Presto: The Origins

Subzero (free pimpage!) asked why 55 had come to be known as Presto. And to be honest I had no fawking clue. So I figured pocketfives.com would probably have the answer and they do.

"It seems that for many players, especially online players, there is a mystical aura surrounding this hand that somehow makes it special and gives it a better chance of winning."

"Presto" is used Blackjack and poker players wanted a hand to call Presto too. 55 was seemingly chosen in a somewhat random manner. Not too glamourous an explanation ...

However Kent has pointed me to Cardplayer that elaborates a little further:

"presto: 5-5. Comes from what one says when revealing a pair of fives as one's holecards. The term was coined at BARGE and evolved from what a blackjack player says when turning over a blackjack. (BARGE is Big August Rec.Gambling Excursion, an annual Las Vegas convention of online poker enthusiasts. RGPers - those who read and post on the Usenet newsgroup rec.gambling.poker - have used the term presto as an identifying catchword.)"

The bottom line: Presto is Gold and you all know it!

Presto is Gold (Part 29)

After my weak/tight fold of 55 UTG last night I resolved not to let it happen again. Here is how to properly play 55 from under the gun:

PokerStars $5/10NL, 8-handed

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 raises $20 to $30 from UTG with [5c 5s]
MP calls $30

*** FLOP *** [4c 8h Kh]
Fuel55 bets $50
MP folds
Fuel55 collected $72 from pot

Easy peasy ...

Presto is Gold (Part 28)

PokerStars $20+$2 6-max DeepStacks Tourney

Hand 3 of the tournament:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 raises 40 to 60 from MP with [5c 5s]
ellizizcute raises 140 to 200 from SB
Fuel55 calls 140 (set mining 101 – obvious call with the signature hand)

*** FLOP *** [7d 5h 8c]
ellizizcute bets 320
Fuel55 raises 320 to 640
ellizizcute raises 4600 to 5240 and is all-in (gotta love it!)
Fuel55 calls 3960 and is all-in

*** TURN *** [7d 5h 8c] [8s]

*** RIVER *** [7d 5h 8c 8s] [Qd]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
ellizizcute shows [Ks Kd] (two pair, Kings and Eights) (when will they ever learn to fold overpairs?)
Fuel55 shows [5c 5s] (a full house, Fives full of Eights)
Fuel55 collected 9620

Presto is Gold and Flopped Str8s Never Win All In One

OK here is an interesting hand from $25/$50NL. Ask yourself if you have the stones to play like this ...

This is a very interesting hand I observed between Jeff Williams (yellowsub86) and big cash game player and tournament winner Williamhill. Williamhill flops a str8 and yellowsub donks off his stack with 4th pair playing power poker. Luckily for yellowsub he has Presto and goes runner-runner miracle full house to scoop a $12K pot:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Williamhill raises $150 to $200
yellowsub86 raises $450 to $650
Williamhill calls $450

*** FLOP *** [Tc 7d Jh]
Williamhill checks
yellowsub86 bets $850
Williamhill raises $850 to $1700
yellowsub86 raises $4400 to $6100 (this is a serious bet and can only be called by a set or a str8)
Williamhill calls $3645.70 and is all-in (calling with the nutz but we know that flopped str8s always lose)

*** TURN *** [Tc 7d Jh] [Js]

*** RIVER *** [Tc 7d Jh Js] [5d]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Williamhill shows [9c 8c] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
yellowsub86 shows [5h 5c] (a full house, Fives full of Jacks)
yellowsub86 collected $12063.40 from pot

Interesting that yellowsub with reraise with 55 and Williamhill will call with 98s. Drawing thin to a runner runner situation yellowsub pulls off a miracle. Williamhill will steam about this for a while.

Welcome to the big games …

Presto is Gold (Part 27) [But it was all for naught]

Pokerstars $5/10NL, 6-handed

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Victim raises $30 to $40 from UTG
Fuel55 raises $90 to $130 with [5c 5d] from CO
Victim raises $2478 to $2608 and is all-in
Fuel55 calls $462 and is all-in (well I figure him for a big ace and can’t really fold a pair – especially the SIGNATURE HAND)

*** FLOP *** [9s 2s 5h] (Presto is Gold – right on queue)

*** TURN *** [9s 2s 5h] [6h]

*** RIVER *** [9s 2s 5h 6h] [7h]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Victim shows [Ah Kc] (high card Ace)
Fuel55: shows [5c 5d] (three of a kind, Fives)
Fuel55 said, "signature hand strikes again"
Fuel55 collected $1197 from pot

Fives were enough but the set was nice.

