Hi all,

Been a while since I've posted on here, I've had a long break from Poker and I'm now back playing. Thought I'd start off at the micro's and try to build my bankroll, so I'm aiming to beat 2nl.

The below hand occurred the other day and I wanted to have some input. The villains stats were 37/8/10 over 137 hands.

I know this was played badly.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1.94)
Hero (Button) ($5)
SB ($1.98)
BB ($5.46)
UTG ($3.29)
MP ($4.82)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, J
1 fold, MP bets $0.08, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.18, 2 folds, MP calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.39) J, 2, 6 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $0.10, MP raises to $0.20, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.79) Q (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $0.40, MP calls $0.40

River: ($1.59) 10 (2 players)
MP bets $4.04 (All-In), Hero?

I believe the areas I have went wrong are as follows:

1) Maybe raise more pre-flop? If so, how much should I have re-raised?
2) My flop play haunts me. Being checked raised at 2nl when I've flopped top set and not re-raising more?! I know this is bad, but I just want clarification. What amount you would re-raise to here, would you shove?
3) His shove on the river is strange, and I just had an overwhelming feeling that he's ahead of me here. Do you call or fold? What are the reasons, considering the line I've taken?

Any feedback would be much appreciated. As I said, I know this wasn't played well but it's one on those hands I keep thinking of and some advice would be great.

Thanks.

Instacall with a set of jacks there. Here are a few things you did wrong.
1. Raise more preflop.
2. Bet much more on the flop. You went 25% of pot? Never do this.
3. I am okay with just calling his minraise since you flopped the nuts, but again you shouln't have been in this situation
4. Would have bet a little more than .40 since my opponent just minraised me.
5. instacall

Villain's stats tell the story. It may only be 137 hands but you have a pretty good idea of what his range is. 88+,ATs+,KTs+,QJs,AJo+ according to stove. If you're going to 3bet a calling station, you need to 3bet bigger and ONLY for value. 3-4x.

Flop was really, really bad. Again, calling stations love to call. You have a monster hand on a dream board. You need to get as much money in the pot as possible. 3/4 to full pot bet here. If he raises that, jam all your chips into the middle while doing this in front of your computer.

The flop is where you owned yourself. I can see what you tried to do here. You wanted to trap him thinking if you bet big he was going to fold. This is FPS. At 2nl verses someone who doesn't like to fold, you need to play your hands straight up.

Think about 2nl this way: Play what you have. Nobody is folding as such low stakes. So if you hit your flop, bet like you hit it. If you didn't, don't get fancy with your cbets. Playing fit or fold at this level is a great strategy.

I've been out of poker for a little while, but I'm bored at work so here goes nothing.

Villains raising range is fairly tight. But JJ still plays well against top 8%. I would raise and raise more. If you raise to ~0.30 and he calls. Pot will be .63 making effective SPR ~ 7. Your raise made effective SPR ~12. Single pair/Overpair hands are easier to play with a lower SPR.

This will also make him set-mining underpairs less valuable.

Betting this small is interesting. Perhaps you were trying to let AQ/AK think he can draw profitably to toppair. You can still accomplish this with a 1/2 psb I think (~.20). After you add implied odds and the chance he thinks he's good, 1/2 psb is enough to entice a draw imo.

Now that he min-raised you, this should be gold. What is he min-raising you here with? The board is very dry and it should be very polarized. He's raising you here with a set, overpair, or no pair hands (bluffing). I suppose he could be min-raising with top pair here, for value, because your bet was so small. AJ KJ QJ JT. If he's bluffing, will he likely bluff again on further streets? Not usually likely at 2nl. Therefore, raise, because most 2NLs can't get away from overpairs, not to mention 66. And if he's bluffing, you're not losing (much) value from him folding anyway. You might fold out JT/QJ by raising but a villain with AF=10 will not likely call 2 more streets with TPWK, so again, not much value lost.
His check on the river is strange to me. With previous action, it doesn't make much sense. AK might do this after attempting to bluff the flop and now he sees his drawing hand got much better. XdZd might do this after bluffing the flop and landing a draw on the river. In both cases, I would probably lead the turn though, if I were him.

Or, maybe he's got QQ and he doesn't want to scare you off now. KQ/AQ/QT/(QJ) paired up giving him show down value. AA/KK might have got scared with two likely set candidates for you (you probably don't 3bet often) - but that would imply he notices your play and considers your ranges versus OMGAces/Kings.

Top pair will call a decent bet. QJ is very statistically unlikely. There are several more ways to make AK/diamonds than QQ, and I think the line makes more sense for a drawing hand, so I'd definitely be betting here and at a higher %, ~.60 - .~.65 to force the draws out. He's folding a draw to a big enough bet with an AF of 10.

Unless obvious reasons/signs of tilt, shove on the river here with given action means the villain is almost certainly confident. Highly doubt he thinks he's bluffing here.


