Quick check at live 1/2 NL:

Villain (straddle UTG, $320) is new to the table and a complete unknown to me, but he's a regular in this game (in a room I've never played at before). Hasn't gotten out of line in the few orbits he's been here. He's a 40ish white male.

Hero (Button, $640) has no history with villain and hasn't done anything of note since villain sat down. Also a 40ish white male.

Preflop: Hero is Button with T 8
Villain straddles to $5, EP ($500) calls, MP ($200) calls, LP ($1500) calls, Hero calls, ****** in BB minraises to $10, everyone calls, Hero calls

Flop (6 players, $60): K 4 2
BB bets $20, Villain calls, folds to Hero who raises to $120, BB folds, Villain shoves, Hero calls

Ok and chalk it up to a cooler if I happen to be behind?

GcheckupG

Can't exactly fold if you raise the flop...because the idea of raising the flop is to charge draws, and unless we know that villain is passive and won't shove with draws, it's almost always a call.

I am not a big fan of raising the flop without more information on villains.

Here are a few hands from this weekend's session. The first is a line check - I'm curious as to if you would've taken a different approach. The second is just an awkward spot vs. a maniac.

1/2 NL

Hand 1:

2nd hand of the night for hero. I've played with a few of these guys quite a bit, so they may or may not know that I have a very tight range OOP, TT+/AQs+, but IP I have been caught opening/3-betting marginal hands.

Villain is pretty fishy. Still learning the game, never played online, pretty inexperienced in general. Pretty sure he doesn't know much, if anything, about position, hand ranges, or pot odds. Typical newbie player: routinely overvalues top pair, never folds an over pair, chases draws with terrible odds. Definitely a level one thinker.

Hero's stack is about $300, Villain's is $250.

Hero is UTG+1 with AK and raises to $7.

Villain calls from the CO. Everyone else folds.

Flop: (Pot=$17) AKK

Hero bets $10. Villain raises to $30.

It's a rainbow board, so I feel like his range should be pretty narrow here. It's either Ax or Kx almost definitely. But as described, this villain is extremely fishy and COULD be doing this with QT/JT/ATC trying to take the pot from me.

I decide to just call.

Turn: (Pot=$77) AKK4

Hero bets $40. Villain calls.

I decided to lead here. I didn't want him to check behind, and I feel like a check-raise would be too strong and scare him off a lot of Ax hands. When he flats here, I've narrowed his range to Ax for sure. He would've re-raised Kx. He would've raised AA preflop. I've never seen him try to trap.

River: (Pot=$157) AKK4T

Hero bets $85. Villain calls and quickly tables A7o. Ship it.

Now this is one of the most straightforward hands I've ever played. My read was dead on and I was clearly in control the entire time. My question is regarding my bet sizing. I may have lost some value on the river, but I've seen villain fold some strong hands to an all in.

I went half pot the whole way. Would you do anything differently? Perhaps check the turn after being raised on the flop? Check-call and lead the river? Re-raise OTF? I'm interested to hear what other lines you could come up with.

Hand 2:

Villain in this hand is extremely LAG from all positions. Has a range wider than Dwan, and isn't afraid to play big pots OOP. Likes to check raise cbets on paired boards with air, but also seems to make good laydowns. Will open UTG with suited connectors and rarely folds preflop.

Hero's stack is about $450. Villain has him covered.

Hero is BB with AK. Villain is OTB.

Folds to Villain who raises to $7. SB calls. Hero raises to $25. Villain calls, SB folds.

Flop: (Pot=$57) 922

Hero bets $35. Villain calls.

A call here means nothing to me. Villain is such a maniac that I can never ever put him on a hand. He has given me a lot of trouble in the past - when I finally decide to stand up to his perpetual bluffing, he shows up with the nuts. It's happened nearly every time I've played him. His call on the flop could be a 9, or it could literally be ATC as his button range is so wide that it has Uno cards in it and he will almost never fold to a 3bet IP. A deuce is unlikely because he knows how to make his image work for him: He would raise OTF because he knows I would not believe him and would ship it with TT+ here every time.

Turn: (Pot=$127) 9229

Hero checks. Villain bets $100. Hero folds.

After the 3-bet PF, which I rarely do OOP, he has to put me on JJ+. It's likely he flats OTF with an A9/K9 type hand. At at this point I'm thinking his range is 33-88, but it's just as likely that he has complete air.

Villain didn't show so I still don't know.

He is such a hyper LAG that I feel like I probably had the best hand. But I can also say with 99% certainty that I would've been facing a pretty big raise OTT if I had continued my JJ+ story. It seems no matter how I play this, against this particular opponent, I'll always end up with a tough decision unless I flop the nuts.

What would you have done differently? Flat pre and play it passively? Fire again OTT? C/R the flop? I'm not sure what the best course of action here was. As played, I think I'm okay with the C/F OTT, but I'm not too happy about it.

Afterwards I wondered about the possibility of not raising the flop, but does that leave me in any better spot? The pot will be $120 on the turn, 3way, and villain will have $290 left; any reasonable bet on the turn will leave me with less than a PSB on the river. So isn't it better to simply commit now instead of letting draws / sets possibly get there while we are most likely ahead?

Keep in mind that with the straddle, effective stack of villain is 64 BBs, and in the end we've flopped the 4th nuts in a raised pot.

Most villains in UTG's position will overbet with small flush, and the fact that he didn't is going to narrow his range.

