I'm a beginning player trying to become a winner at the low limits. To start I'm simply trying to play a straightforward, tight game. Lately I've been getting absolutely crushed and I think I'm beginning to get weak-tight.

I got mauled during these hands recently. Some of it may be back luck but most likely its due to my poor play. Any advice on how I could have played these hands better or simply lost less bets is greatly appreciated!

/bonk

Paradise Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
1 fold, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, 2 folds, Button calls, Hero raises, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, Button calls.

Flop: (10 SB) , , (5 players)
Hero bets, BB calls, UTG+1 raises, MP1 folds, Button folds, Hero 3-bets, BB folds, UTG+1 calls.

I wasn't sure someone would bet this flop so I felt I couldn't risk the CR.

Turn: (8.50 BB) (2 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 calls.

River: (10.50 BB) (2 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 raises, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 14.50 BB

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Qh Qd (full house, queens full of threes).
Hero has As Ad (two pair, aces and threes).
Outcome: UTG+1 wins 14.50 BB.

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Paradise Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, 1 fold, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, 2 folds, Hero calls, SB completes, BB checks.

Why didn't I raise? I didn't think my bet would force anyone to fold, and if an Ace hit with this many players I was getting out. I hoped that by keeping the pot smaller it would be easier for me to get people to fold with a raise. Is not raising here a terrible play?

Flop: (7 SB) , , (7 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, Hero raises, SB calls, BB folds, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls.

Turn: (9.50 BB) (6 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets, MP2 calls, Hero raises, SB folds, UTG calls, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 calls.

River: (17.50 BB) (4 players)
UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets, Hero calls, UTG calls, MP1 calls.

Final Pot: 21.50 BB

Results in white below:
UTG has Qd As (one pair, queens).
MP1 has Ah Ad (one pair, aces).
MP2 has 7h Td (two pair, tens and sevens).
Hero has Kc Kh (one pair, kings).
Outcome: MP2 wins 21.50 BB.

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Paradise Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
2 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, 2 folds, CO calls, Button calls, SB completes, Hero raises, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, CO calls, Button calls, SB calls.

Flop: (12 SB) , , (6 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, CO calls, Button folds, SB folds.

Turn: (7 BB) (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets, Hero calls.

River: (9 BB) (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 11 BB

Results in white below:
Hero has Ks Kc (one pair, kings).
CO has Ts 6h (two pair, tens and sixes).
Outcome: CO wins 11 BB.

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Paradise Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q:club:, A:diamond:.
UTG calls, [color:#666666]1 fold[/color], MP1 calls, MP2 calls, CO calls, [color:#CC3333]Hero raises[/color], [color:#666666]2 folds[/color], UTG calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, CO calls.

Flop: (11.50 SB) 3:club:, A:spade:, Q:diamond: [color:#0000FF](5 players)[/color]
UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, [color:#CC3333]CO bets[/color], [color:#CC3333]Hero raises[/color], UTG folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, CO calls.

Turn: (8.75 BB) K:heart: [color:#0000FF](3 players)[/color]
MP1 checks, [color:#CC3333]CO bets[/color], ($1)MP1 calls.

The conversion did not show that the CO bet and I raised here and was called.
Is this raise a bad play?

River: (10.25 BB) 4:diamond: [color:#0000FF](3 players)[/color]
MP1 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: 10.25 BB

Results in white below: [color:#FFFFFF]
MP1 has Ac 7d (one pair, aces).
CO has 3d 3h (three of a kind, threes).
Hero has Qc Ad (two pair, aces and queens).
Outcome: CO wins 10.25 BB. [/color]

Hand 1 I may have lost more money on the river, just bad luck.

Hand 2. You have to raise that up, yes they are all going to call you but don't worry about that. Build that pot. Both you and the guy with AA messed this one up preflop.
Now you have a bet and THREE people calling with a very dangerous flop for you. I would be very worried about already being behind at this point and might just call here although a raises isn't too bad. When the apparently clean 5 spades hits now the the MP player is leading out into you and a couple of hundred other folks in the pot, I probably fold right here as I have more than a sneaking suspicion that I am beat in at least one place and very possibly more.

Hand 3. Preflop, flop good. Why check the turn. Most of the times players at this limit will raise the flop if they have a flush draw trying to get a free turn and river. The heart would not stop me from betting again on the turn, now if I get raised I may very well lay down the hand there. Again just another bad river but you should have been betting on the turn rather than calling.

Hand 4. I think you played the hand fine. I would have put CO on KQ there and would have lost more money by betting the river.

Thanks a lot for the analysis guys.

I guess I have taken the worst of it recently with good big starting hands andI am becoming cynical about how these hands hold up by the river at these low limits with so many ppl in the pots. I guess I just need to grit my teeth and bear it hoping that over the long run it will work out for me. It just seems difficult to protect non-drawing hands.

Thx again.

/bonk

I hear people complaining all the time about not being able to protect their hands in limit but they are missing the key factors. Sure you are not going to be able to force out flush and straight draws that are usually getting the correct odds to call to hit their hands but that doesn't matter. You have to learn to get away from hands that are beaten and be able to extract the maximum from hands that are good or have the potential to be good given the situation. Limit Holdem IS NOT a game about protecting your hand against draws for the most part although a raise or CR in certain positions can make what was a correct draw for one bet an incorrect one for two. In this context Limit Holdem is much more difficult than NL holdem because it is always easy in NL to make the odds incorrect for someone to draw but in Limit you have to deal with the fact that you can't do this for the most part but the skillful players have many more tools at their disposal for long term +EV plays besides the overbet or all-in moves.