The game is in a foreign currency, but it is essentially a $1.5/4 game.

Hand #1

SB is an average semi-loose aggressive player. UTG is a good, but even looser and more aggressive player.

I forget the suits in this hand. The flop, turn, and river were all rainbow, and a flush was never a possibility.

Effective stack sizes: ~325bb

UTG opens for 6bb (about the average at this table). Folds to SB, who calls. Hero calls with 33.

My thought process: I believe UTG will continue to bet almost 100% of flops, so I'm just set mining here. In hindsight, maybe this was a little loose, but I'm in the BB, this is a very standard opening raise, and I think against these two players, my implied odds are good.

Flop (18bb): 2-3-Q
SB: Check
Hero: Check
UTG: 8bb
SB: call
Hero: call

My thought process: UTG's opening range here is probably wider than most. I believe I am far ahead of both players, so I checked to the PF raiser. I didn't raise because I wanted hands like JJ and AK to feel better about their hands.

Turn (42bb): A
SB: check
Hero: check
UTG: 22bb
SB: call
Hero: raise to 56bb
UTG: call
SB: fold

I thought one or both of them made a pair here, and after SB called, I felt both of them felt good enough about their hands to continue. I don't really think UTG has 45 in his range here, since he was UTG after all, and he knows what he's doing.

River (176bb): 7
Hero: 112bb
UTG: complains for a split second and calls

After the hand, SB showed KQo.

Hand #2

Effective stacks: ~300bb

MP is a very loose and aggressive player. Perhaps the most so at the table.

Folds to, MP, who opens for 4bb. Two callers, and it folds around to hero in the BB, who calls with 3s5s.

Closing the action with a multi-way pot, already the BB, thought I'd take a look at a flop for 3 more bb.

Flop (~16bb): 3h-5-5h, two hearts
Hero: check
MP: 12bb
Others: fold
Hero: call

Flopping the nuts against a continuation bet, I decide to let him hang himself.

Turn (40bb): 8d
Hero: check
MP: 40bb
Hero: call

I think I'm still far ahead. The bet is really big, making me believe he's trying to get me to fold. This bet with 88 doesn't make any sense right? I think a re-raise here will make him go away.

River (120bb): 7h (completes flush draw)
Hero: check
MP: 60bb
Hero: raise all-in
MP: call

Semi-bluff straight draws and flush draws get there, but if anything, I was worried the flush would scare him from betting. I thought his bet here indicated a big pocket pair. I thought it was a blocking bet by a not-big-pot hand.

After the all-in call, one of the other players show 78o.

Please critique my play in these two hands. Ask any questions necessary. I'll reveal the two hands my opponents had after a little discussion.

Thanks!
Ed

this is not the appropriate forum for these hands.

You should post any hands pertaining to this game in this subforum: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...low-stakes-nl/

First hand is played fine but not sure what you are thinking about with JJ/AK feeling good if you do not raise the flop. he cb into 3 people and you overcalled

in the second hand you are confused about the term blocking bet. if you are the in position player you are not making a blocking bet.

Sorry, yeah not a blocking bet. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that, haha.

First hand, what I meant was, I wanted hands like JJ/AK that I perceived to be in my opponents' range to have a chance to catch up because I thought I was so far ahead. I thought UTG was going to cb essentially 100% of the time when checked to him, and I thought SB was much more likely to call a bet from UTG than one from me. Is it an overcall just because it's 6bb? The pre-flop raise in this game is 3-8bb, with over 75% of them between 4-6bb. The bet sizing post-flop is also often very large in raised pots (compared to the size of the pot). Could you elaborate on the overcall?

Second hand, any criticisms/advice on how I played the hand? Triple check a flopped boat to the LAG OOP? I felt good about the first two checks, but I'm not sure if the check on the river was also good.

