Effective stacks 330ish; Villain has Hero covered.

V is TAG, has hit hands throughout the day, sitting with 550ish, drinking a redbull wearing bose headphones and a hoodie.

Hero has been playing TAG-like, but have mixed it up post-flop stabbing where I sense weakness, 3bet squeezing in position with appropriate ranged cards, isolating limpers / those who I perceive to be the bad players at the table - but generally not connecting on boards.

On to the hand:

Hero has AhAs in BB, LAG in MP1 limps, BTN raises to 13, folds to Hero who 3bets to 45, MP1 folds, BTN calls.

($97) Flop T73 two clubs

Hero cbets $65, Villain thinks for 10 seconds and goes all-in, Hero ???

If thinking you should fold, quit poker now.

instant call

Cool cool. Just checking

I typically aim to offer poor 8:1 IO when 3betting, so I'd go just a smidgeon larger preflop but whatever (we still offered fairly poor 10:1, so fine).

SPR is 3, we have the largest overpear, and board is drawy, so we're 100% committed, imo. If we think headphones might stab at it then I don't mind a check/shove. Otherwise, I'd probably bet a little larger to setup a slightly easier turn jam, but whatever.

As played, calling. Never quite comfortable calling here as we're repping exactly what we have, but if he called off 14% of his stack preflop to setmine and bink, nice hand sir.

GcluelessNLnoobG

Call

Must call and hit an A to beat his TT. Seriously can't fold.

Raise bigger pre when OOP. I'd have made it at least $50.

On the flop, as much as we want to bet for value and protection, a 2/3 pot bet is going to pot commit us (we've put 1/3 our starting stack in). We should probably bet smaller, like 1/3 pot, or just check-call, and look to jam a brick turn card. If we bet 2/3 pot, a good V will know we will almost never fold to a raise.

When he jams over our c-bet, he could have some sets, but very few 2P. He could also have some draws, like 98s or AXcc. He could also be over-playing some top pair hands.

Was it the Tc on the flop, or some other suit? ATcc could be a no-brainer jam for V here.

I don't love calling off a jam on the flop here, but we've put in 1/3 of our starting stack, and without the Ac in your hand, I think we have to call. If he's got a set or outdraws us, so be it.

We were committed for stacks as soon as we 3bet preflop creating the SPR 3 pot.

Gnothatin',justsayin'G

That's fair. But it's just barely 3 SPR going to the flop. If I'm doing the math right, remaining stack is $285, and the pot is probably more like $95 after the rake, maybe less. If we're going to consider ourselves committed when we 3B pre, why not just jam pre, or jam this flop from up front?

If we 3B bigger pre, say, to $50 or more, and V calls, then, yeah, obviously we're going to have to stack off, and I'm fine with it. But with just barely 3 SPR going to the flop after hero makes it $45 pre, I could see checking this flop, to induce V to bet with weaker value, and with some bluffs.

As played, once hero bets 2/3 pot on flop, there's no more fold equity, so we have to call. But if V knows there's no fold equity, he should have a stronger range when he jams than he might have if stacks were deeper and he just raised something less than all-in. He's not going to have as many 1P hands here. He's going to have more 2P/sets and good draws.

So...I like a bigger raise pre, and a check on the flop, to induce a bet from a wider range.

Basically I was just addressing the point that our big flop bet committed us; it didn't, our preflop 3bet at these stack sizes did (which is obviously fine).

Just because we're committed doesn't mean we can't finesse the rest of stacks in (and open shoving preflop/flop ain't exactly subtle). Which is why I don't hate a check on the flop either (although mostly just to check/shove as the gig will be up and we don't want to allow free cards OOP on a drawy board).

Gnotreallydisagreeing,moreclarifyingforOPG

I disagree that we're necessarily committed by our $45 preflop 3B, when the SPR going to the flop will barely be 3. It's a spot where we can possibly fold on the flop. SPR 3 isn't necessarily an automatic stack-off scenario. It's borderline.

For instance, suppose MP1 called pre, and they were 3 ways to the flop. Hero checks, MP1 bets pot, and BTN raises 4x. I think we could make a case for folding there, facing that action.

This is part of why I prefer a larger bet pre, to narrow opponents' calling ranges, and lower the SPR more, so that stacking off on the flop becomes automatic. We can check-shove flop and not think about it.

Like I said - if we're going to be pot-committed going to the flop, why not just jam pre? It may not be subtle, but if all our opponents think we'll be pot committed when they call, what's the difference? A smaller bet just allows them to see a cheaper flop, and allows them to play perfectly against us post-flop.

As played, I don't like the smaller 3B pre or the flop c-bet, for the simple fact that we CAN'T fold to V's jam, even knowing that V's jamming range is going to be stronger, precisely because V should know we can never fold. He should be folding all his weaker 1P hands and non-nut draws to our c-bet. What does his jamming range look like?

