Been sitting at the table for a few hours. I've played a few hands, typical TAG style. Two new guys sit at the table and the action is instantly ramped up. Both are asian and don't seem to fold and love to gamble.

Hero: $650 mid 30s white guy

V1: $700 - I've seen him float with air, pick up some equity on turn and get very aggressive even when he knows he's behind. Tanked for 3 minutes with an open ender on the turn and was truly thinking about calling a 300 turn bet with about 150 in the pot. Bets just about every street regardless of who raised or what position he's in.

V2: $800 - wasn't as aggressive but played very similar. already got all in twice with a middle pair hand and a flush draw and won both.


Looking to see if I could have played this better.

2 limpers, V1 limps, V2 limps, Hero raises to $20 in late position, 1 caller, V1 calls, V2 calls.

Flop ($60) Jh 9s 5d.
Checks to me and I cbet 45, V1 quickly raises to 100. Folds back to me. I can see him doing this with Jx, 9x, 5x, 2 pairs, sets, Q10, 810, and possibly a little Ace high air.

I feel like if I raise him, I'm only getting called by better and I'd rather let him bet out again on the turn since he's been very aggressive. Is this a leak?

Thoughts so far?

V2 folded but tanked for a little while. I think he snap calls with a draw so I'm assuming he had a J or 9. Soul read could be very off.

I don't think a one pair hand, even an overpair, is quite strong enough to play rope-a-dope versus a maniac, so I don't think we should just call and let him barrel off when we're this deep. Given V description, he will pay a lot more with medium strength hands. There are also lots of turn cards that could make us disenchanted with KK and even potentially fold the best hand, which would be a disaster.

I reraise flop to $225 to set up a turn shove.

All Aboard the Variance Train. You have to accept the fact that you can win big/lose big against this player. Here...you are WELL ahead of range, correct?

So how to extract?

You could simply call and let him continue being the table captain.
You could raise villain's flop minraise.....and I vote for this.

Since you're in position and he's the last aggressor here, I like a call and a shove over his turn bet if it's anything over half pot. We shouldn't be scared of any turn card and are never folding. We make the most by letting him hang himself when he's drawing thinly.

I'm already considering this hand is playing for stacks. We're going down one of two roads on this flop OP:

1) Jam
2) Fold

If this was HU vs V1 I'd flat but with v2 behind you to act I think it's the worst move.

Am I reading this right that v2 folded so it is HU? The hand you posted confused me with v1 and v2's position.

Assuming it is heads up, just flat

Given his description of villain as a relentless bettor once he gets started the best way to play here is to call flop and get your money in on the turn. Reraise just lets him off the hook with his bluffs and single pair hands.

The trick with this sort is that once you call your committed. He isn't likely to give up or slow down no matter what happens. Close your eyes and press hard on the turn. Either shove over his bet or make a pot sized bet if he checks.

I don't understand how our hand could be too weak to call off against this guy's barreling range but be strong enough to GII against his 3bet calling range.

Call flop, call turn, and call or raise river depending.

One pair hands are exactly the sort of hands you want to play rope-a-dope with against a maniac. You just have to know you are committed to calling despite a scare card. If stacks are deep enough that you won't get it in just by calling him down, then you should be more willing to take a line that gives you a shot at building a bigger pot with the stronger hands in your range, while doing a combination of slow playing and pot control with your medium strength hands.

+1 to Bob.

I think raising here is terrible unless you have a read he'll jam with anything.

Call/call/call or shove. If he got lucky: nh!; chips, please; next deal.

If you win, practice whatever speech you think will convince him you nearly folded on every street.

I'd be inclined to agree, except for the fact that he already
If you have a read that he's happy to call with weak hands and draws, you should just 3! the flop.

Otherwise, on the J95r flop you put his range at
So let's give him AJ, KJ, QJ, JT, J9s, 99, 55, T9s, 98s, 65s, A5o, A5s, A9s, QT, T8s. Not sure what your exact equity is here, but it's really high. The only two cards on the turn that improve your hand have the potential to give him a straight, like half the other cards in the deck improve his range (any A, Q, J, 9, 7, 6, 5), so readless, calling here might well bring a tricky decision on the turn.

But you're not readless. You know he's continuing on all turns and on almost all rivers, regardless of the runout. The way to destroy terrible overaggressive LAGs is to passively call down with made hands, and that's what I'd do here.

I have been persuaded to call/call/call_raise.


However I think the gem of the thread is:

Raise all in. If he's got any pair, draw, or pair and backdoor draw, he's in.

Interesting that some of you guys are saying call, some are saying raise if it's heads up.

I decide to flat since I think he will e barreling just about any turn

Flop ($60) Jh 9s 5d.
Checks to me and I cbet 45, V1 quickly raises to 100. Folds back to me. I can see him doing this with Jx, 9x, 5x, 2 pairs, sets, Q10, 810, and possibly a little Ace high air.

Turn ($260) Qs
V1 very quickly bets 100. Hero?

Shove now. The Q isn't a happy card but against this villain you can't back off and you have less then a pot sized raise left.

If villain is bordering on maniac and you can be confident he will bet river also with anything then flatting is also OK. This is good only against the most relentlessly aggressive. Most villains will realize once you call the turn that you probably won't fold the river unless you are drawing and miss.

Thanks; glad you like it

We decided we were committed on the flop. With your call, pot is 460 with 430 behind. Board has moistened, let's gii now.