howdy folks,

game is a 1/2 live cash home game i've played my 4th session at. i'm one of the lower end players or possibly the least skilled at this game , sounds silly that i'd keep playing but in just 4 sessions i feel as i've improved and am thinking about the game and my strategy more , and more clearly. i'm outmatched postflop by these players and was really railroaded in the first session and have been slowly adjusting to their style and have noticed they are now more weary of me than before. i have also noticed big leaks in my game especially postflop and am working on correcting them.

here we go ,

1/2 live 8 handed nlhe eff stacks $350

field is 25-40yo thinking players - raises from any position are likely premiums, 22+, A8s+, A10o+ all broadway combos and stuff . can also mix in alot of random 74s and Kx or Qx suited type hands and small SC. pretty wide ranges but stacks are often deep and there is alot of postflop play.

pre-flop -

UTG1 calls
MP makes it $10
BTN(hero) 1010 calls $10

UTG1 calls $10

FLOP- 10 A 8

UTG1 checks
MP checks
Hero bets $21

both call.

TURN-
A

UTG1 checks
MP bets $35
HERO 3bets to $115

UTG1 folds
MP tanks and folds showing an A

so i hit the lower full house and basically fold out the one hand i want to call , at the time i think i sorta wanted to protect my hand but then i thought i'm probably never folding a river anyway. should i have just called or raised a little lighter??

I find the trend of people misusing "reraise" and "3bet" more tilting than I probably should.

I'd flat the turn to keep UTG in and because I don't think MP can call a raise. He pretty much admitted to not having a strong hand on the flop. I'm surprised he showed up with an ace tbh.

^^^ agreed... not a 3bet. It's a 2bet. In position, I guess a flat isn't terrible, and I'd also probably go a little smaller if I did raise. The $35 looks like it's an ace rag specifically trying to suss out whether or not it might be good or likely to chop, and your raise very clearly said no.... It's good to have this information on this guy though. I would make similar raises as bluffs against his weak leads, until you think he's going to look you up.

The sizing on the turn probably doesn't matter. Any raise on a board with paired aces and multiple opponents is super strong. You are probably never bluffing or raising with less then a good AX yourself.

When villain calls flop and leads turn and then folds he probably has a garbage AX. Part of his reason to betting turn was to find out if either opponent had an AX themselves. If he checks and then you bet he is left guessing if you have AX or are bluffing. When he bets into this your reaction gives him a good idea where he stands. If you call you probably have AX, your raise means a good AX or a boat.

I disagree about sizing. If hero makes it like $85, villain might intuitively get that they're behind, but still refuse to fold for only $50 more. If you then proceed to go like $75 on the river, they're going to make a crying call a lot. It's somewhat better than flatting in hopes that the other player calls the bet, then trying to get like $75 or whatever on the river.

My bad , thanks for bringing that to my attention I probably misuse 3bet often .

Fair enough, with all that said though , if villian holds an A he still has a chance to pair the board or his other hole card, would it be too nitty to fold a min raise here? Shouldn't I still be charging him to see a river / protect my hand?

I mean this may seem like a stupid question but:
Not 3betting tt on the button? Think if your 3bet range otb is just JJ+ and aq+ you are missing out on some massive value....
As played call this turn,
We are in position, every chance a villan has an ace and will barell the river letting us easily gii when our villan is too pot committed to fold,

Tone of your post seems to imply you are somewhat new to live poker. My advice to you is get ready for a world of pain and disappointment! That said, you are here posting a hand and asking good questions so if you can get through the inevitable crushing down swing(s), you are on your way.

You should know if you are folding this hand once board pairs on this turn and really, I cant see how you are ever folding this hand, ever. If someone has A10/A8/Ax and hits the river then, well, you are gonna lose all your money (see above about down swings) Now that that is out of the way...

Really I think you need some reads on the villain to figure out how to get max value here. If he is smart, thinking, conservative player I think you call to try to get him to bet river again, then raise at that point. This is my default play here.

If he is a macho doesnt like to be pushed around type of player maybe you can go for a min raise or make it 85ish for reasons explained by pocket zeros above.

GLHF OP!

The first question depends a lot on the exact board and hand. If you have A3 with AAQJ on the board then fold, hitting your 3 is likely to give you the second best boat. If you have AT and the board is AA73 then hitting gives you the best hand. Knowing something about villain's range also matters, in particular will he make min raises with marginal hands to find out where he stands? If so then call more. If villain's min raises are very strong hands trying to build the pot then fold without a good draw.

The second question is yes you should bet. In a lot of cases this isn't to charge villain or for protection. Because you don't have an ace the action by villain probably means they do. Against the weak aces then it's charging villain, protection and value, you should really be happy if villain calls or folds. Against strong aces it's pure value because you probably can get another bet from villain on river.