Mind Games

I VERY rarely do this
However, we are about 30 positions short of the bubble at this stage, so I thought I would give it a shot.
What's the worst that could happen?
I was in 1st or second place at this point, and couldn't be seriously damaged if I lost.

If I held a decent 3-card low, I wouldn't mind checking it down, but this was pretty much my best shot at taking the pot -- I think

PokerStars, $2.94 + $0.36 - Badugi Pot Limit - 700/1,400 - 7 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 182,080 (130 bb)
MP: 70,100 (50 bb)
MP+1: 51,510 (37 bb)
CO: 78,717 (56 bb)
BU: 181,373 (130 bb)
SB (Hero): 348,037 (249 bb)
BB: 124,805 (89 bb)

Deal: (2,100) Hero is SB with T♥:2♣:3♠:5♠:
5 players fold, Hero raises to 4,200, BB calls 2,800

Draw One: (8,400) 2♣:3♠:3♥:J♠: (2 players)
SB (Hero) draws T♥:5♠:, BB draws 2
Hero bets 8,400, BB calls 8,400

Draw Two: (25,200) 2♣:3♥:J♠:T♣: (2 players)
SB (Hero) draws 3♠:, BB draws 1
Hero bets 25,200, BB calls 25,200

Draw Three: (75,600) 2♣:3♥:J♠:T♣: (2 players)
SB (Hero) stands pat, BB draws 1
Hero bets 75,600, BB folds

Total pot: 75,600
SB (Hero) wins 75,600

I really don't like not having the suits.
They don't matter in Razz, but the handhistory is much prettier with them in.

This hand was 2 min from the end of late reg, and the average stack was only about 20% higher than the buy-in, so I was going to punt it off and rebuy.

PokerStars, $2.94 + $0.36 - Razz Limit - 300/600 (120 ante) - 7 players

Seat 7: 17,645 (29 bb)
Seat 8: 16,305 (27 bb)
Seat 1: 13,835 (23 bb)
Seat 2: 23,980 (40 bb)
Seat 3: 18,085 (30 bb)
Seat 4 (Hero): 3,535 (6 bb)
Seat 5: 4,970 (8 bb)

Third Street: (840) Hero is in Seat 4
Xx Xx Kx BI bring-in 180____BI folds
Xx Xx Kx UTG folds
Xx Xx 2x UTG+1 calls 180____UTG+1 4-bets to 2,400
Xx Xx Jx MP folds
Xx Xx 5x MP+1 raises to 600____MP+1 calls 1,800
Xx Xx 5x CO raises to 1,200____CO calls 1,200
4x Ax 2x Hero 3-bets to 1,800____Hero calls 600

Fourth Street: (10,620) (4 players)
Xx Xx 5x 6x CO bets 600____CO raises to 1,800____CO calls 600
4x Ax 2x 7x Hero raises to 1,015 (all-in)
Xx Xx 2x Qx UTG+1 calls 1,015____UTG+1 calls 785____UTG+1 calls 600
Xx Xx 5x Tx MP+1 raises to 1,200____MP+1 raises to 2,400

Fifth Street: (18,835) (4 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 2x Qx 4x UTG+1 bets 1,200____UTG+1 raises to 3,600____UTG+1 calls 1,200
Xx Xx 5x Tx Jx MP+1 folds
Xx Xx 5x 6x 9x CO raises to 2,400____CO raises to 4,800

Sixth Street: (28,435) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 2x Qx 4x 4x UTG+1 bets 1,200____UTG+1 raises to 3,600____UTG+1 calls 1,200
Xx Xx 5x 6x 9x 9x CO raises to 2,400____CO raises to 4,800

Seventh Street: (38,035) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 2x Qx 4x 4x Xx UTG+1 bets 1,200____UTG+1 calls 585 (all-in)
Xx Xx 5x 6x 9x 9x Xx CO raises to 2,400

Total pot: 41,605

Showdown:
Seat 3 shows 7x 4x 5x 6x 9x 9x Kx (Lo: 9,7,6,5,4)
Seat 8 shows 7x Ax 2x Qx 4x 4x Qx (Lo: Q,7,4,2,A)
Seat 4 (Hero) shows 4x Ax 2x 7x 6x 8x Ax (Lo: 7,6,4,2,A)
Seat 3 wins 26,925
Seat 4 (Hero) wins 14,680

Or at least until the end of that hand.

Having a made low when opponent cannot have one means you are free to draw to a better hand.
No matter what happens you're getting half the pot.

