Post a hand you would like for me to analyze

Poker Strategy Hand Review
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About me, I main NLH MTTs but I can also do NLH ring games.
I want to give back to this community so if you have any hands you have a concern about how you played, feel free to post your hand. I will do my best to explain it to you in how you could improve.

Just tell me what was your hand and If you had any reads on your villain if applicable. I will analyze your lines and give you an easy to understand explanation as best as I can (I will not be using solvers).

I will try my best to reply to your hand as soon as I see them.

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Do you think I could have played this differently to get more chips? Both opponents are good players having played against them multiple times so I think my approach probably worked for the best.

Thoughts?

Thanks for wanting to talk poker.

Also, just curious…do you find a higher level of satisfaction when duces pull in some chips rather than say hitting a full house, flush…etc.? I do and probably why I called when pushed all in on this hand even though I correctly assumed I was up against a flush draw. Normally I back off when a hand looks too flushy but love it when twos are hot. I think low cards get under appreciated by players.

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I’d mostly just try to get money into the pot on every street more. Sometimes trapping with trips is fine, but here you also have a flush draw right from the beginning. No bet bigger than a min bet was ever made, and so I’d have to think it would have been hard to find a line that would win less chips. I don’t know the players, and so that might make it harder to find the right line, but I’d have been inclined to:

  • bet half pot or perhaps slightly smaller on the flop (and I think a larger bet is probably fine, too)
  • bet 3/4 pot or something along those lines on the turn
  • bet pot or larger on the river

Sure, you’ll mostly just see your opponents fold on one street or another, but if even one of those bets gets called, your doing as well as you did in the actual line, and give yourself a chance to win a far bigger pot.

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1st hand: You’re lucky I have notes on Agey and dpcdiver, two players I’ve already played against.
Agey: "Likes to have good hands in conti-conti-cbet 1bb
dpcdiver: “very calling station.
Does very sick bluffs, very very polarized player.”

Preflop: you’re in the big blind, check is good, don’t raise because you can watch the flop for free with a hand that has a strong playability.
Of course in another position you should never pay 1BB with 10 blinds, it is either all in most of the time (because you need less than 24.7 BB to do it with this hand and you have 10BB), or a fold.

Flop: Quick check, excellent!!! :
1)against two beginners players, no need to bet to balance with bluffs because they are beginners and they don’t understand this principle.
2) because you will represent too much strength given your stack
3)Because you have the chance to play a good hand against dpcdiver, a player who bluffs part of the time and enter in lot of hands, and who has the stack to bet
4)Because you are out of position, you don’t know what your opponents will do, so you might as well let them bet (especially with your hand and the flop because there is only one jack left in the pack).

Agey bet 1BB and dpcdiver pay, at this stage paying is the best solution for
keep weak hands or pure bluffs in the hand and let both players bet on the turn

Turn: Check, nothing else to do, especially since both players have been active at the flop, they will surely bet by themselves again, and the king is a not too bad card because AK or KQ are two possible overcards that would have interested them preflop and on the flop, and the K opens a straight draw with AT or AQ, (and yes very few players raise these hands before the flop on this site)
one of the best turn would have been an ace though but I’m not going to go into details.

Agey check, I still put him on a vulnerable hand, TT 99 88 77, 56s, or a flush draw.

Dgcp bet 400 after a check!!!, here I don’t pay because at this stage my opponents are interested in the pot, I raise 1200 to get paid by a king or a flush draw max, or a small pair, going all in is not disgusting either in the sense that there is a pot size to put (you have 3200 chips and the pot is 3200) and that represent less strength than if you raise, but it’s a bit too much violent and the fact that Dgcp bets 1BB shows weakness, so I prefer 3Bet, it’s amazing but again, you’re really going to get paid by a lot of hands like A2s A3s ect… TT 99, and of course QK and AK, and very rarely AT and AQ, and this will allow you to raise 1200 on the turn and to go all in for 2400 on the river instead of paying 400 on the turn and go all in for 3200 on the river which is too brutal

Your goal is to put all your chips in the middle of the table, you need to build the pot at this stage and no longer slow play, so in this case you can break your stack down into two bets to make sure you will be paid : again, instead of paying 400 and do 3200 river I would have raised 1200 on the turn and then all in 2400 on the river.

