Every once in a while, when playing online poker, a hand comes around that just works for you. This is the first in a series of articles that tell the story of these hands. I will try my best to get away from the normal hand history type description. I will also try to explain what I did right and wrong and what my thought process was throughout the hand.
The first online poker hand that I will describe is Tc/9h. I was playing in a 27 seat sit 'n go on PokerStars. This was a micro stakes buy-in because I am in the beginning of a bankroll challenge and the $1.00+$0.20 buy-in was all that was allowed by the rules of the challenge. It was the end of the tournament and I was heads up against "fonceur_AK". Our chip stacks were pretty close. I had just over 17K and he was just above 22K.
Pre-Flop- I was in the big blind for 800 and the other guy raised us up to 2400. I wasn't too surprised by his raise because we were heads up so things get more aggressive. If there had been more players I probably would have folded but in this situation I called.
The Flop- When the flop was [8d 5d 7c] I started to get excited a bit. With a pretty good amount of money in the pot I wanted to play this one as correctly as possible. Slow play was the name of the game so I checked. Fonceur_AK bet 2400 and I called fairly quickly I probably could have paused a little bit longer but in the end it didn't make much difference.
The Turn- BINGO!!! My Jack hit on the turn and the game was on. I checked again and this time he bet 5600. I suppose he could have had a straight but it would have been lower. Three of a kind wouldn't help him and there wasn't any real chance of a full house. But, he did have something. So I waited 20 or 30 seconds and just called.
The River- The 3c that hit on the river didn't do anything for him. I figured that another bet was coming and was happy to see him all-in after I checked. Obviously I called and ended up with a huge 5:1 chip lead. A few hands later I was the winner.
I usually don't play unsuited connectors and probably would not have been in this hand anywhere other than heads-up or in the blinds. It is forcing me to rethink my starting hands elsewhere. Of course adding this to those starting hands depends on the individual situation.
So there it is, Anatomy of an online poker hand:Ten of Clubs-9 of Hearts.
The first online poker hand that I will describe is Tc/9h. I was playing in a 27 seat sit 'n go on PokerStars. This was a micro stakes buy-in because I am in the beginning of a bankroll challenge and the $1.00+$0.20 buy-in was all that was allowed by the rules of the challenge. It was the end of the tournament and I was heads up against "fonceur_AK". Our chip stacks were pretty close. I had just over 17K and he was just above 22K.
Pre-Flop- I was in the big blind for 800 and the other guy raised us up to 2400. I wasn't too surprised by his raise because we were heads up so things get more aggressive. If there had been more players I probably would have folded but in this situation I called.
The Flop- When the flop was [8d 5d 7c] I started to get excited a bit. With a pretty good amount of money in the pot I wanted to play this one as correctly as possible. Slow play was the name of the game so I checked. Fonceur_AK bet 2400 and I called fairly quickly I probably could have paused a little bit longer but in the end it didn't make much difference.
The Turn- BINGO!!! My Jack hit on the turn and the game was on. I checked again and this time he bet 5600. I suppose he could have had a straight but it would have been lower. Three of a kind wouldn't help him and there wasn't any real chance of a full house. But, he did have something. So I waited 20 or 30 seconds and just called.
The River- The 3c that hit on the river didn't do anything for him. I figured that another bet was coming and was happy to see him all-in after I checked. Obviously I called and ended up with a huge 5:1 chip lead. A few hands later I was the winner.
I usually don't play unsuited connectors and probably would not have been in this hand anywhere other than heads-up or in the blinds. It is forcing me to rethink my starting hands elsewhere. Of course adding this to those starting hands depends on the individual situation.
So there it is, Anatomy of an online poker hand:Ten of Clubs-9 of Hearts.
