Mind Games

fancy, too[1]

[1] No, it is not connected to the internet

OK, so the hand is badly played, but I'll take it

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $25.25 (VPIP: 13.21, PFR: 7.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 54)
Hero (SB): $32.35
BB: $68.95 (VPIP: 40.74, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 27)
UTG: $10.64
MP: $41.96 (VPIP: 23.08, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
CO: $62.74 (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)

Hero posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has Q♥:J♦:

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.50 <<< I always raise a full 3BB when opening from the SB.

Flop: ($1.50, 2 players) J♥:A♥:A♦:
Hero bets $0.47, BB calls $0.47 <<< Here I rep the A, and would most definitely fold to a raise, but opponent calls

Turn: ($2.44, 2 players) 5♦:
Hero checks, BB bets $2.33, Hero calls $2.33 <<< A mistake. Opponent has an Ace, likely two broadways, and a possible flush draw in and the best I can hope for is an underfull

River: ($7.10, 2 players) 8♦: <<< Sure, why not give it a poke — a 1/3 bet looks trappy, and I can still rep the A, but now I can also represent the flush as well as a full house.
Hero bets $2.24, fold Holy cow! It worked!

Hero wins $6.78
Rake paid $0.32

Its very possible that you were actually betting with the best hand there and your opponent had a busted straight draw...

Originally posted by MichaelCheckson
Its very possible that you were actually betting with the best hand there and your opponent had a busted straight draw...

Quite true — all the more reason to bet rivers

for a long time, I was getting shite cards, and not connecting if and when I did see a flop. then I took kings into aces, then about 400 hands in, I got this

The Session Saver:
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $32.68 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
Hero (SB): $30.38
BB: $27.16 (VPIP: 23.49, PFR: 17.45, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 151)
UTG: $69.31 (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 14.81, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 28)
MP: $25.00 (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 11.36, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 47)
CO: $27.05 (VPIP: 24.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 29)

Hero posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has J♥:J♠:

fold, MP raises to $0.62, fold, BTN calls $0.62, Hero raises to $2.73, fold, MP raises to $6.25, fold, Hero raises to $30.38 and is all-in, MP calls $18.75 and is all-in <<< When I saw opponents K♦:K♥: I said something similar to "Oh Fork"

Flop: ($50.87, 2 players) 7♠:4♥:7♥:

Turn: ($50.87, 2 players) 9♣:

River: ($50.87, 2 players) J♦:

Hero shows J♥:J♠: (Full House, Jacks full of Sevens)
(Pre 18%, Flop 8%, Turn 5%)
MP shows K♦:K♥: (Two Pair, Kings and Sevens)
(Pre 82%, Flop 92%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins $48.87
Rake paid $2.00

Then to wrap it up...
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $59.84
SB: $22.31 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
BB: $18.38 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG: $24.25 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 4)
MP: $25.00 (VPIP: 35.04, PFR: 28.45, 3Bet Preflop: 13.95, Hands: 122)
CO: $22.75

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 8♠:8♣:

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.62, fold, BB calls $0.37

Flop: ($1.34, 2 players) T♥:J♣:4♣:
BB checks, Hero bets $0.67, BB calls $0.67

Turn: ($2.68, 2 players) 8♥:
BB bets $2.00, Hero calls $2.00 <<< I did not consider Q9 as a possibility for a BB not playing with a full stack — maybe that was a mistake, but...

River: ($6.68, 2 players) 4♦:
BB bets $5.00, Hero calls $5.00 <<< saved by the river. I just flatted considering TT and JJ are valid hands for such an opponent

BB shows Q♠:9♥: (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 45%, Flop 41%, Turn 77%)
Hero shows 8♠:8♣: (Full House, Eights full of Fours)
(Pre 55%, Flop 59%, Turn 23%)
Hero wins $15.93
Rake paid $0.75

Giraffe #1:

Session Giraffe:

That's not a giraffe! That's a longneck-cow-horse with a lion's tail! Very rare species that's why they didn't have a real photograph and only a drawing probably.

Originally posted by Stackoffski
That's not a giraffe! That's a longneck-cow-horse with a lion's tail! Very rare species that's why they didn't have a real photograph and only a drawing probably.
The name of the giraffe genus is "camelopardalis" — literally leopard camel

Indeed, it looks more like a camel-head

but never give 'em a free showdown either
If their calling range is any two cards, let 'em call

Pacific Poker - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $4.85 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
SB: $12.76 (VPIP: 15.79, PFR: 10.53, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 39)
Hero (BB): $10.00
UTG: $3.45
MP: $10.35 (VPIP: 24.27, PFR: 18.45, 3Bet Preflop: 10.81, Hands: 103)
CO: $10.27

SB posts SB $0.05, Hero posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A♦:7♦:

fold, fold, fold, BTN calls $0.10, fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.25, 2 players) J♥:Q♣:A♣:
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.45, 2 players) Q♠:
Hero bets $0.22, BTN calls $0.22

