Eff 2500

V is unknown to me and just sat down not long ago. He seems to be loose passive. V does not know hero either.

We both have not showdown any hands since he sat down.



V limps in MP.

Hero raise to 50 from CO KsQs. Only V calls

Flop AhKd4d (115)

check check

Turn 3d

V bet 100, hero calls

river 8s (315)

V bet 300? Hero?

I think it is fine to fold a passive unknown who has a lot of suited connectors limping range here.

My question is suppose we are against a good reg who can figure out our hand is capped at no flush here very often, what hands can we use for bluff catching?


Hero never checks back strong AT+ on the flop, never check flush draw on this flop, and never check 2p+ on the flop.

On the river, hero can have A2s-A9s (no diamond suite). And some strong K. KQo, KJo

So hero can occasionally have 2 combos of A3s, and 1 combo of A8s that are better than one pair hand.

With that sizing, since V limped pre, he does not have AJ+ in his range. If he's value betting river, he's betting 2p+, sets, and flushes.

If we fold all one pair hands, we are so exploitable. Are we more inclined to bluff catch with KdQx, KxJd than Axs(no d)? What one pair hands can we bluff catch here?

Should we every check back flop with hand like 78dd to balance our checking range?

This is one of those spots where you perceive you are being exploited but actually are not.

Reality is that in live poker- peoples frequencies are just very off.

You can check back some weak Ax here and maybe maybe maybe call down (but exploitably fold still is best). But Kx is just too weak.

These people you perceive as good regs aren't taking advantage of every spot where you cap your range.

Oftentimes, you are exploitable because you think you are being exploited when people are mostly just playing their hands.

Even at 5/10nl, its still live full ring. Dont overthink it.

+1 but capped range exploitation needs good spots :
identification of the target
confirmation he has a fold btn
the spot
online is easy as u can have the fold frequency of vilain OTT vs raise and OTR./ 3 barrels

in a 4-6 hours u might not even have a single hand with all criteria
ppls tend to ovevaluate TP and gets easy 2 streets calls or even 3 barrel they might not fold more than 50%.

play ur hand and value them properly, fold properly are sufficient to make money in live poker.

I dont even value them properly and i do some donk calls - without even sucking out my opponents (usually when i donk call i lose) I am still a winning player.

A2dd-A5dd are good flop checkbacks. Think you can also check back A10+ with a diamond. Thats what I'd do. I think river is pretty close. If he's good and realizes that most players are capped to one pair here, he can value bet extremely wide for this size (any two pr, set, flush). I just fold.

suppose you check back AsQd on the flop, are you calling down with this hand two streets?


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I'm not sure. Many players just take a stab at a smaller pot but shut down at river when the pots get bigger.


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That's definitely reasonable. I was just thinking about the GTO wise play.


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then balance your flop x range so you cant let v just bomb at you when u x flop

I play lower stakes, but will weigh in because I think this hand demonstrates some useful concepts, and I would like to get feedback from players who are better than me.

1) I agree with the other posters that being unexploitable here is not an overriding concern when deciding how to play the earlier streets. I would simply adjust by hero-calling wider on the river if I have an indication that villain is bluffing more often to exploit a capped range. But in a vacuum I just make an exploitable fold.

2) I do like to occasionally check back flush draws in this sort of spot for deception. I mainly do this to get additional value from flushes when i hit, because some opponents will discount flush draws when I check back a two-tone flop, and then pay off two large bets on the turn and river. Protecting my check-back range is only a bonus.

3) I think possibly the most useful thing we can learn from this hand is that we can exploit capped ranges by bluffing more in certain spots against specific types of opponents. Against a specific type of player the villain in this hand could bluff large on the turn and river with 100% of their range to exploit a capped range and get hero to fold all of their marginal one-pair hands on the river.

Edit: I mean bluff large two streets when our opponent checks back a two-tone flop, and a third card of that suit falls on the turn, although there are other situations where we can similarly exploit capped ranges.

You could sometimes check back Ad2d, Ad5d, Ad6d - Ad9d on the flop. I think those are good check backs, particularly the smaller ones. So you can have some nut flushes on this river.

You shouldn't state this as a fact when it was clearly just pulled from that hole you have in the middle of your butt.

Thanks. That is really good. checking back lower Axdd looks very good approach

Lego is spot on here but yea, I wouldn't worry too much about the PIO stuff live unless you have a lot of history with the guy which it's very unlikely you'll ever develop with anyone you play live with.

+1 to checking back some NFD's (which also block some of his flop calling range so its a great candidate to x/b). I would guess we also have all combos of AA as played, though never KK or AK.

The main point in this hand is the fact he limped pre from MP, he's just not going to exploit the fact your range is pretty much capped other than a few pure nuts combos.

And we can't really correlate this hand to a good reg because they would have never limp-called pre, so the ranges would be totally different if they raise and we flat or if they raise and we 3bet etc

i would strongly consider to fold OTT to a random passive live villain, but in game I obviously call and fold river.

Key,
Being that on some rivers we are going to call and some fold, Is this hand in this spot a good candidate to look him up?

Villain is representing 2 pair or better, as you know.

This is what I try to think about when in this type of spot...is it a good candidate for a look up. IF not pass. Does his play make sense to you regarding how he played and what he says he could have?

I don't think you are going to be exploited a ton here. Sometimes your better hands will be calling him. He may or may not have it then or now. If you also check back some strong hands and draws, which you should at times, you will show up on the river with nuts and completely befuddle your opponent.
Nice post.