Bovada $2K NLHE 6-Max
Daily hand-by-hand equity charting of a 143-entry 6-Max tournament continues through this week, every day except Wednesday and Friday. I’m player 50, on the button in the first hand here. In yesterday’s installment, we played down from three to two tables, and slipped below nine players. By the end of the tournament, player 5—who has put money into nearly 60% of the pots I’ve seen him play—and I will be heads-up.
| HAND 221 | 1000/2000/200 | 736 | ||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 58 | 54K | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | T9 | 65.9K | 36 | 65 | 16 | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | 73 | 40.5K | 20 | 35 | 84 | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | T6 | 150.5K | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The downside of limping. SB limps into the flop with the best hand and BB checks. The flop is all the BB. SB c-bets for 3.3K and BB with bottom two pair makes it 10.6K. SB has nothing and has to fold. He’s lost 4.3K when probably a 6K pre-flop raise would have made taken the pot and made him 1.6K.
| HAND 222 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | J8 | 53.8K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | D | JJ | 60.4K | 61 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | 35 | 46.4K | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | T7 | 150.3K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Or he could have waited for this hand. Player 121 raises jacks from the button to 6K and gets folds.
| HAND 223 | 1000/2000/200 | 487 | 7 | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | T9 | 53.6K | 30 | 50 | 100 | – | 100 | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | 8J | 64K | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | Q5 | 45.2K | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | K2 | 148.1K | 25 | 50 | 0 | – | 0 | – | – |
Equity’s distributed pretty equally all around pre-flop in this hand, but UTG and D choose to sit it out. Big stack in SB limps in against me and I raise to 6K. He calls. He calls another 6K on the flop, even though he’s drawing to the lowest flush (at best) or maybe backdoor trip kings. He gives up on the turn for another 15K.
| HAND 224 | 1000/2000/200 | 294 | 8 | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | K2 | 66.2K | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | BB | 36 | 63.8K | 8 | 25 | 26 | – | 12 | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | K3 | 45K | 29 | 75 | 74 | – | 88 | – | – |
| 5 | D | 6Q | 135.9K | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
UTG min-raises his suited king to 3K and gets called by BB. They both whiff the flop. BB’s gut-shot straight doesn’t add much equity to his side of the equation, and another heart on the turn just tilts things further in UTG’s direction.
| HAND 225 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 77 | 65K | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | 35 | 59.6K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | JJ | 50.6K | 50 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | 2Q | 135.7K | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Sevens are good enough for me to open from the button four-handed, so I raise to 6K. They’re not good enough to call off three-quarters of my stack when BB shoves his jacks. I can take a hint.
| b | ||||||||||
| HAND 226 | 1000/2000/200 | 9K8 | J | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | 2K | 58.8K | 36 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | D | 78 | 58.4K | 35 | 42 | 51 | 58 | 56 | – | – |
| 140 | SB | 38 | 58.2K | 6 | 9 | 35 | 42 | 44 | – | – |
| 5 | BB | J3 | 135.5K | 23 | 49 | 13 | – | – | – | – |
Who knew king-deuce offsuit was such a strong hand? I didn’t, so I folded it and everyone limped into the flop except for me, the guy with the best hand. D hits bottom pair on the flop against what are generally considered to be pretty poor hands. SB bets 2K and BB folds. D comes along. The possibilities for a chop are strong. On the turn, there are three over cards to the pair D and SB share. D does have a gut-shot straight draw with his seven kicker but they’re chopping this hand unless a ten, seven, or three hits the river. Or one of them folds. SB checks and D makes a bet of 6K. SB folds.
| HAND 227 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | 28 | 58.6K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | 83 | 65K | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | 78 | 54K | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 69 | 133.3K | 43 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Somehow, SB knows his six-nine offsuit is a monster. He opens the pot to 6.8K and I fold.
| HAND 228 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | K6 | 56.4K | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | BB | T3 | 64.8K | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | 4T | 53.8K | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | 27 | 135.9K | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I have shown to the big stack that I’m a wimp. He now feels impunity to raise [2s 7s] to 5.8K—probably giggling while he does it—and I lay my king down.
| HAND 229 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 42 | 55.2K | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | A8 | 62.6K | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | 4A | 53.6K | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | 87 | 139.5K | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I guess raising unsuited connectors UTG 4-handed is just too wacky, player 5 folds. I fold, SB raises to 6K and BB with the worse ace shows admirable restraint and folds.
| HAND 230 | 1000/2000/200 | 5JA | Q | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | QJ | 55K | 28 | 77 | 81 | – | 89 | – | – |
| 121 | D | KT | 65.2K | 37 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | 37 | 51.4K | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | QT | 139.3K | 10 | 23 | 19 | – | 11 | – | – |
I raise to 6K and miracle-of-miracles D folds the best hand. SB folds and I get called by BB. He checks the flop, I bet 7K with my middle pair. He’s got the gut-shot. The queen gives me two pair and I shove. He folds. D is probably kicking himself because he would have made Broadway here. I pick up some chips.
| HAND 231 | 1000/2000/200 | JAT | ||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | 34 | 69.6K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | K7 | 65K | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | 76 | 50.2K | 11 | 28 | 21* | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 96 | 126.1K | 26 | 72 | 79 | – | – | – | – |
My [3s 4c] here is actually well ahead of D’s [7s6h], because he;s outkicked on both his ranks, while my cards are in the clear; I have almost average equity. That doesn’t make me any slower to fold when D raises his hand to 4K. SB calls. SB checks the flop, giving D the chance to fire another 4K into the pot. I’m guessing he doesn’t actually think 7-high is good, so I’m chalking this up to a bluff. SB folds.
