Hi,

These hands are from a local 1/2 game. I was a little upset about the outcome and my husband suggested I come to this site for help, so any comments are appreciated!

I am mid 20s female, my husband is playing at the table and bought me in, and I am first timer at this 1/2 game. He has played in this game a few times and done well, although he said he got very lucky in his first game and that the players are tough. I am new to the table but I'm a pretty girl (I think so!) so people usually view me as weak, tight, or both

Villain - asian, mid 30s. Has been up and down... doesnt play many hands and seems to get attached. In one hand he raised to 20 UTG, cbet the flop, and then b/folded the turn on a dry board. When he has shown he has had decent hands.

Both hands are against Villain, who is directly to my left.

Hand 1
Hero - UTG - $150 - Hero raises $15 with QQ, only Villain calls
Flop - $33 - A,7, 9,r - Hero bets $20, Villain calls
Turn - $73 - A, 7, 9, 7 - Hero checks, villain checks
River - $73 - A, 7, 9, 7, 9 - Hero bets $35, villain calls

Hand 2

Hero - SB - 70$
Villain - BB, $100

Two limpers, Hero raises to $11 from SB with 99, Villain raises to $30, folds to hero who goes all in.



thanks in advance for any advice!

jb

Hand 1 - sounds like Villain plays mostly premium hands and doesn't get away from them when he hits something on the flop. The Ace on the river is a terrible card for your hand and he certainly can have AK here. Betting the flop is OK but when you got called there I would have just checked it down to the river as I get the feeling Villain has an Ace and isn't folding.

Hand 2 - you were short-stacked and went all in over the top of Villain's bet w/99. I don't see a problem here - you played it correctly as far as I'm concerned.

So OP did you win hand 1? or did he have an A?

I think after he calls on the flop you should just try to check it through and give up if he bets. You are OOP and basically guessing. Plus if he has any of the board your lose.

2nd hand is fine, you're short-stacked. probably a little behind his range but since there are so many combos of AK/AQ he has here, it's solid. calling is really bad. folding equally bad.

1st hand odd. you play it like i'd see AJ/AT play. if people view you as tight/weak, i might consider barreling there against more passive opponents. represents AK and gets A2-A8 to fold. river bet is probably unnecessary in given scenario. not seeing the value.

check river in hand 1

hand 2 seems standard, although 3bets in 1/2 are more rare and youll usually be up against JJ+ moreso than AK

Hand 1:
What do u hope to achieve by betting
Flop?

1) get A to fold?
Or
2)get worst hands to call?

If you are not able to achieve either, you shld nv be betting flop.

Consider check calling and reevaluate turn n river...

Hand 1, ugh. I wasn't really sure what I wanted. I didn't want to give up too easily and it was the best hand I'd seen all night. I thought maybe a weak ace would fold to a bet? After he called I was worried, but then he checked the turn which looked weak to me. On the river I was hoping that the two 7s and 9s would be scary enough for an Ace to fold.

I lost both hands. He had an Ace in hand 1 and KK in hand 2.

In hand 2, should I just be folding to the reraise? He was pretty conservative...

Hand #1 I would probably bet the turn as well and check the river. Your read here describes that he has a good piece here. Hand#2 is fine. Short stack against his raise you either shove or fold. How did the hands turn out

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Don't fold hand #2. Get it in pre like you did.

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Hand 1: He's not folding a weaker ace to a flop bet. I think best line here is checking flop...I'd say exercise some pot control and if you haven't seen him getting out of line, then probably won't continue to. He's not going to 3 barrel this flop with air. River bet is blowing off money because basically no hands for him to call with that you beat...and he's most likely not folding a weak ace at any point in this hand...will end up being a very high variance play by trying to get him to.

Hand 2: When you're short stacked, an OOP raise with mid pair from the blinds is a bad idea. At a 1/2 game, you know they're calling and possibly re-raising. Even if they just flat, you're now OOP against 2 players and have no idea where you're at unless one of your 2 outs comes.

Make your hands at 1/2 and then punish them by getting full value....

Hand 2: if you only have $70 and are raising $11 pre you are going to have to go with almost all the hands you raise pre, you are putting too much money in bases on your stack to fold pre

Just for some discussion...not taking any shots at anyone.

Hand 1: If he's calling on the turn then he has an A....you'll be facing a small river bet from him...why not keep the pot small with an inferior hand. QQ is a great starting hand but after the flop, it's simply middle pair and that's it!!

Hand 2: You got limp re-raised preflop....what do you think villain has?? He has AK at best for you and even then you're only a small favorite. His range is crushing you (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs)....fold and wait for a better spot.

Patience is key!!

Nothing wrong with checking hand 1. Only about 20% of the player pool will range you correctly and try to bluff you off TT-KK here when you check. You can c/c against those. C/f against most players.

Don´t worry about being weak. Just make the best play. Sometimes weak is best, if that´s what your hand is (QQ on A-high board is a long way from the nuts). What matters is if somebody is taking advantage of your playing the true strength of your hand.

You can get in a value bet on the turn or the river if it´s checked through. Just a shame that your monster hand flopped badly. Just live with that and move on.