Deep game 1/2. Usually plays 200bb+ deep and can be very aggressive.

Hero's buy-in has fluctuated little through the session, but finally got most of it in good on a turned set over set (77 v 55 on 3567T board) against a long time nemesis (not villain in question) earlier in the orbit.

Villain in hand in question is a stoic personality at the table, but is VERY aggressive and bluffy. Has already been caught with his hand in the cookie jar on 35-50bb river bluffs twice during a little over an hour at the table. Also had a boat sucked out on his straight for a big pot a little earlier. I've never seen him tilt, per se, but if he's susceptible to it, now would be the time. He's a winner in the game in the long run due to his ability to get max value out of his good hands and successfully bluff others off theirs.

One limper folds to V in HJ who opens for $20 (a little on the high side for the table, but pretty standard for this V). Folds to Hero who finds - A A. Hero thinks for a bit and raises to $65. Folds to Villain who looks slightly pained (I don't 3-bet often), but settles on a call.

Flop: QJ9
Pot: $130

Hero...

Thoughts:


Hero's action:


Villain's action:


Hero...?

Stacks? I like about a PSB on the flop, assuming we're at 200bbs as you say is common for game. If he calls, we have a huge decision OTT, but even a really aggro villain would have a hard time raising that with anything below a set or combo draw.

not sure what stacks are, but if it is indeed deep I don't hate the check as much as you seem to. as played im not folding, but to come to a decision I want some info on stacks.

Oops, forgot stack sizes.

Villain starts the hand with about $475 and Hero covers.

You have an spr of about 3 with an overpair and an aggresive villian. I would commit here even on a dangerous board. He probably has at least a pair here, maybe a draw here or 2 pair or a set. I like about a pot on the flop make him pay for any draws and easy to get it all in on the turn. If I check he can pot control or draw free and there is too much money in there already.

I got in a similar hand last week in 1/2, where I 3-bet a $12 UTG raise to $40 UTG+1 and got two callers, both of which had position on me (the IR folded, surprisingly). Flop was the exact same, including suits. I check-folded in that spot.

It's harder when facing just one opponent, though. You can't c-bet smallish, because if you had a strong made hand here you'd want to protect it against draws. That means a c-bet has to be at least 2/3 pot'ish for it not to be extremely weak, which is $90. If you bet $90 into $135 and he shoves, you have to call $330 to win $645. With an overpair on a wet board against an opponent who sounds like he is capable of semi-bluff shoving, I'd say you would have to call a shove if you c-bet. In other words: a c-bet pretty much commits you to the pot.

I'd still make that c-bet, though. And call a shove.

Even against a really tight range, you are doing alright here. QQ-99, AK looks like it smacked this flop in the face, but really, it's not that terrible. He has 9 possible sets (one Q, J and 9 are out of his range, since they are on the board), 6 possible OESDs, 15 whiffed flops with AK and 1 flush draw plus overcards with AK of clubs. That is: you'll get 15/31 folds with a c-bet and if he does shove, you still have 32% (against QQ-99, AcKc), which is almost correct. So against even the tightest of ranges, c-bet-call is fine here.

Given the description of villain, there are way more hands that missed the flop and will fold to a c-bet in his range. In addition, your equity against his shoving range is better as his range gets wider.

I'd say c-bet, call shove.

bet 90/call imo

Well you can't flat the flop. Shove or fold, I'm probably shoving.

What is villain's range of the raise pf / call 3-bet in position this deep? Is this a type of guy that raises A2cc? A7cc? JTs? KTo? KTs? And then flats a 3bet in position getting 10 to 1 implied and 2 to 1 immediate odds?

What hands would he 4bet with here? None? Is it a competent player?

I mean.. there is so much information here we need to comment on the hand playing this deep. Just because a guy is aggressive and bluffy for 35-50bb bluffs doesn't mean he has the balls to pull off 2-3 barrel bluffs for 2-300bb.


The problem with flatting here (aside from half the deck making our lives worse for us on the turn), is that we basically turn our hand face up to exactly KK/AA. (Assuming you'd never c/c here with 99/JJ/QQ which you shouldn't..).. I think we can c/c once.. at least..

This deep, his range shrinks very little when calling the 3rd bet. The fact that it's heads up probably takes some of the lower SCs out of his range, but the idea of him flatting a 3-bet IP with hands like QQ+ isn't out of the question. I could see him doing that. He's also capable of 4-betting the same QQ+, maybe sometimes JJ and never AK. As for his r/c 3-bet range in this situation, it's still pretty much anything 89s+, 77+ and maybe even some tricky gappers, but not low enough to be wheel type hands. Getting me heads up, really deep and in position is a good thing in his eyes. He likely sees me as a tight thinking player that he can get creative on a lot of boards (i.e. QJ9).

Considering his opening raise size, I'd probably take random suited broadway gappers out of his range, but keep 78s+ in and most PPs 77+. The fact that he didn't 4-bet isn't a huge factor for me because he is very good at controlling action and taking pots away post flop is part of his game.

If I c/c the flop, V is shoving to my check and folding to any serious bet on the turn, regardless of the card which falls. The only other way the action goes on the turn is if V has a monster and shoves my turn bet.

I don't think I can flat the flop either. Do I just need to get over the fact that c/f this hand on the flop for one PSB feels so weak, but may very well be correct? V is a more experienced player than me and I have a tough time seeing how I'm going to get my money in good and called on a board like this out of position.

Well.. if you're going to c/f all the time on the turn and he's going to fire all the time on the turn when a blank hits, you're probably better off c/f the flop.

b/c flop re-eval turn

I think I've settled on this being the better course of action than what I did. So, with that in mind, what is your plan:
- When a 2 hits the turn?
- When a K hits the turn?
- When a 9x hits?
- When a 6 hits?

I just think this board is coordinated enough that we should be making decisions on the flop about what we're doing on most turns, because a bet on the turn is a jam.

Edit: I think I also really like b/f here.

b/f > b/shove > b/c

c/c > c/f = c/r

Ok, as a hypothetical, say I went with the b/f option, bet $85 and got a patient call from the V. Turn is a 6 (this was the actual turn). Pot is $300. What's my move? c/f again seems to be my only real option as shoving is just spewy.

I don't know if I've seen enough evidence from the Villain to determine you're behind. For the villain to call a 3 bet re-raise pre i'm not sure that flop hit him that hard. If he set mined then its a cooler. Your check on flop screams AK. I'd be betting against you too. I think a check raise on the flop is a good strategy.

This thought went through my head, for sure. Problem (?) is, c/r is c/shove with these stack/bet sizes. Anyone hate or love c/shove here?