BAD PLAY

Even in Limit Hold Em, one bad poker play can turn your night from good to bad.

I was playing the $1-$2 LHE at Absolute Poker. It had been a great session. The table was a good mix of Callie Wallies and Maniacs and I was looking at posting a good win. It was about time to go, so I clicked off my Auto Post button and was only going to play top ten hands. I came UTG, my last hand, and I look down to see pocket tens.

Since my mind was planning on going I should have played this hand conservatively, especially in Early Position. But on the spur of the moment I raised. Not a terribly bad play on this table, but more aggressively than I wanted to. A late position player called. The Small Blind reraised! Actually, no surprise. This maniac defended his blinds with almost any holding, and would reraise with anything suited, including 74! The Big Blind called, I called, and the Late Position player mucked.

The flop was K24 rainbow, which I thought was fairly safe for me. SB bet, his standard play. BB called, no telling what he has. I decide I’d test the waters. I reraised. The SB folded and the BB called. I’m a little worried now. I expect the BB might be playing a K with a weak kicker, or maybe second or third pair. But the turn is a T! A set for me and I’m happy.

BB checks, I bet and he calls. River is a 6. And dummy me, I think it is a safe card.

BB bets! I raise and BB reraises! I think just a moment, decide he must have either hit two pair or is trying to buy the pot. I cap the betting. He calls and rolls over 35 unsuited for the nut straight.

His play pre-flop was horrible, calling a reraise cold with such a horrible holding. But after the flop he was getting sufficient pot odds to go for his open-ended straight draw. When he hit on the river, he bet strong and maximized his winnings. So pre-flop, his play sucked. Post-flop it was perfect.

My raise preflop was questionable, but not entirely unreasonable. I would normally just check pocket tens in Early Position I do occasionally raise to mix up my play. Still, since I was leaving the next hand, mixing up my play wasn’t a big priority. I should have just called and seen the flop.

My raise to test the SB post-flop was also a good play in order to define my hand. The turn was fine. But when the BB bet out at the river warning signs should have gone off. I should have just called instead of getting into a raising battle to cap the betting when I didn’t have the nuts. At that point slow-played pocket Kings and the 35 were both winners against me. Of course, anything less, like the BB playing KT or K7 or similar I had the best hand.

If, on the other hand, I’d merely called pre-flop, I would have saved one small bet. Plus the pot would have been smaller, making the odds worse for the BB going heads up on the Turn and River on a tiny straight draw. And then I blew three big bets when I capped the river betting instead of just calling the BB’s lead. I lost 3.5 Big bets because I played that hand too aggressively. When you hope to make 1.5-2 big Bets an hour per table, that’s a big hit, even if I was playing three tables at the same time. That’s an hour’s play I’m behind because of my rush, stupidity, and lack of respect for the BB.

So, it turned what should have been a very profitable session at Absolute poker into a small win.

See you at the tables!