Renaissance Man battles evil doers in cash games

Right now, the Renaissance Man ...

is cruising the strip, battling villains in some cash games, and prepping for his final 2 WSOP events ...

From the man himself, 3:48 AM:

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So I slept in late today and then went wandering around the strip.

I wandered into this gallery for Peter Lik. He's a landscape photographer. I must say some of his photos are truly stunning. I ended up buying a coffee table book of some of his photos despite owning a coffee table I would put it on.

After a bit more window shopping, it was off to pick up Brent, a co-worker and fellow poker player, who was flying in today. After navigating the maze that is the parking and rear of the hotel we're staying in and grabbing a quick bite to eat it was off to the cash games. Again primarily the 2/5 NL at Caesar's Palace.

It was a roller coaster ride in the beginning. Went up $250, then down $450, then up, down, up, down, up. Most hands weren't incredibly wild, just a lot of action at the table and a lot of action flops. When the wildness was over I was up about $250 and then the table settled down. I was able to accumulate until I had a $850 profit and then called it a night.

There were only a couple of really unusual hands that contributed to the wild ride, both against the same player (who was two behind me).

The first one, I hadn't been there long when I limped with a A5 unsuited. This is a massive mistake in a table this active and I was immediately punished when the villain raised from late position to 15. I called, partly because I'm a donkey who thinks he can outplay everyone, but mainly because in my experience these smallish raises over limpers mean decent but not great hands when a lot of players do it. It narrows the range and makes it easier to play against and still gives me decent odds to come along. Particularly it usually means two broadway or a medium or weak ace. Very good bluffing possibilties on a lot of boards and can call lighter than you might think a lot of times.

Flop is a 568, two clubs (I don't have clubs). I check and he bets (I don't remember the exact amount but it was close to pot, say 30. This is a pretty good flop for me. If my initial read is right, I'm far ahead unless he has A6, A7 (with a big draw), or A8. However, I'm not quite sure since I haven't played with him for very long and some players play their big pairs that way, so I just call.

Turn is an offsuit 3. I check he bets 100. At this point I have a read of real weakness, he seems very tight, and I have to decide what to do. I think he puts me on a club draw and is just hoping to force me out with a big bet. However, I'm still not 100% sure, and I have to decide what to do. If I had actually had the club draw I would have pushed my last 350 thinking he would probably fold and if not I had good outs. I hadn't been at the table long, so my assessment was pretty thin, but he was sitting at a big stack, and seemed to handle his chips well. But my instinct was that he was an experienced player and not scared to put chips in the pot, but maybe not all the strong a player. The type that put people on a hand and doesn't reassess (I was right about that -- more on that later). The real question is what will he do if I flat call. As I said, I think he puts me on a flush draw, so I think if the river doesn't bring a danger card, he might fire another round with air. Without being sure of his hand, I think my best bet is to induce a bluff on the river. His hands are heavily weighted to A or K, if an A comes, I'm not worried since I'll have aces up and I'll check-raise him. If a K comes I'll fold. If he bets one of the obvious draws (clubs or 9 or 4), I'll fold since he puts me one of those draws and if he can bet it, I'm probably beat. 5 I'll check-raise. Otherwise I'm expecting a big bet and plan on snap-calling to prevent myself from out-thinking myself. So I flat call and then check blind. River comes a 7. Oops. Somehow I didn't consider that. Board in now 56837, four to a straight. He bets 200 and I most definitely do not snap-call.

I now have to consider could he bluff with that board. I certainly could if I had air without an ace, it's a great bluffing card. The only legitimate hands I'm likely to be holding with a 9 in it are 99, 89, and a 9 as part of a club draw. Anything else and he might get out some pretty strong hands. Of course I'm not really only playing legitimate hands. Now cards can he have with a 9? A9, 99. 9T and 89 have some possibility. His hands are now heavily weighted towards monsters (sets, two pairs, and straights) and complete air. I'm no longer getting any real read from him, he's shut down completely. I finally figure he's capable of making a bluff on this board, that his chance of complete air is way more then the 40% I need, and I'll stick with my initial assesment.

So I make the heroic fourth pair top kicker call on the four to the straight board and he flips over... K9 offsuit for the river straight.

My read was almost exactly on, but my range was just a little too narrow.

It's interesting given his actual cards and my strategy, there were 3 cards that would make him the best hand and get me to call. 11 cards that would allow him to bluff me off my hand if he was actually able to make that bluff (which I still not sure if he could), 7 cards that would give him the best hand and I would fold if he bet, and 23 cards that I would win with regardless of what he did.

I think a lot of those 23 he would bet, trying to get me off an A or K high flush draw.

The other interesting hand was against the same guy.

I opened from early position to 25 with AQ unsuited. Villain calls, one other person calls.

Flop is 456, 2 clubs. This is ugly, and is actually in their range. I expect to be called on a c-bet a lot, and would have a lot of trouble on most turns, so I check. Villain bets, other player folds. What are my options? Clearly flat-calling on a super draw-heavy board in their range and out of mine with an ace high out of position is out of the question. Folding is clearly an option, but what about raising? I had already check-raised some strong hands so there should be some credibility there. In addition I had c-bet most flops, so not doing so might indicate a monster. In addition, though that is in his range, most of his hands will be very marginal. One pair, weak draws, etc that I think I can fold out. If he doesn't fold, I plan on making smallish value bets on a blank or club turn and hope it freezes a draw and my ace high is good if a blank rivers. I'm obviously out if he raises at any point. I check-raise to 200, he calls. Not good, but we knew it was a good possibility. River is a very not blank A of clubs. I now have top pair, good kicker and a draw to the second nut flush. I think I'm ahead, but don't want to give the draws good odds most rivers will be awkward and think I might even be able to fold out some two-pair hands I'm behind so I bet 400. He open folds 78 offsuit for the flopped nut straight! Holy Cow! My read was entirely off and he folds a monster. I think he thought the check-raise plus big lead on the club turn must=flush, but didn't consider that without the A of clubs in my hand it was a very unlikely line as opposed to just c-betting. Personally I would think a set or semi-bluff much more likely in that scenario.

Turning in, probably play more cash games tomorrow,

Jim