Hero($800): probably seen as loose aggressive tonight. i have history with the button in this hand. we know eachother pretty well and i will try to describe him well after hand description.

Hero is SB with AQ.

Preflop(7 handed): UTG folds, EP limps, MP folds, CO limps, Button raises to $20, Hero calls, SB folds, BB folds, EP calls, CO calls.

Flop(4 players/$85-$7=$78): KQ7
Check, check, check, Button bets $45, Hero ?

EP and CO have around $400 each. They both tend to call with pieces of the flop and are unlikely to check-raise into strength here without a big hand.

Button($1,200) makes small raises preflop all the time so the $20 raise does not give away anything about the strength of his starting cards. He is a fairly strong player postflop.

Being oop I want to call this flop and hope for a peel from EP or CO to pad the pot for me. Do you have a plan for the hand? Anybody donk this flop or consider check-raising here? Why?

So the small open considering the limps is not weakness ? How does he feel about stacking off with one pair?

I kind of like a small 1/2 donkbet and reship the original raiser if he raises flop. You have blockers to ak and kq, plus you can get immediate value from smaller qx on occasion and dominated draws by the other villains

I would have led out for 55-60. As played, I probably raise here to 145.

Is flatting pre > 3betting? I mean, we know that if we flat we are gonna be oop without the initiative and very likely multiway against BTN who is a strong postflop player (with a likely spr of 10 vs. BTN).

If we 3bet big, to like $100, we have a good spr for our hand if he flats (3.5) and an easy fold if he 4bets.

You have history with BTN; what's the 3b/4b dynamic like? If you 3b to 85 here pf, does he give you credit for a top 5% hand? What do you think his flatting & 4b ranges are? I'm trying to get a sense of whether it's more profitable to play this hand for top pair / FE against BTN or for a big hand against the field.

As played pf, I want to know how often BTN cbets before deciding what to do on the flop. If he'll check back a lot in this spot, I'd much rather lead out for value.

This player will hate folding AK here, but it can be done this deep. As for his preflop raise sizing he does not adjust the sizing for limpers or stack depth. I have seen him open 75s from MP to $20 and I have seen him raise a limper in MP to $20 with AA. Long term I might guess he is about a break even player. Shows very little fear about winning or losing decent sums of money for a live player.

He may be the type to raise AK or AA on this board if I bet out otf. He would be doing it for value and to see where he is at in the hand. I need to explore donk bets otf and balancing them. I know this is a weak point in my game.

When c-r is called pot is $375 with $635 back.

Bet size on a blank turn?

Bet size on a ?

Interesting point. I have 3-bet in spots like these in the past and understand your logic.

In this hand I just felt his raising range was wide and I could have him dominated. If he is a player more prone to folding than suspicion I could lean your direction.

In hours of play there has not been a single 4-bet at the table. Live poker. 3-betting ranges are so strong and there are always a few short stacks in the game.

Button will c-bet this board 60-80% from the button. It hits his range pretty well, but he should be checking back hands like AJ and AT so I see your point. I am not so sure about the range of hands he raises if I lead out.

1. I don't like a 3bet pre. AQs isn't strong enough, or weak enough. Play fine as is.
2. It follows then that I don't like donk bet, because it would likely be seen for exactly what it is, and if villain has any sense he would raise.

Overall I think it's going to be tricky to make a bunch of money on this hand. We have some showdown value and that's cool. If the flush card falls we aren't likely to get calls from hands we beat.

The exception might be if we disguise hand as a float. Bombing a flush card on the turn might draw a call from AA or Kx. With those things in mind I would probably just c/c flop and see what happens on turn. Hate to be such a wuss but that's what I would do.

I'm betting 225ish either way. In some ways it is turning our hand into a bluff (since now weak Ks should be able to find a fold), but we still have decent equity if we are shoved on.
The alternative is to check and hope that he checks behind, but I think that turns your hand face up.

I would have 3bet to 70 pf unless, because of your history, you plan on playing creative post flop, that is if you thought he would 4bet you. Although the $20 raise isn't giving anything away, his position should suggest he is wide enough for us to 3bet.

