Ammm...

During a very boring Sunday session at The Vic last night, I managed to find myself in a spot where let again I over analysed a situation, and through various levels of complex and deep level thinking, made what most people would say a “standard ” hand into an interesting / possibly tough spot.

I want to look at this hand in several ways. Firstly treat the game, and the variables involved as complete unknowns. Let’s say you land in Vegas, jump straight into a game, no one knows you, and you know no one.

It’s a straddle pot, and the action folds around to you in the cut off. You have AK, and you raise it up to 14. The button calls (PLAYER B), and the straddle calls (PLAYER C). Make a note that Player C made the comment “…I don’t have much but I have to defend my straddle…” before flicking in his money.

The flop is K K 10 (two diamonds).

Player C donk leads 20.

With the intention of causing Player C to “spaz out” you min raise to 40.

Player B folds and Player C quickly calls the additional 20.

The turn is a black 2.

Player C checks. You bet 60.

Player C check raises all in and has you covered.

It’s an additional 200 more to make the call.

What do you do?

Now let’s pretend the action plays out the same but you are playing against a solid regular like Rosh or Andre? What do you do then?

What’s more important when you are up against a regular, their knowledge of your range and credibility (or if the case lack of credibility) you have with them, or your knowledge of their range and image?

Taking this line of thought a little further (away from the hand in question), would you prefer to be up against solid regulars who you know inside out (and they know you inside out), when you find yourself in marginal / tough spots?

Complete unknowns and weak players are unpredictable, they could have anything, and you can’t make sense of their “lines”, simply because they don’t take “lines”.

Your information is more incomplete than against a regular right?

So what is your plan here?

A: Against a complete unknown.
B: Against a solid tight aggressive regular who you know and who knows you very well.
C: Against a player who you have played with before, who you tag as weak, and from comments he has made to you thinks you are a “nit”.

Or do you just snap call, you have AK after all, what the fuck are you thinking about?

Bad night at the office...

So after my decent run of good form I dropped about £700 last night.

I started playing the £1-£2 game and dropped about £200 before heading off to The Empire.

I got about £100 back there, and decided to come back to The Vic around 4am.

I should of gone home, why bother? I really don't know why I came back seriously.

At The Vic there was only 2 games going, £1-£3 and £1-£1.

David "Yamaha" was in the £1-£3, and was dishing out money (during naps).

But for some reason, I am actually cursed in the £1-£3 game, every time I play it I do my money hard! I play pretty bad, and to be fair I also don't get my fair share of cards.

What can I say. I hate losing.

I really want to stay focused, I need to get back on track tonight and this weekend. What seems to happen is just when I am building momentum, I get a bad session, and end up losing the lot. I really cant let that happen again.

I called in sick Thursday and Friday, I feel pretty bad about it. I am going to be in big trouble when I go back to work on Monday. But who cares I suppose I am working my notice.

Meh, come on Yigit you are fucking blessed, be happy, slug it off.

Why do losses hit me so hard? Ahhh! Focus your ass! You are suppose to be a professional!

So much happened in that game last night, I could and probably will blog about but not right now!

Last night was a fail moment...

Fuck it!

I run super good and play super bad...

So when (and if) I eventually learn to play this game, I am going to be really really rich.

As I have been saying for a while now (and is evident to most people who have clocked up sufficient table time with me) I run better than the average Joe.*

(*except the late stages of online tournaments).

I went through some real dark times this year, seriously. I struggled to record a consistent streak, and lost all confidence in my game.

I got pretty close to the edge. But I kept myself focused, and kept working on my game. I took weeks, and sometimes whole months off the volatile cash games at The Vic, and played online.

I set myself achievable non monetary goals to work towards. My relative success in accomplishing these objectives gave me immense joy and above all a glowing confidence which I had lost.

This confidence was the determining factor in reaching my decision to quit my job, in the midst of the worse year (poker results wise), since I have been keeping records.

I think most sensible people would take a decision like this during a period of upswing, and when things are going good. But I made the decision during an all time low point.

