There's this one reg in particular that really infuriates me... he likes to limp/call a very wide range of hands preflop, "donk pot" the turn a lot and will usually follow it with a small river bet. Let me give you a common example of a typical hand played against him:

Hero BTN ($1000) - mostly TAG image, but sometimes does LAGGY stuff like squeezing, 3betting light, barreling draws, etc.

Villain MP ($1000) - annoying reg with a very weird style of play that includes a lot of limp/calling and a lot of donk betting

Hero has XX (I want to know how I should play with my entire range, so I'm keeping my cards a secret).

Villain limps $3 in MP
Hero raises to $18 on BTN with XX
Villain calls $15

NOTE: Villain's limp/calling range is very wide and can include anything from 54s to Q8s to 22 to AQo.

Flop ($36) is Qd 9h 7d

Villain checks
Hero bets $30
Villain calls $30

NOTE: Villain will be x/calling this flop with all pairs and all draws (including gutshots and backdoor flush draws). He'll also be x/calling with all sets and 2 pair combos (he never x/raises the flop).

Turn ($90) is 2h
(Board is Qd 9h 7d 2h)

Villain bets $90
Hero calls $90 (what range of hands should be folding here? What range should be calling? And what range should be raising?)

NOTE: Villain will be "donk potting" his entire range here, which includes all pairs and all draws (gutshots, open enders and flush draws). He'll also be doing this with sets and 2 pair combos.

River ($264) is 6h
(Board is Qd 9h 7d 2h 6h)

Villain bets $50

NOTE: Villain will be betting small with his entire range, which includes busted draws, one pair hands, 2pairs, sets and completed draws. He could have anything as weak as JTdd here (busted draws) or anything as strong as a flush.
If we raise the river, we should expect villain to react in the following way:
- He will generally fold top pair or worse, but will sometimes call
- He will generally call with 2 pairs or a set, but will sometimes fold
- He will generally call with a made straight, but will sometimes reraise
- He will always reraise a made flush
- He will generally fold a busted draw, but will sometimes reraise (as a bluff)

Given everything we know about villain, what range should be calling the river? What range should be folding? What range should be raise/folding? And what range should be raise/calling?

Probably calling with all second pair or better.

Hard to say what to raise with since your assumption almost certainly have to be wrong.
There's just about no way that he will fold the river sometimes with 2p, but call that same river with top pair.
But likely raising with all flushes and straights.

Construct ranges for villain on every street and this becomes a very, very simple analysis.

The ranges you've given us are frankly straight up way off or his donk bet frequency is not as you say because he's literally lighting a ton of money on fire with that playstyle as well as minimizing his equity on made hands.

What about the turn? Are we supposed to fold out all our draws OTT, since we're not getting the correct implied odds (or are we?)?

I'm not going to even try work anything out with ranges as absurd as you're implying. You could probably call him down with ace high if your ranges are correct (they aren't). It would probably be better to even to call him down with ace high and no draw than to call down a draw that isn't a combo draw if they were.

If you're going to ever bother ranging him properly then also construct one for his action on the river if it bricks. The river is going to usually brick and he's then going to have a grossly weak range while out of position, and play on that outcome heavily influences optimal turn play.

Knowing how he responds to a turn raise is probably also worth considering although I doubt I'd ever raise turn when V has such a weak range and I have a strong one that is primarily not good enough to call a 3b.

OP - I bet you'd get better responses if you set out a range for yourself and what you'd do on each street, and then asked people what they think, or gave a couple of hands for yourself. Trying to set out your range here is a lot of work to ask someone else to do for you.

One thing to think about: why not c bet smaller with your weaker holdings to control the pot size

If this V is sort of mindless you can have a bet sizing tell vs them

This immediately came to mind for me as well. I would check back the flop with hands we want to pot control with since this guy will often donk turn/river.

GcluelesspotcontrolnoobG

Because it makes no sense to Cbet small on a wet flop like Q97dds. We should be Cbetting large on wet flops and small on dry flops.

And why is everyone saying my range is incorrect? You don't believe me that villain donks draws OTT?

Replying without reading the other replies.
First off, just raise bigger preflop to make his game more costly out of position. As played:

Call the river with AQ, KQ.
Fold JTdd, Axd, T9d, 86d
Raise T8d, A7h, AQh, QQ, 99, 77

Yeah, I would probably check behind or c-bet small on the flop with most of my range, and then go into call-down mode on the turn and river with a lot of my medium-strength hands with showdown value. You could raise the turn with a polarized range and see how he reacts. If his range is really as weak as you say it should be a profitable bluff spot. I would expect him to fold too much (because his range is so weak he doesn't have much of a choice), but if he unexpectedly calls a lot with a weak range, then start weighting your raises more toward value hands and strong draws.

Disclaimer: As of late I've barely been breaking even after tips and rake, so I may have no clue.

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The part of your range that doesn't have equity should be checking that kind of wet board IMO. Also, there's no use of cbetting if you have very little fold equity and in this spot, since the board is wet and he's ll continue with everything that's connected., you don't.

If you do c-bet and he donks turn with what is as you say a weak range, I would consider raising with the weakest part of my range.

As far as the river is concerned, if your holding is stronger than his range, then raise him. That's the easiest part I think.

I don't doubt villain is donking draws. The problem is the super wide preflop range, super loose flop calling range and donking nearly 100% on turn type of play you are suggesting is trivial to beat. If he was doing that he would have to have air more often then not and simply calling turn/river with any pair unless you had a monster you wanted to raise with would win and villain would be out of money very quickly.