| HAND 232 | 1000/2000/200 | QJ2 | A | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | 77 | 67.4K | 40 | 78 | 95 | – | 98 | – | – |
| 121 | BB | 76 | 64.8K | 10 | 11 | 1 | – | 0* | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | 8K | 56.8K | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | 66 | 121.9K | 10 | 10 | 5 | – | 2 | – | – |
Two hands good; two hands bad. D raises to 6K, I call, and BB comes along. We all check the flop, although I’ve got a virtual lock on the equity. I check on the turn, BB smells fear and bets the ace with absolute no chance to win a showdown. 4K is all it takes to get me and D to fold.
| HAND 233 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | KA | 61.2K | 45 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | 8T | 77.4K | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | 5T | 56.6K | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | Q9 | 115.7K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I raise to 8K and take the pot.
| HAND 234 | 1000/2000/200 | K22 | Q | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | 93 | 66.8K | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | D | 2K | 76.2K | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | Q4 | 54.4K | 23 | 52 | 69 | – | 100 | – | – |
| 5 | BB | 87 | 113.5K | 27 | 48 | 31 | – | 0 | – | – |
A pretty even match pre-flop, but I fold and D folds. SB limps in. D is kicking himself on the flop. SB makes the min-bet on the turn and BB folds.
| HAND 235 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | AK | 66.6K | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | JQ | 76K | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | QT | 57K | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 54 | 111.3K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
UTG raises to 5.8K and SB comes along with his little connectors. I slam it in for 66.4K and everyone folds.
| HAND 236 | 1000/2000/200 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | 2J | 78.8K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | BB | 7A | 70K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | 2J | 56.8K | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | AK | 105.3K | 55 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
D jams his ace-king and takes it down.
| HAND 237 | 1000/2000/200 | K3J | 4 | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | A9 | 77.6K | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | 96 | 67.8K | 16 | 25 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | KQ | 56.6K | 35 | 50 | 95 | 98 | 100 | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | 78 | 108.9K | 20 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – |
UTG limps, SB comes along. BB makes top pair and lets UTG drive the action with a 3.4K c-bet, which folds out SB. BB checks the turn when he’s got it locked down, UTG tries to bluff it for 6.8K, and BB raises him to 13.6K to win the hand.
| HAND 238 | 1000/2000/200 | 448 | T | 6 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | 23 | 77.4K | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | D | 8T | 65.6K | 38 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | K5 | 71.4K | 31 | 69 | 68 | – | 82 | – | 0 |
| 5 | BB | 65 | 96.5K | 17 | 31 | 32 | – | 18 | – | 100 |
In less than twenty hands, player 5 has lost a third of his stack, bringing him back into the general territory of the rest of us at the table, He’s put money in the pot in more than half those hands. It feels like he’s been doing well but he’s only actually won three of those hands, which is a bit less than the 25% you’d expect from average distribution. SB min-raises. BB calls with a dominated five. SB fails to c-bet the flop, though he might not have been able to get BB—with a gut-shot draw—to fold. BB calls SB’s delayed c-bet on the turn, then they both check the river when BB gets a pair.
| HAND 239 | 1250/2500/250 | A5K | 8 | J | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | 6A | 77.2K | 31 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | 59 | 65.4K | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | KT | 63.2K | 29 | 71 | 78 | – | 73 | – | 100 |
| 5 | SB | JT | 105.1K | 21 | 29 | 22 | – | 27 | – | 0 |
D raises to 7.5K, SB calls, and I fold the mediocre ace. On the flop, SB check-calls another 7.5K with gut-shot and backdoor flush draws. The turn keeps SB in contention as much as he’s ever been—both players check, but SB misses his draw on the river and the hand goes to showdown, with D picking up a 33.5K pot.
| HAND 240 | 1250/2500/250 | JQ4 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | KT | 74.4K | 32 | 37 | 47 | – | 100 | – | 100 |
| 121 | BB | T5 | 65.2K | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | 4T | 81.5K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | 6A | 89.9K | 43 | 63 | 53 | – | 0 | – | 0 |
If I had [ks 9s] to start this hand, I’d be in a tie for 36% equity, but since two other tens are dealt out, my chances at the pot reduce the equity by several points. D raises his ace to 6.6K (again, he’s one of those guys who likes to type in random numbers, the exact value is 6,646). I call and we’re heads-up. The flop fills in the middle of my straight draw, we both check the flop. I make the nuts on the turn and check to let him bet since he’s been pretty aggressive so far. On the river, I’m not really afraid of the full house, but I check again to see if he’ll try something. Again no luck.
Summary
This group of hands was The Great Stack Leveling. Player 5 started with nearly three times as many chips as the other three players (including me), but his propensity to play fast and very loose ([ks 2h] and [jd 3c], for instance), has cost him his a significant lead. It’s not going to matter, I’ve already revealed we get heads-uo at the end, and it’s how he got to where he is, but a little more judicious play might have extended the lead rather than frittered it away.
- All 20 hands in this batch were played 4-handed. Nobody busted or was moved.
- Of the 43 hands dealt to 4 players so far this tournament, 21 have been won by the cards with the most pre-flop equity, and another 14 have been won by the next-best card combo.
- In 4-handed play, I’m the tightest of the four at our table. My VPIP for just the past 20 hands is 35%, just slightly above my overall VPIP for the tournament, and to be expected since you have to open up the range with just 4 on the table. In a larger sample, it would probably be more of an increase. My PFR for these hands is 25%.
- Players 121 and 140 have both been slightly less active than me overall, but they’ve picked up a little here, with VPIP/PFR for player 121 at 40%/15% and 45%/35% for player 140. 121’s pre-flop raises have run at about half his VPIP for the entire tournament.
- And player 5. 65% VPIP. 20% PFR. His overall VPIP for the tournament is 60%, so no real change there.
Tomorrow, we get to the final table!