Advanced cash game play

[michael1123]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $1000 NL (6 max, 6 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

BB ($2488)
UTG ($1304)
MP ($809)
Hero ($1112)
Button ($1317.50)
SB ($1300)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6, 6. SB posts a blind of $5.
UTG raises to $35, 1 fold, Hero calls $35, 1 fold, SB (poster) calls $30, 1 fold.

Standard preflop action. Its worth noting that UTG has seemed like a good, aware player.

Flop: ($115) 6, 9, K (3 players)
SB checks, UTG bets $100, Hero calls $100, SB folds.

Pretty standard play on the flop. At this point I think I probably have the best hand, and if someone has a flush I still have a good chance to get there. Part of the reason I just call is the player behind me, who I hope will raise, or at the very least also call.

One key thing to point out is that I called rather quickly here, largely to give the false impression that I'm drawing to the flush. Most players tend to call quickly on flush draws on the flop (especially when facing smallish bets), so this is a good false tell to give.

Turn: ($315) Q (2 players)
UTG bets $225, Hero calls $225.

Here is where my play goes outside the norm. He makes a strong pot sized bet on the turn, and I then realize that whatever he has, he's going to put me all in on the river if a spade doesn't come, as he has commited a good deal of his stack to the pot, has shown strength, and up until this point I have shown nothing but weakness. There's only a 18% chance that the river is a spade, so the key is that I estimate there's at least an 80% chance that we'll get all in on the river if I just call the turn. He'll either push the river or check to me or I will push, and with my loose aggressive image and the way I've played the hand up until this point, he has no choice but to call as it would look like I have missed my flush draw.

If I reraise all in here, there IS a pretty good chance I'll get called. However, while he's showed strength in the hand this could be just because he's putting me on nothing more than a flush draw. He could himself have a very weak hand and just be bluffing, or more likely he could have a K with a decent kicker and maybe a spade as well, however once I reraise all in its rather unlikely he'll still be putting me on a flush draw. If my opponent on this hand was a bad player, this indeed would have been the correct play because 1. he'd be more likely to call my push on the turn, and 2. he'd be less likely to read my hand as a busted flush draw on the river, even though that's how its been represented fully (bad opponents often aren't trying to read your hand).

However, this wasn't the case, and therefore I estimated that he'd call my all in reraise here less than 80% of the time, which therefore made just calling on the turn the best play, given my previous assessment.

Again, a very important part of representing the flush draw here was giving a false tell. Here, unlike the flop, I was facing a big pot sized bet on the turn, and its a situation where many players (and most good ones) would fold the nut flush draw, and would certainly fold every other flush draw. So to represent the flush draw I had to delay a while before calling, such as a person with the A of spades would likely do here if they did call (likely thinking about the pot and implied odds).

River: ($765) J (2 players)

Darn! The worst card in the deck, a spade that doesn't pair the board. Now not only am I not going to get the opponent to put me all in (as I had expected him to do if any non-spade fell), but now I may not even have the best hand anymore!

UTG checks, Hero bets $752 (all in), UTG folds.
Final Pot: $765

He quickly checks to me, and immediately I put 2 and 2 together in my head and realize that of course he believes I have the A of spades because of my previous play, and I instantly go all in, and he rather quickly folds.

This is much more important than it looks. You probably are thinking that checking behind on the river makes more sense and would be much safer, and this is by far the standard play here (and is what I'd do in most circumstances with this hand on this board). There is still a decent chance that my trip 6s is the best hand, as he may not have a spade.

However, since I've been representing the nut flush draw the entire hand, and knew that he was putting me on this, checking behind would've been a major mistake. While the most likely hand he's holding is something like AA, AK or KQ without a spade, what if he has KK or 99? Couldn't he have played these hands similarly? How about a hand like Kx with the x being a spade (most likely something like KxTs)? If he flopped a low flush with a suited connector, wouldn't he have played it similarly as well?

Given the strong misreads I gave off on the flop and turn that I was on a flush draw, and then my instant push on the river, this player has no choice but to put me on the nut flush, and therefore must fold all of the above mentioned hands that would take the pot had I checked behind on the river. Given how he's played this hand, and in particular his river check, its extremely unlikely he has the A of spades himself. The only hand he MAYBE would call me with here is KQ with the Q of spades, but even that I think many good players would lay down here, as it seems just too obvious that I have the nut flush.

