Hey Guys,

I am new to the 5/10 game, I've grinded my bankroll playing 5/5 and am moving up. I am not a pro, I just play on the side as a hobby and am always looking to improve my game. In addition to your replies in the hands below, can you guys also give me your thoughts on bet sizing on every street? I am not used to playing 5/10, so I'd appreciate the input.


Hand 1...

Hero - 1750 (UTG) KK
Villain - 1400 BTN

Hero makes it 40, 5 callers

Flop J48

Hero bets 115, 2 callers
Turn is 9, hero bets 250, 2 callers
River 4, hero bets 350, MP folds, villain shoves all-in

Hero?


Hand 2...

Hero - 1300 btn (910os)
Villain - 2100 (UTG+1)

Villain makes it 45, 3 callers, hero calls.

Flop A910, villain bets 140, hero make its 350, hero calls. turn is J, villain checks, hero?

I know villain is never leading out on this flop without an Ace in his hands, most likely with a big kicker.

Thanks in advance.

Need info on violation for both hands..also, in hand 2 did you lead or raise flop? Op says villain bets, hero raises, HERO calls. I'm assuming you raised flop after villain cbet?

I'm assuming that you don't know that much about villains since you just moved up to this 5/10 game. I'll also assume that they are average at best and possibly very bad. In hand one bet more on the flop and turn. Your turn and river bets are just asking to get jammed on. With more history river could be a b/c or a b/f, but without much history c/evaluate. This is especially good if villain is dumb enough to bet a missed draw. As played it's unlikely he has a four, a straight, or a boat so go ahead and call it off.

Hand 2 just fold preflop. You are crushed by his utg range unless he's a complete spazz. On the flop flat his bet instead of raising.

i think it would be more useful if you provide your thinking for that bet sizing in all streets in hand 1, and let us explain why it is bad, rather than everyone just giving you a bunch of random facts that you may or may not absorb. it is always better to have your thought process fixed rather than bandaged. i don't understand why bet sizing would be different in 5-10 vs 5-5, 2-5, w/e, if you are (properly) betting in proportion to the pot while minding stack sizes.

Correction to OP Hand 2 - Villain cbets flop, hero raises, villain tank calls.

Thought process for bet sizing in hand 1 - As I am first to act on all streets, I am not sure I want to make this pot super big by betting near pot size on flop. I know most people tend to call with draws, so I think betting 115 rather than near pot size accomplishes the same thing as to showing the strength of my hand. I am pretty much pot controlling here, then I can re-evaluate turn card. I think the 9 is a safe card for me, so I bet out 250, cuz I want to get value from my KK from any J and still charge draws. None of the guys in the hands are internet players. This is a live game at a casino, if I didn't mention this. I didnt see any of them capable of jamming with a draw here on the turn, so I wasn't too concerned with getting jammed on my turn bet. River is a 4 which I thought is a great card for my hand, cuz if I was worried about J9, well its now counterfeited. I am now just trying to get value from any weak J, with such a passive line from villain I was sure I was betting with the nuts. But the shove on the river just confused me.

As for Hand 2 - As for the villain calling my flop raise, the pot is about the size of my stack. I am putting villain on AK AQ AJ, possibly AA but I really doubt it from the way Ive seen him play monsters during the session. With this said, should I be betting turn? If so, is this a jam, or just get to showdown cheap and check turn and hope he checks river so I can check behind? If I bet the turn, I'm pretty much pot committed on the river due to my stack size, so i think if bet the turn it should be a jam, but I am not sure.

This is my thought process.

Thanks!

it is ok to try and control pot size by betting smaller, but that is only one factor in overall strategy for bet sizing. more important concepts are balancing, charging draws, and defining ranges. by betting smaller, you have mostly defined your range as weak, and you are allowing everyone to call with very wide ranges. this is going to put you in some very bad situations on the turn, where almost no card will fall that seems good. by betting smaller (especially on later streets), you are also going to sometimes instigate a raise from worse hands that you are not going to like calling, which would be a disaster.

pot is 200 on the flop, i would make it 140 at least.
turn is 545. i would make it 350ish, and probably fold to a raise, depending on reads.
river is 1295 and you bet 350??? this is just begging to be raised, which happened, and now we're lost.

Hand 1 bet bet shove, whatever sizing puts you all in by the river. E.g. 150, 400, 900. They never fold a jack and the river is practically the perfect card for you.

Hand 2 fold pre, raise more on the flop, as played bet/fold might be correct unless he ships AQ as a semibluff

Hand 1: pot is 240-255 on the flop. Cbet a lot bigger, maybe 175 ish, and take it from there (bigger bets!).

Hand 2: Folding preflop is out of the question. 9T on the button with position on four players is the nuts. I would raise flop a bit bigger to set up a < pot sized shove on the turn.

Might be a stupid Q, but any merit to checking turn on hand 1 since we got two callers or would I just be allowing too many bad things to happen on the river? I seem to freeze in spots like this a bit when I get more than one flop caller and the hand was 6 way pre.

Thanks,

Shorn

Thanks for the responses on hand 1. I defintely hate my bet on the river.

As for hand 2 - I am really not sure about my play here. I ended up jamming the turn. I am so confused as to whether this is an awful bet or not. Do I ever get called by worse on my turn bet? If not, then that makes this an awful bet, right? The J would really only have helped AJ, so should I be betting this turn? I can't ever see JJ calling my raise on the flop. I am not sure a bet/fold applies in this case, due to my stack size compared to the pot. I am not sure it makes sense to bet out 600 into a pot of near 900, then fold with a couple hundred behind. Also, if i check the turn, I'm not protecting my hand and am pretty much hating most rivers.

Thoughts on this?