V1 ($275): UTG - Playing Loose Passive. Only hand I saw him raise was with 99 from EP. Have see him reach showdown with AQ and AJ that were not raised pre-flop.
Hero ($450): EP - Loose and aggressive. Raising a lot of pots and not getting played back at. No one at the table is adjusting and I am winning a lot of pots uncontested. I don't think the villain (or anyone else) takes my image into account and are only playing their hands.

Pre-Flop($3): V1 Raises to $15 UTG. Most raises at this table have been $10 or $12. One fold to me and I look down at JJ. I think villain is raising pocket pairs from 88 or 99 up and probably AK or AKs. He probably limps AQ. Although I may be slightly ahead of his range I think that I am probably behind his calling range so I elect to call and take a flop in position. The cutoff calls (LP player, he has no bearing on the hand other than his $15)

Flop ($48): 866 V1 quickly and confidently bets $35. I am not sure if he would be the type to fire a one and done type bet with AKs (not hearts) or not but I think he still bets all of his pocket pairs 9's and above. I also don't want to raise and have him spazz with a hand I beat (because I would fold if he 3 bet). I am not convinced I am beat, but I can't fold yet. I call the $35 and the cutoff folds.

Turn ($118): 3 V1 bets $55. For much the same reason as on the turn I elect to call. I am hoping his passive nature will make him check a hand that beats me on the river. If he bombs the river I will give him credit for an overpair to me and probably fold.

River ($228) K V1 checks. I can eliminate KK from his range and discount AA as I think he would probably bet both of those (probably is for the aces, KK he definately bets). He is not the type to play tricky on the river. I now think that his range is mostly comprised of QQ, 1010, and 99. I go for thin value and bet $60

Comments on all streets appreciated. I will probably ask some questions if it turns out my thought process was sound up until the river.

Well you played that hand about as passively as possible. Next time 3b pre. As played raise flop so you can shove turn. If calling flop, shove turn over his weak bet.

I will wait for more responses before I comment, but I do want to say that the game I was playing in was playing very small and although less than half pot, that $55 bet on the turn was read by me as strength.

Id 3 bet pre. As played i call flop and raise turn. if he has QQ/KK/AA its going to be really hard for him to continue. I really hate the $60 bet on the river. 99 and 1010 are the only hands you beat that will sometimes call and it sounds like he would limp those.

Edit: mis read op.. you ranged villain as raising 99/1010. I still dont think he calls with those very often.

Larger than usual raises from loose passive opponents, esp when they're normally not raising much and in EP, always make the alarm go off in my head. I think you played it perfectly fine until now, would either check back or bet small now to maybe get some value from 99 or TT - most likely checking it back.

+EDIT would be nice to know how big V raised before? was 15 his standard raise or the normal 10/12?

I think you played this well.

Never, ever 3-bet this pre.

Your reasoning for flatting this pre-flop is perfect; 3-betting a loose/passive UTG opening large while in EP yourself is pretty close to spew.

Flop call looks perfect. Raising seems bad, folding seems bad. Villain is loose passive and raised pre and bet the flop, and we have a middling overpair. A raise is way more likely to value town yourself than get value. Flop is more of a fold than a raise, but no question that a call is best.

I like the turn call. You still have the middling overpair, his range still contains hands that beat you and that you beat, and what's most important is that he'll play very face up on the river. Calling here is a good use of position. You're getting very good odds. I'd fold turn if he bet much closer to pot.

I'm OK with betting for thin value on the river when he checks. I agree with the QQ, TT, 99 assessment, though his large raise pre is probably more consistent with QQ than 99. Think you sized it pretty well given the range we're considering, though it's probably as much as I'd bet (would go somewhere from $30-$60).

I wouldn't fault you for checking back the river, either - you called turn because you thought he'd play face up on the river, and now he has, but it's hard to say that you definitely beat 50% of his calling range - if you do, it's certainly not much more than 50%, so very thin. That's why I like an even smaller bet, probably closer to $40.

I think it was all played pretty well but IMO the thin value was a bit optimistic. I am just checking on the river cuz I think his hand is QQ way too often.

