A Game That Will Live In Infamy: Hands 21—40

Bovada $2K Guarantee NLHE 6-Max

Continuing the hand-by hand examination of a 6-max tournament. The first twenty hands saw the elimination of two players, at a point where the starting stack is still more than 60BB deep. A majority of the hands so far have been played five-handed.

I’m player 50, in SB for the first hand here, with a bit of a chip lead since I’ve had a good run of hands and taken out another player already.

HAND 21 40/80
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
47 D 9Q 5.7K 24
50 SB A2 12.4K 21
44 BB 48 9.9K 12
59 UTG 55 5.3K 23
45 CO 6K 8.1K 21

UTG’s pair gets folded because of a timeout. Interestingly, four of us are all about equal in equity, with the ace, king, and queen-high hands nested like matryoshka dolls. D raises the hand and we in the blinds submit.

HAND 22 40/80
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
47 CO TJ 5.8K 11
50 D 32 12.4K 12
44 SB JJ 9.8K 40
59 BB 88 5.3K 18
45 UTG 5K 8.1K 19

An interesting hand from a tactical standpoint. UTG folds, and CO makes a min-raise with a hand that’s perfectly acceptable for raising in a 6-max. SB has a great hand and the most chips of anyone remaining in the hand after I fold, and re-raises to 400. Then BB ships his [8d 8h] for 5.3K for a squeeze. CO folds. I don’t really see how SB folds the jacks, but he does. Even if he’s flipping or dominated (or loses to a worse hand), he’s not out of the tournament and he’s got most of a starting stack, with over 50BB. Hard to fathom for me.

HAND 23 50/100 57Q 9 8
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
47 UTG 23 5.6K 14
50 CO A7 12.4K 22
44 D JT 9.4K 26 37 16 18 100
59 SB 6Q 5.9K 17
45 BB JK 8.1K 21 63 84 82 0

D raises to 300 with a suited connector and gets a perfectly respectable raise from BB’s king-high. He’s even dominating the [jd td]. They both check the flop, then BB leads out for half-pot on the turn. And this is where he makes his mistake. He is in the lead, but it’s just a king-high hand. He doesn’t even have a decent draw, whereas D is open-ended to the nuts. On the river, BB check-folds to a bet of 825 from D. Note that D started the hand with the most equity, by a few points, and would have won in an all-in showdown with the other hands.

HAND 24 50/100
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
47 BB A7 5.6K 27
50 UTG 98 12.4K 11
44 CO KQ 10.0K 33
59 D J8 5.8K 18
45 SB T5 7.5K 11

Another squeeze play from a BB, after a raise by CO and a call from D. BB shoves and takes the pot. If all three players are in the hand, [kc qc] has a slight edge, HU between BB and CO, there’s just a 6% difference in equity.

HAND 25 50/100 5T6 K 7
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
47 SB 22 6.3K 25 22 7
50 BB 3T 12.4K 32 30 46 53 79 100
44 UTG 87 9.7K 9
59 CO 78 5.5K 12 24 31 30 14 0
45 D 76 7.4K 23 23 16 17 7 0

CO decides to try to steal or trap by making a min-raise and gets everyone behind to call. I check top pair (it isn’t a great kicker), CO bets the open-ender for 400, D calls with middle pair, and I come along. We all check the turn [kh], although I’m pretty sure I’m still good and drawing to a good thing, Then I bet my flush on the river for 1K and get called by D with two pair. I actually started with more equity than anyone else, and stayed ahead the whole way.

HAND 26 50/100
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 HJ 2A 5K 24
47 D J7 6.1K 18
50 SB 96 14.8K 16
44 BB 68 9.7K 8
59 UTG Q2 4.9K 16
45 CO K8 5.8K 18

UTG folds a queen, HJ folds an ace, and the new guy at the table min-raises his ace to take the pot.

HAND 27 50/100 J7A 4 A
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 HJ J8 5.2K 12
47 CO JA 6.1K 31 60 83 94 100
50 D 9T 14.7K 16
44 SB 93 9.6K 9
59 BB K7 4.9K 23 40 17 6 0
45 UTG 5T 5.8K 10

CO opens his [jd ah] to 250 and BB loses his mind, going all-in for nearly 50BB with [kh 7s]. CO snaps him off, flops two pair, and makes a full house on the river, eliminating player 59 and taking us back down to five at the table.

HAND 28 50/100 Q8T K 3
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 UTG Q4 5.2K 6
47 HJ 4A 11.1K 36 54 67 8 0
50 CO K9 14.7K 37 46 33 92 100
44 D 2Q 9.6K 10
45 BB 26 5.8K 12

I call a min-raise from HJ pre-flop, then another 300 when I have a gut-shot draw after the flop. After I hit top pair on the turn, I check behind for a little deception, then again on the river, being a little cautious with just top pair and a middling kicker. But I win.

HAND 29 50/100 A2A 4 7
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 BB Q4 5.2K 23
47 UTG 6T 10.6K 4
50 HJ KT 15.3K 32 65 76 87 100
44 CO J6 9.6K 20 35 24 13 0
45 SB 78 5.7K 22

I raise to 300, get a call from CO, and we check it down to the river. Neither of us hit, but I have the king.

HAND 30 50/100
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 SB 8K 5.0K 22
47 BB K7 10.6K 15
50 UTG Q5 15.8K 28
44 CO 3T 9.3K 23
45 D 78 5.7K 12

Player 45 picks up the exact same cards two hands in a row and decides to open up for 300 this time, after two players with more equity in front of him fold. Heck, everyone has more equity than he does.

