Slim Wins

These hands occurred during the WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Holdem Event in New Orleans.

"Slim" came into the seat on my immediate left. And, he stayed there through the final table. "Slim" came over to my table after several players were knocked out in a single hand. Including the infamous "Monkey". I played three significant hands with him.

For the first hand, I do not remember the exact positions we were in. I remember that the blinds were on the other side of the table and that we were closer to the button than the big blind. Action folded around to me, and I looked down to find A K suited. I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" hesitated for a very long time. And, I do mean a very long time. People were getting up off the table to walk around. He finally raised the pot - essentially going all in. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this hand. But, I put him on either an Ace, or, a medium pair. So, I calculated the numbers, and I felt like I should call. I raised to put him the rest of the way in. He turned up a pair of sixes. Great. A race. I had plenty of chips, so it was not devasting. I just do not like races. The hand played out, and "Slim" won.

For the second hand, I was in mid to early poistion. I looked down to find a pair of kings. And, I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" looked at his cards and made an immedite call. The rest of the players folded. The quick call got my attention. This was a different behavior for "Slim". He practically beat me into the pot. The flop came 7 - 5 - 5 with two diamonds. I led out with a 50% to 60% pot bet. "Slim" immediately went all-in (or as much as he could). Now, I am freaking out. You see, I had just lost the two previous hands; along with about 40% of my chips.

The first hand I lost: I had a pair of Jacks when the big blind woke up with a pair of Kings. I lost 20K+ chips in that hand to double up a short stack. For the second hand I lost: I had a pair of Tens, and the player to my immediate right raised and I called his pre-flop raise. When the flop came J - J - blank, the player checked. I thought that seemed odd, so I checked as well. The turn was an Ace, and I decided not to continue the hand and folded. The player turned up A J for a full house.

So, here I am with my third pair in a row, facing an all-in bet. My little voice kept saying "Aces". I had that same feeling I had with the A K suited. I took a keep breath; trying to settle down and think this thing through. I figured I needed to be worried about a flush draw, full house, trips, aces, or a smaller pair. It was hard for me to imagine a quick call with a single seven, or even a pair of sevens. So, I ruled out trips. A pair of fives (for the full house) also crossed my mind. But, I figured fives or sevens were about the same. The quick call and all-in also made me question the diamond draw. But, I was thinking that if he really wanted to steal the hand, that is the kind of hand he would have played: suited ace. He knew I had called his raise with A K suited from a previous hand. So, he might have been confident that I was going to call. At least, I thougth so. I kept coming back to aces, so after a very very long time, I folded my Kings. The table was shocked that I folded the Kings. "Slim" did not show his cards. But, when asked, he said he had a pair of Queens. If he had Queens, then, I made a bad move. Do you think I made a bad fold?

For the third and final hand I played with "Slim", I had pocket Eights under the gun. I made a standard pre-flop raise. Slim immeidately went all it. I had decided that he bluffed my on the previous hand, so I went all-in as well. "Slim" turned up A J off-suit. Great. Yet another race. The hand played out, and I lost.

So, out of the three significant hands we played, I lost all three. I guess it was only fitting that "Slim" put me out of the tournament on that third hand.

And, therefore, "Slim" wins! :-)

Monkey Encounter

This hand occurred during the WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Holdem Event in New Orleans.

I was on the button. I was dealt a pair of Sevens. There were no callers to me, so, I raised a standard raise (3x blind). "Monkey" was on my immediate left (in the small blind). He looked over at me, and called my raise. At that time, I put him on an Ace and some other card. He had been very aggressive since getting to the table, so, I did not give him credit for much of a hand. And, I felt like I had a "very tight" image with him.

The flop was J - J - K. "Monkey" checked and I bet out half the pot. "Monkey" looked at me and asked "Do you have a King"? I smiled and said that he would need to call if he wanted to find out. "Monkey" tossed in a huge raise. I immediately went all in.

After the hands were turned up, "Monkey" went nuts. He started raving: "How can you call with that hand?" and "What and idiot" and so on. It was like I was watching Phil Helmuth on ESPN; except it was some guy I have never seen before going on about me! To say that "Monkey" was abusive is an understatement.