I am really not a fan of raising the flop without better read, because I don't like shoving while drawing dead.

Ya, I was wondering if baby flushes (and even sets) slowplay this flop with the world still to act after them.

I know there isn't much to be said here but which do u prefer? - Again I know it's kinda irrelevant

Table full of fish, 2 decent players...
1/2 NL
UTG I raise to 10, with AcAs
I get 7 callers...lol yes
BB makes it 110$ (He is a decent player who could actually squeeze there)...
I have 180$ behind....

Do I shove or flat and hope more fish jump in?

My guess (and admittedly, this is actually my third guess, I've sorta flipped flop a couple of times), is that we want it HU with the considerable advantage and the large percentage of dead money, instead of multiway at a considerably less advantage (although still far more than our fair share), also taking into account that those calling our flop shoves will have to have at least something to call (unlike those who could call of the rest of their chips preflop). I stand to be corrected though; maybe a math skillz guy could draw up some situations.

grunch for honeyknuckles

Hand 1: Flop call is fine as the deck doesn't really hurt you by giving more cards. I think V with an ace can fold the flop 3 bet a lot; I would call to keep them in. You're probably getting it all in vs another king anyway given you aren't that deep, so I'd worry about keeping the ace around.

I would be betting more on turn (2/3 pot probably) and definitely more on the river. Once he calls your turn bet I think you have to bet more. You don't have to go all in - you can bet 120 or something like that if you think V will fold to an all-in.

Hand 2 is tougher. I wouldn't mind you leading the turn, but I can live with your play. Against a competent villain (which you have described) I think if you check it's check/fold, though. Fight another day. You've only lost like $60 on the hand (under 1/7 of your stack).

I think a 3 bet is fine pre with AK even in the blinds.

read and stack dependent IMO. You aren't going to see it 8 ways at 110 per.

I love a call if you think someone else will shove it for you.

Otherwise I probably shove it myself.

Some of the fish were just terrible, i got one more to call which is exactly what I was hoping for

flush over flush is a cooler. not a whole lot you can do about it. if i was villain i would have done the same thing with something like AKx.

Ak would have raised pre, and AK is also likely raising after bb's bet.

I don't think it's a cooler personally.

the odds of flopping a flush are like 1:118 ... the odds of two people flopping a flush is significantly higher. the old me probably could have figured it out. i've seen anywhere from 220:1 to 600:1 just googling it online.

that's a cooler.

now, you can argue that you can fold your flush to significant action based on reads, but if you play 10 8 suited, you are going to get overflushed once in a while. if you can't accept that, fold pre.

Found myself lost on this flop the other night.

I get dealt two read 10s in LP ... MP woman (young, 20s; hadn't been too active; didn't see her show down a hand but had $300ish in front) raises to $11. I call. Button (40ish white guy; liked to calculate his outs out loud when he was in a hand took about 5 minutes before folding 7c 6c on a 2359 board with two clubs on the turn) and BB (young guy; had just sat down) call.

Flop is 987 with two spades. BB leads for $42. Woman calls.

What the hell do you do here?

BB is lots of OESD, OESD + pair, 2 pair, A + 1 pair, flush draw, etc. Pretty broad range. He led pot which is pretty strong, though (probably not 76 or something that weak)

Woman seems like she is crushing your range a lot here with NFD and over pairs a ton of the time if she's pretty snug pre flop like is implied in your post.

I don't think a fold is bad here given the size of that bet and call.

I thought she would raise an overpair there with the flush/straight draws on board.

Do you think she's calling with air? Or opening with a9 or 98 type hands here from MP? If so you've got her range pretty limited down to flush draws/A10 type stuff + bizarro calls with air.

@preflop AA hand

Obviously it's higher variance, but I read a calculation awhile ago and I think you want exactly 7 callers when you have AA AIPF for the highest EV. So I would just flat.

@ibelieve's hand

I would fold, seems extremely unlikely that they're both drawing. Chances are at least one has you owned. Don't know about your cardroom but I would put the woman on a higher pair than you without any more info.

ok. in retrospect, because there are so many bad turns, i wish i'd have just folded the flop, but i looked at it and saw 'i have an overpair, with an OESD' so there are turn cards that can really help me.

BB had A9 for top pair; she had AsJs for the nut flush draw (and wound up losing a $600 plus pot) and button had bottom two pair and filled up on the river after she checked when the flush card hit the turn.

It's a cooler if you shove with KK for whatever reason and villain shoves behind with AA.

But if it's dead obvious that villain has AA and you still shove with KK, then it's not really a cooler.

I believe there is enough information given the action to get away from this hand, hence it's not a cooler.

Hand bothered me, in the bb with AQo, btn straddle, effective 200$, 1/2nl....sb limps, I make it 20, mp fish calling station calls, sb calls
Flop 60$ 553r
SB checks
Is this a bad cbet spot? My image is nitty, they r both calling stations, sb is kinda bluff happy

Holy crap, this thread got confusing! I'ma grunch 'em all:

I start with DueceKicker: V has a range that is mostly sets, made straights, comb draws, and pairs with draws. I estimate you have about 40% equity. If you push, it will be for about 41% of the pot, assuming he calls. That means you need just a touch of FE for it to be correct. Super thin spot, and not a big mistake either way, IMO, but we have to think he's folding a non-zero percent of the time here.

grunch @ GG: Gotta call here. Lots of bare Ad and pair with FD hands in V's range, and some smaller made flushes as well as bigger.