Been at the table for about an hour now. Playing 9 handed. Probably solid image without getting too much $ in pot w/o decent hand.. V1 has been kinda laggy & I've seen him raise a few flops seemingly for information with top pair weak/middling kicker type hands. V2 has only been at the table for about 2 orbits & haven't seen him really do anything yet. Late 20s player, bought in for roughly 175 bbs. Stacks are V1 $150, V2 $350 hero $400.
V1 open limps from utg +1 (as he has with about 50% of hands) hero limps (8c6c) from MP2. Cutoff raises to 12. V1 calls, hero calls. Flop comes AcQc4d. Saw V2 perk up and look intersted when flop hit, but as I haven't played enough hands with him, not sure whether to make anything of this. V1 checks, hero checks, V2 bets 20, V1 raises to 40, hero?
I'd love answers of what to do as played. Also whether pf call is bad & whether leading out flop is my best option. Thanks in advance.
Preflop: It's better to fold from the start. I'd call here if I felt the players behind me were either A) highly likely to all fold (like if they're tipping their preflop action) thus giving me position postflop, or B) so loose/passive that we were likely to go to the flop with 5+ players with almost no chance of a raise from a non-huge hand. Most of the time these things won't happen.
As played, fold to the raise. You don't have the best hand. You're out of position. V1 has been playing tight so far, meaning he is more likely to have a real hand that he can't easily be bluffed off of.
Flop: As played preflop, the check is good. After the check/raise, fold. Perking up is usually a sign of strength. Furthermore, V2 is representing the sort of hand that this flop will hit. Even though getting over 2:1 with a flush draw with money behind is usually a good spot, your call does not close the action. V2 could easily 4bet leaving you no chance but to fold after wasting $40. Also, if V2 has a hand like JJ he'll probably fold, meaning that you're getting worse pot odds than you were hoping for and little implied odds since V1 is on a short stack.
Just my opinion...
Edited because I mixed up V1 and V2 the first time I posted.
Preflop is meh. If the table is loose passive behind you limp is fine to get a multiway pot. If it's nitty behind you, raise it up and iso v1. When you're raised and it's only 1 call back to you and you are OOP vs. the raiser just fold. As played super easy fold on the flop. Don't donk flop here especially after V2 perks up.
Really depends on the table as a whole as to limp with 86s pf. If it is a table that is limping around a lot and almost never seeing a raise, a limp is OK. It isn't a great play and there's nothing wrong with folding it. I'd do it just because I'm 0 EV in this situation and people are less guarded around people who look like they are playing like them. If you're at a table that is seeing regular raises, it is a fold.
Definitely fold to the raise pf. I don't want to play 1 gappers oop to a raise.
On the flop, we have a FD. Even with a call from V1, we're not getting odds to see another card. In addition, we aren't getting paid off by worse most likely if we hit. Fold.
if V1 is playing/limping with 50% of hands, you should definitely isolate him preflop with a raise. (and if V2 3bets you, then obviously you fold.)
but i think limping with 86s and then hoping that everyone else just limps too is generally too optimistic. personally, i prefer to play suited connectors and one-gappers heads-up and with position; therefore, i generally raise with such hands from MP2 and better. i've found that hands like 86s don't play well multi-way because hitting top pair is almost never good, and when you do get a flush draw, it's a very real possibility that you are drawing nearly dead to another villain's higher flush draw.
as played, it should be a fold on the flop. if you want to get truly creative, though, check-reraising big (~$150) is a super strong play and significantly better than flat-calling. this only works, however, if you think you have fold equity with V1. if V1 is just min-raising for info, then he should fold to your move. similarly, V2 can only call or shove with top two or better. i probably wouldn't do this, but it's a high-variance option that could work.
