To slow play or not to slow play? That is the question, and what I struggled with today. Overall it was a good session, with a lot of ups and downs, and plenty of aggressive play.
Normally, I am a very aggressive player, when I played online, my stats were 22/20/4 with a 9% 3 bet percentage. (22 = VPIP, 20 = Raise percentage, and 4 = Aggression factor) Which is on the aggressive side for a reg. (Not super duper aggressive tho) But the main thing that needs to be realized is that when playing against worse players, a better player can play looser and more aggressive. So after being at the table for about 30 minutes, I shifted gears, and became really aggressive, and it showed.
The one dilemma I had the whole session was misplaying my good hands. I would be aggressive when I should have been slower, and vice versa. When deciding on when to slow play, it comes down to a few factors, 1. the situation (Board texture, position, money in pot, stack sizes etc.) 2. Your image 3. Your read on your opponent.
What I struggled with the most, was how my opponents perceived my image. (A combination on #2 and #3)
For example, early on in the session, I got a little too aggressive with a good hand of mine against an opponent with a good hand. The opponent was this older guy, who seemed to be a talker and a donk, (He rivered a gut shot in a 5 way pot, was last to act when no action happened, and checked it. Wtf lol) There were two limpers in the pot, it gets to him on the button and he raises up to 5. (Like a min raise, which to me means he has a big pair.) The SB flats, and me in the BB calls with 3 5 offsuit for the implied odds. The two limpers call too. Flop comes 356 with two clubs, SB checks, I check (knowing the old guy was going to bet with his big pair) the limpers check, and this old guy bets 15. SB fold, I reraise to 45, both limpers fold, this old guy thinks for a bit and says out loud what he was thinking, saying I have been playing tight (I had played like 7 hands till that point and and won 4. We probably only played like 15 hands by that point so idk what he was talking about) and that I was on the BB (Good point tho for him) and he folds KK face up saying he thinks I probably have a draw. Looking back on it, the reraise was a smart move (too drawy of a flop) but it was too big. Also, how these tables play out, I was afraid to just bet out, it's very easy for these limpers to flat my raise and him flat behind them. (He's a donk so he could very easily flat behind bc he is afraid to lose a stack committing too much) I wanted a chance for anyone else to bet, or him to bet out, and I have the chance to repop it so that no draws come in. Also, I KNOW he has a big pair, a reraise here shouldn't scare him off. I also played a little too advanced with the reraise, I didn't want to bet a lot, but I know that min reraises mean big hands. (He would have not been smart enough to realize that tho, my read was off because I was thinking way too advanced for this player)
A few other hands happened at the table between me and a previous online player on my immediate right. I know he was because the rest of the table was talking about online poker and it being banned, and he seemed to know every detail about the poker sites. He also mentioned having around 300 in a pokerstars account (So probably not that great of an online player, but still more knowledgeable then other players) Anyways, he was always trying to limp in and I would raise him. He wouldn't raise often, and I would flat him whenever he did with nearly any two good drawing cards looking to bust him. Well the first time we tango, he leads for 12 pre, and I flat with 7 10 of spades, everyone else folds and I have pos. Flop comes Axx of spades. I flopped the flush, he bets out like 15 and I decide to slow play and flat call. (I know a spade can be deadly for my action and possibly my hand, but the opportunity to bust him is worth it imo because he rarely raises.) Anyways, next card is another SPADE!!!! :( He leads for 20, and I call (I should have folded), river is a blank and he bets 25, I fold. The reason why I should have folded earlier is because of what I know about him. He is a decent player and has a good idea of what is going on. So when he bets that flop and I call, I am definitely representing having a flush draw. So with that read, when the 4th spade comes on the turn, I should have hit my hand, why would he then bet? It's because he has a high spade himself, probably the K of spades too. (I put him on Ak with the K of spades) The value bet river bet of his also gave it away in my opinion, that he had a high spade.
Another hand I play with him, 1 player limps, he raises to 15, I call with 9 10 suited, another player calls behind me in pos, and the first limper calls. Flop comes J107 with 2 hearts (Very drawy flop) first limper bets 7, internet guy flats, I think of this as a sign of weakness (If he has a big pair or a set, why slow play for 7 dollars with two players left to act behind in a very drawy board. Very very bad play.) I reraise to 32, all other players fold, and internet guy hollywoods for a bit and calls. Turn is an Ace. He checks, I check. River is a blank and he leads, I fold. The ace was a horrible card for my bluff, it completes his draw if he has KQ, gives him top pair of two pair with AJ, AQ, AK, top set if he had AA. Also, I felt it was reasonable to think because of his hollywood that he had it on the flop too with a set of j's or 10's. I like my play in this hand and not his to be honest, but it still didn't play out in my favor.
Even with these bad hands, I am still doing ok, because I had been grinding down a lot of the other players. I get into a final conflict with the internet player tho, he raises to A4 of hearts preflop over top of two limpers, I flat with 9 10 suited again, and two people call behind, and so do the two limpers. Flop comes Q82 rainbow. Everyone checks. turn comes a 6 and puts the second heart on the board, everyone checks, internet guy bets 20, and I flat with my double gut shot, and the rest folds. River comes an offsuit 10, and the internet guy leads for 50. I think for a long while and make the hero call, he shows the busted draw. I made that call because his hand made no sense at all for the type of player he is. He would have lead the flop if he had a Q just for value against all of those limpers. He would have also not bet so much on the river when he was called on the turn. (It wasn't a value bet) So I won a good sized pot and the internet kid got up and walked away. He didn't come back until I left lol AHH YEAAAHHHH he scurred.
I continue to dominate the table, I get my stack up to around 400, get grinded down a little and lose a decent pot to a short stack. The hand had a few limpers, and a tight player then raise to 11, SB calls, I call in the BB with 3 5 offsuit, and the rest of the table calls. Flop comes 9 55, everyone checks to one of the limp callers who bets 20 of her 30 dollar stack. The initial raiser folds, the SB folds, I flat to induce other players to call too, but they fold and we see a turn. Turn is a Q, and I just bet the extra 10 the player had left. She called and showed 99. I lose, but it was a hand I couldn't get away from because of the stack sizes. After the hand, I grinded for a bit, but needed to leave to go see my friend at 8. I left with 287, so with about 2 hours of work, I made 87 dollars. A little disappointed because I was near 400, but still happy!!!
So a nice recovery from the last shit session. Going to bed now tho, I have work tmr ugh!
-Coopb20
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