QJ QT, JT can certainly take this line here. Highly doubt AQ/KQ. I highly doubt AA/KK does this line after turn line. QQ and AK can definitely do this. With the SPR the way it is, it is certainly a tough decision.

With my assessment:
3 QJs, 9 QTs, 3 JTs vs 16 AKs, 3 QQs
(s for plural, not suited)
odds to win: 15:19 ------44.1%
Pot odds: 4.04:5.63---41.8%

My estimated EV: call: +$2

He has an AF of 10, he does not like to call.

He doesn't like to fold either, which is the point

Sure he can. The only thing we know from AF is his calling frequency.

High AF means he's aggressive, whether LAG or TAG.

(Tag - Tight aggressive)
He FOLDS a lot and bets/raises when he is not folding. Rarely calling.

Lag - Loose aggressive)
He Bets/Raises/CheckRaises often and folds when he's not. Rarely calling.

I fully understand what you're saying and agree. But, as someone who escaped 2nl a couple months before BF, AF is something I didn't take a ton of stock in. VPIP/PFR/limp-call/fold to cbet/WtSD will keep people from over-thinking 2nl.

He can have 22/66 as well. I think this could be a massive part of his range for hands that line.

I fist pump call the river though.

Raise more preflop, bet more on flop (0.25-0.30).

As played when he 3bets on flop, 4bet to about 0.60-0.70/try get it in. Villian seen you 3bet him preflop and then min-check raised you on flop, i think we can assume he is committing so try get it in with top set.

On turn bet some more to setup a bigger bet on river.

Unless you've seen this guy take very weird lines, which could justify A-K or QQ here then call river.

I don't particularly mind flatting his raise on the flop, as it disguises the strength of your hand and might mean villain spazzes on turn, but you basically want to get all in on the turn, so only betting half pot there is a mistake. The turn adds some draws and an overcard, so you should charge them the maximum.

Raise pre to at least 3x 24BB. On the flop, bet near pot, if he raises, shove. Expect to see AA, KK, lower pairs, maybe lower sets, AJ, AJs maybe more..

Top set on a dry board is one of the few situations where I slowplay a little. I usually put in a small bet, but betting full pot just doesn't get value, as there are so few hands that can call. If you want to win more money, you usually have to let villain catch up a bit. With top set of jacks, I'm praying the turn will be an overcard that gives villain a pair, as he's not usually gonna stack off with anything less.

What do you guys who like the pre-flop 3bet do when villain 4-bets?

I would most likely have flatted pre depending on his fold to 3-bet. If I do raise I do make it bigger though, something like 0.24.

On the flop you absolutely need to bet bigger. Your aim is to get all the money in the middle or as much as possible by the river. To do that you need to start building a pot. Had you made a decent sized flop-bet I don't mind flatting.

Turn you need to bet bigger.

River is a bit ugly but it is a snap call if you think he can play AA/KK this way. I wouldn't be too surprised to see QQ here a decent amount of the time though but simple combinatorics would make you a favourite against any reasonable hand range.

we did 3 bet, he called. If he had 4bet, I would grudgingly fold.

So you are perfectly fine with turning JJ into a bluff preflop against a fishy villain 250 bb deep? Doesn't seem like optimal play to me.

Surely there are several hands he opens with and calls. His stats do indicate he likes to see a flop. The 3bet is for value.

Getting it in with a flopped set is always fine. Doesn't always turn out well tho...


It was my first hand at the table with no history with villain. My excuse is that I wasn't too afraid of an overset (it happens, but hey) or the unlikely made straight (86? ofc not!) - rather thought he had a big overpair. Oh well it's only a buyin, and my situation wasn't going to change if I just called and saw more cards.

Thank you for the responses, I've read through them all in detail and they are all helpful. Rather than knowing I've played this poorly and not sure why, I think I have a better understanding on the reasons this was wrong...

This is something I am focusing on, having read in to fat value and playing the micro's etc.

Great detailed post, thank you for taking the time to respond. In this instance, what would you bet after he has check/minraised?

At the micro's, would you say this is a greater sign of strength than betting?

Overthinking is something I am guilty of at this level for sure! The sooner I move up the better .

vs a 4bet it has to be a snap fold. JJ vs 8% is already pretty thin. If he 4bets as wide as 5% you're flipping.

Even if he calls with everything you are only just slightly better than flipping with JJ against his range.

Also, you noted the 10 AF yourself. This guy is most likely not going to call much postflop so you are essentially turning JJ into a bluff here as you will be behind if a lot of money goes in postflop.

Just take the flop with JJ. I'm not saying that it is -EV to 3-bet, I think it is +EV. But I think it is more +EV to flat.

Sick beat. No way you could put him on 86 there.
Horrible way to start the session. Did you recover? (I wouldn't).

I just shrugged and smiled, knowing I'd do exactly the same again - and next time they'd have AA or KK that they couldn't give up.

Yes, I recovered and ended that table up +1.5 buy-ins

"37/8/10 over 137 hands"

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