This is a fun hand from a deep 1/3 game. Game is very aggressive and a number of players make huge overbets for both bluffs and value. I have a LAG image, but playing tight tonight and V knows it.

1 limper (LP fish) in MP, I raise to $12 (standard) with 7s9s in HJ, young Asian reg (LAG) calls from BTN, limper calls. Fish has ~$200, BTN has $600, I cover everyone.

Flop (36): 6s4c8h

MP checks. Hero?

I check too. This board doesn’t hit my perceived range well and it felt useful to have some strong draws in my range here (OESD + BDFD).

Turn (36): Ts

MP checks, I bet $25 and BTN raises to $75. Fish folds. Hero?

Dear lord bet the flop.

$225 as played

Why bet the flop? This hits his perceived range much harder than mine, so I think I need to have some strong hands in my range which can sustain bets.

If you're not checking this, what hands are you checking? Only when you whiff completely?

Especially against this lineup, I think I need to have hands which can easily x/c so they can't print money ever time I check.

Dude you don’t need to worry that random fish at a 1/3 game are exploiting you using game theory hahaha.

Random fish aren't and I don't worry about that. In a 1/3 game at a random casino I'd definitely bet here.

V is not a random fish. He's a thinking reg who I have years of history with. He absolutely pays attention to my lines and tries to figure out exploits.

Well if you say so. It’s especially unnecessary to worry about these things 3 way. But your range is also way stronger than his on this flop, so I’m not sure why you think he has an advantage.

In general, I have no idea why we need a c/continue range in this spot.

Also if you want to have “strong hands” in your checking range, I’m not sure 9 High is a great candidate. Kind of seems like a hand that would benefit from some fold equity.

I would bet that flop. It looks like you might have a high pr? or think you can take down the pot w/air. Nobody puts you on 7,9ss draw. You bet to start building the pot. Also, maybe an A falls, you lead out. There's no guarantee you hit the str8, but by reping a strong hand you can still take down the pot.

As played, bet big. You have the nutz, make calling expensive.

I played a similar hand last night, I open, bet little over half pot on flop and hit, I bet close to pot on turn, V called and hit a flush on the river, I had to pay off his small value bet as well as there were 2 flush draws he could have called to hit. I wanted more money, but after the fact I felt maybe I should have just shoved the turn.

I think the hand is well played and we definitely need to balance some strong checks OTF, and this hand fits nicely. This is not some random fish, so balancing IS important.

AP, just call turn in this situation. BTN has air a lot given his line and your flop check. You block so many semi-bluffs from V so let him hang himself with air OTR.

If l am playing a 1/3 game and the V is so advanced he can tell I have a str8 draw on the flop, then raises me when l hit the nutz making it too complicated to decide what to do, I am finding another table. You are making this guy sound like Phil Ivey. He only gets two cards, just like you. If you can't beat him with the nutz, what can you do?

In games where there are Vs I fear, I just avoid them and go after the players l can beat. Just fold when he's in the pot.

Bet the flop. You have all the overpairs in your range. That should be a default semi bluff pretty much always.

And yea, 4bet/broke. if he flats 4bet jam all the rivers.

I like your flop check for balance.

As far as the turn goes, I would raise here to about $225. It's definitely time to start building the pot here. If villain has trips, 2 pair or a draw here, we should make him pay a bit more.

I like the way you are playing the hand so far.

I have no idea why you think this. Does your perceived range not include 88, 66, 44? Since you have 97s here I assume the nut straight is in your range as well. You also have every overpair. I don't know how having every strong hand except 75 in your perceived range leads you to think his range was hit harder. There's no way you have a range disadvantage on this flop.

First of all, it's not a question of "beating him." People don't only post hands they lost and I wasn't terribly worried about losing this one. It's about getting max value. Sorry you lost your hand, but my concern definitely isn't about losing.

Secondly, it's specifically hands against tougher V's which I think are worth analyzing. Hitting something like TPTK against a fish isn't complicated, this is.

Finally, this is a home game. There isn't another table and the nearest casino is over 3 hours away. I make do with what I can.

For those who are in favor of betting flop, what hands are you checking? It can't *just* be overcards because this V is definitely capable of picking up on that.

Sure, I have all the sets but I probably don't open 75 (and only open 97s at a small frequency). Whereas he is very likely to call with any suited connector OTB and has a lot of pairs vs. my (perceived) overcards.

The point is I think having a checking range which consists solely of whiffed overcards would be exploited by this V. Now maybe some would prefer to check a pair instead of this hand, that's fine.

I'm not sure, I don't think he's the type to raise air here. He could be semibluffing with a spade draw but if he thinks I'm FOS his usual line is to call and then raise the river. His weakest hand here is probably a flush draw.

I'm definitely in favor of raising here, especially since V can easily put *me* on a spade semibluff with something like AJs or have the bluff himself. He also can have all the sets/2-pair/lower straights here.

Seems like a lot of people are in favor of ~$225. Does anyone consider overbet jamming? I doubt he's ever folding a set or a straight OTT but he might fold on a scary river (ex. spade). Plus, with my LAG image I think he could occasionally make a stand with something like AT (putting me on a semibluff).

if hes as good as you say he is he can fold a set

I think my image helps here (generally quite LAG) and imagine he talks himself into a call with sets.

How is villain going to exploit us if he knows our checking range 3 way on wet boards contains air?

I think you’re looking at this the wrong way around. You have all the overpairs and sets here, so you need to find some bluffs to balance that. 9 high with equity is the perfect candidate.
You have plenty medium strength hands to check back 98,T8,A6,A4, etc

Fair enough. I think checking with medium-strength pairs here would also be fine and possibly superior.

Im only checking my A highs / K highs that dont give me BD FD and top set.

If I would really want to balance my checking range I would consider AA there (as there are no overcards to come and we're less likely to get outdrawn). I would check top set as well as we're blocking value hands our villains can have.

We can also check/call with a hand like AKs/AQs with a BDFD, we are sometimes ahead against gutshots, straight draws and many random hands that might start bluffing, we can improve on the turn to a better hand or we can gain equity.

And we can of course check/call with many marginal hands like A4s, A6s (though I would probably bet A6s to deny equity to all the overcards).

Don't check this. Calling this hand "a strong draw" would be giving it too much credit iyam.

And yeah, even if we have a strong draw that is 99% not the best hand at the moment, we should bet. At the moment we have 9high so it's a great hand to bet and put pressure on our opponents.

If you start check/calling this then you deny yourself a chance to win the hand like 60-65% of the time when you don't hit your draw. Over 80% of the time you won't hit the straight on the turn, then what? You're going to check/fold? Or check/call if you gain equity with a BDFD but check/fold on brick rivers? That's just a huge waste of a great barreling hand.

I think that checking the flop is fine, especially in such an aggressive game. I'm definitely raising this turn rather than trying to get cute. i'd definitely go for a polarizing bet here. Maybe $275 or so.

We're in position, though, so that should slightly change your perspective, although it doesn't change the fact that we should just bet our nine high on the flop.