I will continue to grind the fundamentals, which is more than sufficient enough to beat the £1-£2 games at a consistent win rate.

(Talk about running bad in late stages of online tournaments? I just lost a 50k pot, AK vs AQ. Busted 40th deep into a rebuy! So far today I have played 20 tournaments with 1 cash. Ohhh, tournaments are so frustrating!)

I will keep working on my weaknesses, and keep trying to identify leaks in my game.

At times I find myself taking some awful lines and making bad decisions. These are often attributable to a flawed line of thought / analysis during the course of the hand.

Here is a hand I played Saturday night which cost me a lot of money due such flawed thinking...

There was an early position limper (Player A).

The player to his immediate right raised to £8 (Player B).

Action folded around to me on the button.

With effective stacks of over 200BBs I called the £8 with 33.

Flop: K 3 6 (rainbow).

Player A led for £15.

Player B (pre flop aggressor) raises to £65.

Player A is a donk, who is trying to play good (solid). But is a renown "star" (at least to me). However in a previous session (couple of weeks ago) I had not adjusted to his new / tighter range, and ended up stacking off with JJ vs QQ on a 10 high board for 200BBs) -so I have been giving him slightly more credit since.

Player B is one of the "older" regulars. Not a regular in the £1-£2 game, but in the cardroom. At this point, I give him a lot of credit for being an intelligent, thinking player. He has been playing very solid (verging on nitty), and has taken standard lines in all the hands I have seen him showdown.

Dry board + Set = Stacks!

I decide to flat Player B's raise for two reasons. I want Player A to "spaz out", and also I think on a dry board like this my raise will look very strong (too strong).

But the instant I actualy do flat I know I "spazed out". Flatting here after a bet, and a raise looks sooooo much stronger than re popping.

What the fuck would I flat here with? AK? There is a very small chance (kind of similar to the chance of catching AIDS) of me not 3 betting pre flop with AK, but from time to time I may not.

But even with AK in this spot, if I had played it passively pre flop I would more than likely let it go. I am certainly not calling with a worse King or an underpair.

So you see I suck hard here. But it does get worse! Check this out for an example of "how to level yourself...hard"!

Player A folds. The turn is a complete brick. Safest card in the deck. I think it was either a 7 or a 9.

Player B makes a huge bet (pot sized at least). Something like £170. Leaving behind about £200 more, obviously committing himself to the hand.

Instead of thinking, "...I have owned this guy hard..." with my flat on the flop. I am actually thinking, "...this guy must know I have a set. What else would I flat on the flop with?..."

I look so strong. So I begin to think / reasoning that "...well this guy knows I have a monster, so is not scared of betting me out the pot, so he is setting up a easy half pot shove on the river..."

I don't think along the lines of "...if he has a set than he wouldn't bet so big...", rather I think, "...well this guy raised small preflop, probably with a hand like 66 (standard "old timer" line to build pots just in case you flop a set), and has flopped an over set..."!

I actually convinced myself that because I look so strong, and made my hand so transparent that there is no way this guy would make this bet (committing himself) with AK or AA.

The crazy thing is I would happily get all my chips in on the flop, even 3 way, however sick the betting went. Because I never lay down sets in a cash game!

So how come I start to doubt the strength of my hand here? Well thats because I level myself, when infact I am playing with a moron who is ONLY considering the strength of his hand, in complete isolation as to my range, and with utter ignorance to the relative action thus far.

Well, I folded. He showed me AA to make me feel better! Thinking obviously he is 100% winnning.

A "fail" moment I think..




I find myself giving too much credit to my opponents quite regualrly. I am not talking about their ranges / strength of their hands, but their thinking behind a certain situation and their analytical abilities.

I think you can make some seriously horrible decisions if you misjudge their "level". I think a standard line should be that everyone is a donkey until proven innocent! ("...I have top pair I am all in...") until they have shown a tendacy to demonstrate higher / deeper levels of thought.