PokerStars, $0.98 + $0.12 - 7 Stud H/L Limit - 500/1,000 (200 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 1: 30,955 (31 bb)
Seat 2: 8,513 (9 bb)
Seat 3: 33,345 (33 bb)
Seat 4: 23,450 (23 bb)
Seat 5: 36,665 (37 bb)
Seat 6 (Hero): 22,539 (23 bb)

Third Street: (1,200) Hero is in Seat 6
7♣:8♥:3♦: Hero bring-in 300
Xx Xx Q♣: UTG folds
Xx Xx J♦: MP calls 300
Xx Xx K♠: MP+1 calls 300
Xx Xx 7♥: CO folds
Xx Xx 9♣: BTN folds

Fourth Street: (2,100) (3 players)
Xx Xx K♠:A♠: MP+1 checks
7♣:8♥:3♦:6♦: Hero checks
Xx Xx J♦:K♥: MP checks

Fifth Street: (2,100) (3 players)
Xx Xx K♠:A♠:T♣: MP+1 checks____MP+1 calls 2,000
7♣:8♥:3♦:6♦:A♦: Hero bets 2,000
Xx Xx J♦:K♥:4♠: MP folds

Sixth Street: (6,100) (2 players)
Xx Xx K♠:A♠:T♣:T♥: MP+1 bets 2,000____MP+1 calls 2,000
7♣:8♥:3♦:6♦:A♦:7♦: Hero raises to 4,000

Seventh Street: (14,100) (2 players)
Xx Xx K♠:A♠:T♣:T♥: Xx MP+1 checks____MP+1 calls 2,000
7♣:8♥:3♦:6♦:A♦:7♦:8♦: Hero bets 2,000

Total pot: 18,100

Showdown:
Seat 6 (Hero) shows 7♣:8♥:3♦:6♦:A♦:7♦:8♦: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 8-7-6-3-A)
Seat 3 mucks Q♦:T♠:K♠:A♠:T♣:T♥:4♥: (HI: three of a kind, Tens)
Seat 6 (Hero) wins 18,100

As in all split-pot games, the best result is when you get both pots.
In this hand I get half the pot, but since it was 3-way, I came out of it quite nicely

I did cash this tournament, but it was a nailbiter...
I folded all the but best hands in the runup to the bubble, but was completely card dead for about 40 hands.

The tournament had a huge overlay, and the mincash was 8 times the buy-in.
Nice

PokerStars, $0.98 + $0.12 - 7 Stud H/L Limit - 1,250/2,500 (500 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 2: 80,092 (32 bb)
Seat 3: 37,296 (15 bb)
Seat 4: 17,848 (7 bb)
Seat 5: 51,171 (20 bb)
Seat 6 (Hero): 14,507 (6 bb)
Seat 1: 44,990 (18 bb)

Third Street: (3,000) Hero is in Seat 6
Xx Xx 4♦: BI bring-in 750____BI calls 1,750
Xx Xx Q♣: UTG raises to 2,500
Xx Xx 8♠: MP calls 2,500
Xx Xx 4♠: MP+1 folds
Xx Xx A♦: CO folds
2♥:4♣:6♠: Hero calls 2,500

Fourth Street: (13,000) (4 players)
Xx Xx Q♣:6♥: UTG bets 2,500
Xx Xx 8♠:7♣: MP calls 2,500
2♥:4♣:6♠:7♦: Hero calls 2,500
Xx Xx 4♦:Q♠: BI folds

Fifth Street: (20,500) (3 players)
Xx Xx 8♠:7♣:8♥: MP checks____MP calls 10,000
2♥:4♣:6♠:7♦:3♠: Hero bets 5,000____Hero calls 4,007 (all-in)
Xx Xx Q♣:6♥:A♣: UTG raises to 10,000

Sixth Street: (49,507) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 8♠:7♣:8♥:6♦: MP checks
Xx Xx Q♣:6♥:A♣:K♥: UTG checks

Seventh Street: (49,507) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 8♠:7♣:8♥:6♦: Xx MP bets 5,000
Xx Xx Q♣:6♥:A♣:K♥: Xx UTG calls 5,000

Total pot: 59,507

Showdown:
Seat 3 shows 2♠:A♠:8♠:7♣:8♥:6♦:9♣: (HI: a pair of Eights; LO: 8-7-6-2-A)
Seat 2 shows J♠:Q♦:Q♣:6♥:A♣:K♥:2♣: (HI: a pair of Queens)
Seat 6 (Hero) shows 2♥:4♣:6♠:7♦:3♠:3♥:9♥: (HI: a pair of Threes; LO: 7-6-4-3-2)
Seat 3 wins 5,993
Seat 2 wins 29,754
Seat 6 (Hero) wins 23,760

See this spreadsheet for full details.

