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Server Time: 11/23/2008 3:59:48 AM PACIFIC |
 Please help beginner w/ these NL hands, Machinegun68, 6. Nov 2003 10:53 | ||
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| Hello. I am a beginning NLHE player. We generally play $1/$2 NL 3-6 handed. The last two poker nights I have busted out on two very similar hands. Both times I held pocket 9s. Both times the game was 3-handed. Both times I was heads-up against "The Maniac," our resident ultra-loose aggressive player. He is very loose but not a terrible short-handed player. Hand 1 (Monday): I am dealt 9s9d in the BB. Button (Maniac) limps. SB folds. I raise the pot ($1.25). Maniac calls. Flops comes 5d 7d 8c. I think what kind of hands the maniac may be playing and put him on a flush draw. I have about $15 in front of me. Maniac is at around $40. I move all-in. What do you think of this all-in move? I had an overpair, a backdoor straight flush draw, and a gutshot straight draw. My thinking is here, I have a good made hand and MUST charge the Maniac as much as possible to draw. Even if he is on a good draw, I very well may outdraw him. To my chagrin, he calls my $15 all-in and flips over Kd 6d for a flush draw and open-ended straight draw. Turn is a blank, River is 9h giving me a set and him a straight. I walk home dejected. Hand 2 (Wednesday): I am dealt black nines in the BB. Maniac is on the button again and limps. SB calls. I bet the pot again ($1.50). Maniac calls. SB folds. Flop comes Qc 9d 6c. Set! My thinking here is the same, if he has a draw I must charge him to make it. However, with my set of nines heads-up I decide to slow-play them (bad move w/ two clubs on board? bad move w/ only a set?) I check. Maniac bets $4. He has around $50 in front of him, I have about $25. I consider moving all-in on him but decide to wait and see if a blank comes on the turn. I raise his $4, 4 more dollars. Turn is a total blank (2h). I check again to show weakness and let the maniac bet for me. Now, I suspect that these were bad moves. If he was on a draw I almost gave him a dreaded free card. However, being the faithful maniac he was, he leads into me with a $10 bet. WHAT?? I say to myself. Now I am confident he is not on a draw. I put him on Q2 or Q6 or some other kind of two-pair. He may even have turned a set of two's. At this point (his $10 turn bet) I am confident I have the best hand. I see his $10 and raise all-in (around $8 more). He immediately calls and turns over 7c2c. I am absolutely estatic and have visions of breaking this guy to make up for Monday. Nope. 3c on the river and I am toast. I walk home mad this time. What do you guy think of my play and my thinking with these 9's on these hurtful beats? Any way to avoid them? Remember please that I am a relative beginner. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you! | ||
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| Re: Please help beginner w/ these NL hands, Eman, 6. Nov 2003 11:07 | ||
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| im no expert but play alot on line. When its down to three handed or headsup i raise much bigger preflop. You may only win the blinds, but with a middle pair you can expect to take down huge pots. I would raise enough to force my opponents to fold there 72s. Going allin preflop with a weak pair is alos an option. The 1.25 bet preflop is only inviting callers!!! | ||
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| Re: Please help beginner w/ these NL hands, Eman, 6. Nov 2003 11:07 | ||
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| correction: you CANT expect to take down huge pots | ||
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| Re: Please help beginner w/ these NL hands, Fink, 6. Nov 2003 11:52 | ||
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| One thing that it takes a while to learn are that pocket pairs are very decieving. How many times have you won a very big pot with something like AQ and an ace on the board? Not very often. Therefore, you should not expect to win big every time you see AA in the hole. The same goes for 99. Pocket pairs are good for one thing: small pots. The only exception is when you are sitting on AA or KK and someone raises in front of you pre-flop. Especially if you have AA, you have to come over the top of them STRONG. You want to get singled up on this person, because they probably have either a lower pocket (and they need a set) or AK/AQ (and if you have AA on their AK, they are screwed). This is a situation where you can take big pots. Sorry, just went off-topic. Anyways, in your situation, I would have bet much stronger pre-flop. With 99 in a 3-handed game, your ideal situation is to get singled up on overcards. Make that bet 3 bucks or so. In this situation, you would probably only steal blinds, but thats ok. When the flop comes the way it did, go all-in and push out any draws. If this maniac is really that crazy, then he probably calls with his flush draw and beats you anyway, but remember, you will win that hand (and double up) more than you go bust if you push all in post-flop. And if he called your 3 buck raise PF, now there is 5 dollars for the taking if he folds his draw, which is a solid pot. In a short-handed game, don't be afraid to steal the blinds. You will get callers eventually, and then you can make them pay. One more thing, if you bet 3 PF and the flop comes with 2 over cards, play it safe, they probably caught on you. Don't be afraid to fold pocket pairs with over cards on the board, even in a 3-handed game. | ||
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