About Villain. He sees almost 100% of the flops. When checked to he bets his bluffs huge, his ok hands medium, and his big hands huge.

1/2 - Effective stacks $400. Hero is UTG with AA. Hero raises to $10.

Only Villain calls. His range is literally any two cards.

Flop is 3 6 7 Rainbow.

Knowing the above about villain...I check as he can fold his nothing but will likely bet if he missed. Villain bets $20

Hero Calls.

Turn is a J, making it 100% rainbow.

I check again, anticipating a large bet if he has a big hand or a bluff. If he hit the jack I expect a similar bet.

Villain bets $50. I think I'm way ahead or way behind. Hero calls rather quickly.

River is another 3. I know a 3 is technically in this villains range, but so is a ton of other crap. I'm fairly sure I have the best hand.

Villain goes to bet $100 but dealer calls a string and only bets $55. He has about $250 behind.

Any value to a raise? Should I raise any other street?

Re-raise on the flop. Re-raise on the turn. At least this way you start to ask questions of the villain's hand.
Flat call the river. You will only be called by a better hand.

I like it against described villain. Don't raise anywhere, if at all, then for value on the river if you think he has a two pair hand he might pay off with (you beat every two pair now). Raise to "ask questions" is stupid.

And a re-raise isn't even possible at all in this case btw.


Also: wrong forum?

LLSNL----->

Slow down there, Donk Dunc.

After the flop is dealt, and after someone bets, the other player can raise, and cannot reraise.

A reraise can only occur after there is a bet, and then a raise.

You're really nailing the premature reraisers today.

Yes, fair enough, and agreed. Do you police mis-use of the word 'set' instead of 'trips' as well?

Bleh, sorry for wrong forum....was tired and must have tabbed to the wrong one...can a mod move please?

A real man would have raised!

If you think his plays are polarized, and the fact that the river pairs probably the best card on the board to counterfeit two pairs, then you should have raised. Also the fact that his plays are polarized, why would you call if you think he has the nuts, which would more than likely be a flopped set and river boat.

I think both your analysis of your opponent's playing style and your scared play need some work.

I don't understand how you figure this to be scared style. If I were to try and bet/bet/bet he likely finds a fold on the flop if he has nothing, whereas I get three streets of value when he has nothing, and lose the minimum when behind.

The question of raising the river is more of a question then of what to do on an all-in re-raise. With $250+ behind, a raise to $125 and then folding isn't an option. If he has nothing he's folding and if he's actually strong he's re-raising AI.

I'm not calling because I think he has the nuts, I'm calling because he most likely has nothing or a huge hand.

Could you please explain what needs work on my reading of the opponent? I thought I read him perfectly and a few responders agreed. I post here to learn and I'm curious if you're being serious or just being a troll.

When the flop hits, what do you think he have? According to your analysis based on his previous plays, his betting pattern suggests that his hand is polarized at this point.

Obviously if you think he has the nuts, check/fold or check/raise would be better than check/call. So when you check/call, you must believe he is bluffing.

Turn doesn't change much and miss all straight draws, I would consider it to be very safe. His betting pattern on turn also suggests that his hand hasn't improved, and you agreed obviously when you called.

River pairs the best card on the board, again nothing changes, and his betting pattern still shows that he's bluffing...

So the only reason why you would call on the river is either you're scared to put more money at risk, or...I can't think of another reason to suggest why you wouldn't raise, therefore I deduced it down to scared play.

Well at this point his range is Nuts or nothing. I don't see the value of a raise as he can't call with nothing and will re-raise with nuts which I'll then have to call. Perhaps he can show up with kings here and see that as the nuts (yes he limped big pairs all night too).

Is he calling a raise here with Ace high? If he had a pair on board he likely would be betting smaller thinking he was good.

Basically the reason I didn't raise was that I couldn't think of a hand in his range that would call when behind. Maybe that's scared...but it still sounds reasonable to me.

So do you often check behind with the nuts because you don't think your opponent would call with a weaker hand? If not, then you have no reason not to raise here...other than being scared.

So it goes back to my analysis of your game. Either you need to work on reading your opponents better, or quit playing scared.

That's a completely different scenario. If I've been betting the whole way they can obviously call with something weaker.

This player specifically said in his betting patterns "I have a straight/boat or absolutely nothing." This analysis alone is stronger than most people can deduce. The fact that I read him for this before the hand took place and played with a set strategy versus this opponent shows I'm at least reading my opponent decently and adjusting to them. Maybe I'm reading him so well that you can't understand my views on him?

How would you have played this opponent? Bet/bet/bet?

Call/call/checkraise? Call/call/bet?

poke4fun:

[ ] knows what polarized means.

[x] suggested check-raising if you think your opponent has the nuts.

[ ] should be giving strat advice.

check calling down is ******ed, just go for 3 streets.

Play big pots with your big hands. Knowing all 5 streets, it would have been awesome if you had check-raised the turn. In that case, you'd be going all-in on the river and he can reasonably think you're bluffing. Sadly, the 3 is a scare card for him. He's probably thinking you've some idiotic hand with a 3 in it at this point. Regardless, you have the nuts and need to raise in the hopes that he stubbornly can't fold.

He is unlikely to bluff the river after bluffing the flop and turn. It looks like you have a pair and that you're check-calling no matter what. This is another reason why we check-raise the turn. Also, it may even protect your hand when he folds a 5-outer (1 pair hand). You can't just play in fear that he has two pair because, "He's crazy. He could have ANYTHING!" You still need to get value out of those hand where he has a pair and you have a better pair.

