7 handed 3/5

Hero has been running very good, but lost last coin flip, kings vs oesd and fd, for about 90 bb. I had kings. Didn't show but I check raised 3 people so it was obv i had big hand. Stack around 3k.

Villain is competent thinking player who plays 5/10/20 when it goes. Plays on the tighter side. Pretty ABC and fit or fold. Views hero as best player in game, capable of making plays and good laydowns. Stays out of hero's way for the most part. His stack is around 730.

Villain opens to 20 in lp. I flat in bb with a6 of clubs.

Flop (40) 864 rainbow. One club. I check raise his 35 to 105. He flats.

Is this c/r OK? Sometimes I call, sometimes I raise. If he calls I planned on barreling 6, a, 5, 7, club.

Turn (250) 6 I think rainbow. Bink!

How much do you bet Here? Villain has about 600 or so behind.

Should of 3-bet pre-flop.

Your c/r is bad. What are c/r on this dry flop, near nothing, . So I have serious doubts you're considered the best in your player pool and I have doubts he thinks that if he is indeed good.

C/r as a bluff with hands that have equity drawing wise or total air, you can mix in some 2p+ type hands


I bet about $135. Settings up an easy river fat value bet.

We can shove or bet 1/2-1/3 pot river

Neither of these things make sense to me. 3-betting pre with A6s is pretty gross.

If you bet $135, and he calls, the river bet is going to be close to full pot to get all in. I'm going more like $175. That gets us to the river with $430 effective and a $600 pot size.

What is going on here? Is there a reason we're check/raising an overpair in the KK hand? Why aren't we leading?

As for this hand, I think the 5/10/20 player is better than you describe. Fit/fold isn't an optimal style for a good player in that game. If we think he actually is a tight fit/fold player, I'm either folding pf or 3b (LP raise from good player = wider range) so I'm not forced to play OOP vs a thinking player's right range with a "drawing hand." A6s is the bottom of a 31% opening range. What's our plan for most flops that we know will miss us completely? Will we be successful in taking down a good portion of flops by donking?

Flop seems spewey, especially if we look like we might be tilting from getting sucked out on the other hand. He bets nearly pot, what range do you think he has and he'll continue with? Does he just c-bet so often and so large? I'd usually fold mid-pair, that's likely to be 3rd pair by river.

As played, I'd go half pot, but I'm really not looking to see any flops w/ A6s OOP.

Yeah, looking back, check raise is bad. So call and reevaluate turn, right?

Re 3 bet pre, can you explain why it's better than flat?

His perception of me is 100% accurate. I've played 5/10/20 a few times with him as well.

How so? We're re-stealing blinds. A player like V, someone who's got their fundamentals down, is opening wide in LP here. Giving up our BB as default would be a leak.

Re the kings hand: I had 2 people behind me. The flop came 865 with two spades. I thought the guy behind me who is fishy and erratic would bet any piece. He bets 40, two callers, I raised to 240, he shipped for about 493 total, I called. He had 73 spades.

Re the villain. I never said he was a good player in the 5/10/20. In fact he would probably be considered relatively weak tight in that game.

I guess this is a leak in my game is defending with hands like this.

Re the flop: I probably didn't think it through well. I think his betting it is quite strong since he knows it not good for his range, I thought he'd continue with his overpairs.

Since you've played with this guy for some time, decide whether to call or fold flop based on V's c-betting frequency on flop and turn. If he always double barrels his whole range, I'd call for two streets. If he only c-bets when he connects, then I'd fold flop. If he c-bets flop ~50% and doesn't double barrel, I'd float one street & plan to fold to a second.

Why did you ck-r flop?

I thought sometimes I could have the best hand and if I didn't there would be scary cards for an overpair on the turn I could barrel.

I considered it a semi bluff of sorts.

Is this bad Thinking? Check raise is not my favorite move with marginal hands and I just read an article in cardplayer re check raise bluffing so I was probably experimenting more than anything. Plus I've run really good vs villain in the past and he doesn't like to play big pots with me.

Thank you for these ideas. I guess I need to observe more. He tends to be more of a cautious and fit or fold player. I just never sense too much danger from him. This probably makes for a fold on the flop.

You can't call A6s and fold flop. It's super bad.

You really should not be calling 4x opens with hands that are tough to make hands. A6s does not flop good and it's tough to really know where you are. How often is 6 the highest card and when an ace comes how comfortable are you to call it down?

It really is a very easy 3-bet or fold pre-flop and you should understand now why I don't suspect you're considered the best player in your pool.

You can defend really wide vs players who are extremely exploitable once you'v defended enough and understand their tendencies.

C/r the flop is really really bad.

V's exact position is important. The closer V is to the button, the more I want to 3! or defend my bb. A6o is a 3! or fold. With A6s, calling pre or 3! or both fine, IMO.

The only reason, I think you can't flat here is the 4x sizing and not enough information on his tendencies. It can be a flat here with more reads.

If you play good poker OOP. If you don't, it's going right back in the 3b or fold range.

Another thing to keep in mind is rake, it can easily affect our ranges here. You're at a big disadvantage playing OOP and if the rake is not very good, it just can punish your win-rate with speculative hands.

I understand this logic. Sometimes running good makes me want to play more hands especially against people who don't like to play with me....

Its probably not saying much that I'm the best in my player pool. It's 3/5...I do know I build the largest stacks most consistently.

I do hold my own in the bigger games as well. It's just the variance is like 5x and I prefer funner looser 3/5 games. Less stress.

Put them in tough spots, not yourself.

Yes totally agree.

Sometimes I slip.

You have to stop referring yourself as the best player. And stop thinking that opponents view you as the best player. I literally roll my eyes every time i see you throw that into a post you make.

Why's that?

In some 5/t and 5/t/20 games I know there are trickier and more creative players sitting. But these 3/5 games are unbelievably soft.

I'm up about 45k in the last two and half months in these games. Nobody else is coming close to that in my pool.

I think I remember you said you put in over 600 hours over that time span. It's not really that big of a winrate over that size sample.

I was looking back at some of my old posts recently and came across one when I said I was best Borgata 10/25+ reg. Looking back it was probably not true and it was an overall ****ty mindset to have.

I dunno, I think confidence is one of the most important things at a poker table. People feel it. They play fit or fold against confident players.

I haven't played in about 3 years, so the first month or so was really rusty. I read elements of poker by Tommy Angelo about a month ago and I'm up probably 30k since then.

Anyway to answer your original question, bet 160 ott and maybe he'll call one more street w OP, pair+gutter. Just shove any river. If you're lucky he'll have a hand that might payoff a turn bet. You equity against his riv calling range ain't stellar but it's better than a check on most cards.

Yup. 135 is awful turn sizing. 175-200 much better.

If you fold a suited ace pre flop, what the heck are you defending? I'd check call flop. As played, bet a bitover half the pot.

I think you can certainly defend a LP raise from a guy who plays higher w/ any suited ace.(even A6) I think you can 3 bet this hand some % as well. Either way I'm never folding.

The flop C/R is interesting. The board is pretty dry so you really don't have much in the value department defending here. Did he see you C/R you KK the other hand? In either case he has the range advantage which actually should make your raise look strong despite your lack of value hands. There's a ton of turn cards you can keep barreling on as well, so you can put considerable pressure on all his overpair/ TP holdings. You said he's fit or fold so I guess the C/R is ok. I don't think I'd take this line regularly, but occasionally merging like this has some merit, especially if you two play together regularly.

OTT, doesn't get any better, lead for $200