BU has 29% VPIP and 22% PFR over 250 hands (filtered for 6-5 max). Other stats are probably not very relevant over such small sample size. He check-raises the flop often and he also raises the opponents' flop cbets often in HU spots. He seems to be SD bound.

Relevant note: I once saw him check-raising A6 on KT7 board in HU single raised pot.

PokerStars - $0.50/$1 (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players

Pre Flop: (pot: 0.75 BB) Hero has K 8

fold, fold, BTN raises to 1 BB, Hero raises to 1.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 0.5 BB

Flop: (3.5 BB, 2 players) 7 7 9
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (3.5 BB, 2 players) J
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB

River: (5.5 BB, 2 players) 2
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, fold

Comments on all streets welcome.

I'd bet the flop.

i'd fold pf

Preflop is close:

http://www.pokerstrategy.com
Equity Win Tie
BTN 53.24% 51.79% 1.45% { 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q5s+, J7s+, T8s+, 97s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, A3o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T8o+, 98o }
SB 46.76% 45.31% 1.45% { K8s }

If we widen BTN's range to include hands like weaker broadways, 86o, 97o, you're closer to 50% equity, but this is offset by being OOP.

I'd bet the flop. The board doesn't hit your range but it doesn't strongly connect with BTN's either. It's not so coordinated that you're in great fear of a check-raise or have terrible equity. Your draws are weak so giving a free card is a concern.

You may not get better hands to fold on the flop, but you are going to get folds on the turn by c-betting a bunch of cards.

another i-have-a-blocker(s) fold?
the only thing i can say he can have many good hands that checked the flop. People are very often scared when somebody 3bets and makes a "weird" check on such a board

I don't think preflop is that close. One doesn't need 50% equity to 3bet profitably from SB vs. BU OR, because SB's average overall investment in these spots is less than half of the average overall pot size. Also 3bet actually doesn't need to have positive expectation, it just need to lose less than 0.25 BB per hand.

I 3bet around 30.5% hands from SB against typical 50% BU OR and as far as I can tell (from playing at PS games + from discussion with other players), I'm still on the tighter side of the spectrum

However, the wider the 3bet range is, the more important it is to have a donkcheck ranges on some flops.

Board: 797
Equity Win Tie
BU 47.71% 44.99% 2.72% { 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J4s+, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s, A2o+, K6o+, Q8o+, J8o+, T8o+, 98o, 87o }
SB 52.29% 49.57% 2.72% { 33+, A2s+, K6s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 97s+, 87s, 76s, A4o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo }

This is not enough equity to cbet the flop with 100% hands. I have to check some weak A-highs as well as some K-highs (and strong hands and some draws... here and there for balance purpose). That said, I don't want to check all K-highs.

The question then is, how to divide K-high hands between two buckets. And this is something I don't have good grasp on yet.

I don't 3 bet this wide preflop, so my range is stronger and my equity is better.

Yup, you're right. K8 blocks some bluffs from Villain's range. Some does KQ or KT. On the other hand, weak A-high hands are in a pretty good shape on the river as far as bluff blocking goes.

This is offset by bad position. And to be nitty, the high rake at micros is a reason for tightening up a bit preflop.

pre flop isn't really that close and is fine/good.

bots donkcheck the flop after 3betting pre about 5% overall. on this flop, i doubt they donkcheck much. if bots cbet 95% of the time after 3betting pre, as a human, i think it's unlikely for us to be exploited by just cbetting 100%. in fact, it's more likely we can be exploited by trying to employ a donkchecking range without really knowing what we're doing. bet the flop.

as for the other streets, had i bet the flop, i would bet the turn. had i bet the flop and turn, i would x/f fold the river.

Really? My database shows K8s to be a losing hand (more than .25 BB/100) over a rather large sample (It may be my poor postflop skills). The lowest hand I 3-bet here is K9s vs a standard BTN opener.

I would consider playing K8s if BTN was loose and/or bad postflop though.

