Hi all,

Just wondering what you all believe to be the most profitable line vs calling station fish in 6 max cash games.

For example - you have AK in SB, MP [40/18] opens 1.50, folds to you and you 3bet to 4.50, flop comes J 7 2.

The stats you have on this player is he folds to flop cbets 15%, turn cbets 30% and river 30%. What do you believe to be the most profitable plan of action? Do you check and give it up there and when you do hit value bet higher than you normally would or do you try and force the fish into a rare fold with the added chance of you hitting a A or K on turn/riv.

You value town this guy to death when you flop TPTK. Its really just common sense. If he simply will not fold when he has bottom pair, then what is the point in trying to push him off with air? He isn't going to fold, why make the situation -EV by throwing more money into the pot when you have nothing and are behind?

These villains are so easy to play against. Keep it simple and value bet when you have it. Check when you don't, cause they simply will not fold.

This is my usual line but I've been told by a few people, 3 barrelling is also very profitable as they're very unlikely to commit stacks with mid/low pairs. I beg to differ and although this line may be true in a few cases, it cannot be +EV. It's simply much smarter in my eyes to play let them win their 4/5 pots in a row of 7bb or so because when you do hit and take them to value town you're gaining your losses back and adding great profit.

Calling stations do exactly what their name suggests - they call too much. They call across all streets with middle pair, bottom pair, random trash, any piece of the board.

I would definitely not advise you to try and 3-barrel bluff someone who is a calling station.

Well it's important to not just label someone as a calling station then treat them exactly the same as everyone else you label a calling station. Some people like to peel wide on flops then fold on turns unimproved. Some like to see all the way to the river with any draw. And yes some are just huge stations that never fold. So identify what type of calling station you are up against and the answer should be obvious. Usually the answer is to just value bet as thin as possible but sometimes it can be profitable to 3 barrel someone who peels flops and turns wide.

totally agree with therightdeal, even if a triple barrel might work occasionally, you're wasting too much money when it doesn't, and winning only a 2 street-pot when it does work, which probably isn't often.. plus three barreling air takes cojones...
Just keep it simple and valuetown them... for example A8 on an J82 6 3 board might be 3 streets for value against extreme calling stations.

In your example, you can valuebet AK on the flop, because gutshots between the J and the 7 might call, or worse ace highs, check behind turns and rivers if you miss and barrel if you spike an A or K obviously.

Check, check, check as long as you don't hit. Maybe bluff the river if he folds 30% and you are sure you can't win AK high. If you hit, ...

Maybe we should value bet the flop if he's such a station.

The problem with 3 barreling a station is that you dont know what pair he's calling down with. Yeah, he might fold a pair of 3's, MAYBE, but he's probably never folding a jack, and could even be slowplaying. Keep in mind, he did raise preflop.