Meh, I still won about £2k that night (I was both sober, half drunk, and 100% fucked...at one point or another during the session).

Weeee....

So here is what happened....

Many thanks for the feed back guys, I really appreciate your input. I was worried that this spot was pretty straightforward (bet / ship), and that I was just over thinking the situation, but in view of your comments and varying views I think it was somewhat of a tricky spot.

It seems like from your comments Rob and Rosh, bet fold the turn, and Roomy and Harry bet / ship.

I am kind of curious as to what line Mr Bulgaria (Andrey) himself would of took, but I guess he is thinking; “..shut up you fucking Turk, what are you talking about, bet / ship every fucking time, he shows me a better hand, well I sell a goat and re load..”

By the way I hope my rant about Bulgarians didn’t offend you Andrey, I love you like an uncle please don’t take it personally I was (half) joking.

So this is what happened…

Yes, I bet 80 Euros. I had decided that I was 100% going with the hand. Sorry but I made up my mind. I cant be checking here, and I cant be bet folding here, both lines in my opinion are well too weak.

Especially in these donk fest games, even though I think I am playing against a thinking / competent player.

If I was playing against someone I had played with for years at The Vic, I could bet / fold here, but seriously I cant give this guy credit with only couple of hours of table time (even though he seemed good, doesn’t mean he is good).

But, when he did the whole “Hollywood” act, with the cigarette and gave me the “have you got an ace” speech. I really felt I was beat. My gut told me 100% I was beat. You know that gut feeling you get sometimes when you think you are good with bottom pair, and the same gut that tells you are beat when you have the 2nd nuts, the gut which kind of defies any logic or analysis?
Well my gut told me I was beat. So I hesitated. I had planned to bet, and insta ship on this Bulgarian mother fucker. But I froze. I tanked again.

I went through pretty much everything we spoke about His ranges, my image, his image, what I had seen him show down, etc, and that told me I was only losing to 33 or A3 (nothing else), and that would be fucking unlucky, I tried to tell myself this dude has ace rag like most the time here.

There was a little crowd gathering around the table, if I called the pot was going to be pretty big (don’t forget about how shallow I said these games played, a 600+ Euro pot is something to look at in these games).

I told myself you are second guessing yourself, you planned to go with the hand , so go with it.
And if I am being honest, I had taken a few “bags of sand” with me to Bulgaria (thinking to play 2-5), so I felt no value for the money in a way (you know it wasn’t my case buy in). I kind of wasn’t that bothered, I just wanted to make the right decision.

I didn’t want to get owned by some Bulgarian neither.

So I shipped. It was another 100 for him to call.

He spoke in Bulgarian to the dealer and to the other grinder, and put the money in.

While the dealer (who was retarded and very slow) was getting the money together before dealing the river card ,I asked the guy if he had A3, and that the only hand I was putting him on was 33 or A3.

He turned over one ace. I told him I had AQ, and asked him not to be a cunt, and show me if he had A3.

He smiled, and I knew I was beat and drawing to a Q or a 10.

The river was a brick. He looked at me and said I called you. I showed him AQ (knowing he was slow rolling me -very popular in Bulgaria. I got slow rolled so many times in 10 days that I think its kind of bad manners not to do it).

He showed me A3 off.

Meh.

Yigit

Interesting hand continued...

I have had several e mails and comments regarding the hand, really appeciate your feedback guys!

Rosh "The Fish" e mailed me his thoughts, I e mailed him back with my thoughts on his thoughts, and thought I would copy it onto here (as most of what he was saying was what you boys were saying too).

Here is my reply to him, his notes from his e mail in red....

Yo Rosh...

100% agree with this:

"If he has flopped A 10 and has check called you then I think that's a pretty goofy play, and even worse if he has A3. With A 10 or A3 he has to check raise"

That is why I also thought:

"That's not to say that he doesn't have A 10. Just that if he does I think he has taken a bad line. If, as you say, he is a thinking/observant player, then for the sake of your analysis you need to assume he's taking a good line in the hand"

I would of said it would be goddamn awful not to check raise in this spot with A3 or A10. Even though he was closing the action, meaning that everyone had folded around to him (so he wouldnt need to worry about no one else and go to the turn heads up).