Wj, take this for what it's worth, but dude sometimes your recommended lines really make me cringe.

That or you play in the best llsnl games in the country

Lol... i like wj's line. If villain has an over pair that is beating us how often is he calling off on a paired board? In the games i play, not very often.

So you are raising as a bluff?

I couldn't remember if his raise from EP with 99 was 15 or not, so I characterized it in the OP the way I thought of it (slightly higher than normal raise).

Well i wouldnt know exactly where im at in the hand but raising seems good because a) we can fold out better and b) sometimes we can get worse to put more $ in the pot.

I would be raising as a bluff though as id range a loose passive player raising in ep and firing 2 streets on this board qq, kk, aa.

I like taking all the monies, not half of it. I'm not flatting this board twice, just seems way too passive. Sometimes I'm wrong and V just plays AA this way and I give them a free loan for an hour or two, but the stacks come back to me in the end. You play the aggro, they pays you off. I also 3b JJ almost every time unless PFR's range is QQ+ only, and throw in a random 3b every couple orbits to keep them on their toes. If people want to limp JJ or give up/play smallball on boards that aren't perfect (this one is), that's fine....but it's losing value.

The great thing about $1/2 is (almost) everyone plays their hand face up except me. When they 3b their QQ+, I just get to play perfectly against it since they never 3b anything else. Everyone's games are different. If you think an UTG range is QQ+ only then just flat and fold any flop when you don't hit a set. Putting the decision back to the PFR is much harder for them than when OP just calls down 3 streets.

I don't think it's ever smart to raise when we don't know where we stand....and good luck trying to fold out QQ/KK/AA.



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Saying a line is "way too passive" is an emotional observation, not a helpful piece of analysis. I also think that 3! JJ vs. a typical loose-passive never gets better to fold, while easily getting lower PPs to fold. Sometimes simply calling down in position is the highest EV play.



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Judging by how tight the player is preflop, he's utg, and he limps many of his value hands, I think 3betting is a mistake. He probably folds a lot of hands you beat and jams everything that beats you.

If he jams over a 3b pre then we just fold.

Playing passively is a great way to lose the maximum when you're behind and win the minimum when you're ahead. Who said anything about wanting a better hand to fold pre? That would be a ridiculous reason to 3b. If his range is really just QQ+ then fold flop.

So were bluffing with JJ

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I agree, I don't think this player folds better. These guys were just playing their hands. He is not folding an overpair here.

Now on the river, I am highly confident in my read of him having a pocket pair 9's through Q's (maybe one combo of AA, as I think he usually bets it). I have been reading a lot on here about elastic and inelastic calling ranges. Is this maybe one of those spots where I can bet his last $160 or so for thin value because he is check calling all of them? The heart draw did brick!

So you know exactly where you stand in every hand whenever you raise? Wow... you're sick bro.

This flop misses an ep raisers range minus AKh/AQh. Paired boards are scary for most 1-2 players. I've done very well attacking paired boards in HU pots and by very well I mean accomplished the impossible feat of folding out over pairs with aggression.

Uh...no. How did you get that out of what I said?

How does calling down (yet betting if checked to) lose the max when behind and win the minimum when ahead? You really need to get away from plattitudes. Calling down allows us to use position to try to avoid value owning ourselves while still getting value from our hands.



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You said you'd 3bet/fold and he's not going to call with many worse hands. So why 3bet then?

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In the games I play in 90% of villains will make you prove you have a 6 in your hand. Maybe more like 95%. They are almost never folding their QQ+. I don't know why ppl in your games would so willingly fold overpairs on paired board. 966 is like a dream board for QQ+

OP I like your line. Except I might check back river. The only way I'm going for thin value here is if I think V is calling with 2nd pair 3rd pair type hands. Most Vs aren't. The K sucks cuz it hits Vs range, not so much ours.

I think the debate about whether or not to 3 bet this pre is really a toss up. For me it would be more of a feel thing. I would need more info on V, game flow, Hero's image, how often have you been 3betting, are 3bets getting any action at this table. Just a total feel spot. If I've been super active with lag image I like the 3bet. If I haven't 3bet all night I wouldn't start here. Keep your range wide.