First hand played out fine, like the thought process. Second hand though, you should think about the turn bet more, if you think he is trying to get you to fold to protecting against draw, you need to think about maybe committing him on the turn. As it turned out, if you thought he was protecting now that river is really bad for you right, you can't really bet since hearts got there, and if you check they can definitely check behind. Just in general, if I am oop, I am much more likely to c-raise the turn to shift the lead. Oop you just don't get the benefit of call call shove so turn is just so important and I think if you have reason to believe he has something good enough to push you off what he might think is a drawing hand, raise there and commit him.

c/c c/c c/jam lines are fine against LAG/bluffy opponents, but make sure you take the lead against passives. equity denial is a thing ofc, but doesn't seem relevant in either hand above.

I don't quite understand. My thinking at the turn was, I held the nuts, and he was only going to catch up with perhaps another 8 if he was holding a hand like Ah8h. Thus, my primary concern was to try to get as much money in as possible by the end of the hand.

Seems like you don't have a problem with the check on the turn, so given that he bets into me, if I raise, I have a chance of pushing him off his hand immediately. If I call, I can potentially extract additional value. He could improve or try to take down the pot with another bet.

On the other hand, and I think this is where you're coming from, I'm not likely to be able to extract additional value on the river because I'm OOP, he can fold to a bet, and he can check behind if I check. Of course he also gets to see another card. In this case, putting in the raise on the turn seems better because if he was folding to another bet, he would have folded on the turn and I would let him see one less card.

How should I think about this balance between giving myself an additional street to try to extract value either by having a bet called or inducing a bet versus the stuff in the previous paragraph?

By the way, here are what my opponents had:
Hand #1: UTG is relieved I didn't have the straight and shows AA
Hand #2: MP apologies for sucking out with a 1-outer and shows 77

I prefer a flop check raise in hand 1. Your line looks a lot like a set.

Hand 2 is beautiful.

Doesn't a flop check-raise in hand 1 get immediate folds from a large part of both of their ranges? AK, Q + TJK, 44-JJ, any random SCs that UTG might have raised/cb with all likely fold to a re-raise. Seemed to me the only hands that were sticking around to a pre-flop raise are 22, QQ, KK, AA, AQ, maybe 45, and random two pairs. I am behind exactly one of those hands, and the hands that I'm ahead of, I'm way ahead of. Can you explain why check-raise is better?

Hand 2 played our perfectly (in my head) until he turned over his cards...

I don't think a LAG plays that tight in response to a flop check raise. The goal is not to snap off a turn bluff, it's to win a huge pot. He'll play way tighter if you raise the turn. So raise the flop and lead the turn and hope he has a hand.

My raise on the turn wasn't induce folds from bluffers, but rather to raise for value against hands that improved. I thought a massive part of both their ranges hit the A.

Can you go into a little detail as to why a flop check-raise is better than a flop check-call when I'm seemingly so far ahead of a LAG in a pot that he raised PF? It seems as if that would take the initiative away from a player that wants to put money in the pot and perhaps scare him into slowing down or straight out folding.

Lag likes to put a ton of money with weak hands because they really abuse FE and most players with 2p+ usually raises the flop or turn because of protection, value w/e. Deny him the informations that you are nutted and crush his soul by calling him down is very good. I like how you played both hands, not sure I like the river raise in hand 2, you beat 45o, 65o, Q5s+ but are beat by everything else, a chk-call is better imo.

Aren't overpairs a big part of his remaining range after his turn bet? If not...please explain where I could have noticed this (and therefore not raise the river).

For those of you who missed it:
Hand 1: UTG had AA
Hand 2: MP had 77

On the flop, he knows that most of his range is a whiff. There is a reasonable chance that he will read you as trying to push him out of the hand and call with a fairly weak piece of the flop (or even a float). Check-calling the flop and check-raising the turn will always be perceived as a big hand, and he would probably fold something as good as AK. Of course, you could just check-call all three streets, but I feel like you have a bit too much hand for that and should aim higher.

No overpairs is calling a river raise so unless he is very stationnary its too thin of a raise.

Hmm...that's a pretty good point. Guess that river heart kinda screwed me since it's hard for me to represent anything but a made hand or a bluff.