Poker News

Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

I’ve been playing a lot of online poker these days and have come across a couple of interesting hands on PokerStars and Full Tilt.

7c-7h $10-$20 Limit: The player under the gun (UTG) raised and I called with 7c-7h. The button and both blinds also called. Fiveplayers. The flop was 7d-6s-2h. The blinds checked and UTG bet out. I raised with my set because sets are extremely vulnerable in limit hold’em and I never slowplay online. The button folded but the small blind check-raised. The big blind smooth called, but UTG capped it. We all called. I put one of them on an underset, another on two-pair, and one an over pair. Four players. The turn was the 9h. The small blind bet, the big blind and UTG both called, and I popped it. Everyone called my raise and I felt that I was way ahead. Four players remained. The river was the Qs. Everyone checked to me. I bet. The small blind called, the big blind folded, and UTG called. My set of sevens held up against the small blind’s Ks-Kh and the UTG’s Js-Jd. That was a $477 pot. 9d-8d in The Mookie $10 No-Limit Multi Table Tournament: I often play in a private weekly tournament hosted by a fellow poker blogger named Mookie. You must accumulate chips early in blogger events. Whenever I see coinflip situations, I take them. I doubled up in Level 1 when I rivered a straight with 9d-8d. The flop was Qd- 10d-7h and I picked up an open-ended straight draw and also had a gutshot straight flush draw. I bet out $405 or the size of the pot. PirateLawyer re-raised to $810. I typed “Let’s gamble!” into the chat and pushed all in. He called with Kc-10c and was ahead. The 10s on the turn gave him trips but the 6s spiked on the river filling in my straight.

9h-7d at $10-$20 Limit: I titled this hand, “Why you should not slowplay!” I was in the small blind with 9h- 7d and everyone folded to me. I raised and the big blind just called. The flop was Js-7s-5h. I bet out and the big blind called. The turn was the 4d. I bet out and he raised me. He could have turned two pair or made a straight, or maybe was simply trying to steal the pot with a bluff or semi-bluff. I felt that I was still ahead and called. The river was 9c which gave me two pair. I bet out and he called with Ad-Jd. That hand would have materialized differently had he raised me pre-flop or on the flop. If he three-bet preflop I’d call and fold once the flop came down. Even if he smooth-called pre-flop and raised me on the flop, I’d quickly fold with second pair. Once I got to the turn, I was going to see the river no matter what. He got fancy, tried to trap, and missed two opportunities to get me out of the pot.

9c-6c at $8-$16 Limit: I had not played any pots in a while, and frankly, I was bored. That usually gets me in trouble. I decided to make a move from middle position and raised with 9c-6c. The button called, the small blind re-raised, and I called along with the button. Three players. The flop was 9h-9s-4s. Small blind checked and I bet my trips. The button raised me and I had to put him on A- 9 or K-9. The small blind called as did I. The turn was 5s.

If that other player was on a flush draw, I was screwed. The action was checked to the button who bet. We both called. The river was 6h. The small blind checked, I fired out, and the button raised to $32. The small blind folded and I re-raised my boat. He called and was all in. My boat held up and he mucked his hand. I checked the hand history and he had As-Qc. Nice bluff raise on the river with Ace high, when I had a boat. “Ship it!” I yelled at my laptop.

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