I'll try another one here. Questions are numbered in case they come up in random order again. Just do them in order 1-6.

.50/$1 6-max Both Hero and Villian (BB) have $100 stacks.

Reads: Villians first hand at the table, but you have played with him before. He is a respected 2+2'er who knows his way around a poker table.

Preflop: Hero is Button with T 9 . SB posts a blind of $0.50.
3 folds, Action is on Hero.

ANSWER RATINGS:












Thanks for playing. Comments welcome. Ratings are in parenthesis before each answer. Answers are rated on a scale of 0-10. With 0 being fishtastic, 10 being amoeba-like awesomeness.
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Question # 1 --

(3) Fold- It's an OK hand, plus you got the button, play it.
(0) Call $1- Use your position, raise it up.
(3) Raise to $2- Sigh.
(8) Raise to $4- Best.
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Question # 2 --

(3) Check- Probably your only shot to take the pot down, fire at it.
(6) Bet $4- Meh.
(9) Bet $6- Some like 2/3 to 3/4 pot here...
(9) Bet $8- Some like full pot.
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Question # 3 --

(3) Fold- True, you don't have pot odds, but....
(8) Call- Pot odds not too bad, and you should be able to get paid OK if you hit.
(5) Raise- This might have merit. Would like to hear discussion.
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Question # 4 --

(7) Fold- Best
(3) Call- Likely burning money.
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Question # 5 --

(0) VB- nope
(0) IB- Huh?
(10) CB- Yup
(0) SB- no sirree
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Question #6 --

(10) 3--Only the 3 non-heart 8's give you the stone-cold nuts.
(0) 12,10,9- nope, nope and nope.

Hand results: Hero folded and BB was nice enough to show A6s for two pair and he scooped the pot.

Full points, yay. Now if only I had the bankroll for the big game...

Question 2: Against a solid player I like the half-pot bet because it begs a call which only happens if villain has an ace. If villain doesn't have you beat, then he is folding anyway and this bet screams ace to him. Why build a large pot against a solid player when the flop totally misses you?

I admit I usually go 3/4 pot against most players, but if someone looks like they have a clue, I think going half-pot makes sense. Please tell me if I am leaving $$$$ on the table by doing this.

I think most solid players would see a 1/2 pot CB as just what it is, a CB. If you have AK, are you 1/2 potting this flop? 1/2 pot looks week and induces a raise. Actually, many people bet 1/2 pot when they flop a monster for this exact reason.

Now, if you substitute solid player for weak-tight player, then 1/2 pot will probably do the job.

You want your flop bet to scream ace to villian. You should be betting here what you'd bet with AK. Continuation bets should be made in amounts consistent with what you'd bet if you had TPTK or an overpair. You won't be leaving money on the table in this specific hand, but you will in future hands if you bet inconsistently between TPTK and a continuation bet. Good players will pick up that tell, make a note, and know when you bet 1/2 pot it's a continuation bet and blow you off the hand. Additionally, if you're only betting half-pot with TPTK on the flop, you're likely leaving money on the table.

Since an ace fell on a ragged flop why not try to extract value and represent a monster? Doesn't the ace on the flop change the texture of the hand and the likelihood that the button hit his card and wants to extract value? What drawing hand can villain reasonably have to warrant a 1/2 pot call?

I agree a 1/2 pot bet is weak if no A,K or Q hits the flop and will surely get raised, but who raises OOP the original raiser here with air? And if they do and OR folds, OR should find plenty of spots to take villain's stack. I am trying to focus on villain being a solid player and not the normal donk. Am I over thinking this one?

My first perfect score on only my second quiz...I'm so proud...

If I had TPTK on a ragged board (no flush or straight draws), what is wrong with a half pot bet to build up some equity so I can ramp it up on the turn?

In your scenario, this is villain's first hand and he is a solid player. How does he rate me? Using your example, he may know that I always make a 3/4 pot continuation bet here. I agree varying your betting pattern and play is correct, I just think this looks a spot where doing it might give you a better chance to induce a fold if villain exhibits 3rd or, God forbid, 4th level thinking.

