Moved 1/2 tables with $700 stack.. no reads..


Hand 1: Very first orbit, I pick up JJ in CO.... 3 limps, I raise to $20, BTN calls, UTG limper shoves AI for $125 (young white guy)... folds to me, I decided to call.. Q hi board and he scoops with KK... bad call pre?

Hand 2: Very next hand, 3 limps, I make a tilt-raise with 75 in HJ.. get 2 calls (LJ and BTN)... $200 effective

flop comes 743r (1 ).. I cbet $35 into $60, both call...
turn 8d... I bet $55 into $175, both call again...
river 8c... checks through

btn shows AKo and LJ mucks saying he missed... wtf? I won but did I play this right?

Hand 1. Bad call preflop with no reads.

Hand 2. OK, we tilted raised, bad. Hit top pair, good. Bet more OTT, especially with the second diamond. Bomb the river, make it look bluffy.

Hand 1....oldest trick in the book. I fold unless Ive seen him do this garbage hands. He will have AA/KK 95% of the time

Hand 2....I raise 75s after limpers all the time so I like it. Flop bet is good. Betting $55 on the turn makes no sense to me. Both are going to call that bet. You need to check behind and hope to hit one of your outs or bet a lot more.

It was a blocker bet because I didn't want to face a gigantic bet from the fish OTB. Wanted to set my price to hit the FD instead of facing a big bet from 99 when checked to.

That has some merit I guess, but I still dont love it. $55 isnt all that great a price for you to draw anyway. If you bet $110+ he should be folding 99. If hes a fish he probably wont though, so I would just check and see what happens.

I agree, but wouldn't him shoving his AK when checked to lead us into making a disastrous fold on the turn? I just had that vibe that he was shoving if I checked, lol.

That would suck, but if hes that reckless, you will find plenty of spots to bust him later by checking a big hand to him.

Hand 1: $20 seems like a pretty large raise over 3 limpers without any reads on the table, but if that's a standard size in this room or on this particular table, w/e. When the UTG player limp/shoves, his range is probably something like QQ+ and AK. You need about 38% equity against his range to call the shove, and you have ~36% against that range, so this is actually close, but probably a fold the first time as all AK combos may not be in his range.

Hand 2: PF raise depends on reads on the limpers, but I don't hate a raise (or an overlimp) with this hand. Flop c-bet is good as you're ahead of their ranges. Definitely betting turn, as we can still be good here and have plenty of equity when behind, but hate your small sizing. Just go ~$100 or so, which can potentially fold out better 7x hands. River check is good as you can't get any more value from worse and are unlikely to get better to fold.

Hand 1: Definite fold pre. UTG l/rr usually means AA.

Hand 2: I think you played well post flop. I wouldn't raise 3 limps with a suited one-gapper for 100BB.

Hand 1 feels like a fold unless you've developed a read on UTG that he likes to squeeze here....

Hand 2 - obv loose raise... making a play like that can work now and then and should be part of your arsenal - but doing it after a beat just looks tilty.
As played, maybe a slightly larger bet on flop... but def bet.
On turn .. either shut it down - or make a meaningful bet. I'd have liked 125 - but bit sure of stack sizes at this point

Hand 1 - Is probably not a huge mistake with 50bb - I can't really fault you for calling - but a limp re raise is pretty face up usually always JJ+

Hand 2 I like if table isn't shallow. 7d5d is good late position if you are deep. I just don't like your turn bet. It's too small and accomplishs nothing. I make this same mistake in game all the time, where i don't bet size correctly. It's one of my leaks.

Hand 1: easy fold pre, at 1/2 this is almost always AA/KK.
Hand 2: Don't really like your open considering that you aren't playing super deep. Flop cbet is fine, turn bet is bad, all you're doing is pricing in opponents to call and bloating the pot, I like checking the turn here instead.

Why should I bet so big on turn and commit myself with a stupid hand? I was thinking of bet/folding tbh.

If you had the straight already would you bet the same amount on the turn?

My point being you should try to make the same size raises whether you have the nuts or a speculative hand. In this situation there is a good chance you are good and you still have outs that can improve your hand.

That being said I usually bet less than most people do because I am trying to get people to put money in when they are behind and am not concerned as much with getting drawn out on. I usually would bet 1/2 the pot to 2/3 the pot depending on my opponents and how light they call. Betting 2/3 against opponents that I know will call me lighter.

EDIT: If you plan is to bet fold your bet is actually inciting raises IMO. Especially with you raising pre flop someone could think that flop and turn missed your range and their 1 pair is good. Just something to keep in mind. If I pick up that someone bets less when they are not as strong I will take advantage of it. Of course the average 1/2 player probably isn't paying as much attention.

Why bother about balance at 1/2?

You picked up equity OTT. Yes, you have a weak hand, but you picked up equity-when-called. Good place to double barrel semi-bluff. When teh river pairs, I would assume you have the best hand, and bomb the river. You are unlikely to see an 8.

you have a ton of fold equity to get better hands to fold, and if you are called you have a lot of cards to give you the winning hand. you might fold out 99-JJ and even if called you have around 30% equity

any 5 7 diamond or 6

Depending on the table you might not need to. I think people underestimate the amount of information even a bad player pays attention to. Just because someone isn't good at poker doesn't mean they are stupid.

I play with a lot of regulars so I'm usually playing with familiar faces. Again, not great poker players but they notice if someone is playing tight, loose, aggressive etc etc.

If i'm at a table that does not require balancing I adjust, but a lot of my tables do, especially when I'm playing 2/5 or 5/10.