How was this played?
Could I have played it differently?

Everleaf $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 1499926
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $8.46
BB: $9.40
UTG: $5.00
UTG+1: $47.08
UTG+2: $4.05
Hero (MP1): $10.00
MP2: $18.72
CO: $2.96
BTN: $3.00

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP1 with A A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, UTG+2 calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.50, 1 fold, CO calls $0.50, 2 folds, BB calls $0.40, UTG+1 calls $0.40, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.15) 2 5 6 (4 players)
BB bets $2.15, UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to $4.30, CO calls $2.46 all in, BB calls $2.15

Turn: ($13.21) 7 (3 players - 1 is all in)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.20, BB calls $4.60 all in

River: ($22.41) Q (3 players - 2 are all in)

We talked in chat, but at the micros my standard open is 4BB + 1 per limper. 70 here would be fine.

The min raise on that scary flop is bad. You're just giving great odds to everyone else in the hand. Shove at this point. If he has exactly 78hh he's a slight favourite, but if he just has a flush OR a straigh draw you're a 2 to 1 favourite. But what that means is if you give him 4 to 1 odds to call he's doing the right thing by calling. You need to get the chips in and give him the wrong odds to call.

As played, that's the worst card in the deck. It completes the flush, a straight draw and makes a lot of 2 pair hands. AA has shrunk a lot and I'm checking behind there.

But what did you put him on? Your thinking seems to be entirely focussed on the cards you have. You are thinking "What does my opponent think I have?" and have not mentioned what you think he has. This helps illustrate that people at these limits are almost never thinking about what you have, and are entirely focussed on their own hand. You think he is bluffing you because he puts you on Ax but the reality is he has an over pair and is betting that for value.


Send me a session and we can discuss it in depth.

Intervention time.

What do you see in this pic?



I'll tell you what I see.  A guy got beat at 2NL.  Rather than listen to the masses telling him that he has to be able to handle 2NL before he moves up, he ends up at 4NL.  Same beat happens, he posts again.  He is told not to play scared or he will get eaten alive.  Go back to basics and right the ship.  So later on, up pops a thread where he got hosed at 10NL, that mystical fantasy land where people play sooooo much better, raises are respected, and suckouts magically disappear.

You can go play 5000 NL and have this happen, sir.  Money is relative to the wealth of the person holding it, and I guarantee some banker thinks nothing of dropping a grand at lunch hour "trying out that new Texas Hold-it thingy".  Have you ever seen HSP?  They bring in billionaires who think nothing of losing 500K on A9.

The problem isn't everyone else, sir.  It's you.  And while it's true you're not always at fault, and while you have taken some beats, it doesn't mean that you couldn't have done better, or that the way you play as a result hasn't screwed you afterward.  That $2 stacking isn't the end of the world, but when you tilt off 4 bucks as a result, it gets a lot more painful.  Going to bigger stakes might result in you getting it back, or it may put you farther in the hole.  If you want to crapshoot, fine; but don't delude yourself into thinking that's the proper thing to do.  This post alone shows you quite well that your premise that "they play better at 10NL and I can do better" is false.

I'm sorry if this is mean, I really don't mean to be that way.  I see a guy spiraling out of control and I want to try to stop it.  I guess I haven't given up on "converting" people after all.

Ok now I have read that and thank you.
Seriously, Thank You... I have told sooooo many ppl to "Hey, take a break" while playing and been cussed out for doing so it almost makes me not want to do it also.

I will try.

If I really knew how I would.
This is something I am going to take the time to learn how to do.

c:\My Documents\Prodigy Poker\twospd\

In there will be a bunch of folders organised by date. In those folders will be text files of table names which hold all the hands observed at those tables. Email me those files.