It’s been ages since I’ve last posted about poker. That’s mainly because I haven’t been playing it much. I’m still interested though, and still want to learn this difficult game, and last weekend I played a couple of hands on a 6-handed table on PokerStars. The blinds were $0.02 / $0.05. Here are some of the hands that had me wonder what I could’ve done differently.
In this hand, I had K8s in the big blind. The small blind was a rather loose player, who had only been at the table for about 15 hands. After four folds, he decided to raise to $0.15, which I called. I was hoping to hit a King or 2 hearts on the flop, so I could get a lot of money from him. I was also in position.
The flop was AJ8. Bottom pair for me.
Not exactly what I was hoping for, but still a pair, and if the turn would be a King, I would still like my hand. Mr. Loose bet $0.20 into the $0.30 pot. I hoped that if he had nothing, and this was just a continuation bet, he would shut down and stop betting on the turn and river. So I decided to call.
The turn was another Jack. Mr. Loose bet $0.30 now. I decided to stick with my original plan, and folded, believing that I did not have the best hand. Mr. Loose showed me his 73 of diamonds.
Many things I could’ve done differently here. What do you think of my thought process and conclusions?
A few hands later, I had AJ offsuit in the big blind. The UTG player limped in for $0.05. The cutoff raised to $0.15, which I thought could easily be a steal because of the early limp. The button and small blind folded, and I decided to reraise to $0.50. I would be happy if I could win the post then and there. The UTG limper called, and the cutoff called too.
So, I guess they had something after all. Maybe a pocket pair, or two face cards.
The flop was K66. Since I was first to act, I decided to check to see what the other two players would do. They both checked as well.
The turn was a 3. This was unlikely to help anyone, unless they had 2 spades of course. Would they have bet a hand with 2 spades? I checked again, and again the other two players checked too. I guess nobody had a King, and everyone was afraid to bet because… the other person might have a King? Hmmm.
A blank hit the river. Again, we all checked. I showed my AJ, and the cutoff raiser won the pot with 77.
How should I feel about this? Should I be happy that I lost the minimum? Should I have bet at some point, hoping my opponents would fold?
Poker looks so easy on TV, but it’s much harder if you have to make these decisions within a few seconds, not knowing the other players’ cards, and not having much experience!
You’re reading too much into it.
Firstly, the way PokerStars is set up is disadvantageous to the average player. The cash games favour those who are able to enter many games at once and only play exceptional hands. That would mainly be professional players, who can be in maybe 5 or 10 rooms at once. If you are not one of these players, you are wasting your time (and money).
The tournaments are much better, however it is difficult to find low stakes tournaments. There is a ‘quick match’ feature that combines a slot machine style interface to select the prize money and matches you in instant tournaments, however the die is rigged against the player.
I’d avoid pokerstars unless you are a professional.