Weekly Poker Hand #11

I show you how to play a good, but not amazing made hand against an absolute maniac when you have a short stack.

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If you have any questions or comments about this hand, feel free to ask in the comments section!

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14 thoughts on “Weekly Poker Hand #11”

  1. I have to ask whether the villain holding 9c3c was Shawn Cunix? He finished third in this tournament, and this hand is indicative of his style. I play against him fairly regularly at my local casino and club, and typically just wait to make a decent hand and then call off against his likely bluffs. It’s worked well.

    1. It was not. I think that Shawn plays really well, at least in the big events I play with him. He splashes around a decent amount against the weak players and plays TAG against the good players.

    2. Thanks for the response. Shawn must take a totally different approach in the bigger buy-in events – though he told me that he fired 8 bullets in this same event last year. He is definitely maniacal in small events. I guess that makes sense with his bankroll – double-up early or bust trying.

  2. Hi Jon,
    I particularly enjoyed this hand because your hole cards, position, stack, V’s persona and position were almost identical to a hand I played at a $70 buyin tournament last night. It also somewhat confirms my action in the hand. I’ll also post this one more accurately in FTT and see what you and others think.

    In short, I had A9o and opened to 2 BB, and this really awful player calls in the BB. He’s an Asian kid who since joining the table a few orbits earlier, has been talking a lot, needling his opponents, and playing almost every hand showing down trash on a few occasions.
    The flop was (approx. – don’t have my notes here) … K85 rb
    He leads 2.5 BBs and I call, with the intention of floating to pick it up on a later street.
    Turn was neutral (3?)
    He checks, I check
    River was a 2(?)
    He leads 2.5 BBs, really small relative to pot. I decide to shove my remaining approx. 12-15 BBs and he gives a speech and then folds.

    1. It is always difficult to go to the turn with the idea of stealing the pot on a later street against a bad lag because he could easily bet again or simply not fold his middle pair. I would probably either call or raise the flop although folding is probably fine if you think he has a pair that he will never fold.

  3. Jon, great hand. I play with a guy like that. I’m now less afraid. In this case, you wanted to keep him in and checked behind on the turn. One could argue that a turn bet from you might have gotten him to fold his terrible 3 (or not), and you might have scooped the pot at that point instead of getting drawn out on. Yet I agree that results are irrelevant if the logic is sound. Ed Miller has wonderful strategies against LAGs, and his first rule is give them no information re: raises, etc. And getting drawn out on to your point is part of poker. Your checking behind on the turn looks like a genius play if he hadn’t drawn out on you. But again, results don’t matter. A leak in my game is I just don’t check enough in critical spots. I often think it’s weak. You’re teaching me differently. Thanks 🙂

    1. I totally agree that most people are deathly afraid of getting outdrawn and throw away a ton of equity to guarantee they don’t lose. I much prefer losing some small percentage of the time in exchange for getting a full double up most of the time. Good luck in your games!

  4. Hey Jon , as alway great. Video your though and insight is so greAt!!! If anything I learn from you is alway stay positive !!! I love these video u make and video blog . Can’t wait to order live at the bike video!!! Again thank you Jon keep up the good work and I follow and watch all your video. Im my motel 6 room I’m also in Tampa fl to playing in da small buy In these week. You are in austrulia good luck Jon !!!!

  5. Good video and a well played hand even-though the result was unfavorable. This reminds me of a hand I played recently against a Maniac in a 2/5 cash game – I consider him a maniac because up to this point he’s played about 80% of his hands, opening or re-raising about 70% of the time.

    It folds to me on the button, and I raised to $25 (standard for me) with AdJd. SB folds and BB (Maniac) raises to about $60. I decided to call since I had position and wanted to avoid a tough spot if he 4-bets.

    Flop: Kd9d7d. I flopped the nuts so my plan was to extract max value. He made a clever small C bets , about $55. I called. Turn was a 9 (the suit is irrelevant at this point). He bets again small, $70. I tanked for a few secs and then called. The river was a 4. Then he announced “all in” (i think he had about $250 or so left). Against most players I’d be worried but given he’s a maniac that once saw push allin in pre-flop with K3o, it was an easy call for me. Plus i had pot odds and second best hand to any fullhouse. He shows pocket 44 – full house – to my disappointment.

    Though I was unlucky, i still think I played it right. Any thoughts?

    1. You played the hand perfectly, assuming you know your opponent will bet three times as a bluff (or as a value bet with a flush, trips, or top pair). Be careful assuming someone is a maniac just because he is involved in lots of pots. Some of the best players I know do well because their opponents think they are crazy whereas in reality, they are only crazy for small amounts of chips.

  6. Hi Jonathan. Thanks for the great vids!!

    Quick question on this one. Are you calling on the river if he goes all-in rather than betting 20k?

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