Total profit: $88.34

Some highlights:
$3.30 PL Badugi 23rd of 1961 for $67.92 including $55.92 in bounties
$3.30 FL Razz 53rd of 1442 for $14.00
$2.20 NL Hold'em (Sunday Storm) -- Satted in, but tournament cancelled for $36.41

Strictly speaking not a MicroMillions event, but it was included on my spreadsheet...
$7.50 8-Game 1st of 61 for $93.59 (and without it I have a $5.25 loss over the series)

Decided to jam JJ from MP with 4BB
I could fold to the $ but wanted moooaaawr

Pacific Poker - 600/1200 Ante 120 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 4,823
BTN: 11,247
SB: 1,781
BB: 6,294
UTG: 11,759
UTG+1: 5,674
Hero (MP): 5,379
MP+1: 14,631
MP+2: 608

9 players post ante of 120, SB posts SB 600, BB posts BB 1,200

Pre Flop: (pot: 2,880) Hero has J♠:J♦:

fold, fold, Hero raises to 5,259 and is all-in, MP+1 raises to 14,511 and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold << When I see his hole cards: Can we hold?

Flop: (13,398, 2 players) 6♥:A♣:3♣: When I see the flop: Nope!

Turn: (13,398, 2 players) Q♠:

River: (13,398, 2 players) J♥: When I hit the two-outer: Yup!

Hero shows J♠:J♦: (Three of a Kind, Jacks)
(Pre 57%, Flop 8%, Turn 5%)
MP+1 shows A♦:K♣: (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 43%, Flop 92%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins 13,398

On my stream a few days ago, one of the other lowball players said that I never bluffed in 2-7 Single Draw

I didn't think that it was absolutely true -- perhaps he had just never seen me bluff.
To avoid bluffing too much, I bluff post-draw if I pair my top card when drawing 1.
If you get called, you almost always lose, but they see you bluff, so you can get called later when you do hit a decent hand.

But what about when everyone draws 2 cards?
The chances of hitting a smooth low are slim.
So it is an ideal spot to bluff.

In this hand I draw the unthinkable -- I draw two cards and make a straight?
If I check it down, I almost certainly lose, so the only possible chance is to lead something big enough that they don't want to bluff catch with small pairs or K-lo type hands...

PokerStars, $2.94 + $0.36 - 2-7 Single Draw No Limit - 30/60 (15 ante) - 7 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 4,823 (80 bb)
MP (Hero): 2,701 (45 bb)
MP+1: 2,715 (45 bb)
CO: 3,811 (64 bb)
BU: 2,705 (45 bb)
SB: 2,693 (45 bb)
BB: 1,361 (23 bb)

Deal: (195) Hero is MP with 3♦:2♠:5♠:5♣:K♦:
1 fold, Hero calls 60, 3 players fold, SB calls 30, BB checks

Draw One: (285) 3♦:2♠:5♣:4♦:6♠: (3 players)
SB draws 2, BB draws 2, MP (Hero) draws 5♠:K♦:
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 197, 2 players fold

Total pot: 285
MP (Hero) wins 285

The low equity is poor, and 9s are terrible cards in PLO8

PokerStars - $0.50 PL Hi/Lo (6 max) - Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $33.24
BTN: $117.31
SB: $94.76
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $97.24
MP: $112.17

SB posts SB $0.25, Hero posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has 3♦:9♠:5♥:9♦:

UTG raises to $1.75, fold, CO calls $1.75, BTN calls $1.75, fold, Hero calls $1.25 <<< however, I do close the action, and equities run close -- so who knows...

Flop: ($7.25, 4 players) 9♥:T♥:Q♥:
Hero checks, UTG checks, CO checks, BTN checks <<< bottom set on a board with made straights and flushes I check, and I'm pleased to see a free turn...

Turn: ($7.25, 4 players) 9♣: <<< ...
Hero checks, UTG checks, CO checks, BTN checks <<< check again, intending to check/call and hoping someone has a full house or perhaps even the nut flush can bet ...

