Table Dynamics: This is a pretty good 2/5 game at my local card room. The game has died down a bit from about 2 hours ago when every pot was raised or re-raised and going multi-way, but there is still a ton of money on the table.

Hero HJ (~$2000) is a young white 20 something year old guy. Has a reputation for winning in this room and is well known. Also all the players at this table know me by name and have played with me many times before. I'm probably viewed as pretty aggro, but usually having the goods when the pot gets big. If I remember correctly, I had been fairly card dead in the hour or so leading up to this hand.

V1 MP (~$1100) is a 40-50 year old white guy. He is kinda fishy overall, but is capable of betting a wide range of hands and occasionally buffing with air. He will also occasionally slow play big hands.

V2 BTN (covers) is a 40ish year old Eastern European guy. He has only recently been playing in this room and has been running really well/winning, although I know that will soon change because I can see the (rather large) mistakes he is making. He has WAY over played one pair before in a few spots, but has also made some really weirded checks in position with hands that seem like easy value bets (i.e. Two pair when a gutter ball straight comes in OTR). With that said, he is probably one of the better players at the table. He is able to make reads and then go with them.

Hero is dealt: 55

Pre-flop:
CO (a big fish sitting at like ~$1300) straddles, V2 calls OTB, a few others call, V2 calls, Hero calls, CO checks. 7 ways to the flop.

Flop (~$63): 533
Checks to V1 who bets $50, Hero...?

Alright... So whats the plan here? Do I just go into robot "try and stack a donk" mode here an just raise flop/bet/jam? It seems to me that that line is going to get anyone without 3x to fold. Do I flat and try to let the other players into the pot behind me? The fish in the CO my very well call with overs, any pair, any straight draw if I flat. It's also my read that the CO probably doesn't have 3x here given his bet size and the fact that he is leading out.

oof.

My bias is towards a small raise to like 125 if you think he's going to peel with AA-66 a lot of the time.

If you think this folds out most pairs, obvious call is obvious, especially if we can see the turn about 800 ways.

I like a call otf with it being 7 ways.

Let A4 peel one, let 99 value raise, etc.

If I didn't know from your setup that we would only get V1 and the button interested in the hand, I would be inclined to flat here on the flop to give all six other people in the hand a chance to call behind. Raising here folds out a lot of hands that bad players will call behind with (two overs) if they think that they are getting priced in.

We are trying to play for stacks with this hand. What's the best way to do that? I don't think its flatting. While flatting will get at least another caller one would think, you're still not going to stack 88 unless another 8 hits the board.

I think a smallish raise is called for. Build the pot now, and there is still a good chance a straight draw may come along. Stack any 3x.

Lol, yeah I fail.

I think we gotta bump it up to $125, there are a ton of overpairs and 3x is possible with all the callers. Anymore and I think we fold out some of those overpairs, but at the same time we cant not build a pot. Also 3Xss is putting everything in much easier now.

Only exception is if some other villains to your left look to be ready to flat the $50. If that's the case, a call is fine.

I definitely agree here that I want to play for stacks here. On the other hand, I really think the only other hand I'm going to stack here is 3x. Against that hand, I can make up for not raising the flop by raising the turn or letting them do the raising on the flop if they are still to act behind me or have already checked their hand.

Can we really expect to play for 220 bbs in a non-3bet straddled pot?

Perhaps, if V1 is slow-playing a big over pair (KK+). Don't think he has the trey, probably would C/R the field more times than not. The read is "can slow-play big hands". Thinking more 66+ with his strong bet.

Since we have a weak CO, I'm leaning toward a call. We have position on the initial bettor to further build the pot OTT.

Anyway...

V1 bet's $50, Hero calls $50, Co folds, V2 OTB raises to $175, V1 calls, Hero...?

I'm simultaneously loving and hating life right now, loving for obvious reasons, but hating because any action I take at this point (besides folding of course) should be seen as immensely strong.

If I flat here... what is my turn plan? If either player has 3x and the turn checks through, that is a complete disaster. Obviously I could be wrong here, but I think that V2 is capable of checking back 3x OTT if he has got a weak kicker given the flop action. I would also expect V1 to check 3x first to act here.

Or do I just come out of nowhere with a raise right now?

Boom, we may have found the trey!

