9-handed, 1/3 NLHE

Great game with a lot of deep stacks and good mix of gambly/average players. If someone limps, they are calling most raises pre. Some 3-betting and a small amount of limp/re-raising. Basically expect to see a flop for $15 - $30. Lots of straddles from $6 to $15.

V1: YWG, regular, very good player but can be loose and gambly. Took a few hundred off me earlier at the “must move” table w/ QQ vs. TT and won a nice pot with AA vs. KK. However, I’ve seen him raise from EP and then shove with a 3bet and an all-in in front (all-in was for ~$100) and show 2d.

V2: MAWG, regular, very gambly, calls light and seems to hate the thought of being bluffed. Raises often in position and usually c-bets if it folds to him. Stack goes up and down regularly.

H: MAWW, regular, seen as tight, although I have 3-barrel bluffed quite a few times tonight but never had to show. If I bet, they assume I have at least a piece of the board, although they know I have some gamble. I doubled up earlier with A3s vs. AA.

OTTH:
$6 straddle on the button (average fit/fold player)

H ($600), SB: I limp w/ 3d3h.

V1 (covers), UTG+2: calls.

Folds to V2.

V2 ($800), CU: raises to $30.

Folds to Hero who calls, V2 calls.

Flop ($95): 3cTsQs

Action on Hero? Bet or check/raise? (I can't think of another option, but feel free to offer one.) If I bet, how much?

most of the time I'm going for a check/raise here. very rarely I'm going to check/call to keep some very strong made hands in my check calling range. When raising we're doing it with a sizing that will get stacks in by the river.

Depending on how they perceive your check-raise.

If they think you are capable of check-raise draws, go check-raise as this board is unlikely check-through.

Bet/Bet/Bet line can be good as well, it is even better when AQ will see your donk as weak and raise your donk bet.

I like check-raise more as you can easily build a big pot to shove a blank turn.

I'm a bit confused by the hand history. If you are in the SB, isn't it $30 to you before you act? If so, just fold pre.

I don't see any reason to bet out with any part of your range. You're checking 100% here and then making a decision when the action comes back to you. This is especially true against V2, as described, who c-bets frequently. If folks check back a lot and/or the board was more advantageous to the blinds (e.g. 7s6s4x) there is more of a case for betting out.

I also do not see any reason why bottom set shouldn't fit squarely in your check/raising range here, regardless of whether the bet comes from V1 or V2.

I'd play preflop the same *however* I'm not convinced it's good. The pot is most likely going to be raised, and we're most likely going to end up OOP, plus a nitty image where it's not as likely we'll get paid off (especially if people are raising wide ranges preflop). Plus I'm not sure how often $600 stacks go in, but if they don't very often then we are sometimes in a RIO situation here when they do with bottom set (the hand we will most likely be continuing with), especially with our image. I'm guessing we expected more multiway action when we first limped and called the raise, but the result is meh.

SPR is ~6 so we can easily play for stacks by the river with 3 smallish bets. But board is quite wet, we could even get this over in just two streets by overbets. Or, since this guy will most likely cbet, we could check/raise and get this over with by the turn. I think in a 3way pot I'm more likely to check/raise (whereas more multiway I'm more likely to donk thinking that a cbet is less likely). I probably check/raise to setup a turn shove (lotta action killers if we drag it out to the river). We also haven't shown down some barrelling hands, someone is going to start looking us up.

GcluelessNLnoobG

There's a Button straddle, which means SB is first to act preflop.

GcluelessbuttonstraddlenoobG

Often. I'm rarely folding a pp pre in this game for 5% of my stack.

I'm check-raising here if you're confident V2 will put in a c-bet multiway, if not, there's nothing wrong with leading out

Weird. I have almost never played in games with a Mississippi/button straddle, but when I have, UTG acted first, the action skipped the button, and then the button acted after the blinds. This also strikes me as eminently more fair, since otherwise the blinds get truly hosed by the straddle because they have to act first pre in addition to putting in blind money.

Preflop: Given your description, calling is the best play here. After the raise it's (obviously) all about whether or not you have the implied odds to profitably set-mine so go with your reads, whatever they are.