River: ALL INNNNNNNNNNN(especially if you did 1200 on the turn)
In your case, all in is brutal given the previous actions, but it is still the best choice given that there is a pot size to be put in
The biggest mistake you made was at the river, because even from the way you played the turn you could still recover at the river an go all in as you had a very small stack, so be very careful when you will have between 50BB and 100BB in the same situation, because the mistakes will cost more

i’m french i hope you will understand my sentences

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For the second hand, you really played perfectly it made me happy to see
The rare hands that I limp are the small pairs (and still not always in some cases), otherwise I raise preflop the other hands.
I won’t take the time now to explain why, but if BASSMAN had raised more than 168 chips you couldn’t pay, and the same if meBack had raised more than 220 chips.
You form a three of a kind 12% of the time at the flop, without going into details out of position you need the opponent’s raise to be no more than 1/15th of their stack (3300/15=220 chips, 2530/15=168 chips), if you are in position you can pay a raise with a small pair if it represents no more than 1/10th of the opponent’s stack (3300/10=330, 2530/10=250.3) ect… ect…

You have bet the pot on the flop, this is excellent because the flop has hit its global range a lot, he will pay you with a lot of hands,
in brief, well executed

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Hello TomSawyer2112, to answer your question about the first hand, Yes! you could of had double up your stack or even triple up.
So I can tell that this hand is from an MTT and that you are the effective stack $4,060 (10 bb). so when you are this low in big blinds, you are in push or fold mode. with that being said I will breakdown your lines.

PREFLOP: ok you hold QJs in the BB with 10 bb and you check after 2 players limped.
I honestly do not have any problem with this line, but be aware that you should be mainly be pushing QJs with your stack size and sometimes check and rarely fold. shoving has the most positive EV on this position. Both of your opponents just called so that means your opponents have a capped range ( they will not have the strong hands AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, AK, AQ) because they would had raise and you holding QJs which you are blocking the KQ & KJ hand hard which are the only hands in their range that dominates you but they will have a hard time calling a 10 bb shove. so long term pushing all in on this scenario you will be expected to win (+EV).

FLOP: The flop comes JsJh5s and the pot is $1640, Hero checks, villain 1 bets 400, villain 2 calls, Hero calls.
ok here checking is good if one of your villains open raise on the preflop and you defended your blind. since that didnt happen we can take control of the pot by betting 25% ($400 - $450) the pot ourselves on this board with bluffs and with value hands and reevaluate on the turn. or check raise all in after they bet. and its ok if they fold, you should be happy by taking down the 3 blinds on the pot if you took control on the flop. if they call your 25% bet, you now have the betting lead on the turn where you can push all in.
now after you check, villain 1 bet and villain 2 called. the most optimal play was to shove. the only hand that beats you is KJ and if they hold it, there is nothing you could of done just accept defeat with your head high.

TURN The turn comes a Ks and the pot is $2840, Hero checks, Villain 1 checks, Villain 2 bets 400, Hero calls, Villain 1 calls.
same as the flop applies here. After you check and one of the villain bets you should had pushed all in.

RIVER Now here you made a big mistake my friend, after one of the villains bet on the turn, ideally you want to check and let them continue betting on the river, if they were bluffing you just took that from them and they would easily fold to any bet and you lost lots of value. the most optimal play here was once again a check raise all in although you should had done that line on the flop.

if you have any questions please let me know, I will try to get to you as soon as possible.

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Regarding on your second hand, low cards are really great to play it just not ideal when you are playing them in early position, not to get confused with OOP preflop. But yeah I agree, it is really fun to see low pair hands hold. Now onto your hand.

ok I will assume again that this is an MTT, eff. stack 2,530 (84bb) Hero stack 3,428 (114 bb).

PREFLOP: You hold 2c2h in UTG. Hero calls, V1 in the CO calls, V2 in the BTN calls, blinds fold.
alright so here with pocket deuces in early position 6 handed is quite ambitious, mainly you should be looking to play tighter when you are in early positions but if you do decide to play a hand, you should be always raising a consistent open raise with all of your range never calling. for example if your open raise is 3 bb, you should be raising 3 bb with AA and say 98s in the same position. That is if you are playing strong players otherwise just stick to value hands.