I think this is a very important factor because, if say someone had called my flop bet I think 100% he would raise it up here with 2 pair, but versus just me (with what he thinks is a very narrow range AQ/AK/AJ maybe 10 10), is he confident to take this line?

But you are right there are too many cards which can come on the turn to kill the action, in fact too many for any competent player to take a line of just flatting. So I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that he was a decent thinking player and would think of this too.

I think that the range you are assigning here is too wide (but I also think you have left out 10x hands K10 through to 109):

"I don't think you should try to put him on an exact hand here. You need to assign him a range. And his range looks something like this:"

- Ace rag (as in AJ down, not including A 10/A3)
- A Q (you could be chopping?)
- A K
- JQ /KQ / KJ (gutshot = unlikely)
- A 10
- A 3
- 10 10
- 3 3
- Pocket Pair
- club draw
- Float

He is never going to have AQ, AK, AJ, or A10, this guy has been very active and there is no reason he would not of raised pre flop in the "hijack" even with several limpers. Maybe, just maybe he may join the limp fest with A10 but from what I had seen it was very unlikely.

The gutshot hands, yes I agree these could be included. He may have these. But again I am making this guy sound like a maniac but with 2 picture cards with his aggressive nature and favourable position (and his general "action play" tendencies) I would of thought he would of raised pre flop.

No way 1010. He would of raised. 100% sure of this.

Under pairs yes (including 33), club draw yes, ace rag (including A3) yes, basic float somewhat unlikely because he was out of position (and going along with the "competent / thinking" player line we have to assume he is not doing this out of position).

So how much would you bet here? And are you planning to fold to a check raise?:

"If you bet here and he sticks around you can be pretty sure you're in trouble. Then it’s really down to you whether you think you can get away from a check-shove or big river bet. From the info at hand you should"

And again, what if he flats? And then just open shoves the river. Club you fold? No club you call?

I don't know if you can get away from the hand when you bet the turn. I still have 220 behind (if I bet 80) so I suppose I could, but am I folding the best hand when he does check raise most of the time?

100% with you on the following...

"I understand your thoughts about pot control but you can’t lock down on monsters amid those fears. Giving a free card if he has some kind of draw is not good. And also, against his calling range you figure to be ahead so you should also be thinking about maximising value from the hand. After all, if he has Ace rag or is trying to make hero calls with just the 10 or a pocket pair then you’ve got him. Remember, you did raise the button so it might be running through his mind that you’re on a move or trying to take it down with a mid-high pocket pair."

How about this, say he called me on the flop with an under pair to the board, lets say 99 or 88, or any hand containing a 10 (K10 through to 109 very plausible right?).

The ace has not changed a thing. In fact he probably feels better about his hand along the lines that it makes it less likely for me to have an ace. If I was him I certainly would. If you call the flop with a 10, you must think, well I am probably still good here, surely?

And take into consideration the hand I mentioned when he flopped a straight with 10 8. His hand was very marginal, so this guy is capable of making "hero" / marginal calls.

I actually thought at the time when he checked to me, he may very likely have K10 or Q10 (maybe an underpair).

So how about we over bet the pot, make our line look like a bluff. Make him think why would he bet so much with 3 aces. This way I think not only do we price out flush draws (maybe we lose a flush draw customer but as I said before he doesn't always have to have a flush draw when there are two clubs out there) and at the same time put him into a "hero" call spot.

I don't know, I prefer small donk betting if in fact we want him to continue with his 10x and under pair hands (this for sure will induce bluffs, as opposed to over betting the pot because it just gives him no room to be able to do that). You see what I mean, or am I mumbling like a Bulgarian goat farmer?

Also Rosh, have you made up your mind what you are going to do before you lead the turn? Or are you thinking let me lead the turn here, and then lets see what he does? Plan for a hand? Or lets evaluate as we get more information?

