Both villains unknown, I just sat in the game.

Live 2/5 game

Villain 1 (UTG) 520
Villain 2 (Mid position) 900
Hero (CO) Covers


Villains 1 and 2 limp, hero makes it $20 with KJ
Everyone folds, both limpers call.

Flop 2Q2

Villain 1 checks, villain 2 checks, Hero bets $45, Villain 1 calls, Villain 2 folds.
Pot (155)
Turn A

Villain 1 bets $125
Hero?

No buy in maximum? How can you cover $900 if you just sat down? Did you have to move?

Anyway, Villain has committed to the hand if he is a thinking player so if we hit our straight or flush we will get his whole stack. 11 outs (2 of spades is not really good for us). Costs us $125 for a possible $610 pay off. Easy call.

Live 2/5 often has a $1k max BI.

Max buyin is $800 I got moved from a must move into the main game, having won a few pots earlier.

The problem with calling the $125 is that we don't know what the villain has, and we don't know how good our implied odds are.

I believe there are 3 possibilities.
1) Villain has a Q
2) Villain has an A
3) Villain has floated the flop and is representing the ace with air

Not sure how likely each one of them is, I think him having a Q is more likely than A (people rarely float with air in live 2/5 games).

Now here are our plays, if he has a Q, I think shoving is best. If he has an A smooth calling and getting payed if we hit is best. If he has air, all in is best as well (we don't wanna end up losing the hand if we miss)

I think you guys can figure out what I decided to do. Let me know what you think about my thinking process.

Well I hope you folded. Shoving seems suicide with no fe. $125 turn lead looks very strong. He is not going anywhere.

If I felt like punking the dude I would shove. But I don't think that's a smart play with the board paired already.


If he has a queen a shove is incorrect he won't call unless he has 2 queens.

Option 2 if he has an Ace flatting is horrible with 24% equity, the play is to shove if he has an ace, you can rep a monster.

Third option if he has air you do not want to shove since you want him to fire with air on the river if you hit you card. So flatting is the best option.

OP,
Why are you so deeply discounting the fact that the villian actually holds a duece? He limp-called a nominal raise from a late-position raiser, called your flop bet, then led into you on the turn. That is a pretty strong line, especially in a live game.

Unless you have a lot of history, which you don't, this is a pretty clear fold.

Villain has committed to the hand already so our implied odds equal the rest of his stack unless he is on a total bluff........implied odds make this an easy call. If villain is full we are dead, otherwise we are drawing to the best hand. If we miss we lose as we won't bluff at this pot because our opponent has told us by his bet size that he has a hand he is unlikely to let go.

We are not committed to the hand and the implied odds make a call worthwhile.

For some reason I read the lead into the aggressor as weakness (trying to get me off a hand). I rarely give a lot of respect to donk-betting, as I am expected to continue betting a lot of the time.

I am not really discounting the fact that he can have a deuce, but I think the chance is very small, and it doesn't really effect much. If he has a full house, I will go broke if I hit my draw anyway, so it is not even a concern for me.

I felt like he had a Q or air, both of which I thought I could get him to fold. The whole hand kind of didn't make sense to me.

Your best case scenario is that you have 14 outs (8 spades, 3 tens, and 3 kings). That is just short of the odds to call. In actuality, you probably have fewer than that. If he has an ace, your kings are no good. However, you have to factor in the times that you are dead and the times that your 'out' fills him up and the times that he doesn't give you any action. (He's only committed to the hand if he's made already. If he's bluffing, your implied odds are zero.) These other factors push you into the clear fold territory.

If he's bluffing, he made a good play. Tap the table and move on. There is no reason to double him up when you're just guessing.

I hope it worked out for you.

It's a shove for me.

Can Villain 1 have AQ here? He might be donking hoping to get a raise from AK.

It's a marginal call. If you think he will fire on the river AND call a raise then go ahead and call here. If you think he's bluffing then raise now. If you think he might give up the river with just a queen....consider it a float.

Without any knowledge of villains...I probably just fold and wait for a better spot. They could have anything from QQ, AA, 22, to A2 to nothing.

Of course you probably rabbit hunted the 10 of spades right?