reading skills

i love that my reading skills are getting better in this game. with time comes experience and that is why i am loving working my way up through the ranks. here is a hand stands out for me -

i had pocket 66 from the big blind with the small blind in and one other person who had limped. im willing to see a cheap flop, so i check preflop since there was no raise. the flop comes 975. small blind checks, i check, planning to raise if the third player bets - cuz I'm figuring its probably a position bet based on that board - and he does bet about the size of the pot. so i bump him a little and he goes all in over the top of my bump for another 505 chips. truthfully he could have a 9 or a 7 and have me beat, but it smells like high cards to me and i think he thinks im just representing the flop and doesn't know i actually have something or maybe he has a draw of some type, so i call his all in (i had him covered, so i wasn't at risk for going out) and sure enough, he has j10 for an inside straight draw with two over cards to my pair and he wanted the chance to see all 5 cards and figure he could either get me to fold a winning hand, or maybe out draw me. unfortunately for him, he didn't have enough chips to push me out of the pot. my 66 holds up and just like that he is out and im chipping up.

i also made a fairly easy and correct call with pocket KK to someones over the top shove on a board with no Aces only to see him catch one on the river to take me out. he typed in something like - whatever it takes to win. i told him i was ok with his move and i would take that call from him all day. and truth is, i would. he had A5 in his hand, so with only one over, he was drawing to at most 3 outs unless the board got tricky and straighted for him. i guarantee you, 9 out of 10 times, I will win that match up, so i would take it all day long. in the long run - i will make money from a player like that, and his reckless play suits me just fine.

my favorite hand though was when i had pocket 88. i raised preflop from early position, and the big blind came along. the flop came out A610 with two spades. he checks the flop and i check the flop. turn is an A of clubs and he bets. im 80% positive he doesn't have the A. there is a chance he slow played me, but more than likely he thinks i don't have anything, or he is betting the spade draw and thinks i will fold. i go all in over the top of him to make him pay maximum price for his draw and i was right, he has 23 of spades for the spade draw. lucky for me, no spade on the river - but for me to bet my eights and feel as confident as i did that he didn't actually have an Ace made me feel pretty good. obviously he didn't think i had an Ace there either - or if he did, he decided he was willing to pay as much as needed to get that last spade.

one last thing - i have a love/hate relationship with the continuation bet. (for those that don't know, if you show strength before the flop and raise, you are supposed to bet on the flop most of the time as a continuation of your strength, many times regardless of the cards that come) a lot of times the c-bet wins me the pot even if i haven't hit - but when i get in trouble is when i c-bet, haven't hit anything and someone pushes over the top of me. im much better about laying my hand down but there are times when i think they are just playing the odds that i didn't hit anything and sometimes i think they haven't hit either. maybe i should call a few times while im in the micro levels to see what they have. i guess it would either make a believer out of me or reinforce my reading skills. i need to give it some thought, right now im folding hands to a reraise most of the time if i didn't hit the board unless im just convinced somehow that they are full of crap...

onward and upward...

peace and love and happiness -
k-