£100NL - Help needed! (Hand One)
I'd like to start out by stating this isn't a bad beat whine. I regard myself as a competent NLH player. I am a winning player overall, but I don't win much and I know I have leaks in my game that I need to fix. I just need to work out what they are!
I'd say my general style is tight aggressive. In fact I think two of the leaks I have is that maybe I am TOO tight and then TOO aggressive when I get a hand. I seem to win a lot of small pots, but lose large ones. I am usually the aggressor in the hand and don't tend to flat call. I think pot control is definitely a big weakness in my game and my decision making on fourth street is a key area I need to improve.
I have recently been playing a lot of B&M poker at low stakes (blinds are £1 - £1) and generally the standard of play is extremely poor (multiple limpers and then one person raises and all the limpers call etc). I've taken a battering this week. I am up £10 for the week but on two sessions I got slaughtered by three hands that cost me a lot of money, otherwise I'd have been up a fair bit.
I have three specific hands that I'd really like to be analysed. Rather than have one long post I'll do three different posts, including this one, per hand. Please can people post comments (especially justified negative ones) on how I could've played these hands better or how I could've saved myself some money.
Hand One :
9 players on table. I am in MP. The villian is UTG and limps in for £1. My observation prior to this hand is that he is a very loose player, whose stack has waxed and waned drastically over a short period of time. He also seems incapable of laying down top pair, regardless of his kicker and has dealt out two very bad beats with hands he should've folded prior to hitting (example K7s on K high board vs AK and he rivered his 7). He currently has £56 in his stack. I have £120ish.
Two also limp and I re-raise the to £7 preflop with KK. The villian flat calls, everyone else folds. There is now £18 in the pot. The flop comes out 7 5 2 rainbow (can't remember the suits). Villian checks. I bet £12. He flat calls so now there is £42 in the pot. Turn is a 3. He checks. At this stage I know I make a mistake because I didn't realise how little he had left in his stack otherwise I'd have dumped him all in. He only has £37 left. I bet £30 on the turn and he flat calls, leaving him with just £7. The river is an 8 and he throws in his last £7. I call and he flips over 87o for a rivered two pair.
My though processess -
Preflop : I rarely slowplay Kings or Aces, especially when on a loose passive table. The reason for a £7 raise was 4xBB + 3 limpers.
Flop : I don't like to slowplay on the flop unless I flop a nuts that is unlikely to be bettered. I also have a tendancy to bet the flop, in position, if I raised preflop so I wanted to remain consistent so people can't put me on a hand. At this stage I am confident I am ahead.
Turn : This was a scary card for me, but I figured I was still ahead because I couldn't imagine him calling with 64 (although I realised afterwards he probably would've if they were suited). I am thinking I should've either checked here to control pot size (but that seemed too weak to met) or shoved him all in (which I think he'd have called anyway). I don't think I played the turn well at all.
River : With that much in the pot I didn't have a choice but to call the last £7 although I figured he had me beat by this time. I didn't put him on two pair though, I presumed he'd slowplayed a set against me.
