How well were these hands played?

[mixchange]

I moved down in limits since the last time I asked for help in Nov, and although I'm not doing much better, I'm doing a little better. Thanks for all the advice on here.

The main thing I've realized is that I need to respect my opponents' bet size as an indicator of strength post-flop (I see enough trash & suited connector raises before flop that pre-flop raises mean less to me, except for re-raises which make me think high PP).

Cash games really help my tourney play.

How is the bet size? That's what I struggled with most the last time I was here -- I'd bet amounts that were too high most of the time -- a bet that only a better hand would call, and would scare off a worse hand. I've read a more on odds, which has helped a lot. It's tough to bet enough to extract $$ from people while preventing them from drawing out on you (I guess thats poker, haha)

Poker Stars
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
7 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (7 players) HERO is CO with Q T
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 folds, HERO calls, Button raises to $2, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, HERO calls.

Flop: J T 9 ($6.75, 4 players)
Button checks, UTG+1 checks, HERO bets $3, Button calls.

Turn: K ($12.75, 3 players)
Button checks, HERO bets $3.5, Button raises to $11, HERO calls.

River: 3 ($34.75, 3 players)
Button bets $9, HERO calls.

Results:
Final pot: $52.75


Poker Stars
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) HERO is BB with A Q
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $2.5, 3 folds, HERO calls.

Flop: Q 9 7 ($5.25, 2 players)
HERO bets $2, UTG+1 calls.

Turn: 5 ($9.25, 2 players)
HERO bets $4, UTG+1 calls.

River: 7 ($17.25, 2 players)
HERO bets $4, UTG+1 raises to $15, HERO calls.

Results:
Final pot: $47.25

[bode]

your bet sizes are entirely too small. your not even betting 1/2 pot on the flops, and by the river, your bets are getting nothing acomplished. villains could be playing back with nothing becaue your bets are so weak.

[zook]

Stack-sizes are important.

1) Pre-flop: Raise > limp in this position. As played, calling pre-flop raise is ok I guess, but I probably fold. Post-flop: How do you get the button to act first like this?

2) I might c/c flop and turn here if opp is aggressive. If opp is passive, bet more on the flop, more on the turn.

[mixchange]

No idea on the button thing, I didn't even realize that until now.

Results:

Hand #1

Villian had Ace Queen offsuit and we both hit our straights on the turn. I almost pushed, but lately I've vowed to keep the pot size small because of my tendency to win small & medium pots but blow the big ones...

I'm still not sure the best way to play the hand, but I guess my thinking was backwards. I was thinking that since I had a flush draw and open ended draw I wanted to lure people in, but not overprice them. On hand #1, I'm guessing increase to 2/3 pot size? Or is whole pot size OK here? I used to have a problem of betting pot size and getting only called with better hands, or someone folding and i missed value.

Is there any way to get away from this hand, or is this just unlucky? I was thinking he had a set or flush draw until the river, when I was just confused.

Hand #2

You hit the nail on the head here and it was painfully obvious after. Villain had 76suited and hit 3 7s on the river. I was thinking on the turn "He must have suited connectors" after he called the turn (partly because he raised a lot, and they can't all be PP or A-x), and when the 7 hit I kind of "knew" I was screwed, but called anyway, too weak to lay down TPTK. The bet size screamed something better than what I had, I even thought

When he called on the flop, I really had no idea what he might have. I didn't know what he had (well, a good indication) until the river. Should I have figured it out earlier, or should the bet size really have taken this one on the flop? Pot size everytime with TPTK?

[bigspenda73]

Some advice to you mix, let your post gain more than 17 views before you posts the results.