[spino1i]

Hmm I would have raised the flop or the turn, but thats just me. I dont think I would have let him get to see a river card without all his chips in the middle. I think we can be reasonably sure he doesnt have a better hand on the flop or turn. I certainly wouldnt move all-in on the river, I mean sure you could be representing the ace-high flush draw, but who calls off a lot of their stack on the turn on a lousy draw? It looks almost like a bluff to me. I'd expect only hands better than yours to call.

[Bmxicle]

You are a lagg, calling w/ the Ace of spades is the last thing i would expect you to do.

[iwa]

Playing a laggy style, why couldn't you of slow played the flop and hit the gas on the turn? He made 2 pot sized stabs into it, and I'm sure he had a decent hand. I can see the risk you are playing here, very different play, mixing it up from the usual I can see nice hand ..

[michael1123]

You are a lagg, calling w/ the Ace of spades is the last thing i would expect you to do.

Um ... I think you're forgetting what the L stands for. Loose players would often be the ones that would call down with the A of spades. LAG players such as myself also often have a very donkish image (which is part of what makes it profitable), so this really wasn't something I had to worry about at all.

Playing a laggy style, why couldn't you of slow played the flop and hit the gas on the turn? He made 2 pot sized stabs into it, and I'm sure he had a decent hand.

I agree he had at least a decent hand, and of course I could've raised on the turn. ... I even mention in my post that raising the turn is by far the most standard play there is, and would be the play I'd normally make with a set on a board like this. However on this hand I decided to disguise my hand more than usual and mix up my play a bit more, betting that if the river was not a spade he would certainly double me up.

I know this is an outside of the norm play guys, that's the entire reason I posted the hand. How much can one learn from a history of a player doing the obvious thing with a big hand? There certainly would've been nothing to post about if I had raised all in on the turn and he called. I'd have won more money and been more happy, but there'd be nothing noteworthy about the hand.

This post is really much more about the reasoning behind how I played each street (particularly the river), and much less about how the hand actually played out. If you don't understand, think about it in more detail and reread my thoughts on each street.

Also realize that I don't play every hand like this ... far from it actually. I make posts about hands I've played creatively usually (and often when I've had indepth thoughts during the hand such as the ones in this post) because I really think there's a lot more for people to learn from hands such as this than from more straight forward hands that everyone has seen and been involved in 100s of times. Understanding hands like this can even improve your ability to play straightforward poker. This hand is really all about playing your opponent though, and less about what hand I'm actually holding.

[Gareth]

michael1123 - great post

You have described your thinking superbly through-out the flop, turn and river.

I myself have used this play before and your hoping no spade hits on the river to maximise the money you take from your opponent. Although even if it does you are still going to take the pot with what might be the second best hand as the opponent should put you on the A high flush and fold.

Have been trying to show my friends how to play, so I'm going to take a print of this post as I feel this will (hopefully) have a few light switches go off in their heads.

[Stripclubjunkie]

I really like how you played it. It's posts like this, that really evolve ones game play. michael1123 I really appreciate that you take your time, to post your thoughts here at FTR. Thats what makes FTR such a great forum. You can sign up at FTR green at poker, and evolve your game.

Strip

[bdawg56kg]

Great post Michael. Lots of awesome insight. I have a couple questions tho. What if he blocks the river for $250-300 or so? Is it an easy fold? Pushing here seems like suicide since your fold equity is cut way down. Also, why not raise the flop? Given your LAG image, your raising range has to be very wide here, and there's no way villian can pin you on a set or made flush just by a simple reraise. So if you raise the flop to $300 and get called, the turn is a simple push, or you could check behind if you don't think villian will call 2 barrells. Then he probably has to fold the river if it's a spade, and will be very tempted to call if it is a blank, in which case your hand will almost always be good. Also, what other hands would you take the same line on the flop and turn with? Baby flush? Naked A ? Air?

[PO$$E$$ED]

Interestingly played. What was villain's impression of you? I think your line is optimal if he sees you as a bad LAG, since a good LAG would likely not call two bets cold with a naked ace.

[zenbitz]

What happens if villain himself has As? Do you agree that it's consistant with his play up to the river? Especially AsKx AsQx (x = not spade).

Why wouldn't he check the river with the nuts? Are you going to check behind with a worse (Q high?) flush? Set? K? Will you fold bottom set if he bets the river? Top set?