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Tuesday night on the telly with Rich, Stuart and Jakally ***official show thread***
2 Royal Flushes on the site in one day , see the forum post
Comments
I managed to make a good fold with my 6 4 off suit ! one to the flush draw !
Always think there should be a special bonus to anyone who gets one of these.
#485090825
Remember we'd love your hands to show tonight-but if you want it shown you have to tell us the hand i.d. number and where the hand was played i.e. what tournament or Mastercash table.
We can only show hands from TV tables- games with a TV icon next to them in the lobby.
Tonight those are- the main event at 8, the mini evet at 8.15, the 9pm Sky Roller, ANMY Mastercash table and the hold'em tourney of the All-Rounders League.
So- hand i.d., the tourney or cash table it's from and your reasons for wanting it shown so we have a platform on whcih to build a debate with the guys in the studio.
Cheers!
Small pocket pairs in DYM's, hmm...
The first thing to consider is what is a small pocket pair in a DYM? I know that usually, small pocket pairs = 22 to 66. However, in the early stages, there are some DYM grinders who will only play QQ+ (and maybe AK if they're feeling aggro!), folding 97%-98% of hands until they get to the bubble, then relying on their skill at playing the bubble to cash enough times to be profitable. Against that type of player in that situation, JJ might as well be a small pocket pair, as ridiculous as that sounds. Without naming anyone, there's a couple of DYM players against whom I'll fold or set mine with QQ to an opening raise in the early stages of a DYM. Sounds like awfully bad play to do that, but when their range is QQ+, with queens being very unlikely as you have two of them in your hand, it makes a lot more sense.
How you play your pocket pair also depends what stage of the DYM you're at. You start with 2,000 chips, blinds at 10/20. Set mining when you have 100bb is usually the best thing to do with small pocket pairs, and DYM's are no different. If you miss the flop then go into check/fold mode. For the first 2 levels (10/20 and 15/30), I would recommend set mining unless there's been a 3 bet before the action gets to you, or if there's a maniac behind you and you know you're not going to see a flop cheaply.
The 3rd level (25/50) is where playing small pocket pairs is most interesting, and most difficult IMO. A standard raise is usually 150 at this point, and if you're still around your starting stack, you need to know whether you're getting the implied odds to set mine any more. Usually, you're not, and should fold. However, there's 1 exception to this - The nitty grinder that I referred to earlier is a perfect opportunity to set mine. Why? You know that on most flops, he's probably going to have an overpair to the board, and want to get his stack in. Whereas you'd usually need pretty big implied odds to set mine, against this type of player, if you're calling off less than 1/10th of your stack to set mine, I would actually set mine here knowing that the 1 time in every 7 you do flop a set, you're probably getting his stack, except for the times he's got kings and the flop is ace high or something - Especially if you have position and his c-bet will commit him to the pot.
Also, if it's folded around to you and you have a small pocket pair, you're only winning 75 chips by taking down the blinds, so should you just be raising with small pocket pairs to take them 75 chips, or is it better to leave them 75 chips, not have to play a small pocket pair (especially if you're OOP) if you get called, and as you're playing less hands, you have a tighter image which can only be to your advantage on the bubble. Personally, I choose to bin the small pairs more often than not.
In levels 4 and 5 (50/100 and 75/150), I'm probabably still folding small pocket pairs, only raising if I've got a tight player on my left and I can take down the blinds without seeing a flop, as now the blinds are a significant % of my stack.
From level 6 (100/200) onwards, quite often I'm just open shoving or folding with all of my range, so no reason to do anything different with any pocket pairs, whether it's AA or 33. Pocket pairs are good to shove with at this stage, especially on the bubble, as you have so much fold equity, and when you do get called, against AK/AQ type hands, you're racing, which isn't the worst thing in the world. Whilst in DYM's, we generally want to avoid racing as with the payout structure and rake, racing becomes unprofitable for both players involved, shoving with 33 and getting called by a hand that you're flipping against isn't bad play at all, whereas calling with 33 and taking a flip (at best) is pretty awful.
The thing to remember on the bubble is that there will be some crazy situations from time to time, where I can open shove with 33, and because of ICM, folding JJ would be the correct play - even if you could see the cards! You will often have a phenomenal amount of fold equity on the bubble in DYM's, and you should be using that to your advantage.
monday or thurs are best nights to play for me, and thought I would take on tikay again last night as I had done ok a couple of weeks ago and cashed fairly decent.
Half an hour in and got chipped up quite good and 13th on leader board.
Then, ISP crashed, and three hours later when service came back I had blinded out 37th /164 runners!!
I do not know how I would react if I was on a final table big cash event and this happens !!
Can you ask Jakally and Stuart how they deal with this and do they take any form of insurance out, as I thought if you had alot invested in 2/3 high roller event buy-ins and suddenly you lose the lot it must hurt a bit.
Small pocket pairs in DYMs- any other thoughts, anyone? Brief, concise thoughts? Lol ;-)
Anyone else care to comment on this subject and/or post their own questions for Stu and Neil?
Main event seat for next Thursday up for grabs for the best contribution tonight.
Question for both the guys from us please:
As two well respected poker players - what are characteristics of a good player in your opinion? What makes you (or other players you respect) a good player?
Some additional questions for Neil (or Stu for that matter!). We've had permission from Tikay to ask these questions...
1) How long have you known Tikay?
2) Do you have any funny stories about him?
3) What advice would you give to him about how to improve his game?
Thank you!
Post Royal CCTV Footage
Any more questions for Neil? He's just given you all permission for you all to take the proverbial.
A chance for revenge if he's taken lump off you on the cash tables recently?
Sigh - FYP Mr O!
My thoughts on playing small pocket pairs in either MTT,s or DYM,s is, it depends, if it is cheep enough, I may well have a look, and try to conrol the pot, small ball poker, then depending on the flop on my next decision knowing that if the flop comes down big, and depending on the betting as to wether I lay em down, but if the flop gives me a decent chance of a straight draw, and have the odds to play, I would, obviously if someone puts in a large bet in the opening round I would insta fold, position may play a big part too
Oh, and yes, I AM BACK and intend to keep out of hossy for a decent time this time
Hope you stay where you are now for a very long time!