Hi guys, I'm new here, thanks for accepting me in this forum. I have been playing poker for a few years, just for fun.
Last night I played live, and I'm not sure I made the right decision.

We are 4 players, blinds are 1/2, I'm on the button with $145, KQ off suited.
Cutoff (covers) raise 10, I just call, sb and bg fold. I don't know this player, he just arrived, the hand before raised x5 as well but everybody folded.

Pot: ~20
Flop is Q-9-2.
He bet 15, I just call.

Pot: ~50
Turn is 5,
He bets 30 very quickly, i call.

Pot:`110
River is 7, and he goes all in (for more than my remaining $90). Like before, instant bet.

I think about it. The dealer think oppo checked, and he gets a little angry because he moved the chips to show he went all in. Another player calls the clock, and I fold. I show him KQ, saying he was bluffing, he smiles and say "maybe".

Actually my stack was 90, I was not committed, but I think if I had more he wouldn't have bluffed.

Do you think I played well? Was he bluffing? Unfortunately I didn't have any informations about this player as he just joined the table. He could have AA, KK or AQ in my opinion.

There is over 100 in the pot plus the effective 90 he goes all-in with. You only need to be good here 33% of the time to break even .. so this is pretty much a call at 1/2 against an unknown Player.

Yes, he could have AA/KK or a set and those are very strong short-handed.

Typically Players who snap bet are weak, but it's not a pure tell.

I think your hand is strong enough to raise Pre-Flop and call-off if you get 3b/shoved into when short-handed .. again, 1-2 for 'only' 45bb will generate lots of spots where Players will just put it in and gamble more with hands that you are ahead of. And even if it's 22-TT you are flipping. GL

Biggest mistake you made here was showing your hand at the end.

If you're playing less than 75BB deep and the standard open raise size is 5x, that's very shallow. For that stack depth top pair hands are important to you, although at whatever stack depth folding to sustained aggression at this level is rarely bad in a vacuum.

WElcome to the forum. Honestly, that sounds like a horrible table. 4 handed poker is very random. Someone calling a clock on you for an all in hand unless you were taking a LOOOONG time to move is not ok. Like there's 4 of you, piss off one person and make them leave and you're at 3 and the table probably breaks.

Instant raise can be a sign of bluffing. If you think he was bluffing then call. Don't show him your hand there or give him the satisfaction.

I'd find a full table and if people are being jerks then ask to move to a different one.

As you can see .. most Players will suggest that you NEVER show your hand unless you are at Showdown, especially when new to the game/room/session. I've always had a different viewpoint of this, but it is an exception. I have lots of experience with live poker and play a very wide range of holdings. Showing my cards is part of my 'plan' at the table in an effort to induce further action, hopefully producing more mistake from my opponents.

The flip side to that is that you are giving off too much information. In this case you are folding a very strong hand and letting your table know that you can be pushed around .. which when playing 4-handed is not good!


Actually my stack was 90, I was not committed, but I think if I had more he wouldn't have bluffed.

This statement says a lot about your poker mind set ..
1) You had 'only' 90 .. you were committed. As indicated above, you only need to win 33% of the time to break even.
2) Your opponents will not bluff if you have less, not more. If they know you are thinking about $$ they can put more pressure on you when you have more to lose.

If I know an opponent is thinking about $$ value and not 'poker' value I can manipulate the pot/hand in many ways to get the chips in my stack with lessor holdings.

I'm not suggesting that you drop everything and start to study poker for 8 hours a day. You play for fun and that's great .. just be aware that poker can be very serious for others, especially in a 'public' room. Poker at low stakes has a lot of aggression and deception, but you can still be very successful playing a conservative style just sitting back and waiting for others to make mistakes .. and there are A LOT of mistake being made at low stakes.

As you play more you will become more 'accepting' of these types of spots. I've had AA over 500 times at least, maybe more. I don't get as excited when I see them and I don't get as upset when they get cracked. Does that mean I enjoy the game any less? No.

This is a great place to come and learn as long as you are open to (sometimes harsh) comments. Poker is very emotional .. you don't want to lose. You are on your last buy-in and don't want to go home. And the King and Queen of them all .. You don't want to be bluffed or put your chips in drawing dead. Sorry, it's going to happen and how you handle those spots will say a lot about how you move forward in the game.

Have fun, keep smiling and hopefully you end up at tables where others feel the same. Just remember that there will be others playing where it's their 'Super Bowl' and you sort of just let them have their moment of glory without letting it bother you. GL

Welcome to the forum, OP. FYI, he wasn't instantly raising post flop, he was instantly betting. That's a pretty big difference in terms of what (if anything) it is a tell of.

In your future hand posts, please don't include results, as they bias people's advise. Get up to you decision point and then stop without saying what you decided, and ask what people think you should do there. The traditional way to do that is something like "V (it's short for "villain," and means your opponent) insta-shoves for more than my remaining 90. H:?" The "H;?" part means "what should I (the "hero") do now?"

As others have said, don't show. And generally you don't want to call three streets of aggression with just TPGK on a dry board, so I'm fine with the fold, though 4-handed it's much closer.

Was there a flush draw on the flop?

I think you have to call either way when JT bricks and V opened CO so he can have all 16 combos of JT in his range, but it’s a much easier call if there’s also a flush draw on board.

By the way Villain can easily be jamming KQ for value when you’re this short, so you are very likely chopping some small % of the time, making this an easier call. Also people do tend to play a bit looser and more aggressive 4-handed, pushing this even more towards a call.

As others said, don’t show when you make a big fold. It gives the appearance you’re tight and it is going to be harder for you to get paid off later in the session.

For those saying it's closer because it's 4 handed, it is no different than 10 handed and folds to cut off right?

I guess there might be some card removal effects from 6 people folding ahead that might make a CO 10 handed marginally more likely to be dealt a stronger hand than a CO 4 handed, but that is likely pretty small.

No hard and fast rules, but it can be different because of the game flow for short handed play…playing short-handed, there is more of an incentive to fight for pots. Many hands will be blind versus blind, playing with wider ranges. You can’t sit around and wait for premiums or you’ll get blinded away. So ranges could be wider POSSIBLY (though not necessarily…I’m sure you’ll find 4-handed tables where everyone is playing super passively and limping in the CO/BTN etc).

fold pre

fold the river

What hands are you playing vs a CO open?

I don't like flatting with KQ here I prefer to 3bet in this spot, but since stacks are short and I don't know anything about the CO I would just fold.

Thanks everyone, I just took a brake, probably I was too afraid to loose that hand...

3bet or call preflop are both fine.

Call river.

Edit: seeing now that I’m responding a second time to an old thread