Whereas if we checked, V might bet a wider range, thinking we MIGHT fold, rather than commit our remaining $285. We did check rather than c-bet on this semi-wet board, after all. If V bets any amount, NOW we're going to be pot-committed if we call, so it's a jam or fold spot, where I think jamming is fine.

On the other hand, if the flop checks through, we can jam any brick turn, or possibly fold on a club or straight-completing card. I definitely would not consider us pot-committed simply because we 3B to $45 pre and the SPR is going to be 3 on the flop.

I guess we're not in agreement if we don't think we're committed on this flop HU at an SPR of 3. This is pretty fistpumpy commitment for me and I'm the forum super nit.

Also kinda disagree with some other points. Just cuz we believe we're committed doesn't mean our opponents know that. It also doesn't mean they get to play "perfectly" against us postflop; there are lots who'll stack off postflop with TP / draws because they'll feel committed at this point too. And not exactly sure what you're arguing with regards to shoving preflop; I mean, I know you're comparing that to something else, but you're never going to convince me that shoving $330 over a $13 raise preflop with AA is better than almost anything else (apart from perhaps a min-raise).

I have zero issues regarding a bigger 3bet size, but think ours is also perfectly acceptable. I also have zero issues with a check/shove plan on the flop, although I think cbetting is also fine.

Gsortadisagreeing,notevenquitesurereally?G

With our hand? Yes, obviously. With our range after we 3bet from the BB against a BU iso-raise? No.

docvail has a very good point. That cbet sizing lets our opponent know we're pretty unlikely to fold to a shove after we showed a ton of strength and put in 1/3 of our stack on a drawy board.

Making life easier for our opponent isn't ideal.

That's fair enough, but are other options far better?

If we bet a 1/3 PSB, we can make the mistake of offering our opponents too good of IO to call (not great when we're committed and likely can't fold). We also leave quite a lot behind for later streets, again not great when there are a crapload of scare cards (which we might not even play that well OOP). Not exactly a board we're wanting to play 3 postflop streets over, imo.

Again, I don't mind a check/shove plan at all (and I actually stated I might lean to that if Villain is stabby in my original reply). Although giving a free card OOP when committed isn't exactly ideal either.

In committed spots on drawy boards, I personally lean to a bit more ABC play, with my thought being the typical opponent is still very capable of making a mistake here and meanwhile I'm not going to purposely make the mistake of making it too profitable for them to continue (especially in a big meaningful pot).

Gbutthat'sme,othersmightdisagreeG

I like Check-raising T high boards with over pairs -

As played - you don't hold the Ac so he could have the flush draw, but at 1/3 they always seem to have some set or some mystery 2p.

I'm never folding this board so what ever but you did 3bet too small OOP. You need to 4x it so 13x4 = $52. I'd make it $55 or $60 just for good measure. They will still call as they can rarely fold.

Call and don't think twice about it. If he out-flopped you, gg and reload.

I would also call, although not quite as fistpump as some people are suggesting. Main things in your favour are (1) shallow stacks; (2) you unblock club draws; (3) you should never be up against 2 pair (and also you might not always see 33 play this way preflop).

Would you have folded if he had shown you his hand?

I think technically AA is slightly behind there (but ahead after the turn). I had already committed almost 1/3rd of my stack and was essentially getting better than 2:1 on the all-in, so no - can't fold.

First off, good on you for participating here, being willing to learn in order to improve, and for sharing hands like this. Mine was probably the most critical post in this thread, but even I wouldn't say you made any huge mistakes here.

Yes, I would have liked it better if you raised bigger pre, but my preferred raise sizing wouldn't have been that much larger, and might not have gotten V to fold. Had you bet larger pre-flop, and if he still called, you still would have lost your stack post-flop.

I also would have preferred a check on the flop, but even if you had checked, and V bet, I would have jammed. There again, you would have lost.

Once you got to the flop the way you did, the only way you could have won this hand would have been if the flop went check-check, you jammed turn, and V folded. Odds are V wouldn't have checked back on the flop with middle pair and a flush draw.

If the stacks were deeper, deep enough that you wouldn't have been pot committed at any point in the hand, MAYBE this hand would have turned out differently. You might have been able to get him to fold with a big bet on the turn. If he called turn, you might have been able to get away from your hand with the 3rd club on the river.

But we should be looking at each decision in terms of EV, not based on the result. Obviously we'd be willing to get stacks in on flop (when it was basically a coin-flip), and happy to get them in on turn (when we were a 2:1 favorite).

IMO, the biggest takeaway here is the need to be aware of how a good opponent's range gets stronger once we become pot-committed. We should try to avoid spots wherein our opponents can play perfectly against us.

Nice hand, imo.

GcluelessNLnoobG