I think we 3-bet now, hoping to create a big mistake by opponents who seem to have a couple of flaws.

I'd say $430-$440. If V1 calls, put him AI on the turn.

I probably flat the flop and lead the turn for about $475 if V1 checks. It's a really strong line, but raising here is just as strong, and I suspect one of these villains has a 3 here and won't be able to let it go regardless of the turn card. May as well give the other villain a chance to catch up a bit.

I'm flatting. A raise gets a fold too often IMO. I think its a mistake to say we should be looking to get stacks here. Yes, we have a big hand, but there are very few hands that V1 is likely to be willing to get stacks in here with. I think I prefer to let some people call in between with 1pr/random draws.

We also aren't so deep with V1 that getting stacks in is out of the question if we flat and everyone folds. Turn raise+river shove gets stacks in perfectly naturally. So I would prefer to let him barrel medium pairs that he probably folds if we raise.

This assumes "kinda fishy" means that V1 isn't bad enough to be willing to get all the money in with 66-99 type hands. If he's going to do that then its probably a raise because I think hands like that (in addition to 3x hands (but those are going to play a big pot with us no matter what) and air (which is probably giving up no matter what)) are a big part of his range and there are too many cards that can come on the turn that will stop us from getting stacks.

Flatting and betting that much on the turn is probably the worst line IMO. We can't have the mindset "I have a big hand, therefore I want to play in a way that allows me to get his full stack." If he checks the turn there is (almost) no chance we are getting stacks. So we need to adjust our expectations and try to maximize value against his range, which if he checks the turn looks something like medium pairs/draws/air. Air is folding no matter what. Medium pairs/draws are folding for $475 but are likely calling a smaller bet.

As I said above I think flatting the flop is correct because he probably folds everything to a flop raise (except 3x hands which are stacking off on nearly 100% of turn/river combos). But that's precisely because I think there are a ton of medium strength hands in his range that aren't calling bets that large.

At the risk of ranging too narrowly, both Vs either have 3x or are terrible. Either way, I think it is time to raise. With one having c/r and the other calling the c/r, the odds of them folding to your re-raise are very small, despite the fact that they should be able to figure out that not all three of you can have 3x.

I am raising to $400 ("can't fold for just $225 more"), with the plan to go $700 OTT (putting V1 in) and AI on the river.

(Unless a 3 comes on the turn or river. Then it's a puke-fold.)

Tank for about 30s then ask villains they want to check it down if you call. After 3x says no just flat and get it in on the turn. Granted it's your local room so you can only do this once.

Heh... Okay Hero the additional $125.

Turn (~$595): 2h

(Flop: 5h3c3s)

V1 checks, Hero...?

Well, 64 just "got there" and I REALLY don't want this turn to check through. Should I check here? Lead out? If so, how much?

lol.
If any1 says this to you. Snap check back A3

Struggling to organize my thoughts here so apologies if this doesn't flow right -

The sitauation on the turn illustrates why you needed to three-bet the flop. By not taking the lead on the flop, you can't really lead out on the turn as it would force the Vs to make a better decision than they might otherwise do so. The donk bet will cause them to be more likely to fold an overpair and slow down with a weak 3. Which is not to say that they will never pay you off with these hands, but they will do so less often and for less money. You also can't check-raise the turn for the same reason.

Of course, you also face the same problem on the river, whether it checks through on the turn or goes bet-call-call.

In contrast, if you three bet the flop, you have a larger pot and you are expected to lead the turn and the river. Vs can credibly put you on an overpair, even if you bet both the turn and river and will call you down with 3x. And you can get stacks easily with a 3-bet/bet/bet line, while it is harder to do so with an SPR of 3 on the turn.

As played, I am checking and praying that V2 bombs the turn. And when he checks behind or bets something ridiculous like $100 on the turn, I make a note to myself to find the hardest surface I can find and bang my head against it after the hand.

The flop raiser has position on us. Are we going to check the turn and risk this getting checked through by a villain with 3x looking to pot control? Is 3x from this villain really folding to our turn bet? I doubt it.

We can't have the mindset "I have a big hand, therefore I want to play in a way that allows me to get his full stack."

I think this is exactly how we have to play in this spot. all 1 pair hands are going to slow down/give up after the flop action. We are only getting action from straights and 3x hands right now, so we may as well make this a big pot.