First cash game 1/2 NL experience

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ynot United States. Jan 04 2012 13:21. Posts 209

This an update to "My re-entry into poker".

Yesterday I decided to compete in my local casino's 1/2 NL game. As I have previously stated, my goals going into this game were simple. Play safe, don't bluff, study the table, never be the first to limp in, always play in position. These tactics are very generic and although as simple as they appear to be should create a solid 1/2 player due to the level of skill presented by 1/2.

So there I am, walking into the casino seeing a lot of familiar faces from when i was a regular sitting down grinding 8-12 hours a day. Some players recognized me, even most of the dealers. It was nice to be in the atmosphere again. I ended up sitting down as some generic 9-handed table. Everyone's stack was actually quite small. The largest being 300-400$. Since the average stack was around 100 I wasn't able to buy in for the full 200 for some reason. I didn't question my buy in and just accepted it. There was a another table with much money at it with the average stack being around 300$. But I would have to wait for someone to be eliminated before joining.

On the the game!!

The first thing i tried to do was get the feeling of the table. My range of hand were quite high since i told myself to always be in position and value bet your strong hands. The rule everyone has told me was to never be the first to limp in. I'm not quite sure why that is. Why is it ok to limp in behind someone but not be the first. Anyways, the table seemed to be quite tight initially. The average pre flop raise was between 6 and 10$ which I thought was a bit odd and there were always a handful of limpers before each pre flop raise. I tried to eye up who if anyone would see this and decide to be the aggressive raiser trying to pluck these individuals of their limps slowly. There were two people at the table who were more aggressive than the others but when their hands were revealed they always seemed to have the nuts. I picked out 2 people who if i could, I would try to stay away from and steal any pots i could if they were not in the hand.

I always seemed to get mediocre hands just after the blinds. Hands like A,Q off suite, K,Q off, A,T off. Nothing incredibly strong but good hands if i was in position. When I had these hands I was always first or second to act pre flop so i wasn't sure to raise since i couldn't be the first to limp or just fold since i was out of position in this semi-tight calling station of a table. If I were to raise 10-15$ pre flop I was almost sure I would have gotten a few callers and put myself into a bad position being the first to act post flop. I would need to hit since a continuation bet would have just been called in my assumption. I wasn't aiming to steal the pot since my goal wasn't to bluff out the pots. But should I have just bet anyways? I decided to limp in (the first to limp in), already breaking one of my rules i said not to do. 4 Other people limped into the pot as well. I would have called a small raise but I feel I have already made a large mistake by limping. The flop however was incredibly good to me. Coming A,Q,3. I lead out with a bet of 10$ Since the pot was still quite small and the bet would attract any schmuck who plays Ace - anything. There were no flush draws. I got two callers. Turn was a Q. I hit the nuts. Unless someone had A,A I won this hand. Assuming no one's hand strength had changed too much since there weren't any real straight or flush draws i fired a 25$ bet. I got 2 folds and a re-raise to 50. After another fold it was heads up and I made the obvious choice and shoved. River was nothing and I took down the hand. He had trip queens with a low kicker. I doubled up quite fast even making a few mistakes in my play.

As the night continued I wouldn't see any other strong hands and continued to play tight and from position. I would limp in with my low pocket pairs and never trip up. On the button I would play suited connectors and any suited Ace. I never hit on the board and folded more often than not. The day was quite slow from here on out. I never hit any strong hands and if every time i was in position and thought about stealing the pot or tried to raise from my position there was already a raise on the table and my hand was quite weak. I tried not to get frustrated since I came into this game expecting this would happen.

Eventually I moved tables and sat down with players whose average of chips were around 300$ with the big stack having close to 1k. At this point the blind have taken me down to 150% from my double up early on.

This table was a bit more aggressive. The main chip leader was involved in almost every hand which was no surprise but what was a surprise was every time he showed down he had a strong hand. When he limped, he had what you guessed he would have. He was hitting and it was important to avoid him if I could. After an hour of sitting down I found myself in the same situation. Nothing but crap hands and nothing even close to a strong hand when I was in position. I was studying the table quite hard trying to pick up on betting styles and how the big stack played. I found a few players who I would consider calling stations and identified a few players who were playing as tight as I was. The big stack as well as 2 other players were quite loose. Limping in most hands and always raising from the button or a few spots before it. I never got involved with any hands but one or two due to my cards. I thought to myself If I should be trying to raise the limpers from position regardless of my cards since I have sustained a quite strong "tight" image. I however, continued to be safe.

