1. 2008-03-21 21:52:00

   Do you like mid pairs?

   After the recent experiences I was getting comfortable with live play.
   So I tried 1/1/2 NL at LC.
   Started with 50BB.
   Played few hands, did not catch anything and was down to 80$ stack.
   Then this hand happened.

   Hand #1

   Picked up in UTG
   Being card dead for a long time, I was willing to gamble my buyin against two over cards.
   So if raise UTG I was afraid I will not get action. So I limped to to reraise someone.
   The table folded around and SB makes it 24.
   I called after making a commitment decision that with no over cards I would go allin.
   Flop comes . SB bets 20 into 48 and I go allin.
   He insta called and showed .
   Turn and river blanked and I was punished for overplaying medium pair.
   I am starting to think 88-JJ are like low pairs. I should try and play them like low pairs or play them in position ready to give up facing aggression.

   Mistakes:

   1. Not raising preflop - his raise can mean anything. If I had raised his actions would have given me more information. A small raise to 8 would have been enough.
   2. Playing like and . preflop. I should have been more disciplined. Being card dead sometimes makes you overplay exactly these types of hands.
   3. Reading opponent - I put his range on two overcards , and total steal but weighed it heavily against overcards and steal. He was a solid player and he will not bet 24 to just steal 6$. If he had small pair he would have called being out of position.
   4. His flop bet screams that he has a monster. if he had AQ, AK he would have checked or gone allin trying to steal. I took the bait so easily. Here is where I could have used information from preflop if I raised.

   Lessons learnt:

   • Bet early in streets to know where you are at even if that gives away your range of hands.
   • Do not overplay mediocre hands even if you are short stacked. Good opponents know that you are tight and will only play with hands that are ahead of your range.
   • Give credit to opponents who are playing solid.

   I took the rebuy for another 50BB.
   I did not catch any cards but took down small pots with cbets in position and preflop raises.
   I was getting tired and was unable to remember what happened on the flop and the turn when I was betting the river.

   So I ended the session down 60BB.

   Posted by Krishna at 2008-03-21 21:52:00

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