It is more likely villain is advertising when he plays garbage and hits or bluffs successfully but is quiet when he folds his garbage. That leaves the impression that he is playing far more garbage then he is. Against an opponent who is actually good at this you may have to start counting how many hands he plays and how many he folds preflop and on flop to get a handle on his real range.

If V isn't calling with ace high, such as Ac4c, or no made hand/any draw, like 6c4c, or 5c4c he is still calling with ~90% of his range on the flop.

Since the bulk of his holdings will be weak or draws, I'd bet 75% of the pot OTF with middle pair or better, and check with my stronger draws, like KdJd & KhJh even though he NEVER c/r, because we can expect him to donk the turn with his whole range.
No reason to give him an chance to fold OTF.

OTT, he is donking with ~90% of his holdings. I have him on 22+; A2s+; AQo; K9s+; KQo; Q8s+; 54s+

I don't show him holding 1 gap suited connectors like T8s or less pre. J9s is the lowest 1 gap SC.

OTT, I raise ALL of my sets/T2P [but you wouldn't have raised with Q9s?] to an amount that I think he'll call with the bulk of his draws that also gives him a poor price for his best draws.

I am calling with AQ/KQ/JT. He only has my AQ/KQ beat ~14.5% of the time here. He is also betting two 65s draws that don't have a flush draw with it.

He has top pair ~19% of the time & that would be nice if his is KQ vs. our AQ.

The River decision requires too much math for me to consider delving into. Your "sometimes calls etc." statements are too general. You can make your own assumptions.

I am always calling with a pair of 9s.

Very detailed analysis... can I ask what you'd do OTT with your draws when you face that pot-sized donk bet?

In the actual hand, hero had ATdd. I wasn't sure if I should be folding, calling or raising the turn. It really annoyed me that he donked into me for such a large sizing when I wanted to barrel myself. I also wasn't sure what to do OTR facing that 20% pot bet... should I just fold, should I hero call with Ace high, or should I bluff raise to something like $300?

If H has AdTd, I really dislike the flop bet if V is really calling with any pair and any draw, including GS and BDFD. V's calling with almost his whole range then. I check back flop, which allows you to keep your IOs high enough to call the turn bet.

As played, assuming that hitting an ace is often good and a T is sometimes good, you're about 3:1 against hitting on river, and 4:1 against hitting a flush. He's offering you 2:1 so you need to make up one bet when called. You may not be comfortable making that bet if you hit an ace, and definitely not if you hit a T, so it's pretty close given the RIO. I call given the possibility that you're still good against this V with just ace-high.

As played, I probably hero call river for $50 if he can really play all draws like this.

Basically, this V's betting patterns mean that you don't have a lot of FE, so I'd play draws more passively and just try to bink and then shovel money into the pot.

I'm not so sure my analysis, even though you say it's 'detailed', is accurate.
For one, I'm not so sure that checking those good draws you have OTF is a good play. I thought is was, since it allows V to donk with nothing OTT & OTR.

This is what you said about the River:
- He will generally fold top pair or worse, but will sometimes call
- He will generally call with 2 pairs or a set, but will sometimes fold
- He will generally call with a made straight, but will sometimes reraise
- He will always reraise a made flush
- He will generally fold a busted draw, but will sometimes reraise (as a bluff)

I find it extremely hard to wrap my head around the fact that there is a poker payer who will play so Laggish & then fold a set sometimes OTR, while being the same player who will re-raise with a busted draw.

When you saw him re-raise with a busted draw, did he win the hand with high card or did he just say "I missed, I just have a busted draw" and his V show the best hand?

Getting on his table whenever possible & watching the way he plays more & what he shows down OTR will help get a better understanding of what he is doing.

Two books that may be helpful are Janda's AONLH & Miller's elementary version of Janda's book "The 1%". Of course you need Flopzilla & other sources to help work out board textures etc.

If the guy plays close to the description you gave, I'm never folding the nut flush draw with that bet sizing. I have to see his hand OTR.

Bluffing BIG OTR is not in my bag of tricks.
I tried a bluff pre this evening against I guy who knows me extremely well. I O/R to $12 with TT & got 3 callers [unusual in this game when I O/R UTG] & then my V raised to $77 in the BB.

Now I figured V had to have JJ/QQ. I didn't think he was willing to be satisfied with $48 [before rake & tip] with KK.

I also believed that if I raised BIG, he would have to figure I had AA/KK. No way would I do it with AKs. So........I went all-in for $299.00. Everyone folds, he ponders for <20 seconds & calls.

I turn over TT, he turns of JJ & I flop a set & he doesn't improve. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to fold pre. That's how good of a player I am. Needless to say, I got stuck with the dinner tab. Luckily it was 2 for 1

"I also believed that if I raised BIG, he would have to figure I had AA/KK. No way would I do it with AKs. So........I went all-in for $299.00. Everyone folds, he ponders for <20 seconds & calls"

Why not with AKs? It is much better hand than TT. It blocks his AA/KK (I dont think V always has only JJ/QQ) and has equity when called. When looking for more hands than KK/AA to push AKs is the best one.

There is $60 in the pot after V calls my $12.00 - $7 rake & $1 tip = $52.00

If I call his raise with a shove for $287.00 & he calls, I am getting $287+52 = $339 on my bet if I win.

I am putting 45.8% of the total money in the pot with only 45.9% equity, so I need some decent amount of fold equity to keep me from being a money dog. Is it really worth it for a coin flip?

Sure it is. If I can count on a fold from him on occasion in this situation. Obviously I cannot. Maybe, if, one of the other players were acting like they couldn't wait to get their money.

I thought it was a great play on my part. That my 'image' would get folds. I was wrong.

If you wish to continue the conversation, let's do it via PM so we don't hijack the thread.