I'd argue, that the necessity and the size of flop donkcheck ranges in HU 3BP depends mainly (but not exclusively) on RoR equities. Cepheus HUHU 3bet range has 57% equity against Cepheus HUHU OR range on this board. That's enough equity to justify cbetting with all of its range.

On the other hand, my SB 3B range has only 52.3% equity against BU OR range on this flop. I don't think that's enough to bet here with my entire range.

These are RoR equities on this flop assuming BU OR and SB 3B ranges in 6max game:

Board: 797
Equity Win Tie
BU 47.71% 44.99% 2.72% { 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J4s+, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s, A2o+, K6o+, Q8o+, J8o+, T8o+, 98o, 87o }
SB 52.29% 49.57% 2.72% { 33+, A2s+, K6s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 97s+, 87s, 76s, A4o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo }

These are RoR equities on this flop assuming Cepheus OR and 3B ranges:

Board: 977
Equity Win Tie
SB 43.05% 40.87% 2.17% { 100: KK-44, AKs, A9s, A6s-A3s, K9s+, QTs+, Q6s-Q5s, Q3s-Q2s, JTs, J8s-J7s, J3s, T8s, T5s, 87s, 76s, 74s, 65s, AQo-ATo, A4o, K9o, 99.49: AA, 99.98: K8s, K6s, K3s, Q9s-Q8s, T9s, T7s, AKo, 99.96: A2s, T4s, 95s, 75s, 73s, 53s, A9o, KQo, KTo, K6o, QTo, JTo, 99.88: 33, 94s, A8o, Q4o, J6o, T6o, 64o, 99.94: J6s, T6s, 64s, 54s, A7o, A2o, J9o, 76o, 99.95: K4s, 96s, 85s-84s, A6o, KJo, K8o, Q8o, 97o, 99.99: A7s, K7s, Q7s, 98s, A5o, A3o, 99.97: A8s, K5s, J9s, J4s, 97s, 86s, K7o, K5o, QJo, Q9o, 99.93: AJs, K4o, Q7o-Q6o, T9o, 98o, 87o, 75o, 99.91: K2s, J5s, K3o-K2o, 54o, 99.92: AQs, ATs, Q5o, J8o-J7o, T8o-T7o, 99.83: Q3o, 95o, 99.84: Q2o, 99.87: J5o, J3o, 99.86: T3s, J4o, 99.8: T5o, 74.65: T4o, 99.9: Q4s, 96o, 86o, 65o, 99.85: 43s, 85o, 5.49: 74o, 99.78: 93s, 99.77: J2s, 83s, 99.79: 63s, 42s, 99.65: T2s, 99.63: 92s, 99.67: 82s, 99.58: 72s, 99.52: 62s, 99.73: 52s, 99.66: 32s, 99.47: 22 }
BB 56.95% 54.78% 2.17% { 100: 44+, A4s+, K7s+, Q9s+, JTs, 65s, 54s, AQo, 99.95: AKo, 98.81: AJo, 92.55: ATo, 77.54: A9o, 57.52: A8o, 42.41: A7o, 20.25: A6o, 27.18: A5o, 0.85: A4o, 76.42: KQo, 61.51: KJo, 49.51: KTo, 38.25: K9o, 18.41: K8o, 24.11: K7o, 24.25: K6o, 14.58: K5o, 4.83: K4o, 42.14: QJo, 31.29: QTo, 23.31: Q9o, 15.31: Q8o, 13.39: Q7o, 22.67: Q6o, 15.28: Q5o, 1.32: Q4o, 36.66: JTo, 27.32: J9o, 22.4: J8o, 18.03: J7o, 1.88: J6o, 3.11: J5o, 39.25: T9o, 24.35: T8o, 15.26: T7o, 2.07: T6o, 96.13: J9s, 96.63: T9s, 32.52: 98o, 13.84: 97o, 3.02: 96o, 92.91: Q8s, 79.24: J8s, 84.83: T8s, 92.26: 98s, 19.86: 87o, 1.74: 86o, 63.52: Q7s, 60.54: J7s, 78.28: T7s, 83.37: 97s, 93.76: 87s, 16.95: 76o, 99.65: K6s, 64.48: Q6s, 42.46: J6s, 74.56: T6s, 81.85: 96s, 88.71: 86s, 99.06: 76s, 9.7: 65o, 84.78: K5s, 61.24: Q5s, 64.8: J5s, 27.24: T5s, 61.7: 95s, 63.08: 85s, 87.02: 75s, 3.98: 54o, 60.59: K4s, 59.43: Q4s, 53: J4s, 40.91: T4s, 1.54: 94s, 13.6: 84s, 42.1: 74s, 86.42: 64s, 37.58: A3s, 15.86: K3s, 22.92: Q3s, 23.76: J3s, 15.58: T3s, 3.05: 93s, 21.18: 63s, 67.92: 53s, 67.86: 43s, 83.43: 33, 0.19: A2s, 0.57: Q2s, 2.26: J2s, 0.83: T2s, 45.65: 22 }