On the flop I am most likely donking out on a 4 way flop, c/r is ok if we have FE.

I would just check/call and hope the others come along. Bet out on a diamond turn, check/raise a Q, and check/call an Ace.

Flatting is fine pf, but I like 3bet too.

I strongly prefer donk/ship on the flop. We might fold out AK or AA and have a lot of equity when called.

As played, I like to call, then c/ship most blank turns. Looks very strong and should get folds. Leading a Q or diamond is better and I probably c/c an ace.

I cannot wrap my head around your position here... It appears you are between the button and small blind since you call and then the SB folds... ??

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Hero($800): probably seen as loose aggressive tonight. i have history with the button in this hand. we know eachother pretty well and i will try to describe him well after hand description.

Hero is SB with AQ.

Preflop(7 handed): UTG folds, EP limps, MP folds, CO limps, Button raises to $20, Hero calls, BB folds, EP calls, CO calls.

Flop(4 players/$85-$7=$78): KQ7
Check, check, check, Button bets $45, Hero calls, fold, fold.

Turn(heads up/$168): 9
Hero bets $100...

I fixed the hand history to eliminate SB folds, because I didn't. Anyhoo...

Since I missed the lead out otf I tried it ott.

Why bet turn?

^Hero has, in some respects, turned his hand into a bluff, and a good one at that. But you gotta figure a significant part of villain's range includes at least one J or one T, so there is benefit in pricing out draws. If villain has AA or KK, we will find out soon enough. If he has AK, we are making him squirm. If he is on KJ or KT, he is probably hating life right now. Go get im, TripleH68

Given that this turn is pretty ugly, are we b/f ? What about if he tank calls, are you going to try and blow him off of blank rivers?

Part bluff, part blocking bet. There must be some part of his range he will fold here, most he will call, some he will raise. JT does make sense don'tcha think?

Thanks pal. I think if he calls this player will pay me off otr.

Getting blown off my draw would be lousy, but I don't see that happening. A $300-$325 bet otr is one option. So is blushing and giving up.

Hero($800): probably seen as loose aggressive tonight. i have history with the button in this hand. we know eachother pretty well and i will try to describe him well after hand description.

Hero is SB with AQ.

Preflop(7 handed): UTG folds, EP limps, MP folds, CO limps, Button raises to $20, Hero calls, BB folds, EP calls, CO calls.

Flop(4 players/$85-$7=$78): KQ7
Check, check, check, Button bets $45, Hero calls, fold, fold.

Turn(heads up/$168): 9
Hero bets $100, Button raises to $200, Hero calls.

River(heads up/$568): Q
Heinous card. You think Hero is ever good here?

Grunch:

To me, this is a clear, clear lead. I want to bet the flop, have the two sticky players between me and the preflop raiser possibly call, then put him to a decision. If he calls, now I'm seeing a turn with the initiative and maybe my draw is more disguised. If he raises, I 3bet.

As played, since you checked, calling has merit. I don't know this player well enough to know what this sizing means. Maybe you already have the best hand, in which case raising doesn't really do anything good for you. Or maybe you are drawing, in which case calling lets worse draws in behind you.

The positives of check-raising are when the bettor has Kx or a worse draw, but not AK or KQ, and the guys in between don't have anything. Then your raise is to exploit an equity edge and you don't lose value from the other players. I don't really know which is better, calling or raising--but I would have led out.

As played on the river, Hero can be good here, but it seems unlikely. If we give Villain a fairly wide range, you're looking at AA/AK/KK/KQ/99/77/JT. You beat 12 combos and lose to either 16 or 28, depending on whether JTo is possible. If we eliminate 99, then you are still beaten by more combos than you beat.

But you probably have more information than I have. The minraise has to mean something, right? You said this guy is strong postflop--that means he probably doesn't do a lot of minraising. What does it mean when he does?

You're still ahead of AA and AK. 12 combos. Check to see size of river bet. He might give you pot odds to call.