Thank you for your input bro,(hope you don't mind I am going to copy this e mail onto my blog),

Results soon!

Yigit (still hanging with Bulgarians).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So with all that said.

The good news: I bet the 80 Euros on the turn.

The bad news: He raised it up to 200 Euros.

120 more to me, I have 220 behind.

When I bet, he looked at me, looked at his stack.

He was smoking (yes in Bulgaria you can smoke at the table), and he pulled the cigarrete out of his mouth and put it on the ash try (he didnt put it out).

He asked me how much I was playing. I told him.

He bet 220.

While I was thinking (questioning my decision to go with the hand). He said: "Do you have an ace?".

I looked at him disgusted, said nothing, and kept thinking. He resumed smoking.

OK, so help! What do you do? Based on tells as well please!

Thanks,

Yigit

A whole bunch of nasty Bulgarians...and an interesting hand....

So the more and more I interact with Bulgarian people, more fucking annoying I think they are.

Seriously why are they all such fucking retarded cunts? Sorry Andrey but hear me out on this one.

The numerous Bulgarians I have come across are just either really fucking rude, or think they are always right. There is no point having a discussion with them, because they are just so fucking single minded -and generally above all really moody people.

Its like they get out on the wrong side of bed every fucking day! What the fuck? Seriously I have never come across people who are just outright this nasty. No warmth, no humour, just fucking rude all the fucking time and very unhelpful.

Yeah I suppose if you get to know Andrey, he a cool dude, and pretty amusing. But he also has some of the characteristics of what I am talking about. He also thinks he is always fucking right (ever try fucking discussing a hand with the moron!). Also Bulgarian Terry too (from The Vic), how moody is he? My god!

Andrey please explain to me why your people are such fucking moody cunts? Please?

This doesn’t really apply to the girls, who just stand around looking cute most the time. But are also annoying as fucking hell because in Golden Sands there is like a fucking army of girls handing out leaflets / fliers to various clubs and bars, and its like a fucking fight to get yourself through the main strip!

NO FUCK OFF I DON’T WANT GO ON A FUCKING PUB CRAWL!

GET THE FUCK OUT MY FACE, I DON’T WANT TO GO TO JIMMY’S KAROKE BAR!

AND NO I STILL DON’T FUCKING CARE IF ITS HAPPY HOUR!

You know what’s even more annoying? They are always fucking wrong! They seem to fucking have no common sense, or any sense of logic. In fact I would say I have come across some of the dumbest people, who have made some of the most dim-witted decisions or statements I have ever heard.

I suppose I don’t really like people in general but seriously fucking hell Bulgaria sort it out!

I wont bother giving you various examples of such behaviours because I seriously cant be bothered, but I am not just talking about incidents I have experienced at the casino. I have come across Bulgarians acting like cunts throughout my stay, at the hotel, on the beach, in restaurants, taxis, fucking hell this place is full of cunts!

Having said all that, I would still recommend coming to Bulgaria on a vacation because its nice, and also I understand (being Turkish), that their mannerisms are not personal, its just the way these cunts are. Its Bulgarian people for you, similar to Turks and Greek’s to an extent, moody bastards.

Wow, do I like to moan?

Anyhow, I was involved in a pretty good game tonight. I have been somewhat disappointed this year, as most the games have not had much money in them.

Most trons buy in for the minimum (40 Euros), and will let that stack dwindle down to like 10-20 Euros. I was in game the other night where I bought in for 200 Euros and had the whole table covered.

The games do get deeper as the night goes on, but most the winners seem to lock up or leave so its kind of shit really. Tonight was different.

I found myself in a pretty deep game. There were 2 players who I would say were local (young) grinders, and bought in for the maximum (200 Euros). There were 2 German nerds who also bought in for the maximum (one of whom kept on weeding money on to table and topping up when he lost pots), and a couple of others who bought in for 100 Euros). Compared to my previous sessions this was good, very good!

