Home game tip... playing 2-5 nl holdem the following situation arose.

villian is he is a solid player that switches up his game. He takes both aggressive and passive lines to try and keep you guessing as he can also throw in bluffs. Capable of calling off light. He has 420 to start the hand. Hero covers.

villian limps utg+2, 2 limps, sb completes, hero has As7s in bb and checks.

flop: Ac 8s 5s

sb checks, hero bets 20, a villian makes it 80, folds around to hero...

I know that I am out of position for one so for that reason I like a raise. But do I really want to get stacks in here against his calling range? Given stack sizes he now only has 330ish left and if i call the pot is 185. I've made the mistake of overbetting all in before and it makes my hand look too draw oriented. What sizing do you like here?

I like a any raise pretty much commits him if he calls. If he's bad enough to keep barreling if a spade hits, I flat here. If we feel like we have to raise, I like a shove, as if he reads it as a draw he won't be expecting your TP backup plan.

you are likely to be behind just about every time here

you described him as the type of villain to call off light so i think we can call and expect to get value even if a spade hits on the turn or river. if we shove, i dont think we're getting any better hands to fold.

This. If u think his range is heavily weighed towards two pairs+ then call turn bluff u can get paid off but u will have to check fold if u miss. If u think he does this with top pair or draws a decent amount of time then shove and try to get a fold or a call since ull have lots of equity even though ur almost certainly behind

OP, I'd encourage you to write out all the combinations of hands in his raising range here, and then his calling range if you shove. Post 'em up.

Hes rarey doing this with anything less than a strong made hand or a massive draw like 67s. Since there are many more combose of sets and two pair hands in his range, we likely have very little FE so shoving seems pretty spewy. Guess call and evaluate ott if you think you can still get decent value if you hit, but there is some rio if you hit your seven and he's still ahead.

If you like felting with a bare flush draw it is a fine stackoff. If not, it is a fold.

<<<<he is a solid player>>>>>>>>>

A bit of a conundrum in that we are facing a solid player capable of shifting gears, while at the same time stacking off light in certain spots.

Given descriptions and the flop line I think we can range AQ+, 88, 55, A5s 76s, a few diamond combos like KQs, QJs, JTs, and air. The latter part may take this line since the hand was limped and there is potential FE knowing a weaker Ace is vulnerable to a raise. Nevertheless, this is multi-way and a solid player has already committed 20% of stack with 2 opponents yet to act, and a Hero who has lead into 3 players from the blinds. I'd underweight this play.

Since the villain can mix it up, in this case potentially limping w/AQ+ hoping to 3-bet, I don’t think those numerous combos can be discounted from their range. While we have decent equity vs. those hands, shoving is the only way to get to see 2 cards.

We are oop and likely to see only 1 card in reality however. Thus, calling seems to be the worst option. I also think shoving has little FE given the limped pot, i.e. we have little cred for a big Ace.

I’ll lean nitty and fold, which is >shove>call imo.

Seems like the villian already recognizes this is a draw heavy board and has made the statement with is raise ahead of two players. He's ahead of you. If you shove, you won't have FE if he has seen you do this before in your home game.

If you call and miss which is most likely, he'll make you pay. Seems like a fold is the best option.

I dont expect villian to have AK or even AQ as he wouldv opened pre.

oop i just shove and gambool. ip i call.

This.

Also, how do different parts of his raising range react to a small 3bet? Say, 150-175? How does he view you as a player? Does he give you credit for 2p+ if you take this line, whereas he'll put you squarely on a draw if you shove? Can you ever get a free river with this line?

FWIW I don't necessarily advocate this, but if we have to automatically give this player credit for [A8, 88, 55] (and subsequently folding) in this spot, we should probably just be c/calling to avoid being blown off of our equity OOP.

Here is my range for a solid, thinking opponent who limps ep and raises this board when a player in the blinds leads out. It is wide because he mixes up his game, and is in position facing a bet that is usually never 2p+ at these stakes:

Board: 85A
*******Equity*****Win*****Tie
MP2****49.45%**48.57%***0.87%*{ As7s }
MP3****50.55%**49.68%***0.87%*{ AA, 88, 55, AQs+, A8s, A5s, KsQs, QsJs, JsTs, Ts9s, AQo+ }

If we assume he dumps everything worse than 2p+ vs a 3bet less than all-in, our situation changes to this:

Board: 85A
*******Equity*****Win*****Tie
MP2****36.10%**35.18%***0.92%*{ As7s }
CO*****63.90%**62.98%***0.92%*{ AA, 88, 55, A8s, A5s }

If he will dump A5 to a shove, here is his get-it-in range:

Board: 85A
*******Equity*****Win*****Tie
MP2****32.58%**32.36%***0.22%*{ As7s }
SB*****67.42%**67.19%***0.22%*{ AA, 88, 55, A8s }

The pot going into the flop is $25. Your $20 bet plus his $80 with $335 behind gives you a $460 potential win for $335 risk with a shove. So you need 42.13% equity to get it in profitably.

It looks like a shove here is bad, especially since you say it will turn your hand face-up as a draw.

If you 3bet small, say to $150, you are offering him 70:185 or close to 2.5:1 direct odds. This may be good enough to keep his dominated draws in, hoping they can extract more than $100 from you on a spade turn. It should also keep A5 in the hand, and you have pretty good equity against that hand.

If he flats all of his value hands, plus 1 combo of a flush draw, this changes the situation to:

Board: 85A
*******Equity*****Win*****Tie
MP2****41.22%**40.38%***0.84%*{ As7s }
BB*****58.78%**57.94%***0.84%*{ AA, 88, 55, A8s, A5s, KsQs }

What if he ships over our small 3bet? The pot would be $25+$80+$150=$255 with $335 behind, total of $590. You need better than 36.21% equity to call. If he shoves all 2p+ hands, the play is roughly neutral EV. If he ever bluff shoves a flush draw, the play is solidly +EV.

You could price yourself in with a bigger 3bet, $200 for instance, but I wouldn't do this myself.

If he flats the small 3bet, we can easily shove for value on a spade turn, since he will be hard-pressed to fold a set getting better than 2.5:1. We may even be able to semi-bluff shove any high, non-pairing turn for value, expecting folds from 2pair hands.

In summary, a shove is bad against his get-it-in range, but you might be able to steal the pot from AK,AQ,A5. A small 3-bet is good if he will flat ip frequently, fearing you have a hand like 88,55 yourself. A small 3bet is also good if it will induce a spazz from his flush draws, or get you to the river cheaply.

We need to know how he responds to a small 3bet.