River: ($0.89, 2 players) 5♠:
Hero checks, BTN checks <<< the intention was to call a bet that never came

Hero shows A♦:7♦: (Two Pair, Aces and Queens)
(Pre 57%, Flop 65%, Turn 86%)
BTN shows J♦:T♥: (Two Pair, Queens and Jacks)
(Pre 43%, Flop 35%, Turn 14%)
Hero wins $0.85
Rake paid $0.04

unless an opponent has something slightly worse that they don't mind going to showdown with

Here I get 3 streets of value from just top pair, top kicker.
Pacific Poker - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $10.20 (VPIP: 21.23, PFR: 16.76, 3Bet Preflop: 7.25, Hands: 181)
Hero (SB): $16.73
BB: $5.15 (VPIP: 19.74, PFR: 17.11, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 79)
UTG: $10.00 (VPIP: 15.15, PFR: 12.12, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 33)
MP: $16.15 (VPIP: 27.91, PFR: 7.14, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)
CO: $11.91 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A♣:K♥:

UTG raises to $0.20, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.80, fold, UTG calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.70, 2 players) 6♥:T♦:A♦:
Hero bets $0.85, UTG calls $0.85

Turn: ($3.40, 2 players) 8♥:
Hero bets $1.70, UTG calls $1.70

River: ($6.80, 2 players) 3♣:
Hero bets $2.24, UTG calls $2.24

Hero shows A♣:K♥: (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 75%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)
UTG shows A♠:Q♥: (One Pair, Aces) <<< but only because an opponent had 1 pip worse kicker
(Pre 25%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)
Hero wins $10.72
Rake paid $0.56

first hand of a $5 Blast (spingo) on 888
I don't play these hardly ever, but was bored. This is (rather "was") a 5x multiplier, so ...

Pacific Poker - 10/20 Ante 2 NL (3 max) - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 500
BTN: 500 (VPIP: 17.24, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 11.76, Hands: 88)
Hero (SB): 500

3 players post ante of 2, Hero posts SB 10, BB posts BB 20

Pre Flop: (pot: 36) Hero has A♦:Q♦:

BTN raises to 60, Hero raises to 498 and is all-in, BB calls 478 and is all-in, BTN calls 438 and is all-in <<< I didn't look at stats, stack sizes are all the same, and I want to be heads-up vs BTN. However, I find a couple of good customers wanting to play some no-fold'em hold'em

Flop: (1,500, 3 players) 6♥:7♦:A♣: <<< nice flop — top pair, rainbow, and minimal draws

Turn: (1,500, 3 players) 5♣:

River: (1,500, 3 players) 6♣:

BB shows K♠:J♠: (One Pair, Sixes)

BTN shows K♣:9♥: (One Pair, Sixes)

Hero shows A♦:Q♦: (Two Pair, Aces and Sixes)

Hero wins 1,500

It helps that they both have Kings, but really people, K9o — really?

Here are the pre-flop equities:

       Equity     Win     Tie
BU     11.53%  10.77%   0.77% { K9o }
SB     62.76%  62.56%   0.21% { TT+, AQs+, AKo }
BB     25.71%  24.90%   0.81% { KJs }

I used the exact hands opponents held, rather than guessing their ranges.

turn bluff goes wrong

Pacific Poker - $0.20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: $36.71 (VPIP: 17.30, PFR: 15.09, 3Bet Preflop: 7.38, Hands: 458)
Hero (CO): $21.50
BTN: $20.00 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
SB: $37.03 (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
BB: $20.30 (VPIP: 19.51, PFR: 18.29, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 87)
UTG: $21.93 (VPIP: 34.67, PFR: 31.08, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 77)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.20

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.30) Hero has A♥:3♥:

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.60, BTN calls $0.60, SB calls $0.50, fold

Flop: ($2.00, 3 players) 4♦:3♣:2♣:
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($2.00, 3 players) A♦:
SB checks, Hero bets $1.00, BTN raises to $3.00, fold, Hero calls $2.00

River: ($8.00, 2 players) 9♠:
Hero checks, BTN checks

Hero shows A♥:3♥: (Two Pair, Aces and Threes)
(Pre 59%, Flop 74%, Turn 95%)
BTN mucks T♣:7♥: (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 41%, Flop 26%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins $7.60
Rake paid $0.40

I was a bit worried because I've known the player on my right for a long time, and he is quite good. Better than me by quite a ways

PokerStars, 5 Card Draw No Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 5 players
Hand delivered by Pokeit

UTG: $23.63 (95 bb)
CO: $34.27 (137 bb)
BU: $7.83 (31 bb)
SB: $6.07 (24 bb)
BB (Hero): $24.15 (97 bb)

Deal: ($0.35) Hero is BB with 9♥ 6♦ K♥ K♣ K♦
3 players fold, SB raises to $0.62, Hero 3-bets to $0.99, SB 4-bets to $2.25, Hero calls $1.26