Straight off the bat, 1st hand I picked up AA, on the button, there was a couple of trons limping, and a raise up to 10 by the cut off. I re pop to 35, the dude insta ships on me with QQ. I snap, and end up losing to a flush.

No big deal, I re load.

Within the space of 30-45 minutes, chips have been flying around and I find myself 400 Euros deep, with the two local grinders also chipped up (actually covering me), and I would say with the exception of a couple of spots the game is playing 150-200 big blinds deep.

The following hand comes up, and I am still not quite sure if I took the right line (after several hours of thinking and analyses of the hand)…

Usual limp fest, I have Ad Qh on the button. I raise it up to 12, and eliminate half the limping trons, and head to the flop 4 way (it may have been 5 way actually but for sake of discussion lets say 4 way).

Ac 10s 3c. There is about 50-55 in the pot.

The action is checked to me. I bet 40.

The action folds around to one of the local grinders who calls 40.

I realise decisions from this point are very much situational, so let me try and give you all the information I have on this guy at this stage.

He seems to be playing a lot looser than the other grinder. I would of said he was playing loose passive pre flop, and slightly more aggressive with marginal holdings post flop.

He limped junk, and also limped called raises with junk pre flop.

He played hands in which he limped (or limped called) passively and the hands he raised pre flop very aggressively post flop.

He won a couple of big pots, and in those hands he showed down monster hands (AA twice, and a set once), and had played them pretty standard.

He played one hand with the other grinder, a massive pot for about 600 Euros which stood out to me.

He limped with 10 8 off (mid to late position), and called a raise by the other grinder (who was in the big blind).

The flop was J 9 Q (two clubs). The big blind bet, he raised him 50 more, and was called.

The turn brought an ace and completed the flush. The big blind now led 75. Which he called.

The river paired the ace. The final board read J 9 Q A A (three clubs), the big blind led again this time for 150, and he had called. His flopped straight was good.

I felt that the way the hand played out, especially against a grinder (who was up a few hundred) his straight was very marginal, and I would of struggled to call the river bet. I mean his straight is pretty much a bluff catcher in this spot.

From various comments he made during hands, his overall table presence, and his competent post flop play he seemed an alert, thinking player.

So back to my hand with him.

The turn paired the ace. The board read Ac 10s 3c Ah (two clubs). Pot is about 130.

The action is once again checked to me.

So what do you do here?

I have about 300 in my stack. If I decide to bet here, am I pretty much committing myself to the hand?

Or could I still bet, fold to a raise?

Do I risk giving away a free card in order to exercise pot control?

If I took that line, I could call a river bet, or maybe bet for value if checked to me. If the flush gets there could I fold?

What range of hands call the flop bet which can call a second bet here, or in fact thinking a step ahead would check raise me here?

I didn’t want to bet, and be like, “Oh, shit, now he raised what the fuck?”. So I dwelled up for a minute or two before I made my decision for the hand as a whole not just my current action.

Does this thinking time make me look weak? Do I have to factor this into my thinking into future decisions in the hand?

What does this dude put me on if I decide to bet the turn?

What has been my image at the table? Very solid, I have been pretty active, but only because I have been getting cards to be so, I have showed down good hands.

I had however in a previous pot (about a hour ago), raised the button, and bet an ace high flop into 3 or so players, was called in two spots, one guy with bottom pair, and another with a draw. I had to check behind both the turn and river with my King high, and the bottom pair won the pot.

Not sure if the above hand factors in the hand (or my opponent’s thought process), but for me I felt I could of got floated light here.

Say if I bet ¾ of the pot (80 ish leaving behind 220), what would this guy think about my hand. He has to be convinced I have an ace right?

I am aware that he is an alert player, alert enough to notice I have not been raising junk (especially in multi limp pots), so not only does he have to put me on an ace but an ace with a good kicker right?

So if he did check raise me, would I be safe in the knowledge that he turned a full house? There is no way this guy could raise with a worse ace, or could he?

