Hero: ($320) nitty PF reg. Has been a little active at table and getting decent cards. Late 20s white guy. Known winner.

Villain: ($200) TAG winning reg. A grinder rec player who has logged 100s of hours with hero. Capable of thin value bets. Capable of bluffs, but they're rare. Knows me well and respects my game/bets/calls. Knows Hero as tight capable player. Has a fold button. Solid grinder.

2/5nl $200-$1000 Friday night around 8pm.
Button (unknown LP) straddles to $10
SB LP calls
Villain calls from BB.
3 other LPs in MP call
Hero CO ($320) over limps w A6s.
Button checks.

Flop ($63): 6d 3d 2h.
Checks to Hero
Hero bets $45.
Folds to V who calls $45.

Turn: ($153) 6d 3d 2h (9d)
HU
Villain checks
Hero checks

River: ($153) 6d 3d 2h 9d (10h)
Villain leads $65.
Hero folds.

Thoughts.

I think it was played well. What if anything about the hand do you think was bad?

Depending on stack sizes and tendencies of other players at the table, I'd likely just raise pre.
We aren't really deep enough in a straddled pot (30bb) to be limping with a suited Ace here for flush or two pair value, and we almost never like top pair with A6 no matter which it is.

If we raise we can win the pot unimproved a large portion of the time on the flop or turn. I generally don't have a LP limping range though. So much dead money and so much bad play I'd rather go heads up or three way IP and just cBet and win 2x 5bb from the limp/callers.

I like a call on the river. I think your TPTK is a little under-repped. I think he could have a variety of one-pair hands (either pocket pairs or connector hands), especially since he called from BB. His bet sizing on the river does smell like value and I wouldn't be surprised to see 88/77, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see 76/65/etc. All that said, I think a fold isn't terrible, but since I'm feeling good on the flop and I don't see the turn or river changing the hand (maybe small prob he has a flush, but don't see a 9 or T) I pay to see if I'm beat.

Also, love your HHs. Very detailed writeups with great reads. Really helps get into the hand.

On the turn grab some chips like you are thinking of betting, then think for a sec and check it back. This might slow down a river bluff. Played fine though. I personally prefer to play deeper and raise pre in this spot, but limping is fine too. There may be ab argument for not betting the flop since most hands that call will have great equity against you, and just about every turn card is bad in some way. I only bet if some of the limpers are really bad and capable of calling super light, which fortunately they usually are. I'm

Fold preflop unless you and Viliain are at least 100bb deep. As played, I think Villain is value betting a good percentage of the time. 5 to 1 odds on the call, so is Villain bluffing 20% of the time or more? If so, I would call. I think the better move here is raise or fold.

Since most of his value betting range is flushes I think raising is really bad. There really arent a lot of 9/T cards in his range when he check/calls the flop.

I think this is a fold preflop at these stack sizes and in this position.
As played, post flop seems fine. Calling river is ok too if villain bluffs missed draws.

Interesting.

There was a recent post by a player who called two raises with A6s. Now, a hand played in good position with a jillion limpers and lots of tempting dead money. Different kettle of fish so to speak. So lets roll with it.

Decision point two (one being, to play Axs at all) is whether to come in with a raise. Any reasonable size raise is unlikely to thin this field I think. So I see why you limped. But we will come back to that.

Villain probably has the least trashy hand of anyone. Calling from the blinds is risky because someone like you or me is going to be sorely tempted to raise, and so he has something good enough to call a raise with, if not re-raise. So I could see being cautious about trying to push him around pre.

Decision point 3, what to do with the flop. This is pretty much a classic example of a bad place to bet. You haven't established dominance with a pfr, not last to act, multiple limpers, no scare card, flush draw on board. Beautiful board in fact for people playing a bunch of trash. I get that you had a pair, but I'm not jumping for joy just yet.

Your bet seemed to work though. Betting here is read dependent, table might be tighter than initial appearances suggest. All the folds suggest maybe these guys actually had decent hands that therefore whiffed the flop completely. So I'm going to roll with that also. (1/2 would be a different animal).

So now it's you and the nit, who has checked twice as the board flushes.

Question on the turn is, how do you win this hand. We don't know the suits of your cards, and it doesn't in my mind really matter. I don't think you're likely to make much money turning a flush expecting to get paid off by a tight cautious player. You can make money by bombing the scare card. Because he's tight and doesn't pay people off, right?

Checking behind the turn released the initiative to villain, who can now represent either the flush or a set. Or any number of things better than a pair of 6's. thereby putting you in a pickle.

See, it's way more likely you were limping in with trash than villain. You're way more likely to like this flop than him. So if one of you guys are going to stab at the pot, it should be you.

Coming back to pre, I'm wondering if there would be an argument for a pfr. That's usually what I'm thinking in a straddled pot with limpers, just try to scoop up some dead money. If anybody comes along, see if I can play them, otherwise pray for rain. Not with complete trash. Actually making a hand is the backup plan, but it is a good backup plan, eh?

I think a pfr would have set you up better on the flop, although it worked out. And interestingly, having limped pre makes it more credible that you actually liked that board ott.

But, I would submit that betting the turn would have been the thing. Not saying I'm right, just thinking out loud.

As played, you have a bluff catcher. (Assuming you didn't actually flop the nut flush). I think you have to go with your read, ie he rarely bluffs. Gotta let it go, I think.

It would be easy to pick this hand apart, starting with pre. But I don't think that would be fair here, I know you had your reasons. I would just say you missed the chance to have villain use that fold button of his ott.

Fold or raise pre this short. More towards folding IMO. Stack depth is so important to consider. Buy in full. We are 40 bb effective, we should be tightening our PF range vs this villian as there is no room to play.

Preflop I would fold. On the flop I would bet about 1/2 pot, or even a little less. The range of hands you are getting value from is pretty narrow, and you're really just betting for protection against overs.

I recognize that I'm short, but it's pretty obvious that this is gonna be a $60+ pot size OTF and that the straddler is only gonna raise premium hands as last to act. I know that a lot of posters recommend a fold PF, but I truly think I'm getting correct odds here to flush mine/flop of monster. But maybe I'm wrong.

I think it is hard for Villain to have 2 pair or better so over the long term, raising might be slightly more profitably than calling. Overall, I think folding is likely the best play.

No way. You need to be getting 100:1 odds to plan on making a hand on the flop. Making a monster is the backup plan.

Look there's nothing wrong with being patient and waiting for a good hand. Kind of nitty but +EV. But you have to play a more restrictive range than the fish, who are basically playing a slot machine. Put in $10 and take a spin. Don't do that.

If you want to loosen up your opening range, you have to be more aggressive. You could have won this hand with more aggression.

However you have to have your basics down cold before you go down that path.