Draw One: ($4.50) 6♦ K♥ K♣ K♦ A♥ (2 players)
SB draws 1, BB (Hero) draws 9h
SB bets $3.82 (all-in), Hero calls $3.82

Total pot: $12.14 (Rake: $0.55)

Showdown:
SB shows 3♦ Q♣ Q♥ Q♦ 7♠ (three of a kind, Queens)
BB (Hero) shows 6♦ K♥ K♣ K♦ A♥ (three of a kind, Kings)
BB (Hero) wins $11.59

I had to carefully examine the hand history here, because I actually thought that I had lost the high with the river card, and it went by too fast to see if I had won the low
PokerStars - $0.02 PL Hi/Lo (6 max) - Omaha Hi/Lo - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): $2.05
CO: $1.07 (VPIP: 44.44, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
BTN: $2.90 (VPIP: 78.57, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 29)
SB: $1.98 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)

SB posts SB $0.01, Hero posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has 8♥:6♣:A♦:4♦:

fold, BTN raises to $0.04, SB raises to $0.06, Hero calls $0.04, BTN calls $0.02

Flop: ($0.18, 3 players) 6♠:7♦:2♠:
SB bets $0.06, Hero calls $0.06, BTN calls $0.06

Turn: ($0.36, 3 players) 5♥:
SB bets $0.12, Hero calls $0.12, BTN raises to $0.83, SB raises to $1.86 and is all-in, Hero calls $1.74, BTN raises to $2.78 and is all-in, Hero calls $0.07 and is all-in

River: ($6.08, 3 players) T♠: <<< I did lose the high with this card — my 8-high straight was 3rd, but it turns out my weak low held

Hero shows 8♥:6♣:A♦:4♦: (High: Straight, Eight High, Low: 6542A)

Main Pot [$5.94]: (Pre 31%, Flop 45%, Turn 46%)
Side Pot#1 [$0.14]: (Pre 54%, Flop 63%, Turn 50%)

BTN shows 9♣:7♠:8♦:T♣: (High: Straight, Ten High, Low: 87652)

Main Pot [$5.94]: (Pre 35%, Flop 18%, Turn 28%)
Side Pot#1 [$0.14]: (Pre 45%, Flop 37%, Turn 50%)

SB shows 5♣:3♦:4♠:5♠: (High: Flush, Ten High, Low: 65432)

Main Pot [$5.94]: (Pre 34%, Flop 37%, Turn 26%)

Hero wins $2.94
Rake paid $0.20
BTN wins $0.07
SB wins $2.87

Nice to see some NL Five Card Draw again.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Nice to see some NL Five Card Draw again.

It's often there, but I don't play it much any more.
I cancelled my subscription to the Pokeit HUD, and my fpdb isn't working for some reason.
And, truth be told, I'm not really that good at it.
I crushed FL 5-Card Draw, but NL not so much
Here is the entire list of draw games with > 2 players at the table:

No stud games at all, unless I want to play $10/$20 Razz heads up (hint — I don't)

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I crushed FL 5-Card Draw, but NL not so much

Same... well, almost - I didn't exactly crush FL 5CD cash, but I did all right. I still miss those games, they were fun in their simplicity.

Couldn't ever get into NL cash. NL MTTs are fine, but I prefer PL.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
River: ($6.08, 3 players) T♠: <<< I did lose the high with this card — my 8-high straight was 3rd, but it turns out my weak low held

I am a little bit confused by that phrase. You were drawing dead for high at the turn already, weren't you?

Originally posted by irieill
I am a little bit confused by that phrase. You were drawing dead for high at the turn already, weren't you?

You're quite correct. Thanks for noticing — I clearly didn't!
As I mentioned, I was surprised I got anything at all, and had to go to the hand history[1] to see why I got half.
Sometimes things happen rather quickly!

[1] One of the reasons I hate playing at sites that don't save hand histories.

He gets full marks for guts, though

Pacific Poker - $0.20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $20.00 (VPIP: 31.25, PFR: 31.25, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
SB: $22.49 (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
Hero (BB): $20.00
UTG: $23.11 (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 17)
CO: $18.69 (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 26.00, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 51)

SB posts SB $0.10, Hero posts BB $0.20

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.30) Hero has A♠:T♠:

UTG raises to $0.40, fold, fold, SB calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($1.20, 3 players) J♦:Q♥:3♠:
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: ($1.20, 3 players) 3♥:
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $0.40, fold, Hero calls $0.40

River: ($2.00, 2 players) T♦:
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.92, Hero calls $1.92

UTG shows 5♥:4♥: (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 39%, Flop 26%, Turn 34%)
Hero shows A♠:T♠: (Two Pair, Tens and Threes)
(Pre 61%, Flop 74%, Turn 66%)
Hero wins $5.55
Rake paid $0.29