jmbreslin

If G-d played poker, this is how he would run:My giraffe is getting so tall it's only a matter of time before he falls right over...

This is part of poker, you have to be okay with the fact that sometimes you will fold the winning hand.

From this mistake, everything else follows. You have to be crystal clear why you're playing a hand right from the beginning so you can have a rough plan for how you're going to proceed. And then you have to stick with that plan. You're going to spew money big time if you get involved with the mindset of, "I'll see a flop and go from there."

I'm a bit surprised at how profitable 3-betting is in 10NL Rush but that may be one thing that works better in Rush than regular cash games - in the latter people will pick up your 3-betting frequency and will call lighter, but in Rush people almost always credit you with a hand because of the lack of information at their disposal. I've actually cut back on my 3-betting for value with big pairs against LP raises because I was finding that villains would fold to my 3-bets a huge percentage of the time.

Huh? I did misjudge Villain A's stack but effective stacks between Hero and Villain B are almost 150BB. Set-mining is hardly bad here. So as a general rule you just don't set-mine unless you're, say, >200BB deep?

Look Ma, I can run good!April is looking good so far...

I don't think the call PF is terrible, his implied odds are juicy with 2 deep villains in the hand. However, your reason for calling preflop is purely to play set-it-or-forget-it. You can safely assume at least one of them is on a big pair so when you miss your set it's time to get out of dodge.

So...gonna be time to cash out of Tilt soon?

Lead the turn. You're now heads-up against MP1 who raised the flop, so his range is actually fairly wide there (on the flop he could have anything from a flush draw, straight draw, to 99 or QJ). If you check, you give him the chance to rep the flush and force you to a tough decision. By betting you force him to the tough decision (unless he has the flush, in which case it's an easy decision for him).

Raise preflop. Punish the limpers and try to get heads-up against one of them. As played, yes reraise the flop - it's very drawy and there are lots of hands in his range you beat badly that he won't be able to get away from.

Yes, that's a pretty good rule of thumb.

I just don't see any hand in his range that you beat here. A semi-bluff flush draw (something with the As, for example) would have made his move on the flop, not the turn, and any other made hand (lower set, big pair) would most likely have raised the flop.You're not getting the right price to chase your boat outs, so I fold.

Except I wouldn't limp UTG.

Any input on this one? 10NL Rush, no reads.Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.comSB ($10.46)BB ($10.17)UTG ($3.33)UTG+1 ($14.97)MP1 ($4)MP2 ($9.90)MP3 ($10)CO ($9.61)Hero (Button) ($10)Preflop: Hero is Button with 4, 4UTG calls $0.10, UTG+1 calls $0.10, MP1 calls $0.10, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.10, SB calls $0.05, BB checksFlop: ($0.60) K, Q, 4(6 players)SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $0.30, UTG+1 calls $0.30, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.70, UTG+1 calls $0.70Turn: ($3.60) Q(3 players)UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero b

You really want to get it in preflop with JJ after your UTG raise got 3-bet and cold-called?

Thoughts on this? Rush hand, so no info.Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.comUTG ($2.95)UTG+1 ($3.89)MP1 ($12.70)Hero (MP2) ($10.10)MP3 ($7.95)CO ($10.19)Button ($15.99)SB ($9.85)BB ($10)Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, K3 folds, Hero bets $0.35, 2 folds, Button calls $0.35, 2 foldsFlop: ($0.85) 3, A, 5(2 players)Hero bets $0.60, Button calls $0.60Turn: ($2.05) 5(2 players)Hero checks, Button bets $1.25, Hero raises to $3.80

Hang in there, James. I'm a low volume player myself so I know how hard it is to deal with long downswings or even stretches (one of the reasons why I like Rush). Just keep working at it.

I don't think this represents typical play at 10NL.

I probably potted it but you're right, it could have used a little extra.

Just to let you know, I much prefer this response to your first one...

Ouch. That's about all I can say.

I realize that kind of stuff happens but I do think it is the exception rather than the rule. Getting into the habit of stacking off in these spots because it's 10NL and they don't know what they're doing is likely going to be an expensive habit.

By my calculation you're not quite getting 3:1 (I count ~9000 to call into a pot of ~23000) and the call still amounts to 25% of your remaining stack. I pitch it. But I'm sure Lurbz is going to come along and tell me this is awful.

And why would leading the flop be awful?

Well here's my March at 10NL Rush. Plus $60 in bonus and some rakeback.Ran like Forrest Gump mid-month but that was quickly erased and have been struggling to get back on an upward trend. My plan, as I've documented in my blog, is to finish out this block of 10k hands at Rush, see how I've done at plugging my leaks, and then move back to regular 10NL full ring to see how I do with the HUD at my disposal. I'm actually interested to see how I do there after playing 20k hands virtually readless in Rush. Also plan to get back to the $1.10, 45-turbos that I abandoned during this recent bonus period