Winstar 1/2 max 200 Bi

Seat 9: OMC, 300 stack

Seat 3: Young gun, pretty active thinking player- 225 stack

Seat 5 me: 30's, played some big pots- nothing out of line 625 stack

Seat 9 is UTG and raises to 7, folds to seat 3 who quickly and confidently raises to 21... folds to me???


Seat 9 has played nothing but the nuts, has had quad A's twice and got value both times. Had one hand where I was on BTN and had him in a three way pot where it was bet by another player and he I called down to river- where I raised a $20 river bet already called by OMC to 60 and got folds in both spots. Only hand I played past flop with him.

Seat 5 just came in from New Orleans and is talking about 2+2 and the fight over the PLO hand. Seems to be a confident young guy. We have made a few observations over OMC getting action with nut hands from other spots on the table.

So as this hand unfolds OMC raises utg to 7, where 5 raises pretty quickly to 21. We have had at lest 3 hands where OMC has gotten paid, where seat 5 and I where just like WTF does the table not know how tight this mofo is? So when I see his body language and quick motion, I really put him on JJ+.... I had two spots behind me that would probably call behind if I flat, and if I raise I don't expect any action from anyone other than 9 or 5

Raise and protect your hand. Why give the other 2 behind you value to catch on the flop? You got 9 and 5 on 1010+ right? So if you expect them to both flat your 4bet then you'll have a pretty good idea where you're at based on the flop and can proceed accordingly. If you think 5 is gonna jam over the top then you're in the spot you want to be in getting the money in with AA.

We are in position and we don't want to spook OMC. So I flat here and hope OMC goes nuts. We will have an SPR of less than 5 so I'm not too concerned about being out played post.

^^ So you're going to open your AA up to the two calling stations that are going to flat behind you? What are you going to do on draw heavy/combination flops? Just fold out and decide you've lost the minimum because you allowed 5 to go to the flop with you? I'm not worried about spooking OMC when I know I have a better hand than Seat 5 and he's the 3 better - he has enough assumed skill to Cbet a dry flop OOP with JJ/QQ/KK/AQ/AK so why don't we get max value out of the 3better who's already behind and likely comfortable getting involved with you with his range?

You will not have the best hand on the flop if you flat and go 5-way to the flop.

3-bet to $50 to get rid of the 2 behind you. Play poker IP against the one or two guys that you are dominating.

$65

What makes you so sure that they will call after a raise from OMC and a 3-bet? Are they super loose players? You haven't even seen them act yet. Most players I play against will fold and even OMC types often fold to a 3-bet. As a result, if you just flat it could easily still go heads up. Players often call raises but tend to play much tighter than usual against 3-bets.

Click it small. Like $40. Watch OMC freak out with KK and get his stack/flat you with 99-QQ, AK, then "young gun" is leveraged because he is ping ponged between OMC and you (you know, the guy who just 4bet him) so he'll have to fold or shove if he is smart.

Only flops I'd consider folding are TJQ, or something monotone that doesn't match my suits and either V puts a ton in.

I don't expect OMC to always shove KK when we 4!
If we flat, OMC might raise, and that's something to consider.
If we 4!, he flats or folds. If we flat, he might raise, not wanting to play OOP.
But his open was pretty small. I don't put him on a big hand here. 88-JJ. He might be folding for $14 more as it is.
I like raising here. Different dynamic, a flat might be OK, but click it to $40.
You don't necessarily want the two players behind you coming along.
I'd expect that when you raise, thinking young player shoves a high % of the time.
Raise, but raise kind of small to let them make a mistake and call or think they have FE and raise you. The hand is shaping up to be 3 way and you have position and aces. Good combination.

OMC's notoriously like to flat hands as strong as KK. There is no reason to expect that he will do your raising for you. Raise this for value and allow the other players (particularly OMC) to make a big preflop mistake.

These kind of spots have been the kind that I am really trying to review and make sure I am taking the best line. There was one spot behind I thought would call for sure if I had flat, and another that wouldn't have surprised me could call.

I decided that raising here was my best option. I decided to make it 50, it folded to the BB who seemed like he had a hard time finding a fold. OMC insta folds- Seat 3 starts to laugh, then folds 99 face up, BB claims he folded 1010, then OMC chimes in and says he folded AQ

50 seemed like a good amount to raise to, makes it pretty easy for those hands to fold. Though I honestly thought Id get one call, and then go from there. I would have bet that seat 3 had to have at min JJ+ and AQ was obv close to the bottom that OMC could have

I wouldn't lament over their folds. You are much better off raising in that spot given the ranges you assigned. You want them t make calling mistakes there. Sometimes they will continue, sometimes they won't. If you were closing the action you could flat, but more often than not putting in the raise sees best.

Flatting here is horrible. Hero has two players who've already shown they are interested. If the first opener really is an "OMC" as opposed to being an older TAG who's on a heater, then this is of no consequence. If he's spooked pre, then what does he have OTF that doesn't spook him there? (Hint: Nothing you beat.)

You have a thinking player ahead of you who isn't likely to zero in on exactly pocket rockets, as there are a lot of other hands that could conceivably 4! in this situation.

I would make it play for ~$70 here. If all you pick up is the dead money uncontested, that's still pretty good, and much better than letting a small pair trail in behind you because he's getting a good pre-flop price and losing half your stack when he flops a set. Or letting the OMC trail in, and flop the nuts on you, forcing you to fold the flop, or call like a fish for another bad beat story. On your goiod days, you see a 5! that sets up a stack-off pre with your holding the nuts. On your bad days, OMC shows up with the other pair of aces, and on your really bad days he back doors a flush.

There are times when you can open limp aces, or flat; this isn't one of them.

You 4 bet here ALWAYS. Make it $65-70. If they fold, so be it, much better than being put in a position where 4-5 players are in the hand.

^^^ this.

I have RandomCrayon up here hanging out in LA at my place and he agrees 100%

I saw the reveal but I wouldn't be ranging OMC as strong as you with a 7 utg raise. It's medium pairs and unmade hands more often than not ime. Only occasionally the inducing AA or KK.

I raise larger as I would with a bluff or AK.

Flatting in MP could be a little tricky if we get callers behind we can expect to be squeezed into them otf. We will have to flat most flop bets to let lp players cap their ranges no?

I'm not totally against considering a flat just wondering what our plan is with a caller or 2 behind when young gun leads out 1/2 pot on 975hh. Stacks of spots seems important as well.

4-bet