove on this river, but given stack sizes I don't think I'm getting a call from a weak Ax, 2pr, or a set. I'm wondering if this is a situation where I should fire something over pot like $24 and hope the villain overshove-bluffs. I guess the question I have is: "what's the best way to get the rest of his stack given the fact that there's an obvious 1-card straight on the board?" (for the record, my read was completely wrong on this villain as he held AJs and had me dominated until the river)
Final Pot: $41
Hero shows:
UTG shows: 
Hero wins $38.45 ( won +$18.45 )
UTG lost -$20.00
Posted byM0NIKER at 11:37 AM
1: I'm no fan of the c/r there. If villian is betting any 2, I may elect to just call down for value in this spot or c/r a hand that has no SD value.
2: I still cbet IP here. You will still take this down often and need to protect vs the draws. A c/r is nothing to fear hear since it's screams strenght in a mutiway pot and is easy to get away from.
3: I like a larger cbet without the intent of getting all in. AQ is commonly called vs a 3 bet IP, so I'd have no intention of playing this beyond my cbet without specific history that told me otherwise.
4: Value bet on river should be more. In $19 pot I bet around $16. Look at it this way........anything that is folding is folding regardles of $11, $16, $19, or a shove. But anything that is calling $11 is usually calling $16. Once you hit pot or over you fold out more hands. But out of 20 hands that would call $11 ($220 profit) you only need 14 of them to call $16 ($224 profit) for a higher EV, and I think out of 20 that would call $11 it would be closer to 18 of them still willing to call $16 also.
Kevin,
Great summary of the group sweat. I learned alot and I'm looking forward to next week.
This was a good group session with some interesting hands which you've listed.