Returning To The Cryptos

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Since my last post, I went on my own personal poker tour, playing at a few sites:



Interpoker $2/4 LHE: 204 hands, $56 profit

Poker Syndicate $2/4 LHE: 152 hands, $48.50 loss

Poker Stars $2/4 LHE: 27 hands, $8 profit



A $15.50 profit for 383 hands work. Beats losing any day of the week.



I still cannot get anything going at Poker Syndicate. After a bit of 3,200 hands, I am actually down a small amount (something like $45). Frankly, I have never seen such a bad run of cards at one site as I have experienced so far at this site. However, the games are really good. It's just a matter of time before the profits start rolling in. The bad cards cannot last forever there.



I decided to redeposit at Interpoker after receiving an offer for a $100 bonus if I played 200 raked hands. Add that to needing 395 raked hands to complete a $90 monthly bonus that I had sitting there and this was too good to pass up. Yea, I'll play 395 raked hands for $190 :-)



I had forgotten how tight the Cryptos are. The Cryptos are definitely the negative image of Poker Syndicate. You can use all of the tools from your poker toolbelt, like bluffing, semi-bluffing, etc. Those things that need to be left in your holster while playing at Poker Syndicate. (Not that that's a bad thing...)



Bet The River?

Yesterday's hand:



In the hand below, I am playing at Poker Syndicate (full of weak, loose players) and I have never played with my river opponent. Would you bet the river and why (or why not)?



Hand #275985631 at table: Table TH 794

Started: Sun Apr 23 13:32:07 2006



Pray4uself is at seat 1 with 228.50

nairolf88 is at seat 2 with 41.50

Spencer71 is at seat 3 with 155.75

LsLarry is at seat 4 with 117.75

julito yyo is at seat 5 with 114.50

AskEddie29 is at seat 7 with 186.00

prac is at seat 8 with 74.50

PISDETZ is at seat 9 with 123.00

Michael is at seat 10 with 187.00



AskEddie29 posts the large blind 2.00

julito yyo posts the small blind 1.00



Michael: Kd, Kc



Pre-flop:

prac: Call 2.00

PISDETZ: Fold

Michael: Raise 4.00

Pray4uself: Fold

nairolf88: Fold

Spencer71: Fold

LsLarry: Fold

julito yyo: Fold

AskEddie29: Call 4.00

prac: Call 4.00



Flop (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s):

AskEddie29: Bet 2.00

prac: Call 2.00

Michael: Call 2.00



Turn (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s, 2c):

AskEddie29: Bet 4.00

prac: Call 4.00

Michael: Raise 8.00

AskEddie29: Fold

prac: Call 8.00



River (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s, 2c, Js):

prac: Check

Michael: ???



To decision bet the river here, in my opinion, depends a lot on what kind of opponent you have here.



Against a weak player, I think that you have to bet the river and fold if check-raised. A weak player will not check-raise without the goods here and a pair of Kings certainly will not be good if I am check-raised.



On the other hand, if my opponent is a solid player, I have to check behind. That Jack of spades completed two different draws and a solid player here most likely would have only been chasing with a big draw, one that likely got there.



And if my opponent is not someone that I am familiar with, then this is where it becomes a difficult decision. When I raised the turn, he called two bets cold. That certainly smells like a draw, doesn't it? Now, if my opponent is a weak player that would chase all the way to the end with a bare Ace (or worse), then he will not likely call a bet on the river. I'm in a situation where the only hands that will call (or raise) are those that beat me and those that cannot will likely fold. Because of this, I did decide to check behind on the river.



What did my opponent have? Try [5c 5h]. I guess I'll be adding him to my list of opponents that it is a must to value bet a river against.



Also, there was mention that some of you would have raised the flop, instead of waiting for the turn. My thinking is this. The flop bettor is very unlikely to be betting trip Nines, as most low limit players will try for a check-raise (usually later on the turn or river), so I felt confident that I had him beat. At the time, I felt that the other flop caller could have a lot of hands, but probably a draw.



If I wait until the turn and get a favorable card, I can get more money in the pot from my opponents when I become a much bigger favorite with only one card to come. With two cards to come on the flop, if one or both of my opponents is drawing, I cannot protect my hand with a raise.



Note that I am not slowplaying the flop. What I am doing is sacrificing an edge on the flop to take advantage of a potential bigger edge on the turn. And if that edge doesn't come (e.g., third spade comes on the turn), then I invest the least amount of money in the hand by going into call-down mode.









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http://countingmyouts.blogspot.com/2006/04/returning-to-cryptos.html

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