High end plussed

I first used this blog post title on June 2, 2011, back in my cash game days. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

On the hand in question, I got high end plussed. Here's what I mean by that: when the board has four cards to a straight which are all in a row, there's one way to fill the low end of the straight, but there are actually two ways to fill the high end. The common way to fill the high end is by holding a card which is one higher than the highest board card which is part of the draw. A much rarer way to fill the high end is by holding the card just mentioned and also holding a card which is one higher than that card.

Last night, I hit the rail when my hand filled the high end, but lost to a high end plus. Had I chopped that pot I feel confident I would have made the money. C'est la guerre :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    59      56   12    18        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $39,579,500
2018 balance: $5,856,000
balance: $51,369,260

High end plussed

One of the things which makes poker such a devilishly difficult game to play is that in many cases, players bet the nuts and air exactly the same way. In those cases, you can't use bet sizing to tell you anything. You need to find a read some other way. It's guesswork, plain and simple. Last night, I faced just such a situation on hand 41. I'd been dealt Kd 4d, the flop came Qd Td 2h, the turn was 9h, and the river was Jc. So I started out with a flush draw, and made a king high straight on the river. I was first to act in the final betting round, and bet $2,400. One opponent raised to $12,600, and the other folded. My thought process went like this: "He's betting like he has the high end plus. Odds-wise, that's less likely than that he just has a king high, like me, or even the ignorant end. However, bet-size-wise, his most likely holdings are the high end plus or pure air. I'm betting air". I called with my last $8,901, and he turned over a big slick, the high end plus. I hit the felt. I feel fine with the way I played the hand, though. When either of two holdings can prompt an opponent to bet a certain way, you just have to make a guess as to which holding he actually has. Sometimes your guess will be wrong. Such is poker :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
 - 11 out of 15 times while in small blind (73%)
 - 47 out of 72 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 67 out of 100 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 15 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $-24,289
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,964,543
balance: $7,321,496

High end plussed

Last night, my mini winning streak came to a crashing halt. What made hitting the felt extra tough to take was that I lost the last hand to an insufferable prick who'd been trying to bait people all night long. He'd been bragging and congratulating himself all night, and denigrating everyone else. When he won the hand that took me to the felt, his comment was "Buh Buh Buh BANG!!!!!". My reply was: "did anyone ever mention you're kind of an a s s h o l e ?"

On the hand in question, I got high end plussed. Here's what I mean by that: when the board has four cards to a straight which are all in a row, there's one way to fill the low end of the straight, but there are actually two ways to fill the high end. The common way to fill the high end is by holding a card which is one higher than the highest board card which is part of the draw. A much rarer way to fill the high end is by holding the card just mentioned and also holding a card which is one higher than that card. The high end plus straight doesn't use the lowest board card which is part of the straight draw, and beats the normal high end straight. I went all in on the turn, when I made a normal high end straight.

I wrote a utility tonight to determine the odds at the turn that my opponent had a hand which could beat mine. The answer: 3.64%. That, folks, is a bad beat. There's absolutely nothing you can do about situations like that. They'll happen to you periodically. I don't feel bad about going all in; I'd do the same thing in that situation every time.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 117 hands and saw flop:
- 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
- 7 out of 17 times while in small blind (41%)
- 43 out of 88 times in other positions (48%)
- a total of 61 out of 117 (52%)
Pots won at showdown - 11 of 18 (61%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-40,000
balance: $1,808,117