Then the same guy gets it all back 4 hands later on a PokerStars supercooler:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Victim becomes Cooler King raises $30 to $40 from UTG
Fuel55 raises $130 to $170 from CO with [Kh Ks]
Victim becomes Cooler King raises $1846 to $2016 and is all-in
Fuel55 calls $982 and is all-in

*** FLOP *** [7c 3c 8h]

*** TURN *** [7c 3c 8h] [5c]

*** RIVER *** [7c 3c 8h 5c] [7d]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Victim becomes Cooler King shows [Ac Ad] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
Fuel55 mucks hand
Victim becomes Cooler King collected $2316 from pot

Are you fawking kidding me?

Presto is Gold (Part 26)

PokerStars $2/4NL, 9-handed

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 calls $4 from MP with [5s 5h]
Victim calls $4
CO checks
SB calls $2
BB checks

*** FLOP *** [8d 2s 4c]
SB checks
BB checks
Fuel55 bets $8
Victim raises $12 to $20
CO folds
SB folds
BB folds
Fuel55 calls $12 (not convinced that I am behind just yet)

*** TURN *** [8d 2s 4c] [3c]
Fuel55 checks
Victim checks

*** RIVER *** [8d 2s 4c 3c] [5c]
Fuel55 bets $20
Victim calls $20 (he let's me get there and then pays me off)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5s 5h] (three of a kind, Fives)
Victim mucks hand [9c 9s]
Fuel55 collected $97 from pot

Presto is Gold (Part 25)

Ah, the power of position coupled with deception ....

Full Tilt $3/6, 6-handed

*** HOLE CARDS ***
UTG raises to $18
Fuel55 raises to $55 with (yes, you guessed it) [5d 5c] from the CO
UTG calls $37

*** FLOP *** [Ac 2c Kd]
UTG bets $40
Fuel55 raises to $140
UTG has 15 seconds left to act
UTG folds (I guess he has to give me credit for AK, AA or KK)
Fuel55 wins the pot ($196)

Presto is Gold (Part 24)

9-handed $2/4NL game

*** HOLE CARDS ***
LP raises $8 to $12
SB raises $23 to $35
Fuel55 calls $31 from BB with [5d 5s] (a position call with the signature hand!)
LP folds

*** FLOP *** [8d 4c 9d]
SB bets $35
Fuel55 calls $35 (fairly easy call since he very likely has AK, AQ, or an overpair)

*** TURN *** [8d 4c 9d] [6h]
SB checks
Fuel55 checks (my flop call gets me a free card because I was willing to fold to another bet)

At this point I put him on AK and would have bet the river anyway but luckily I river my 5 as usual ...

*** RIVER *** [8d 4c 9d 6h] [5h]
SB checks
Fuel55 bets $36
SB calls $36 (and he check calls with an overpair)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5d 5s] (three of a kind, Fives)
SB mucks hand [Qh Qd]
Fuel55 collected $221 from pot

This guy played his queens very passively post-flop and it cost him. I guess I had him running scared ???

Presto is Gold (Part 23)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Folded to ragamuffin44 who limps for $2 from the CO
Fuel55 raises $10 to $12 with [5s 5c] on the button
Blinds fold and ragamuffin44 calls $10 (note that he limps and then calls a raise out of position – THIS IS BAD POKER)

*** FLOP *** [5h Qs As]
ragamuffin44 checks
Fuel55 bets $18 (I bet my set as I almost always do)
ragamuffin44 raises $18 to $36
Fuel55 raises $88 to $124 (I know I am good so let’s the money in)
ragamuffin44 raises $247.30 to $371.30 and is all-in
Fuel55 calls $92.95 and is all-in

*** TURN *** [5h Qs As] [Qh]

*** RIVER *** [5h Qs As Qh] [Kc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragamuffin44 shows [9s Ts] (a pair of Queens)
Fuel55 shows [5s 5c] (a full house, Fives full of Queens)
Fuel55 collected $457.90 from pot

I love these donkeys ...