After two streets go check,check,check I open 1.5 BB with what I hoped would look like a weak flush
River: ($7.25, 4 players) 3♥:
Hero bets $0.75, fold, CO raises to $7.00, BTN raises to $28.64, Hero raises to $48.25 and is all-in, fold, BTN calls $19.61

Hero shows 3♦:9♠:5♥:9♦: (Four of a Kind, Nines)
(Pre 46%, Flop 5%, Turn 98%)
BTN shows 3♣:Q♠:T♣:Q♦: (Full House, Queens full of Nines)
(Pre 54%, Flop 95%, Turn 3%)
Hero wins $108.75
Rake paid $2.00

It is also rare to find a $1/$2 game running, as well

PokerStars, 5 Card Draw Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: $49.68 (50 bb)
MP: $27.28 (27 bb)
CO: $15.00 (15 bb)
BU: $4.64 (5 bb)
SB: $18.87 (19 bb)
BB (Hero): $15.44 (15 bb)

Deal: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 8♣:4♠:6♠:5♥:7♠:
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, CO 3-bets to $3, 1 fold, SB calls $2.50, Hero 4-bets to $4, 1 fold, CO calls $1, SB calls $1

Draw One: ($14) 8♣:4♠:6♠:5♥:7♠: (3 players)
SB draws 1, BB (Hero) stands pat, CO draws 1
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Total pot: $14 (Rake: $0.56)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 8♣:4♠:6♠:5♥:7♠: (a straight, Four to Eight)
CO mucks Q♣:K♣:7♣:A♣:K♦: (a pair of Kings)
SB shows 2♥:5♦:2♦:5♣:K♠: (two pair, Fives and Twos)
BB (Hero) wins $13.44

So why check post-draw?
Simple -- no worse would call, no better would fold

I finally caught up your stream but at the very end

Anyway, I was intrigued by that 2-7 Single Draw tournament you played.
Is there more of luck involved than in hold'em? Is there a bigger variance?

Originally posted by mjez1
I finally caught up your stream but at the very end

Anyway, I was intrigued by that 2-7 Single Draw tournament you played.
Is there more of luck involved than in hold'em? Is there a bigger variance?

Wow!
Big job!

In the drawing games, it is probably more important to know the drawing odds than in hold'em.
The classic example is the fact that a pat jack ( a lo hand like J7542) is just about exactly a 50% favourite against any hand drawing 1.

So if you open-shove your pat jack you're flipping against one person drawing one. Like open shoving 88 pre-flop in hold'em.

What about if there are two players left to act?
Now overall your jack is a dog.

So the luck part is in hitting your draw.
The skill part is in knowing your opponents and their tendencies.

Here is an online 2-7 odds calculator: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tools/odds-calculator/deuce-to-seven
There are also discussions of the drawing odds here: https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=2949094#post2949094

In NL 2-7 Single draw there is also a large bluffing element.
Since the odds of hitting a strong hand when drawing 2 cards is slight, if one player draws 1 against 2 players drawing 2, bluffing post draw is often successful.
The other side to that coin is that if you draw 2 cards and hit a better than a 9-lo you are very likely to get paid off by somebody bluff-catching.

I love the game. I won't say I'm good at it, but I do OK.
I'm told I don't bluff enough. I think I'm bluffing at the wrong times though...

Wow, thank you for the information and links. I could give a try to some micro tournament if there are any. Well, just for fun

I installed an upgrade to MySQL this morning and broke it.
To recover I used the Windows 10 system restore to restore to the point just before the installation.

It worked, but it took almost two hours!
This meant I had to play some 888 tickets on my mobile.
Not the worst experience I ever had, but I find it hard to believe that people play on their phones regularly.

So now I have to try to figure out why the upgrade failed, and try again.

<sigh>

Reasonable finish -- two cashes, several bounties and some decent return playing 5-Card Draw.

Including a pat royal flush

I also played the $2.20 Courchevel for the first time in a long while.
I had one hand where I drew a straight flush to beat a nut flush, and another where the exact same thing happened to me.

Seems fair.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Including a pat royal flush

And the cards were even in the right order, not that it matters.

Is it ever a good idea to check out of position with a value pat hand, though? There isn't really any point in your opponent attempting to bluff, since the purpose of that is to get a better hand to fold. They would know that unless they drew a monster (I'd say at least a full house, I think I'd check behind the majority of flushes against an opponent standing pat and checking in front of me), they would only win if their opponent is snowing, in which case they would be crazy to call any bet. Of course, their opponent would be crazy (or on a bad misclick) to ever consider checking with snow against a player who didn't stand pat, but it's nothing I haven't seen before.

This makes your opponent's line pretty weird too, of course. If they really had a reason to think that whatever they drew would be strong enough to get value from a pat hand, they should have a reason to think it's strong enough to call a re-raise with too.

Too bad this didn't happen on The Deal instead, though.

