Hello guys and gals,
I'm looking for feedback on a hand I played in a $1/$2 NL live game. We were playing 4-handed at this point.
To give you some context, players were limping and calling raises preflop quite light. Probably pretty typical of a standard $1/$2 game. The effective stack of this hand was my stack, with $273.
I look down at Qs Q♥ on the BTN. CO limps, I raise to $8, and everyone calls. 4-way to the flop.
Flop ($32): 9♥ 4♦ 4♣
Checks to me, I bet $10, fold, fold, CO raises to $35, I call.
Turn ($102): K♦
CO bets $80, I call.
River ($262): 4s
CO bets enough to put me all-in (~$150)
Hero: ???
Here was my general thinking:
My standard raise size over a limp in this game is $8. There is a reason for this that I will not get into. On the flop, I make a small bet, one that I would do with many backdoor draws and smaller pockets as well. Sometimes, I will bet medium-large ($20-$25) here though, but not on this occasion. Standard call versus the raise on the flop. The villain could have lots of backdoor draws and maybe could even be raising a 9 or lower pockets for protection.
On the turn, I begin to worry a bit. This is not to say that the villain has many Ks in his range, but it seems as if they are repping a K or better with their large sizing (Kx, 4x, or 99). However, I call thinking that QQ should not be giving up at this point seeing as there are some flush draws as well as some gutshots that would potentially play in the same fashion. It is also kind of nice to block some of the KQs combos, but obviously the meaning of this is likely close to negligible since I presume most villains would open-raise preflop. On the river, this is a bit of a weird spot. A third 4 appears on the board. Some questions pop up in my mind, the main one being: Does the villain recognize that they should greatly lower their bluffing frequency on this river since their combos containing a 4 are greatly reduced?
So my question is: How should have I played this hand?
Do you think $1/$2 opposition will rarely be check-raise triple barrelling as a bluff or do you think they will with an expanded range (including offsuit hands that are relatively junky)? Do you think the villain has quite a few Kx combos or practically none?
I notice when playing live I have trouble when facing aggression across multiple streets.
My hunch is that I should call flop and turn and let it go on the river. Also, I presume many would also opt for the larger sizing on the flop which is definitely very valid. I think using both sizings to some frequency with this hand makes quite a bit of sense.
What is your opinion on the hand in general?
Thanks for any input and I look forward on hearing it!
Last edited by Garick; 09-11-2020 at 09:01 AM.
Reason: removed results