Presto is Gold (Part 22)

Full Tilt $20 + $2 Two-table Sit & Go, 7 players remain

*** HOLE CARDS ***
EP raises to 900
Victim calls 670, and is all in
Fuel55 calls 750 from SB with [5d 5c]

*** FLOP *** [5h Ts 4h]
Fuel55 bets 7,310, and is all in (I push here since I have been pushing every hand either pre or postflop to intimidate the table and accumulate chips)
EP folds
Fuel55 shows [5d 5c]
Victim shows [Jc Tc]
Uncalled bet of 7,310 returned to Fuel55

*** TURN *** [5h Ts 4h] [9s]

*** RIVER *** [5h Ts 4h 9s] [5s]
Fuel55 wins the side pot (460)
Fuel55 shows four of a kind, Fives
Victim shows two pair, Tens and Fives
Fuel55 wins the main pot (2,310) with four of a kind, Fives
Fuel55: DQB

Makes up for that fawking royal I faced last night.

Presto is Gold (Part 21)

Bugsy's $1/2, 6-max game, 6-handed

>>>DEALING HOLE CARDS<<<
Victim raises $5 to $7 from UTG
MP calls $6
Fuel55 raises $35 to $42 from BB with 5d 5s
Victim calls $35
MP folds

>>>DEALING FLOP<<< [ 2d 3d 2s ]
Fuel55 bets $50 (continue the charade with my overpair)
Victim calls $50

>>>DEALING TURN<<< [ Td ]
Fuel55 bets $150
Victim calls $150 (OK, now I am worried)

>>>DEALING RIVER<<< [ 5h ] (sweet sweet river)
Fuel55 bets $190
Victim calls $190
Fuel55 cards were 5d 5s
Victim mucks hand (cards were Qs Qh)

Fuel55 wins $867 with a full house, fives full of deuces

Nice two outer Fuel ...

Presto is Gold (Part 20)

PokerStars $100+$9 SNG

First Hand

*** HOLE CARDS ***
EP raises 40 to 60
Fuel55 calls 60 from MP with [5s 5h]

*** FLOP *** [9d 3s 5d]
EP bets 60
Fuel55 calls 60

*** TURN *** [9d 3s 5d] [2s]
EP bets 60
Fuel55 raises 160 to 220
EP calls 160

*** RIVER *** [9d 3s 5d 2s] [5c]
EP bets 160
Fuel55 raises 160 to 320
EP calls 160

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5s 5h] (four of a kind, Fives)
EP shows [Kd Kc] (two pair, Kings and Fives)
Fuel55 said, "DBQ"
Fuel55 collected 1350 from pot

Repopped him twice but he couldn't lay down the cowboys.

Another Pearl of Wisdom from Dutch

After busting first in the Foxwoods $10K event, Dutch Boyd posted a summary to his blog.

Near the end of the post - he makes another brilliant set of observations:

"If you're going to be great at poker, you've got to be able to fold pocket queens preflop and you've got to be able to fold a set on the flop. It's that simple. You can't blame losses on cards, because you really shouldn't be paying that much attention to the cards you've got in the first place. Starting with monsters, or flopping monsters, usually just gets in the way of a well-played tournament. The events that I seem to do the best at are the ones where I never pick up aces or kings."

"There's an interesting psychological aspect to tournaments, and it's this: you only feel good about a tournament when you win it ... and the closer you get to first place, the worse you feel when you get knocked out. It actually doesn't feel that bad getting knocked out super early in a big event. It's over and you can kinda relax. But anytime you're one of the first ones out in a major, it means you were playing longball poker, which really isn't the correct strategy in these things. Next time I play a big event, maybe I'll finally muster up the courage to try and take it down without ever looking at my hand. At least I'd last longer than I did in this one..."

