Greg online

Greg plays with free money on line no limit and he writes:

AND I wanna tell you about a good game I had last night on Pokerroom.com, 5 at a table, $10,000 buy-ins.

I came in about 9pm and lost a couple buy-ins, i.e., $20,000 and then started to build my stash.

Another fellow lost about $50,000 and then starts to build.

Buy 10:30pm he and I have $50,000 each; by midnight we have $120,000 each. Other guys are coming and going like flies as we swat them and watch each other carefully -- trading a couple grand now and then.

Then the big hand just after midnight. He checks. I hold an A, 8 and bet $2,000 -- 3 players fold and he calls.

Flop: 9, 10, J. He checks; I bet $4,000; He calls. (no flushes available).

Turn: A; He checks; I bet $6,000; He calls. (now, he's not a slow better; but it's instructive to know that when you're playing a loose player like me, slow can be very good.)

River: A; So I've got 3 Aces and an 8, 9, 10, J.

with 9, 10, J, A, A on the board. I can see about 6 ways to beat me.

Finally he bets! $10,000. I raise to $20,000. He goes all in. I call. So there you have it -- $240,000 in the pot.

He's holding a Q, K. (straight to the Ace) I'm busted!

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We talked about overvaluing a small straight draw. In NL the small straight is a real killer.

The fact is that the fellow had Greg beat on the flop. He might have dccided to go all in then. I think he should have decided by the turn. If Greg is still betting, he should have put Greg on trips and made him pay high for the river card. Instead, he goes all in after the river makes any full house and even when Greg's possible Full House is very probable. In fact, he rerasises a 20 grand bet that Greg should only have made as a value bet if he had at least a full house. This was a poor bet on other guy's part and he was just lucky Greg was also playing poorly.