Originally posted by Harrier88
And the cards were even in the right order, not that it matters.

Yeah, someone else said that, and I checked again. The order I see is T♥:Q♥:J♥:K♥:A♥:
not that it matters indeed!

Originally posted by Harrier88
Is it ever a good idea to check out of position with a value pat hand, though? There isn't really any point in your opponent attempting to bluff, since the purpose of that is to get a better hand to fold. They would know that unless they drew a monster (I'd say at least a full house, I think I'd check behind the majority of flushes against an opponent standing pat and checking in front of me), they would only win if their opponent is snowing, in which case they would be crazy to call any bet. Of course, their opponent would be crazy (or on a bad misclick) to ever consider checking with snow against a player who didn't stand pat, but it's nothing I haven't seen before.

This makes your opponent's line pretty weird too, of course. If they really had a reason to think that whatever they drew would be strong enough to get value from a pat hand, they should have a reason to think it's strong enough to call a re-raise with too.

Too bad this didn't happen on The Deal instead, though.
My intention was to let it check down, just for fun, because I never ever though I would get called.
When opponent threw money in the pot, I changed my mind, and re-raised hoping he had quads or something.

I did hit the "show cards" button though.

Originally posted by Harrier88
And the cards were even in the right order, not that it matters.

Yeah, someone else said that, and I checked again.
The order I see is T♥:Q♥:J♥:K♥:A♥:
not that it matters indeed!

Originally posted by Harrier88
Is it ever a good idea to check out of position with a value pat hand, though? There isn't really any point in your opponent attempting to bluff, since the purpose of that is to get a better hand to fold. They would know that unless they drew a monster (I'd say at least a full house, I think I'd check behind the majority of flushes against an opponent standing pat and checking in front of me), they would only win if their opponent is snowing, in which case they would be crazy to call any bet. Of course, their opponent would be crazy (or on a bad misclick) to ever consider checking with snow against a player who didn't stand pat, but it's nothing I haven't seen before.

This makes your opponent's line pretty weird too, of course. If they really had a reason to think that whatever they drew would be strong enough to get value from a pat hand, they should have a reason to think it's strong enough to call a re-raise with too.

Too bad this didn't happen on The Deal instead, though.
My intention was to let it check down, just for fun, because I never ever though I would get called.
When opponent threw money in the pot, I changed my mind, and re-raised hoping he had quads or something.

I did hit the "show cards" button though.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
When opponent threw money in the pot, I changed my mind, and re-raised hoping he had quads or something.

Good thing you did, I think not betting or raising when you're last to act with the stone cold nuts is even usually against the rules in live poker. You would surely get away with it online, but still...

Just showing your cards after taking it down always works, even for troll hands.

I have created a spreadsheet of the WCOOP schedule -- it should be freely viewable by anyone
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12cdWGRKLSUs2AxYaDoqVPXhQEUm50usIbyBcmkAcAHM/edit?usp=sharing

Apparently, you don't even need a Google account.
If you encounter problems, please let me know.
To use it, make a local copy -- it should import into Open Office or Excel.

Best of luck

I check/raised the flop to try to just take it right here, since people here seem to tend to play low hands a lot.

Well that sure didn't work!

As it turned out, he called with a worse two pair, and no flush draw -- so each of us had two pair and no flush draw.
If the runner-runner flush gets there, he wins. If the runner-runner straight gets there I win.

In reviewing this hand, I'm pretty sure we both overplayed it, but I was well ahead OTF.
It is possible that he was counting on my low (27%) went-to-showdown stat.

PokerStars - $0.10 PL Hi/Lo (6 max) - Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $17.18
Hero (UTG): $15.46
MP: $32.93
CO: $10.45
BTN: $15.36
SB: $3.53

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q♠:K♦:4♠:A♠:

Hero calls $0.10, fold, fold, BTN calls $0.10, SB calls $0.05, BB raises to $0.50, Hero calls $0.40, BTN calls $0.40, fold

Flop: ($1.60, 3 players) 9♥:K♥:Q♣:
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $0.10, BB raises to $1.83, Hero raises to $7.12, fold, BB raises to $12.41, Hero raises to $14.96 and is all-in, BB calls $2.55

Turn: ($31.62, 2 players) Q♥:

River: ($31.62, 2 players) 8♣:

BB shows 3♥:K♣:9♦:A♣: (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)
(Pre 49%, Flop 19%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows Q♠:K♦:4♠:A♠: (Full House, Queens full of Kings)
(Pre 51%, Flop 81%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins $30.28
Rake paid $1.34