Hero: has over 2k, opening most pots he is entering. Slowly building a stack, don't think villain has seen hero get out of line, nor has hero done anything too crazy post besides c-bets almost everytime.

Villain: has over 2k as well, and while this is my first time playing with him I have heard him talking to other 10/20 regs and he seems to play that game regularly. Definitely competent, hasn't really gotten out of line overall outside one 3-barrel bluff earlier against another opponent.

No significant history between us outside of one of us opening pre, the other calling and folding to most c-bets.

Hand.

Preflop: Hero (HJ) opens to 25 with A3ss, CO (fish) calls, Villain (Button) calls

Flop ($90): 963ss Hero bet 60, CO folds, Villain makes it 160

Hero...

Main question is what is most optimal way to proceed in this hand against a good player? what are we doing if we call on blank turn cards and do we get enough value against a good player when we hit our flush?

Well, on the flop I don't think you want to re-raise as you would get 4-bet by sets which are definitely a significant part of his range. You certainly should not fold... so I think the flop has to be a call.

I think the villains range is sets, Top pair with 98suited+, and draws like 78suited (including 78ss). Against all of these, I think you are checking turn whether you hit or not. I don't think planning any further ahead than that will do us any good - need to know turn card and action, cannot account for every scenario with a few lines of post.

Also, your biggest money makers will be hitting the flush on the turn against sets (barring board pairing)... so you need to let yourself get there first - as in why not 3-betting flop.

I would likely call here and obviously hope to improve. I would also plan on check/calling again on the turn if a spade doesn't come and villain doesn't go crazy. I think villain's range is pretty wide here and you could be good. I'm def not folding flop, and I don't want to re-raise because I want to see another card.

If you have been c-beting a lot ("almost everytime" could be 2/3 or 19/20, there is a big difference in image based on what that means) villain may be trying to pick you off on a flop like this. It doesn't look like you connected and he may be raising you with air a decent amount of the time.

Grunch

Interesting spot.

Have you and villain played any pots previously? Is he possibly calling your raises light? It seems like, since you hold a 3 yourself, Villains range here is mostly 99, 66, 96s(?), and combo draws like 54ss, 87ss, T8ss, and the likes. Possibly some other naked straight draws or whatever.

My plan would be to flat the raise and check all turn cards. This will make our hand look like an over pair. He will then continue to bet with his sets to prevent us from drawing to a flush if we had something like KsKx, same with his flushes. It also allows him to continue to bluff if he has a single spade or something.

An alternative route, which I remember pulling off to a tee one time while I was playing 5/10 at the Bellagio, would be to, on spade turns, re-check your hole cards and then lead out for a bet of like $125-$150. It makes your hand look like an over pair with flush draw, good opponents will recognize this and likely raise with their sets and low flushes in order to protect.

Oh yeah, and check/evaluate brick turns.

Don't the play the hand if you are folding a pair + flush draw...

All previous hand were taken down by c-bets by the opener. Up to this point no real indication that he had been calling raises light, but it is definitely possible given his position

Never really thought about folding flop. We are pretty deep and just trying to figure out best line and how to proceed. The one thing I have tried doing is playing smaller pots OOP, and check/calling hoping to hit flush seems passive when we are not sure if we are going to get paid once we hit. I do think calling here and proceeding is best.

Maybe another question is at what stack size are we trying to get in on flop?

Am I the only one that 3b folds in this spot. He can have pp in that spot but its not limited to 99 66. Can easily be 1010 jj QQ and sometimes KK, that was looking for a squeeze from the blinds, ESP if he is an advanced player. Ofc we could be up against a draw, but that largely depends on his range and yours too, how often are you betting 80% cbet on the flop and are you consistently opening with trash like ace rag EP? If not, this is kind of dreamy, as I would three bet flop repping 999, AA, and barrel the turn too. If he has a set he will four bet flop, and I can get away from the pot with only having flush draw. The problem with flatting here with a loose image is it turns out hand face up. I make it 375 or just fold if player is very strong

But to add I'm usually not leadi with 80% cbet because it limits alot of bluff equity in opponents minds. I'll c/r against passive and lead for 50% vs good opponents. Leaves more room for play

I would just call. Your perceived range will be an overpair. It's a small raise, which he can actually do with worse draws. Plan is to call turn again, for same reasons, then soul-read river. I am definetely not committing 400bbs here as I think we only get it in against sets which are 3:1 against us, and this hand is way too good to 3-bet/fold IMO.

Also, probably fine to just check the flop here, although I don't mind the bet for value (we are a favorite against 9x, TT, many of the draws that might call).

3 bet fold is pretty dumb... if thats the plan why not just call...

Because if I hit an ace or trip 3s and he polarizes I will my entire stack vs polarizing my hand right now. We only have a dead flush draw vs a set and our hand strength is just relatively just that, a naked flush draw where we have reverse implied odds. The fact that he can easily have an overpair here makes me want to three bet this spot. Ofc this is extremely image dependent, and if Op is never three betting AA or sets here, then Op should never three bet this hand

^Spot on, imo...def think b/c is by far best flop line. He does have a very narrow value range, especially if he ends up 3barreling a variety of dryer rollouts (99, 66, 96s even tho 96 seems pretty bad...regs in deepstack live cash can get pretty hood tho). Would be great too if you knew anything about this guys 3b tendencies...Like if he'd ever give up rivers where his vb'ing range is gonna be super polarized because he knows you're likely to bluffcatch with TT+, etc.

Also, the livepro-tip at the end is gr8 and really effective, but try to be subtle about it....if it looks rly obvious, a good player might catch it and slow down. Good idea is while thinking about what to do facing his flop raise, convince yourself you actually have what it is you're repping solely for the person of cutting down on live tells/body language (for this example we'll say JsJx). Then if spade peels, it'll help your re-checking for suits to look more genuine. If you actually had TT+, you probably wouldn't take a long exaggerated look back to check the suits....It would be quick and discrete, and even though its quick, I'm sure he's paying a gr8 deal of attention by now so there's a good chance we'll get what we're after....as long as your good at lying to and believing yourself. It would really suck to lose a bunch of value though because we got caught going for an Oscar, so don't use these kinds of tools unless you're comfortable them.

Def wanna see how this played out tho...

alright so rest of hand, I call flop. Mostly because 3 bet/folding seemed terrible and I didn't think 3-betting would do any good with this hand and only put me in terrible spots when I got stuffed on.

Turn ($400) Qh goes ck/ck
river ($400) Ac, so board is 369QA no flush... I lead 220, villain makes it 760

hero...?

Tough spot - plays like the A made his two pair too... but I think he bluffs enough here or even overvalues AK/AJ that you should look him up and call.

I think we can rule out sets by his play on the turn - a good player shouldn't be passive in position there. There are no straights or flushes even possible - so your acres up is close to the best. However, any 3-bet is likely not getting called by enough worse hands...

Anyways, this looks like a typical spot to bluff by villain - have to call.