C/R flop, take it down now preferably. If called, then reevaluate and probably c/c turn c/f river.

Big pairs dont play well to the river against guys with extremely wide ranges, check/calling three times might seem safe, but its probably a leak IMO. Taking it down on the flop is best, and if he doesnt fold that allows you to narrow his range. With the strength you've shown, if he calls the C/R and you check turn and he leads, not good. Not sure if i'd fold the turn, but if he bets the turn AND river after calling a c/r on the flop, then you're beat.

You probably make more with this line by winning on the flop in alot of cases, and losing less by putting yourself in a position to fold the river, and maybe even the turn in all the others.

Somebody said "play big pots with your big hands", well ya sure thats true. But AA is only a big hand PF and on the Flop in most cases. One pair hands arent good for whole stacks.

my 2c

Oh and as played, call river.

Since your question only concerns the river, I'll just specifically address that street. Since villian made a pot-sized bet on the flop, and almost another pot-sized bet on the turn, and then attempted to make a more medium-sized 2/3 bet on the river, I'd put him on 2 pair here and raise. Although a 3 is in his range (giving him a FH), I think it is much more likely that he has 76 here, or perhaps even J7 or J6. Of course, he could just only have one pair as well (K7, Q7, etc.) Using your read, I would think that the paired 3 ends up giving you the higher two-pair hand. I would definitely raise.

I don't claim to be an expert poker player, but I'm just noting how I would play the river.

Correct, and I used the term, polarized. My question to you is, do you normally check/call down a player that you think either has the nuts or nothing? Personally I don't, I would pick a different line, and in this case, I'll probably check/raise the flop, and see what he does. Calling doesn't give you any information, and a calling hand is stronger than a raising hand because a calling hand is giving away free card without information.

So let's start from the flop again. Why would you call if you think you're beat? If you can't answer that with rational reasoning, then you're probably going to keep playing 1/2 for a long time.

Turn is a relatively safe card. It doesn't complete a straight, no flush, and it doesn't make a 1 or 2 gappers two pairs. If you're afraid he turned two pairs, then you'll be afraid of any card that falls without improving your hand, and this attitude will also hurt you in the long run. Same thing on flop to here, and check/call is only move I'll make if I think he's on the bluffing side of his polarized range.

River is trickier obviously, but again, what card would you rather see? 2, makes 2/3 possible. 4 or 5, makes one card straight. 6, I don't see much difference pairing 6 or 3. 7 is slightly shaky, but unless you think he turned his top pair on the flop into a bluff, then 7 should also be safe. 8, completes 9/10, which is a very possible holding if his hand is polarized. 9, completes 10/8, which is possible given his polarized and frequent raising tendency. 10, completes open ender, again is possible. J, kind of like 7, which I doubt he would have turned it into a bluff. K or Q, one that would keep him very committed to the pot with K/Q or any broadway, and it doesn't threaten much unless he turned Q/J or K/J into a bluff.

So overall with my own humble analysis, I would think anything that pairs the board on the river is beneficial to you, giving your own read on this opponent. So with the line you have taken, which I don't agree unless you believe you have the opponent beat, why wouldn't you raise on the river?

Do you know what the word polarized means. Either you don't or your just completely illogical. Why the **** would we raise a polarized range.

I wish people wouldn't throw in terminology in a bid to sound intelligent!

My god the advise ITT is so tilting but gives me hope the poker will be profitable for a long time.

Yes he does.

Right. Because we hate getting value from our hands. That's why I prefer just open shoving AA pre. I usually take it down.

Excellent. So let's see why c/r the flop is such a good idea against this villain.

If we c/r and he folds we get the information that he doesn't have a big hand and we're not getting any more chips from him. This is why all good poker players advocate raising for information. It's a total pro move.

Huh? Oh yeah
[ ] knows what polarized means

Given this line river is a spot where raising is questionable. Perhaps OP should post the scenario to a poker strategy forum.

[/sarcasm]

If you're deeper I'd say river could be a c/r/f but I think it's too possible that villain would ship KK here to ever fold. It's hard to say w/o knowing if villain ever crying calls TT or 76 or if he's capable of shipping QQ. I don't totally hate a c/c but suspect that you're missing some value if you don't c/r. In the moment I likely c/c.

Yes. Especially players like this where it's 90% nothing and 10% nuts. If I raise the flop and he has nothing he folds. If he has a huge hand he raises. Maybe some skilled players even re-raise bluff, not sure if this guy was capable of that. By calling down I get 3 solid streets of value.

I never said I thought I was beat. With his betting patterns its a WA/WB situation and much more likely he flopped nothing than the nuts. Recognizing this is a huge key to NL.

As I said in my original post...If this specific villain had just a piece of the board I believe his turn bet would have been smaller. Something like $20-30. This is based on history and how he played. His $50 turn bet was a "I have it all or nothing" bet. The 3 is meaningless as he still has all or nothing.

The logic to not raising the river is I know he has nuts/nothing. If he has nothing he's folding and if he has the nuts he's raising and I have to call. It was a weird situation, hence the start of the post.

Right. It all comes down to a question which I (and probably you) don't know the answer to. Does this villain consider KK the nuts on this board. If he's going to b/f KK then there's absolutely no value to a raise. If he's going to b/crying call TT then there likely is value to a raise. Based on the general description I'd say he's more likely a bad-LAG than a good LAG which would make me think there might be value in a raise. But if you've never seen stationy behavior out of him I think a c/c is fine.

Other than the egoistic needs to attack others, I thank most of you for pointing out my lack of understanding.

I put myself out for this very reason, to correct my own misconception.

Back to some more thinking on my own.