I had a couple of tough days playing NLHE cash games over the weekend. I was winning some small pots and losing big ones, which always hurts. Some of it was bad situations, where I had a very strong hand but someone had a better one, but some of it could have been avoided, too. I made a couple of marginal calls, and didn't make a few big laydowns where I felt I was probably beat. It's really hard to come out ahead if you can't lay down what may be the best hand, because losing a big pot or even a whole buy-in is brutal to your win rate.
Tonight I had a much better night, and felt like I was very much on my game. I made some nice hands and got action on them from much worse ones, and I doubled up on both tables I was playing.
Here's a hand I really enjoyed. It was interesting during the hand, and it gave me some food for thought afterwards. This was at the $25 max tables at Bodog.
I was in the big blind with 7s 6s. The player in second position, who was very loose, raised to 4xBB. Next was a fold, then another player called. Everyone else folded, and I called. Three of us saw the flop:
As Js 2s
I flopped a flush. Now, I liked this flop, because someone with an ace or a jack might not believe I hit the flush and might give me some action. However, I was also concerned about letting someone with a higher spade hit a flush on the turn or river. I had a decent hand, but I did not want to slowplay. I bet the size of the pot, $3.10.
The early limper folded, but the player behind me quickly raised the minimum, $3.10. He had a large stack, about two buy-ins, and I had about one. I didn't know much about him, but I tend to give big stacks the benefit of the doubt for being decent players, until I see otherwise.
My hope here was that he had a hand like two pair or a set, and might double me up. But I had a fairly low flush. If he had two spades he may very well have me drawing dead. I didn't want to get all my money in if that was the case, so I called, hoping to get more information on the turn.
The turn was 5c, a nice card for me. It was unlikely to help him, and if it did it would have been to make a hand I had beat, like a wheel straight. I was pretty confident I had the best hand. I was a little worried about him hitting a flush on the river if I gave him a free card, but I felt he would bet if I showed weakness. His bet on the flop felt like a semibluff or bluff, and I wanted to give him the opportunity to bluff at the pot again.
I checked, planning to call my entire stack if he set me all in. He made another of his very quick bets, this one for the size of the pot, $15.50. I had $21 left.
I stopped and thought this through a little. Folding was not an option I seriously considered. As I said, I was planning to call the rest of my chips if he set me all in. The choices I thought over were whether to call, or to raise my last $5.50.
The idea he might have a bigger flush crossed my mind. However, if you play scared, always worried about a bigger possible hand, you'll miss a lot of value bets on your non-nut hands. The key for me is not to be scared, but also to trust my instincts. I want to be able to lay down a big hand if I think I'm beat, which I did not do in the big pots I lost over the weekend.
In this case I didn't feel like I was beat. If he flopped a bigger flush, why would be be so quick to raise on the flop? Wouldn't he be more likely to want me to think he was weak? I've seen people make those quick raises on semibluffs many times, and the first rule of tells is that someone who wants to appear strong is probably weak, and vice versa. I felt like he was trying to push me off my hand, not induce me to move in.
I raised and what happened next actually surprised me. Instead of calling the last $5.50, with $45 in the pot, he quickly folded. I took down the pot, almost doubling my stack.
Looking back on the hand, I think he was on a stone cold bluff the whole time. The quick fold with one card to come indicated that he didn't have anything, not even a decent draw. If he had something like Ks, the pot would have been laying him plenty to call. If he had a hand like top pair, he might have even made the crying call on the river if he didn't believe I flopped the flush. He's getting almost 9:1 odds at that point. He only has to have the best hand 10% of the time for that to be a break-even move.
I know some players would criticize me for not playing the hand more aggressively. I could have moved in on the flop, and checking the turn had its risk. Had I shown more strength on either the flop or turn, though, he would have probably folded. I liked my hand enough on the turn to risk giving a free card. There was only about a 15% chance of a spade coming on the river, and even if that happened I felt I could get away without losing my whole stack. I had a chance of winning more by giving him the opportunity to bluff off his chips.
In other situations, a different play would have been better. I based my decisions on the hand not only on my cards and the board, but also my read on him and my instincts.
Ted