FLOP: The flop comes Td2dKc and the pot is $135.
Hero bets 135, V1 shoves 2500, V2 folds, Hero calls.
The only problem I have with this line is with your bet size, but that is more of a technicality. ideally you should be betting 25% - 35% the pot on a consistent basis with all of your range. the reason is that your opponents will overfold, you will also induce some bluffs and your strong value hands will get pay off, only start adjusting according to how your opponents play (if they are calling stations, maniacs etc…).

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I agree, but only when they have a big stack, but with 10 bb you are looking to push with +EV hands. and like you said, with a flush draw on board Hero should had not slow play his hand.

not necessarily, in a vacuum you can always assign a range depending on the action, our stack size, position etc. in this case we assign a capped range for both villains and make the most optimal play.

yes, YES, and no, for the reason that only strong hands will be calling an the rest of their range will be folding so we will lose value. check raising all in or taking control of the pot on the flop and ship it on the turn are the best lines.

nope, he should still be betting 35% on the turn as played or look to make a check raise all in. ideally he should had shipped it Preflop or on the flop after he checked and they bet.

as played he should had check and let villain continue betting, he should never donk bet on that spot or he will become exploitable.

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I should probably add, I think the second hand is just fine. I think your limp pre flop is fine to make at least some percentage of the time, the pot sized bet on the flop is nice, and you probably have to call even the huge overbet raise you faced, unless you have a lot of experience with the opponent that tells you he is a nit.

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no he should not, he will need to juggle 2 different ranges for his limp range and for his open raise range. why complicate things?

the problem with the pot size bet is that he will not risk lots of chips with bluffs and therefore he will become exploitable.he should be looking to have a consistent bet size of 25% - 35% on the flop with all of his range, pot size bets are great to exploit weak calling station players for value.

and he has to call 99% of the time, unless he is playing against the ultimate rock and he has a soul read.

I just want to clarify my friend because what you are suggesting are bad habits. if you have any question I’m here to help.

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I think your worries about exploitability are fine if playing against pros, and are good for thinking about how to improve your game against very strong opponents. Here, at all but the highest levels, you will probably see the best results playing in a very straight forward manner a reasonably high percentage of the time.

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That is very true, that’s why I said pot size bets are great to exploit weak calling station players for value. but he has to know and understand the reason behind why he is betting pot size on the flop. otherwise it becomes a bad habit.

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Thanks all for the feedback. Points well taken and will let them marinate in my mind as a play more hands in the future!

Forgot to add…yes both were in the same MTT, (satellite to 7.5 MTT), ended up placing third and getting two tickets.

Regarding the four kind Jacks: I agree that the river call I should have played differently. Probably given how the game was flowing and the way the previous hands had been playing the better call would have been to check, hope for a raise, and rip with an all in. I guess I have seen too many good river hands where I bet stronger I just get folds or no bet and don’t get any action. Was hoping for some chips at the river so I bet just the blind and got some chips.

The trip twos hand: That was pure fun, love seeing duces pull in chips, knowing full well I probably was up against a flush or something going on with the King. Maybe in a higher stakes game I would have folded but then again maybe in a higher stakes game everyone would have bet differently also.

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I understood just fine, thanks for the feedback!

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as played you never fold your set there at any stake unless you are playing against a rock player who limps with all of their range and they raise shove only with the nuts (that being set of Kings).

But because your opponents called preflop, they will never have TT and KK in their range. so you are pretty much crushing their range with your set. and if they are happy to stack off with a flush draw you should 100% call.

if in the future you have questions or you have a hand you have a question about dont hesitate, I will gladly help you.

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good points and thanks again for replying!

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I have 79 of hearts, not sure if I played it right, I wonder what you guys think.

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Hey WATCHOUT8 thanks for sharing your hand.
I will assume this hand is from an early stage of an MTT. Since Replay does not have 4000nl.
Blinds are 40/20, Hero stack is 5,880 (147 bb) Effective stack: 2,470 (61 bb) V2 in the CO.
Hero hand is 9h7h.

PREFLOP: Folds to Hero in MP+2 who opens to 90, CO calls, SB calls and the BB folds.
Alright so your open bet size is perfect, I really like this sizing if you use it for all of your range. The only problem I got is with your hand selection. Generally when there is no antes and you are in the early stage of an MTT you want to play much more tighter even on mid to later positions and open up more when there is antes in play. Suited one gappers like 9h7h are better play in position (CO and BTN). But other than that I love your opening fundamentals.