that your range only has 52% equity on this flop is mostly a function of it being a little too wide IMO. still, my point stands that a human is not going to be able to exploit you cbetting 100%. don't get me wrong, i'd love to approximate a GTO strategy, which would include having a donkchecking range on this flop, just purely for fun, but when playing vs. humans, i don't think it's necessary to have a donkchecking range in this spot. there are other spots where i do think it's necessary like SB v BB when we open the SB and BB just calls, we most definitely should have a donkchecking range on some flops. but HU OOP in 3bet pots, it's ok to just cbet 100%.

its not your postflop play.

i had the same results over a large sample size....in fact....the charts in WITHG show that all 3 players were losers defending K80,K8s, and only one was a winner from the button with the same hands.

3! here is spew.

For this to be right should be means you play this way by default and could even vs an expert at your limit, correct ?

Personally i just think it is spew and it is a highly exploitable strategy.
Of course if no one cap you a$$ pf ( regardlessing be BB or the BU), than it is not a big mistake, and a pretty good game...

You obviously have to draw the line somewhere, but suggesting that K9s is good and K8s is spewy is a little bit silly IMO.

I'm taking the positional effect into account though. If I had a position in this hand, ceteris paribus, I'd 3bet about 3%-4% more hands. I'm also taking microstakes rake into account. I'd 3bet a little bit more hands, if this hand was played at $2/$4 or up (and even more if it was played at $10/$20 or up). Taken overall though, I'm pretty satisfied with my the size and the makeup of my SB 3bet ranges.

This is the range Stox advised to 3bet against 50% BU OR: 44+, A2s+, K8s+, Q9s+, JTs, A4o+, K9o+, QJo. Now, it's horribly unbalanced and high card heavy range, however it includes K8s as well as K9o. And Stox was a nit.

pre is fine and i'd just cbet flop. as played betting turn is fine, and i think c/r it is also fine

For what it's worth, Cepheus c-bets nearly everything that it 3-bet preflop on this flop, and certainly bets Kd8d. Obviously the situation is different because Cepheus plays HUHU but it's still illustrative.

It's different because cepheus plays against itself not against the happyflopraiser with ace high.

About OP's preflop 3-betting range:

This range is a bit over 30% of hands. In relation to being in the BB in a BvB, which is probably the most advantageous spot in poker, Newall recommends 3-betting 35% of hands against a 68% opening range. So 3-betting 30% of hands from bad position (SB) vs a much tighter BTN opening range seems quite questionable.

You're right. One could also add that Cepheus 3bets with 32.5% hands preflop.

However, Newall's BvB strategy for BB includes both calling and 3betting ranges. Cepheus also doesn't use 3bet/fold heuristic for his BB play. That means:

• it doesn't have to 3bet every hand it wants to continue with;
• it has to call with some strong hands to balance out his calling range.

It's my opinion, that due to these two factors, one could/should 3bet less hands in the situations, where one doesn't employ 3bet/fold heuristics compared to the situations, where one employs it.

EDIT: Also, in both aforementioned cases, there is no need to get additional players out of pot.