First hand at the table. 9 handed. Effective stacks $300.

I come in at the cutoff.

1 call from MP.

JhJs - I raise to $10. Both blinds call.

Flop ($40)

Jc6h7h

Check, Check, Check, hero bets $25, Blinds fold, MP calls.

Turn ($90)

4s

Check, Hero bets $60, call

river ($210)

2h

MP bets $30......... Hero?

$30???? We have a couple hundred behind.

Villain is 45ish overweight Asian with a cubs hat. Lol at reads....

Well, you're not folding top set getting 8:1. His range is polarized to flushes or air. Call and see what he has. You know he's no good, $30 is cheap to find out how he is bad.

If you see an absurdly small bet, and you're not sure what to make of it, just treat it as a check.

So you can imagine there's $270 in the pot and V checked to you with 170 behind. I'd jam.

just all-in him

Id probably call, but I'm a nit. I feel like he either has a flush/straight or will fold to further aggression. Thinking about it more a click back is kinda sexy.

In a live game, opening to 3.3x after 1 limper (with a hand like JJ) is criminal - it's a pot sweetener that the whole table will usually call. I'd go a least 5x to $15 or even $18. That should get us heads up instead of the calling train that we've created here.

As played, 4-ways to a wet flop with position and top set, I'm bombing it here 80-100% full pot. The case J isn't folding to a single bet. Flush draws are not folding (some strong flush drawsmight c/r us). Open enders 54 and 89 are not folding. Combo draws are not folding and might c/r us. Two pairs and sets will probably c/r if they haven't already donked out. 88-TT are probably peeling one street. If anyone was getting tricky with an overpair, they're also not going anywhere. There's too many hands to get fat value from.

If we bet 35 on the flop and V calls, we commit and bomb it again on the turn unless a T, 3, or heart comes (how fishy would V have to be to limp/call pre and then call a PSB with a gutshot?) for $80 into a pot of $110, which sets up an easy shove on the river ($175 into $270). If a bad card comes and V checks, we check behind and hope to see a cheap river for a chance to pair the board. If a bad card comes and V bets, it becomes a math decision combined with a soul read (is V bluffing? Do we have odds to see a river?)

Even if we allow V to play perfectly with all his draws (folding the river when he misses and stacking us when he hits), we should still be printing money because we've denied him direct odds and implied odds on each street.

As played to the river, I'm probably just calling here. I think that we have showdown value and that a raise will only get called by hands that beat us.

What's the point of our preflop raise? A $10 raise at my table will always generate a multiway pot, is that what we were going for? I raise an amount that has a hope of thinning the field, and preferably an amount where I can commit my stacks postflop if I flop an overpair ($30, which admittedly might be too much after just one limp).

SPR is about ~7 on the flop. We can play for stacks by the river with 3/4 PSBs. But the board is drawy and people never fold the flop on a draw. So I would bet at least a PSB on the flop, maybe even $50. We are losing *so* much value with anything less, especially when we know we have the best hand.

Again I bet larger on the turn, mainly at this point so I can more comfortably play for stacks on the river. Our 2/3 PSB on the turn leaves a full PSB for the river (way too much). I would bet upwards of a PSB.

Getting these odds, I probably sigh call on the river as it could be a blocking bet on a scare card with something like AJ.

Geverybetsizeputinthispotwasfairlywack,imoG

Wow, so at this level the traditional bet sizing goes out the window? 5x peflop with a limped and more with two? PS bet with trips or better on a damp flop? Just wait and jam? my game has been moving into the opposite thought. I find myself raising and three betting more preflop. I have probably moved to too aggressive a stance preflop especially in position. I am in more hands as a result and that means more marginal spots. If wait and jam is optimal at this level, I need to switch up my game.

Nobody can tell you what's optimal not knowing the exact conditions of your game. However you should consider other options, even if they seem absurd, and not stick to what's traditional without reason.

You might think open raising 6x or 7x is crazy and easily exploitable, but maybe if you try it people still call with the same range.

I don't know what the "traditional" bet size is, but $10 in a 2/3 game with one limper is mighty small. I'd only slightly quibble with your postflop bets, but think preflop should be larger for sure.

As others have said, it really is game dependent. The 1/3 NL tables I play at are extremely loose, where I can often open to 10x and get multiway action; yours may differ. I noticed in your hand you raised to $10 (in my game, this is known as a "limp") after one limper, the 2 blinds called, and the limper (who is closing the action)... folded; this sorta stuff doesn't happen in my 1/3 universe, so yours looks like it may differ.

Your game would *really* have to differ in people's calling frequencies on the flop differ between a 2/3 PSB and a PSB (so much so that it would be unlike any 1/3 NL game I ever sat in, but hey, not saying there's not that chance).

GknowyourgameG

At a normal 1/3 game, I'm opening 12, and so with one limper $15, but obv table dependent.

The challenge with a Jam, is anything worse calling, perhaps 6-7 or a lower set I guess, but I feel we might see a raise from one of these earlier.

I probably just call. Click it back is interesting, but at these stack sizes, can we fold to a jam?

As far as sizing goes, I think flop sizing is fine but you could probably go a bit larger and get called by the same range

On turn I would go much larger. You block top pair so their most likely holdings are flush/straight draws and that specific turn probably gave them additional equity (hands like 45, etc)

River is interesting. If we had middle set or bottom set I would for sure minraise/fold here since that sissy bet screams top pair to me. Here we block top pair so I'm not sure what he has that's both (a) betting so tiny and (b) calling our raise (that we beat). We even have the Jh too. Given all of that, I think just calling is fine but in general I would raise/fold. I think we are usually ahead but don't think he's calling with worse

Good post imo esp. thoughts about the turn sizing.