The dealer dealt the remaining cards, and I won the hand. Then, it got worse ...

The dealer tried to push the chips to me. But, I had put in more chips than "Monkey". So, the dealer asked "Monkey" to put in the additional $475 in chips. At this point in the tournament, that was a lot of chips. "Monkey" refused to put in the additional chips. The player to my right said "that is not right", and he called for a floor to come to the table. The floor apologized for the error, but stated that it was my responsibility to make sure the pot was right. I just sat there flabbergasted. The player on my right said that the ruling was not correct, and that I was getting screwed. I decided not to make a big deal about it; hoping we could just get back to the game. However, that was not to be the case.

"Monkey" started back in with his abusive comments. So, I asked the floor if I had to sit there and listen to the abuse. And, he simply said "no", and walked off. I was shocked. One of the other players asked what I was expecting (I don't remember who it was). And, I responded that I was expecting the management to ensure a non-abusive playing environment. "Monkey" then said that I could always leave my chips on the table and let myself be blinded off. I had finally had enough, and told "Monkey" simply to "shut up". At this point, "Monkey" said "how would you feel about a bounty?". To which I replied "do what you gotta do".

"Monkey" lost more than half of his chips in that hand, so I can understand why he was upset. But, that is no excuse for poor sportsmanship or abusive language.

About 40 minutes later, I was moved to another table. We played down to 18 players, and the tables were shuffled again. "Monkey" was once again on my immediate left. He was extremely short stacked. And, of course, he focused his aggressive play on me - raising my blinds as much as possible. I let him steal them - waiting for an opportunity to just take him out. At this point, I was not the chip leader, but I was one of the biggest chip stacks. In fact, one of the other players at the table commented that "Monkey" should try to put me back on tilt so they could get my chips. I simply responded "Good luck with that".

"Monkey" finally made his move, but ran into three other callers. He was eliminated. And, I went on the the final table.

I looked up "Monkey" on the PokerPages site, and found that he is an excellent player. So, I can only surmise that he made a bad read on me - thinking he could intimidate me. Well, that does not work every time "Monkey"; sometimes players will call you just because.

So, putting all the drama aside, I have a very simple question: Did I play the Sevens correctly?

Cheers

Flopped a set and bet ...

I was in the small blind. The cut off (one in front of the button) raised. I called with a pair of tens. The big blind re-raised. The cut off and I both called. The flop came 7 - 8 - 10. I flopped a set! As the first to act, I thought for a second or two and led out with a pot sized bet. Both of the other players folded. The big blind held his hand to the side to show me that he was folding Kings. I showed my set after he showed the Kings.

I figured that since there were two raises pre-flop, I was sure to get a call. Also, I did not want to have a big pair catch a set. Nor did I want a pair of Jacks to catch the straight.

When the hand was over, the person to my right (the button) said I should have checked that hand in order to let the big blind bet; then, I could raise when it came back around to me. You know, it sounds reasonable.

I was also scolded about showing my hand. I don't think that was a bad thing, as this helped to establish a "very tight" table image. It gave the image that I was going to bet my hands in order to not be drawn out on.

What do you think? Would one of the others have bet out? Should I have check-raised in this situation? Should I have not shown my hand?

Cheers

3 Outer ...

I had A-10 off-suit. No raise before the flop. Six players called pre-flop (including the blinds) with me in fourth betting position. The flop had an Ace and two diamonds. I checked the flop. The position immediately behind me bet 25. It got around to me, and I raised to 500. I had three callers (two in front and one behind). The turn was a six, and, the small blind let out with a large bet. The player before me folded. I called and the player behind me called.

So, here are my questions:
- Did I have enough information to fold? I had a "feeling" that the player had hit two pair. A set or two pair are the only possible hands ... in my mind.
- What could I have done differently on this hand? I did the check-raise to run off other players. But, I think at least three of them felt like it was a semi-bluff.
- How can I get aggressive players to fold?
- From the other side of this hand, was it wise to call my check-raise? In particular, the winner of the hand called with an A-6.

Cheers