HAND 31 50/100 7J9 5 7
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 D 82 5K 17
47 SB K5 10.5K 15
50 BB 32 15.8K 14
44 UTG QJ 9.3K 24 29 18 8 0
45 CO KJ 5.8K 30 71 82 92 100

UTG raises to 300 and is dominated when CO calls. He flops top pair, bets 475 and gets called, puts in another 1,050 on the turn, and 1.9K on the river. CO rides it down all the way and takes the pot.

HAND 32 50/100 8Q9 9 J
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 CO T5 5K 12
47 D 79 10.4K 16 18 25 87 0
50 SB Q3 15.7K 16
44 BB JJ 5.6K 35 82 75 13 100
45 UTG K3 9.7K 21

Action folds to the button, who takes the opportunity to raise to 300 with [7d 9s]. BB re-raises to 500, and D elects to call, hitting middle pair on the flop. He calls the 625 c-bet from BB, and makes trips on the turn, calling another 1,050. Then he gets really unlucky when BB makes the full house and shoves. D loses more than half his stack on the trips.

HAND 33 50/100 674 Q A
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 UTG J8 5K 5 7 18 11 0
47 CO 42 4.8K 19
50 D T8 15.6K 7
44 SB TT 11.2K 37 52 41 63 0
45 BB JK 9.7K 32 41 42 26 100

UTG raises [js 8c] to 300 and gets calls from two far better hands in the blinds. Everyone checks through the flop—which gives them all a flush draw and actually increases UTG’s equity with the straight flush—and then the turn, until the river when BB makes the nuts and gets SB to check-call a bet of 500.

HAND 34 50/100
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 BB 73 4.7K 21
47 UTG KA 4.8K 19
50 CO 45 15.6K 18
44 D 4T 10.4K 23
45 SB AK 10.8K 19

Everybody gets a diamond for the second card! UTG raises to 300 and gets re-raised to 900 by SB, but then loses his connection or goes to sleep and folds due to a timeout. With their shared [ax kx] hands, UTG and SB actually have less equity pre-flop than [7c 3d] or [4s td]. SB wins the hand.

HAND 35 75/150
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 SB 82 4.6K 13
47 BB T5 4.5K 16
50 UTG 34 15.6K 13
44 CO 9J 10.4K 33
45 D A6 11.2K 25

CO opens the hand with the best equity pre-flop to 3x the big blind and takes the hand.

HAND 36 75/150
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 D TA 4.5K 26
47 SB 7Q 4.4K 9
50 BB K3 15.6K 21
44 UTG 86 10.6K 20
74 HJ TJ 5K 8
45 CO QJ 11.2K 16

CO limps in and D shoves for 30BB, which I can’t really recommend with someone holding three times your stack in the BB. Gets through this time.

HAND 37 75/150 K66 K 7
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 CO 3T 4.9K 15
47 D 2A 4.3K 25 56 4 0 0
50 SB 28 15.5K 10
44 BB 46 10.6K 14 44 96 97 100
74 UTG Q7 5K 22
45 HJ 59 11.0K 14

D min-raises and gets called by the suited one-gapper in the BB. BB then check-calls 450 on the flop, which ought to be a warning sign to someone with no pair. I’ve heard people repeat a saying about not chasing flushes on paired boards. That ought to go quadruple for double-paired boards. D’s so entranced by the nut flush draw that when BB makes a value bet of 1K on the river, D calls it, thinking he has two pair with an ace kicker, instead of a hand that was crushed on the flop.

HAND 38 75/150
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 CO 36 4.9K 17
47 CO 38 2.6K 11
50 D 7K 15.4K 39
44 SB 83 12.4K 4
74 BB 83 5K 13
45 UTG 52 11.0K 15

If I’d had any idea that my [7s kd] was so dominating…. Three players with the same crappy hand, and all of the threes are out. Instead, it gets walked to BB. For everyone who laughs about “It was suited”, look at the equity difference between the suited [8x 3x] of CO and BB and the same hand unsuited for SB.

HAND 39 75/150 76K 3 J
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 UTG K2 4.9K 23 36 65 82 89 100
47 HJ 58 2.6K 10
50 CO TJ 15.4K 23
44 D 4Q 12.4K 9
74 SB 6Q 5.1K 15 27 18 18 11 0
45 BB A8 11.0K 19

UTG limps, SB came along, and the ace in the BB did not raise, which might well have gotten the two smaller stacks out of the hand. After the flop, both blinds check, UTG makes a half-pot bet, and SB calls with bottom pair. Action checks down to the river—UTG is being a bit cautious with his bad kicker—but he takes the hand at the end.

HAND 40 75/150
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
67 BB 35 5.4K 13
47 UTG K7 2.6K 21
50 HJ AT 15.4K 30
44 CO 62 12.4K 8
74 D 28 4.7K 12
45 SB 4J 10.9K 16

Player 47 is a little more snug than 67, though he’s only got half as many chips and his king’s not suited. He lets it go and I open to 450. Nobody else has anything decent, and I take the pot.

Summary

  • 25 of the 40 hands so far were played with five at the table. More than half of the five and six-handed deals have been won by the player whose cards had the most pre-flop equity.
  • Ten hands have been won with a single raise.
  • Three players have been eliminated from this table in 40 hands.
  • Overall VPIP and PFR stats for the current players at the table: 44 (37%/26%), 45 (30%/8%), 47 (36%/33%), 50 (30%/20%), 67 (27%/20%), 74 (20%/0%), though the stats for the last two are on short number of hands and none of them will be really meaningful until we’ve passed 100 hands. Of the four players who’ve been at the table since it formed, Player 45 is the anomaly, calling much more often than raising.
  • I’m 6/6 on showdowns.