Hero: young, might be viewed as Internet kid. Just sat down, on my second orbit. "Played" one hand last orbit, limped OTB behind 4 limpers, folded flop. $485

Villain: young Asian. Sitting at $1300 in a $500 max buy-in game. Seen him limp into a few pots, but other than that, he's a complete unknown.

Fwiw this is at 9am, everybody at the game besides me stayed overnight.


UTG limps.
V limps UTG +1.
Hero raises to $30 UTg+2 AhQs.
Both limpers call.

Flop: $95
As2h4s
UTG checks.
V bets $25 (!!) into $95
Hero calls
UTG folds.

This bet is super suspicious. I've seen players do this
a) weak ace feeler bet
b) flush draw trying to see a cheap turn
c) monster, hoping hero raises.

He's a complete unknown, so I decided to flat, planning on flatting 3 streets unless he started bombing/draw cards came in.

Turn: $145
Ax
V bets $45
Hero?

I feel like now there's too much value to flat.
Also, most players would expect hero to raise OTF with AK/AQ. And he's prob not putting me on an ace because another one fell OTT.

What's hero's plan?

Hate flatting here, you're just following V's plan....
I'd Raise $140-$160, maybe even a little bit more.

I would raise the flop. Maybe this is why I donk bet sets into PFRs

I dont like the flop call, like you said - this is usually a blocker bet of some kind and yea he might be doing this with 2 pairs & sets. You got the flop you were looking for - raise.
I agree that he isnt putting you on AK/AQ now. There arent many valid options, calling this ridic less than 1/3 the pot turn bet isnt an option.
Make it 130 - 160. the rest of the hand will play itself.

I would be raising in the 150-190 range with that turn card. I would have also raised on the flop but I don't mind the flat because of the deception factor, it is nice to mix it up every now and then. That deception factor on the flop may make you some money on on the turn and river. My guess is you are up against a flush draw, his bets seem like blocker bets, IMO there is no other reason to bet so little on the turn.

Pop em on the river, ldo

I would prolly raise flop against bad players but flat against the more competent ones... Then again, most competent players don't limp/call then donk this board.

I don't mind flatting on the flop, since you can get value from the turn on a non. So, you have to raise here; make it $175, so he's getting less than 3:1. But with this strategy, you can't pay him on a river, even if he bets small.

I'm getting replies saying raise turn but no plan if he shoves or flats


Hero raises to $155 with $275 behind.
Before I raise, I think to myself "this is a raise/fold"

Villain shoves.
Hero says "**** it, my hands underrepped, I beat so many hands, I call"
Villain tables 22.

Do I just chalk this up as a cooler? Or am I stupid for not folding as planned?

I swear, if turn was a brick, I lose the bare minimum...

Raise the flop, fold to a 4-bet obvious

It is a 3-bet/fold

This is what separates a slight winner from a huge winner, learn to know when you are beat.

raise/fold flop.

This a sticky spot, not a cooler. Even though you're getting better than 2:1 on calling his shove, it's a fold. It's very rare for someone to shove here with a combo draw (they've got enough equity to flat your raise). I don't care what other players say, but in the heat of the moment, these are hard hands to lay down. The best way of becoming good at folding them is by planning. Next time, tell yourself clearly what you will do if he shoves, before you raise. Even then it's still often tough to fold, but at least you've got a better chance of making the right decision.

The thing that sucks is that by raising either the flop or the turn we are announcing our hand and allowing him to play perfectly against us. A raise on either street is going to fold out 55-99, TP with weaker kickers, and some flush draws. It's going to play perfectly into the hands of the sets. The only way that the turn changes our hand is that it makes flush draws more likely to fold to a raise and makes weaker aces more stubborn.

Is calling and calling any river really that bad? Would be sweet if he bluffs his missed flush draws. By the time we call the turn the pot is $235... maybe he river bets $100

BTW isn't he going to c/c his weak aces to get value from c-bet bluffs expecting you to shut down on the turn? How many people really donk a weak ace like this?

The three flush is completed on the river ~22% of the time assuming he has the draw 50% of the time. So of that 22% that the three flush hits say he has the flush half of the time...that means 11% of the time we end up beat by a flush on the river. When we consider this and the fact that a turn raise is likely to fold out flush draws since villian is oop on a paired board (though the paired board is not that threatening since full houses are not in our range) thus allowing the draw to play perfectly against us when it may have made the mistake of bluffing a missed river, is raising really that good of a play against the flush draw?

You really need to consider how often Villain is going to bluff river with a missed draw. So, a c-c-c line is okay if Villain is the type to donk-donk-donk triple barrel. Often Villains will just give-up on the river, once you've called two-streets, especially with a repeat A on the board. I mean, what are your chances of triple-barrel-bluffing someone off trip As?

I still believe the raise on the turn was the right play, except for the fact that Hero struggled to fold to Villain's 3bet. If Hero had flatted the turn, then he's still calling river, right? So, he effectively loses the same amount by raising turn, but wins more when Villain has a draw.