FLOP: The flop comes 2c9s6d and the pot is 310 (3 players).
SB min donk bets 40, Hero raises to 235, CO folds, SB calls.
The infamous donk bet, man those are annoying. But anyways the board is pretty dry and SB range is wide but does consist of some sets. and when Villains donk bet into us, it usually means that they have a hand. on this spot you are either way ahead or way behind. one way for getting information to see where you are at especially after you made top pair with a weak kicker is to raise. so I was happy to see you did just that, the only problem with your raise is your sizing. 5.8x is too big, you are in position vs the SB so a raise of 2.5x or 3x (100 - 120) is more ideal. raise bigger 4x -5x when you are out of position or if you know your opponents are calling stations when you are in position but if you were you should only be doing it with value hands TPTK+. other than that I like the line you took.

TURN: The turn comes As and the pot is 780 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.
perfectly played not much to say other than for future reference that if you are playing against strong players do know that this As hits your range more than your opponents, you will have all the strong Ax hands, so you can continue betting representing an ace.

RIVER: The river comes 9d and the pot is 780 (2 players)
SB bets 80, Hero raises to 550, SB fold.
pretty much textbook play from you, like the polarization of your bet. well played!

Final thoughts, I really like the way you played your hand. Just the sizing on the flop can be tweak for a better one and the hand selection preflop.
If you have any questions, let me know… I will reply as soon when I see it.

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We’ll all have differing ideas about the right plays, so keep in mind I’m largely expressing my own stylistic preferences here.

  • pre-flop, from the highjack, I’d mostly just fold 97s, but I think open raising with it a certain percentage of the time is nice. But in a tournament, early, where most of the players are weaker and not really trying to build accurate ranges for my play, I’d probably fold close to 100% in this seat, unless I thought the table was unusually tight, and I could expect to blind steal a lot (but even that is not much of a reward early in a tournament where stacks are deeper relative to blinds.
  • on the flop, hitting top pair and facing a bet, I would mostly fold due to reverse implied odds with this kind of flop. However, here you are facing a very small bet, and a call seems automatic. Raising… raising turns your holding into a bluff I think, and I wouldn’t be inclined to make the play here, though I think it is really not all that bad.
  • after the call on the flop, check check on the turn seems natural
  • weak, small bet on the river from villain: I’d think I was ahead too, and value bet. I might have gone slightly smaller, but your sizing does not seem hugely off. Villain did fold, and I think you wanted a call, but he might have been on a draw on the flop, and would have folded to any raise here
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Punisher, Madoff, Yoruoame,

The main point of this post is to say thanks and let you know sharing does help other players rethink their play and hopefully for the better!

No need to reply in depth…Unless you would have played the pocket Aces differently.

Two hands in particular that I changed my style of play which was influenced by your comments/feedback:

Context: MTT Satellite to 7.5 ticket, I’m sitting about 20th in ranking with 22-24 players left playing and top 12 get paid. Blinds are growing to 10 to 20 % of my stack. Not seeing too many good hands and been folding a lot. Players at table have been there for a while with out rebalancing. Probably we are familiar with each others ranges.

This first hand: Past thinking…slow play and be cautious as we are getting close to the bubble and I would be ok to barely walk away with ticket. Don’t show strength as folds will not help my position that much and if called could be knocked out of tourney when getting close to the bubble.

This time, Sitting on BB, Pushed all in to get a limper to fold and SB to fold… Got one fold, one call and lucked out with Ace high.

This jumps me to 10th place with some breathing room to 12th place.

Seven hands latter ( I folded once pre-flop, 6 times I called SB, BB and with Ace, suited etc and folded post-flop to raises.) I GET POCKET ACES ! Context: Still in the money sitting at around 11th, 19 players remain. Same players at table.

Past me: Slow play this and let others burn out since I am on the bubble and probably will win this hand and any chips will keep me in the money, by the way, Pocket Aces have disappointed me many of times in the past. That’s poker!

Newer me: Hand #709262427 · Replay Poker

Ultimately I finish 10th…once the bubble got popped heavy raises kicked in and I lost after A6 flopped pair ace with a possible 2-6 straight, was pushed all in and lost to A10.

Thanks All!

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