...which is why I said bet $8. Virtually every flop bet I make is pot-sized.

Nothing is wrong with that. And as long as you are consistently mixing it up like this, I have no qualms with betting 1/2 pot in the OP hand. Can you do this though while 4-tabling in a game theory kind of way that doesn't exhibit any tells?

I agree. Most of my bets range between 3/4-full pot.

I would like to hear from all the people that suggested it was a good idea to call the turn bet.

0 players would fold this? SSNL is going LAG!

Getting 13:33 immediate which, at the table, I would probably round to 3:1. We have a 5:1 shot, so in order to be a +EV call, we'll need to extract 26 on the river when we hit. I think we probably can.

Eh, 12 outs=3:1 shot.

The turn call is a no-brainer since our hand is well disguised and should have good implied odds, especially in position.

Right, I forgot about the straight. Was thinking just flush.

Ya, you forgot the gutshot grunge. Hero has 12 outs for the river (flush + gutshot). Plus, flush alone is 4.1:1, not 5:1.

Sometimes I have serious brain problems.

When I 4-table, I have a table visible in each corner of my screen (wide screen monitors rule ). Once the fish and donors are busted or leave, then I leave with them. I am rarely at the same table for more than an hour or two. Second, if I peg someone as a 'playa' then I am real careful and slow down my play on that table. Third, I rotate my continuation bets between 1/2, 3/4 and full among all my tables which totally randomizes my play (of course I will break from that rule if the flop is scary or my opponent is an ATM).

I think your advice is solid, I am always looking for ways to adjust my game from ABC-like mode that is readable at the higher levels of play to a more creative, yet fundamentally sound mode that is more deceptive to the better players.

Obviously, I want my modification to be at least EV neutral across the board, but I believe if the modification adds a level of deception then it will be +EV against good players and neutral EV against every one else.

havent peeked at results, but for those who say call river... HUH? no worse hand bets for value, so that means he has to have a bluff. and he's not bluffing.((Anywhere close to that frequency)) big leak imo...

edit: Obviously i see results of poll, i ment posts (when i originally wrote this)

anyone who said call, want to go over thought process?

aj, alot of people dispute bet sizes. when you're able to deduce the best course of action, the difference between a good player and a better player is why they bet what they did.

I dont really agree with the point ratings, but it's always interesting to hear other opinions. Rather then give arbitrary numbers, perhaps give a reasoning to why a full pot is more effective then an all in which is more effective then a min bet. etc.

for NL25 thats fine, but you can play better then that.

Well, tell us why you disagree. The numbers are not arbitrary. 0=bad, 5=average, 10=awesome. You can tell the rankings of answers within a specific question by how it lines up the other answers in the question. In question #2, 3 for calling would indicate the worst choice of the 4 answers, but not completely awful as it has a ranking of 3, as oppposed to 0. 6 for half-pot, better than calling, slightly above average, but not optimal compared to the other two answers which are rated as 9's. Pretty elementary, no.

IMO, the answer to question #2 is a metagame issue. What do you feel comfortable betting here when you have a set, TPTK, or as a continuation bet. For me, I like all these bet sizes to be the same on the flop. I prefer 3/4 pot and make that the majority of the time in HU situations like this. Some prefer full-pot, and I am not sure that you can argue that one is superior to the other.

My answers are just the starting point, to generate discussion. I am no expert, probably not even qualified to do this, but I enjoy it. And, I usually change my mind (slightly, usually on a rank of a certain answer) in each of these threads as people discuss. So, why do you disagree with these ratings? Fill us/me in. I'm here to learn and grow.

I would like to hear from the hearty souls who said raise the turn. I wonder if there is something there, or if that is a pipe dream. It folds some hands that beat us, sure, but is that a good tradeoff for the times he calls us, and we miss on the river?