Quote:
Originally Posted by Homerphobe
Yeah, I guess stack sizes would be pretty important, huh? I'll try to address all of the questions.
8 handed, live, 3-5 blinds, $500 max bet, at an indian casino in Washington State. My stack size is ~$350, remaining players in hand all have me covered. Table either sees many limpers or if there is a raise it is usually HU. Only been at the table for a couple hours. Players in CO and BTN sat down recently and haven't played a pot for two orbits. The straddle mixes up his play a lot. I saw him make several large bets on the river, I doubt they were all strong hands. Oh, and I totally screwed up some info. I was in HJ, not MP.
I raised because most pots were contended HU after a raise at this table and the few players that were calling down light had already folded. I figured I'd get HU in position on BB or Straddle and take the pot down with a cbet or maybe flop a big hand or a big draw that I could semibluff all in if I got action. When 2 players called with position on me that hadn't yet played a pot, I figured that at least one of them had a pair and I didn't want to be forced to double barrel, since a 2nd barrel would have me all in with my stack size.
Looking back, I'm wondering if I should have raised more preflop with the straddle on ($40-45 maybe), or if a c-bet would work often enough to make it worth a shot on such a dry board. I think it was played OK, but I have doubt. All suggestions are appreciated.
Hope this clears things up. Sorry about the left out or incorrect info. I frequently play limit and stack sizes are more or less irrelevant.
Cool, NP, thanks for the adds.
To your primary questions. Yes, I think the PFR was too small with the straddle on. In the 3/5-500 game I play in from time to time, the typical open without a straddle on is $35-$50. But that is my game... Either way I would like to see a PFR of at least $50.
As played I think you can credibly represent a BPP on this flop and cbet it for about 1/2 to 3/4 pot and take it down more times than not. If you don't take it down with the cbet, or get RR, you can easily fold it.
Keep in mind with plays like this...
When you get called PF, your villain(s) are about 1:3 to flop a pair, they are only flopping TP about 17% or about 1:6 times. Being able to raise with ATC, or better yet speculative hands a few times over the course of session, cbet and take it down can be a significant part of your earn.
So just some simple, quick and dirty math... You are opening for say $35 and cbet'ing $50 most of the time. You have invested $85. 2 out of 3 times you are going to win $35 plus any dead money, and lose $85 one time for a net loss of -$15. So in a loose/passive/CS filled game this is not a profitable play.
But if we are at a weak/tight "fit or fold" table where the villain(s) are not likely to continue without TP then we can be profitable... So we are opening for $35, cbet'ing for $50 and our villain(s) is only going to call about 1 in 6 times... So we win $35x5=$175 and lose $85x1 for a net of $90.
So assuming all of my quick and dirty math is correct (someone check me pls, I know this does not include times where a player flops a strong draw, but I am not sure how to quantify that with so many variables).
We should be able to make this type of play about once an hour and maintain a reasonably tight image (essential for this to work). So over a 6 hour session we have added about 3BB/hr to our earn rate.