Let's play a fun game and practice reading ranges a bit. This is a hand I played yesterday and thought it was a good hand to get thinking on.

Info:

Hero: 15/13 at this time. SB would either have Hero between 12/11 and 18/15 in his DB...I'm not sure which though. No history with SB that I am aware of

SB: 10/8 over 11K hands. Winning player, seems to be straight forward. Fold2CB of 61% (not that it really makes a huge difference in the MW pot)

BB: 42/7 over 80 hands. Terrible player, calling station tendencies, 1/2 stacker


Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

CO: $61.70
BTN: $52.65
SB: $64.35
BB: $27.35
UTG: $147.70
Hero (UTG+1): $50.00
UTG+2: $98.75
MP1: $60.45
MP2: $24.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with :X: :X:
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.50, 5 folds, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1

Flop: ($4.50) 6 4 6 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2.85, SB calls $2.85, BB folds

Turn: ($10.20) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $6.50, Hero raises to $17.35


So what logical range are we putting Hero on?

And what logical range are we putting SB on?

Furst


Hero: 66+,AKs,AKo,AQs core range. Less likely/balance: QKs, lower suited connectors, 22-55

SB: 22-QQ predominantly, some AK (probably mix of 3bet and call), some suited connectors.

3bet % of SB???

1%. hes not going to step out of line on a 3b here, so i agree on your flatcall range

Wow, 3betting nit!

Geeze, he might even get tricksy and lol tarp with KK.

Edit: Actually, just double checked stove. AA,KK is 0.9 so his 3 bet range is almost exactly defined lol. Funny.

i agree on pf...seems you have that hammered down...now what? =)

umm havent played 50nl but let me try so u guys can comment/flame my thought process :P .... I would say hero's on a solid pair(obv. my first thought for that kinda stats to be raising utg is aa/kk but not committing to that read yet) since 15/13 is pretty narrow and hero raised utg. Also the re-raise on the turn is pretty strong.

The turn donk by SB is kinda funky to me. I think at least AFq would've helped here or any other reads. it kinda throws me off. Why donk on this super dry flop? does hero double barrel here alot or shuts down on turn?

Let me give 2 scenarios:


#1: SB is somewhere around the 1010-JJ area, he sees a safe card and doesnt really want to face a 2nd barrel which he thinks might come from a wide range and put him in a tricky spot so he decides to put a block bet out there and see where he is. Hero's reriase is always a KK+/99.

edit : now that I've seen that he has 1% 3bet percentage I'd add more pairs to his range here up to QQ.

#2: A polarized version. hero is on aa/kk, SB hit his 99 or maybe 44 on the flop. And doesnt want to give hero a chance at pot control and wants to get more value right here right now.


How's my line of thought?

It's kinda weird doing it without knowing at least one of the player's hands, but I gave it a shot, dont flame I'm a learning player at the micros :P

Hero: JJ+, 66, 99

SB: 56, 67, 68, A6s, 33, 44, 55, 66 (quads ftw), 77, 88, 99, TT.

you are def in the right neighborhood. also, AFq nor AF will give you a good grasp on his turn donk range as this is pretty rare for this player type.

i think you are pretty much dead on with your turn donk analysis. now just comes the weight the ranges thing and choose the optimal line.

Q: what does he do with 88 and does it change from JJ?

Q2: which scenario do you feel is more likely?

why does he donk 33?

to fold AA? to fold AK? to "eliminate" tough decisions?

(curious as to why you think he donks it)

Yeah, agree with this, although 56s and 67s are actually in Hero's range, although severely discounted, believe it or not. You have to read his blog to know that lol.

I think Hero's range has more made hand and hands with equity shares than stone cold bluffs. AKhh, AQhh and KQhh are in there.

Villain is sometimes donking for value and sometimes donking for lol information.

He is liekly to b/f 88. JJ he may be tempted to call, but he prob should fold that too lol.

More likely that he has a PP that missed the board than 67s, 56s, 44 or 99 due to combos.

umm.. Let me start with Q2 first : I think scenario #1 is the more likely one, I went with my instincts here, scenaro #2 was a safe backup incase my guess is way off since im not playing 50nl :P I was glad to hear u say my analysis was good, ty.

Q1: umm.. if we're speaking about the turn I think that if go back to the assumption that he believes hero would bet a wide range here and he wants to beat the hero to the pot and protect his hand from a 2nd barrel and believes his hand might be good then I guess JJ is more like to c/r which would give him more equity against hero's range and more information (which is what he's seeking badly here) , and he might be more leaning to stack off with JJ rather than 88. so I'm leaning more towards interpreting this bet a bit weakish towards 88.


This post has just got super interesting for me

edit : I didn't take into consideration whether hero has a bluffing range in this spot. If hero reads this like me, so yeah he might shove here with AhQh, AhKh maybe even KhQh but somewhy that doesnt sound likely to me, cant really name why.

prefl SB calls low-midhigh PPs and some broadways/suited broadways depending on his call open. on the flop his line looks like 77-JJ, where he doesn`t wanna blow the pot C/Cs and them leads out so you don`t checkb draws/overs on the relative blank. he probably never plays pure overs/any drawy like that (draw he doesn`t play this way simply cose he 10/8 doesn`t have enough draws to connect with that flop to start with, there are also not many 6x in his range at all). Mb once in a blue moon he would play a boat in a sort of an unortodox way like here.
I think Hero has a veery wide OR BU range with nitty SB and fishy BB (~60-70%), I don`t think Hero cbets his entiry range vs 2 plays on a drawheavy, yep paired flop (like def not cbeting sm kile Ks7s or smth) 6x or boat, mmmbbb high PP makes sense once we get to the turn raise. obv BB here makes no sense since he flats 80% pre and just plays fit or fold for the most part

Grunch

Hero: {AhKh, 66, 99, QQ+}
SB: {56, 44, 66, 99 - QQ}

IMO

EDIT: balls, read the HH wrong. didn't realise villain donks turn

ninja edited x9

**Grunch**

Hero's range post flop: 44,66,77+. I doubt you would cbet multiway here with a calling station in the hand.
I think the SB's range does matter in the MW pot. I doubt you would be cbetting here without a made hand since his range is mostly comprised of PP's, maybe some SC's but i would say these are less likely.

With the SB leading the turn, if your read is correct and he doesnt get out of line i would say he either flopped a set, or just turned a set of 99's. I dont think he ever does this with a 6, i think he would raise the flop.

Interesting you re pop the turn. I dont see you doing this with an overpair since he is playing straight forward so im assuming you feel you have the best hand here. Im assuming you would just flat with most overpairs to keep him in the hand, and this is a non threating board.