This is all $2/$5 No-limit hold-em.
The first hand, I was in second position. The first position folded. I looked down -- hello! Two Aces, spade and heart.
Now I am more than happy to take the pot right there with Aces. I think Stu Unger said that with pocket Aces you either win a small pot or lose a big one; and my experience has definitely confirmed that. So, with Aces (or Kings or Queens or Jacks), I will almost never slowplay. I go straight for a raise, hope everybody folds (or that I get a maximum of one caller), and move to the next hand. So I made it $15 to go.
Everybody folded around to the big blind, who called. I was okay with one caller.
The flop came Ace of clubs, Three of spades, Ten of hearts. My opponent checked.
Now, this is probably the best possible flop for me. Whenever I flop a set, I pretty much never slowplay. Usually the set seems to come with a coordinated board -- flush or straight draws. But this board seemed pretty safe, unless my opponent was playing with something like King-Queen. I gambled that a free card would be safe, so I checked behind.
The turn was the Ten of spades. Now I had a Full House!
At this point, my opponent bet $15 into a $32 pot. The only thing I could be afraid of here would be pocket tens, and if that's the case, I'm going broke (he had me more than covered). But it seemed more likely to me that he was on some kind of draw -- straight or flush -- or maybe he'd made his straight or had a ten for trips. Just in case, I didn't want to scare him away so I just smooth-called.
The river was the Queen of Hearts. How wonderful -- whatever draw he was on came in.
The pot was $62. He bet $40. Time to spring into action. I raised to $120. He re-raised to $265, and I went all-in for about $620. He insta-called.
I showed my Aces for the boat. He had King/Jack of spades for the Broadway straight and a flush draw. I dragged in a pot of nearly $1250.
As I evaluate this hand, I don't think I could possibly have played it any better. As far as my opponent's play goes, I'm okay with it up until the river. I probably would have bet a smaller amount, and if raised would probably have just called. I'd like to say I'd have folded to a raise, but I don't think I could have. So, his mistake as I see it was going into a raising war and donking off all those extra chips.
The next two hands go together. They were both against the same opponent, and the first one totally set up the second. My opponent was a pretty good player for the most part, and the way I played these hands was quite risky but it paid off.
The first of these hands, I was in the cutoff. It was folded around to me. I looked down and saw Ace of clubs/Jack of spades. Not a good hand at all, but if nobody else wanted to take the pot I decided I would try to. I brought it in for $15. The button -- my opponent -- was the only caller, so with a $37 pot we went to the flop.
The flop was Five of spades, Queen of spades, Ten of diamonds.
Ugh. I have a gutshot straight draw (with the King) but basically this is the sort of hand I'm ready to give up on. Essentially, I'm hoping -- begging -- that my opponent will put out a bet so that I can just fold the garbage I'm holding.
I checked, and he bet $5. Now, that's not even a real bet. Assuming I have four outs, my chances of winning at this point are around 17%; and the pot is laying me (barely) a bit more than that. I was compelled to call.
The turn was the Jack of hearts. So, now I have second pair on a board that is straightening; again I'm ready to fold. I check; again he bets $5 into a $47 pot.
Finally, I realize he actually has nothing and that I'm playing with the best hand. I call the $5.
The river is the Six of hearts. The pot is $57. I bet $30 -- just over half the pot. After a long pause, my opponent calls. He has the Ace of diamonds and Ten of hearts for a pair of Tens; my turned pair beats his flopped one and I pull in a pot of $112.
The second hand unfolds almost exactly the same way. This time, I am the big blind. My opponent is again to my left, under-the-gun. By the time the action gets to me, he and two others have completed the big blind. I have Jack of hearts and Nine of spades and just check my option.
The flop comes Queen of spades, Ten of spades, Ace of hearts; so I flop a very vulnerable open-ended straight draw.
The small blind checks; I check; my opponent minbets $5 into the $20 pot. It's folded to me, and I call.
The turn is the Five of spades -- garbage. I check; he minbets $5 again, I call again.
The river is the Queen of hearts. I basically have a jack high hand. But this board is a carbon-copy of the last board I had with this opponent, the one where I had slowplayed the winning hand. If I played this hand the same way (and so far I had), would I be able to win it with the bluff?
I bet $30 in the $40 pot, and my opponent instantly folded.
Frankly, I don't bluff very often -- I hardly need to to win at poker against the folks I usually play -- but it really did work out here, and I am very pleased at how I played this hand.
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