My last hand was a bit silly. First to act pre flop I look at A,9 of diamonds, amazed to see something other than 3,7off suite let alone an ACE. The big stack was in position so raising right now i know would get called by him but in my gut know that i should not be limping in especially since i am chasing the flush and not a pair of aces with crap kicker. I limp in and cringe in my mind as I know this is a mistake. Mostly folds around the table until the big stack raises to 10 as expected and the small blind who was a tight player like me makes the call.
Flop comes Qd-Jd-9s. Quite a good flop for me considering I haven't seen any flop for quite some time. I check, hoping to see a cheap turn and get out of chasing for a relatively cheap price. I think to myself if raising was the right call. I could decide the going price as well as give an impression that im not chasing. But I am a newby and check. Big stack bets 20$ with a call from the tight player. I decide to call since I could hit a A,9, or any diamond and have a shot at having the nuts between the three of us. Turn comes 10s. Now I have open-ended straight and a flush draw. roughly 35% change of winning assuming my opponent haven't hit the straight right now. I check, big stack bets out a large 75$ bet. tight player calls. I take a few minutes to think it over. there is over 300$ in the pot, i have, in my mind about 17 outs. 11 diamonds, 3 kings, 3 eights. Maybe even an ace could hit. Wasn't sure. I decided to shove all-in with another 50 on top of that 75. I watch as both players call. [b]River is a J[b/], nothing for me. Big stack had a King and hit when the 10 landed on the turn and tight player had a pair of queens low kicker which was quite odd of him. I had a 65% chance to win before the turn but when the 10 hit, my odds to win vs the straight were 25%. I didn't think he had the king so in my mind i thought i was around 40%.

Tough games!

I lost 100$ which was fine for me. My first time back i spent a lot of time trying to learn the table and had a hard time knowing what to do when I had semi strong hands in first position like A,Q off suite. I didn't know to raise or limp and semi-aggressive table. When I was in position i never had anything too strong, no pair of faces, suited connectors or anything. I will be going back once design a little more structure in my games and being getting the kinks out of it.

Please help me out and post some good responses that I will definitely go over and do my best to adapt into my play style.

Any help would be great and I hope you enjoyed this article. I will continue to update each time i go back to the casino.

0 votes

ynot United States. Jan 04 2012 13:23. Posts 209

I hope this wasn't too much to read for anyone. Let me know what you think!! :DD

jeffv8x_-_16 Belgium. Jan 04 2012 14:35. Posts 2835

There were no flush draws.I got two callers. Turn was a Q. I hit the nuts. Unless someone had A,A I won this hand. Assuming no one's hand strength had changed too much since there weren't any real straight or flush draws i fired a 25$ bet.I got 2 folds and a re-raise to 50.After another fold it was heads up and I made the obvious choice and shoved.

umm wat

Also on the A9 hand an 8 is not an out to win only to split, so you have 12 outs only imo(don't count the A or 9 as outs) makes it a pretty easy fold.

how can u shove the river, he cant possibly call with worse -TalentedTom

ynot United States. Jan 04 2012 14:53. Posts 209

On January 04 2012 13:35 jeffv8x_-_16 wrote:

Show nested quote +
There were no flush draws.I got two callers. Turn was a Q. I hit the nuts. Unless someone had A,A I won this hand. Assuming no one's hand strength had changed too much since there weren't any real straight or flush draws i fired a 25$ bet.I got 2 folds and a re-raise to 50.After another fold it was heads up and I made the obvious choice and shoved.

umm wat

Also on the A9 hand an 8 is not an out to win only to split, so you have 12 outs only imo(don't count the A or 9 as outs) makes it a pretty easy fold.

What I was thinking and what I typed didn't exactly sync up. My apologies. Basically I thought I had the nuts between the three of us and once I was re-raised the obvious decision was to shove all-in over the top. Sorry if that seemed confusing.

I counted the 8 as an out since a split of the pot would have still provided me with more chips. We would have just chopped the tight players money in the pot which was around 125$. But I do think folding was the right choice but should I have even been involved in the hand in the first place?

Tensai176 Canada. Jan 04 2012 16:03. Posts 1018

You are not chopping with players who have a K which consists a large part of their range.

The brick ten was the worst card for you; and alot of the time you can be chopping with a K River; and two pair outs are rarely good on that texture.

SugoGosu Korea (South). Jan 04 2012 16:09. Posts 1793

On January 04 2012 15:03 Tensai176 wrote:
You are not chopping with players who have a K which consists a large part of their range.

The brick ten was the worst card for you; and alot of the time you can be chopping with a K River; and two pair outs are rarely good on that texture.

this. fold the A9s preflop obv. you pretty much butchered the entire hand on all streets

Say this outloud! Why was six afraid of seven?......Because Seven Eight Nine

Last edit: 04/01/2012 16:09

ynot United States. Jan 05 2012 14:58. Posts 209

On January 04 2012 15:09 SugoGosu wrote:

Show nested quote +
On January 04 2012 15:03 Tensai176 wrote:
You are not chopping with players who have a K which consists a large part of their range.

The brick ten was the worst card for you; and alot of the time you can be chopping with a K River; and two pair outs are rarely good on that texture.

this. fold the A9s preflop obv. you pretty much butchered the entire hand on all streets

Besides the main mistake of actually being in the hand, how would you have played the hand?

ynot United States. Jan 05 2012 15:01. Posts 209

Thanks for reading this everyone! I know I only posted a couple hands I will do my best to post more information regarding the hands I am involved in. How did you all feel about the general way I playing. The extreme tight play coupled with only playing strong hands from position. It seemed the only hands I were actually involved with I broke my rules of never being the first to limp and I was out of position. Any advice?