I might be levelling myself here, but what about if this guy knew, that I knew he was an alert thinking player, and that I knew that he knew that I had an ace with a good kicker, and hence he knew that I would not think he would raise with a worse hand in this spot, but in fact because he knew that I knew that he knew that, maybe he would pull this play off.

I thought about the above, but I simply could not give him credit for that level of thinking (with only a couple hours of play).

I pretty much concluded that if he did check raise me, I was beat.

So why bet? Why bet 80, in anticipation of a raise and fold?

Why not check, and call 80 on the river if the flush got there, or if it missed, or bet 80 if checked to? Would that not be a better line? (Or is that really weak?)



Is it me? This spot on the surface seems pretty straightforward, if you are beat then it’s a cooler, and am I good here most the time?

So say if I bet 80, and he check raised me all in? Call or fold based on what I have discussed.

Another line which I thought about was kind of funky, say if I decided I was good here. I wanted the guy to continue with worse hands, and even induce bluffs from him. A bet of 80, would of only achieved a limited number of outcomes, the guy would check raise me all in with a better hand (which I am calling anyway), he would fold most the hands which I beat, and might call me with a flush draw.

So if I think I am good here, and decided either way I am going to go with hand, why not donk bet something like 25-45, trying to induce a bluff from under pairs, (and other junk hands which this guy may of floated me with), and also keep him in with hands which in his mind have certain show down value (again under pairs, and K10, Q10, J10, 109 etc).

Yeah, similar to the check behind option, I am giving away value to flush draws but just because there is two clubs on the board does not necessary mean my opponent has to have a flush draw.

On a board of A 10 3 A.

He cant have the following holdings: AK, AJ, A10, 10 10. Because he would of raised pre flop and not limp in.

There is small chance that he has: 33 through to 88 (and maybe even 99). He may limp with these.

He could also have any 10, which he 100% would float me with.

He could easily have any worse ace, but also A3.

So what beats me here that I can put him on. 33 or A3. That’s it. Seriously. That’s it. A10 and 1010 would of raised pre flop.

The case ace if he has A3, would be very unlikely.

So if he check raised the turn (if I bet), the only hand I can realistically be scared of is 33, is that right?

Putting into that context, would you be fearful of betting the turn, and in fact deciding to go with the hand? Even if you put everything into context (upon his possible check raise on the turn)?

Could he ship the turn with a pair + flush draw? If I bet 80? If I bet 40? Based on my deliberation which he may interpret as weakness? Yes?

My god! Pretty sick (and kind of exciting just thinking about this hand).

So I am going to open this up, please either leave a comment with your views or drop me a message on Facebook.

If you need some more details about the hand please ask, I may of left out some crucial factors (which you think are relevant).

Or if you are thinking what the fuck are you talking about you stupid Turk, easy bet, and ship -well what can I say I am a super donk!

Yigit out!

Quick update from Bulgaria...

Hello from sunny Bulgaria. I thought I would write a quick post.

I just read Rob's blog, to cut a long story short, he is going to be playing the £1k Main Event up in Luton.

Good luck bro, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you! Please don't stack off with top pair, because you think some dude is 4 bet shoving with a draw. Please!

Rob's blog is becoming more and more thrilling by the day. His swings are so sick, and you really don't know what to expect when you browse onto his page.

His blog is written with pure emotion, and I for one is captivated.

What a contrast Roshan's blog offers. Both Rob and Rosh are professional poker players, making a living through the game. However that is where their similarities end.

Its like day and night. Rosh has a very solid, calculated, methodical approach to poker, and you can really feel the sense of calm when reading his blog (as opposed to the drama which is offered by Rob's).

I am sure Rosh will have something to say about Rob's latest "spin up" adventure.

I love it!

Managed to catch up with Andrey the other night (thankfully the media had left him alone for the night, though there were a non stop influx of fans approaching him)...



The games are really soft, but not very deep. Fun though.

Anyhow, I am off to have my afternoon nap!

Yigit