Presto is Gold (Part 19)

PokerStars $2/$4NL, 6-max

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 raises $8 to $12 from CO with [5d 5h]
BB calls $8

*** FLOP *** [Ad 3d 5c]
BB bets $20
Fuel55 raises $28 to $48 (throw in a little raise to see where BB is at on a heavy drawing board)
BB calls $28 (danger)

*** TURN *** [Ad 3d 5c] [Kd]
BB checks
Fuel55 bets $64 (uggggh, I hate this card but he checks, so I bet)
BB calls $64 (double uggggh)

*** RIVER *** [Ad 3d 5c Kd] [Tc]
BB checks
Fuel55 checks (just check it down since he could be trapping me)

*** SHOW DOWN ***
BB shows [As 2d] (a pair of Aces) (nice hand buddy …)
Fuel55 shows [5d 5h] (three of a kind, Fives)
Fuel55 collected $248 from pot

Very glad I had position on this hand.

Presto is Gold (Part 18)

Probably the worst played AQ of all time:

Full Tilt $100 + $9 Sit & Go, 8 players remain

*** PREFLOP ***
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS calls 80 (he limps with AQ)
Fuel55 calls 40 from SB with [5d 5s]
BB checks

*** FLOP *** [3d Qh Ac]
Fuel55 checks
BB checks
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS checks

*** TURN *** [3d Qh Ac] [5h]
Fuel55 checks (presto is usually gold on the turn so I am glad no one bet that flop)
BB checks
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS checks (good idea to check again now str8 and flush draws have appeared)

*** RIVER *** [3d Qh Ac 5h] [7d]
Fuel55 bets 160 (better stick something in, if no one is going to bet)
BB folds
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS raises to 640 (now he awakens)
Fuel55 raises to 1,120 (gimme the rest of your chips buddy)
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS calls 421, and is all in (bingo)
Uncalled bet of 59 returned to Fuel55

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5d 5s] (three of a kind, Fives)
PUTZ/VICTIM/DOOFUS mucks [Qd As] - two pair, Aces and Queens
Fuel55 wins the pot (2,362) with three of a kind, Fives

Presto is Gold (Part 17)

Alternate Title: My Only Defense is "He Was Short Stacked and I Play Goot"

PokerStars $50+$5 SNG, 5 remain

Seat 1: Fuel55 (4535 in chips)
Seat 2 (1680 in chips)
Seat 3 (1695 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7 (5110 in chips)
Seat 8: Victim (480 in chips)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Seats 2, 3 and 7 fold
Victim raises 50 to 100 from SB
Fuel55 calls 50 with [5h 5d]

*** FLOP *** [8c 2s Jd]
Victim bets 380 and is all-in (It doesn’t really matter what he has, he has to push with such a short stack)
Fuel55 calls 380 (PRESTO IS GOLD, I CALL)

Victim shows [Qc Qd]
Fuel55 shows [5h 5d]

*** TURN *** [8c 2s Jd] [5c] (hello Mr. 2-Outer)

*** RIVER *** [8c 2s Jd 5c] [Ac]
Fuel55: shows [5h 5d] (three of a kind, Fives)
Fuel55 collected 960 from pot
Fuel55 said, "ouch"

Presto is Gold (Part 16)

PokerStars $3/$6NL, 6-max

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 calls $6 from MP with [5d 5s]
SB calls $3
BB checks

*** FLOP *** [5c 6h 7c]
SB bets $16
BB folds
Fuel55 raises $20 to $36
SB calls $20

*** TURN *** [5c 6h 7c] [Kc]
SB checks
Fuel55 checks

*** RIVER *** [5c 6h 7c Kc] [7h]
SB checks
Fuel55 bets $30
SB calls $30

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5d 5s] (a full house, Fives full of Sevens)
SB mucks [8h 7s] (poor guy gets unlucky to make his set on the river)
Fuel55 collected $148 from pot

Presto is Gold (Part 15)

Another Full Tilt SNG and another miracle flop with 55:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
MP raises to 180
Button reraises to 400
Fuel55 calls 340 from SB with [5c 5h]
MP calls 220

*** FLOP *** [5s Kh Qd]
MP bets 400
Button raises to 900
Fuel55 reraises to 1159, and is all in
MP calls 759
Button calls 259

*** TURN *** [5s Kh Qd] [Jd]
MP checks
Button bets 323
MP calls 323, and is all in

*** RIVER *** [5s Kh Qd Jd] [8h]
Button shows [Ah Kd] (a pair of Kings)
MP shows [Qh Ad] (a pair of Queens)
Fuel55 shows [5c 5h] (a set of Fives)

Button wins the side pot (T626) and Fuel55 wins the main pot (T4737). No explanation required ...