Flop: Check with the intention of raising. You're fairly certain he's going to make a c-bet and he likes to gamble it up, so let him fire and then raise. Some times he'll just have air and fold, but you might get a lot of action from a weak hand.

Just my opinion...

Ya, rules probably differ from room to room, but I'm guessing it's more standard for the Button straddle to act last. Our room just recently introduced the Button straddle (like literally last week) and that's the way ours works (SB first to act preflop, then BB, and so on, until Button who has the option).

GcluelessButtonstraddlenoobG

Button will act last regardless. It's a question of where the blinds act. I have no clue what is more standard. But your room's way is definitely easier for the oblivious players to follow along.

In every room I have played with a Mississippi straddle (or any button straddle), the SB is first to act.

I don't mind being in the blinds here at all if you know your opponents. Makes folding questionable hands in the SB even easier, although I'm pretty good at that regardless.

I rarely straddle, but the only position I will straddle is button w/ SB acting first (unless it's a "good for the game" straddle, which I will do).

I've only played in two rooms that allow a Button straddle, and both followed this method. I'm not really sure what is standard either.

Ha, first week of following rule at our room hasn't been particularly easy as lots of times UTG / UTG+1 / etc. have been acting out-of-turn before anyone realizes it is SB's turn to act first.

Gbutnowbacktoyourregularlyscheduledprogram...G

Sadly, this never ends, even when the dealer announces it!

This is the kind of board I don't cbet light. Is V2 'very gambly' just cbetting anything? Seems like we expect a cbet in which case I x/r enough to jam turn.

If I wasn't expecting a cbet I lead out like $90.

I like betting $60 in this spot, inviting gambly players to decide that I'm "betting to find out where I'm at."

The problem with the check-raise is that, with your image it's going to look like AQ+ with little fold equity and big barrels coming on the turn. (If V bets $60 and you c/r to just $150, his call would set up an SPR of 1. So you're probably shoving any turn.) If V has a big draw, AQ/Q10/KK/AA/QQ/1010, this will get all the chips in the middle. But if V has a weak draw/KQ/QJ/AK/AJ/A10/K10, I think even a pretty gambly opponent finds a fold against your check-raise.

You can bet $60, call his raise with a wide range, and then stack off on any turn card. That'll get him more committed to the hand and more frustrated by the possibility that you're bluffing.

Downside of my suggestion is that it gives both opponents a reasonable price to call with their good draws. If they like to float and bet scare cards, my line develops some problems. And if they are unlikely to try and raise you off of a perceived top pair-type hand, or if they'll view you leading out as extremely strong, then check-raising becomes superior.

c/r. If it checks around, it's fine. Likely no one has a big hand and we were only getting 2 streets max anyway.

Im a little confused. I think you meant "folds to hero who calls....and V1 calls" right?

Do what hardly anyone does....lead with a set. I bet $50 and see what happens. The check raise is just too obvious and with deep stacks, one of them might try to raise you off your donk bet. Especially V2 since he doesnt like to get bluffed.

I don't hate donking, I just think you're losing value if you do. V2 is going to bet any hand that remotely connects with this board and will not fold to a raise. We're trying to get as much money in as we can as soon as we can.

Yes, V1 calls. Sorry about that.

Well, you guys are right. Check/raise was the way to go. However, at table, this is what flashed through my mind: A check/raise will look huge; I hate "slow-playing and it would suck if it check through no matter how unlikely; if either V has a piece or good draw, they are calling/raising anyway.

Then I proceeded to bet too much. Only had greens and thought it would be weird (although it would have been fine) to bet $60 with three greens, so I just bet $75. They snap-folded. Of course, this means they didn't have a darn thing, but check/raising, even though very strong, would have made me a little more money. I do think V2 would have c-bet if checked to him.

If we are donking (which I don't hate at all) then I'm fine with a big bet on this board (in fact, I'd probably just PSB it).

GcluelessNLnoobG

*grunch*
$70

All sorts of draws for people to drool all over, and or think that we have.
ck/rs is better if the other person is between us and the OR. But he isn't, so we shut him out of the pot when we do.

If we get called in 2 places, $200 on the turn, shove a lot of rivers.
If we get called in 1 place prolly $150, and sizing on the river depends on what peels off.

If you do donk, you have to donk big and $75 on this board 3 ways is not too big.