Presto is Gold (Part 14) (with further explanation)

Full Tilt $100+$9 Sit & Go, 6 players remain. I have a reasonable chip lead. Of the total T12,000 in play I have T6,000 and 2nd place (who is the victim here has T3,300 - the other 4 players ae close to the felt with less than 10BB each).

I have been blessed with quite a few good hands and players are scared to play me for the most part. I have shown a number of hands to reinforce that image. My Victim here is Team Atomic who is a very solid player. He can fold and he can play air with the best of them.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fuel55 min-raises to 120 from the button with [5c 5h] (I will have position throughout this hand)
Victim calls 60 from the BB (he would raise here if he had an ace or a pair)

*** FLOP *** [9h 3c 2s]
Victim checks (for the most part I put checking here in the"weak" column)
Fuel55 bets 180 (I bet 2/3 of the pot here looking to take it down)
Victim raises to 360 (he could have a 9 or just be testing to see if I am floating him – I thinking 30% 9, 70% tester raise - he knows I will c-bet 80% of the time and the board looks pretty safe so why not try and take it down)
Fuel55 calls 180 (can't really fold for T180 more)

So we've had an interesting flop and round of betting. Remember that this is a $109 SNG - the players here are tricky and well beyond ABC poker. There aren't any draws on this board (unless he has 54) so my assumption he has to be that he has a weak 9 (A9 would have raised preflop) or he is just trying to take the pot away from weak. In either case, I think I can resteal from him given that I have position.

*** TURN *** [9h 3c 2s] [2d]
Victim bets 300 (he has to c-bet again – now up to 50/50 on whether he has a nine)
Fuel55 calls 300

OK, the turn is a scare card. If I called him (or he called me) with bottom pair things will get dicey. Victim MUST bet here given that he checkraised the flop. Team Atomic knows that for sure. He bets 1/3 the pot. Again I take this is a sign of weakness and a flat call from me has to WORRY him a lot. I think I can safely discount a 2. If he has a 3 I have him beat but I am behind a 9. Still Team Atomic will fold a weak 9 on the river to an all in. He won't go broke with a marginal pair.

*** RIVER *** [9h 3c 2s 2d] [5d]
Victim checks
Fuel55 bets 1,200 (stick in a little value bet and pray that he has a nine)
Victim calls 1,200

Victim checks the river. I figure he has given up on the pot. Luckily for me I hit my 5 and can bet without any worry of losing the hand. I bet T1200 which is 3/4 the pot. This is larger than a value bet and falls squarely is the "steal bet" category. He can call without going broke or he can fold. He decides to call and did have a weak 9 the whole way. If a 5 had not come, I would have surely pushed, putting him all in - and he could NOT have called with Q9 for his tournament life.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5c 5h] (a full house, Fives full of Twos)
Victim mucks [9d Qs] (bingo – nice suckout on my part)
Fuel55 wins the pot (3,990) with a full house, Fives full of Twos

I pick up a nice pot by getting lucky on the river however I firmly beleive that I would have won a smaller pot by pushing any river card since he could only call for all his chips if the river was a Q or another 9.

Oh, and did I mention that 55 is gold in my hands?

Is that enough explanation Waffles?

Presto is Gold (Part 13)

Haven't made quad fives for a while ...

PokerStars $5/10NL, 9-handed

*** HOLE CARDS ***
UTG calls $10
UTG+1 calls $10
Fuel55 raises $50 to $60 from LP with [5s 5d]
CO-1 calls $60
BB raises $19 to $79 and is all-in
UTG folds
UTG+1 folds
Fuel55 calls $19
CO-1 calls $19

*** FLOP *** [Td 6h 5c]
Fuel55 checks
CO-1 checks

*** TURN *** [Td 6h 5c] [5h]
Fuel55 bets $60
CO-1 calls $60

*** RIVER *** [Td 6h 5c 5h] [9c]
Fuel55 bets $100
CO-1 folds

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55 shows [5s 5d] (four of a kind, Fives)
BB mucks hand [9d Ac]
Fuel55 collects $374