1/2NL 10 handed 2:30 a.m.

Table dynamic is a 'fun' atmosphere with a lot of chatter & 6th street talk about the hand that just ended. Last call for alcohol created a large order around the table. I chose to be part of the 'party' and ordered a Jack Daniels on the rocks with a water back. 1st drink in over 4 hours.

UTG doesn't straddle & UTG+1 folds.

UTG+2 ~$650 raises to $10. This could be any pair except JJ+, A2s-A5s; A8s+; AJo+; KJs+; KQo; QJs; JTs; 65s+; 86s+.

Give him a pair on the flop, with a bdfd & bdsd & he'll c-bet, unless his pair is the low card otf. Then he'll c/c if the bet isn't too large.
However, since he gets so many callers here, he may tighten up his c-bet range considerably.

UTG+3 ~$525 Calls. We can cap his pairs at 99. 65s+ and maybe some higher 1-gap SCs starting around T8s. Suited As 2-5 & A8/9s; don't think he'd raise with AQo & would call with AJo & of course ATs/AJs. I think he raises AQs+. He doesn't pay after the flop with weak draws. That being a bdsd or bdfd with 1/2 overs, unless it's just too cheap a price to pass up.

UTG+4 ~$400 Calls. Same range as UTG+3 I would say his range mirrors UTG+3's. He doesn't pay postflop with weak draws either.

CO ~$375 Same range as the other callers. I would definitely expect him to raise JJ+/AKs/o, and he'd raise enough to give pause to even those who love to gamble.

Hero Button ~$775 Looks like a big winner of the night, however, I'm in the game for $425 and my session logger says I've been playing a total of 7.2 hours.

I had taken a 45 minute break, leaving my chips on the table & when I came back our table had broke & the floor game me one of 2 empty seats in one of the short games & then someone came to take the 10th seat b4 I got back.

I've only been at this table ~30 minutes, but I know all the players who have put $$ in pre. This can turn into a really fun hand. Hero has 98

Hero - Call or raise? $38 in the pot after the rake before my call. $47 if I call and the blinds fold. Not likely the BB will fold with top 40%/50% of holdings. He's one who can't pass up the opportunity to try & hit a B.I.N.G.O with anything that is capable of doing so. The SB is tight enough to easily find a fold.

I don't know how much these players are in the game for, however, none of them are showing signs of wear from bad beats.

I call, but I suck

If I were to raise, I'd probably go to 60-65. It's just hard to tell if you're going to make the field smaller or not.

Call.

Although we have some dead money possibly tempting us to try and pick it up with a lite 3!, There are 4 villains in the Pot including an EP raiser. Expecting folds here is optimistic.

We have position and deep stacks. We are getting nice direct odds and with these stacks I'm content to take a flop.

Call.

I'd be more inclined to 3-bet bluff Ax or Kx suited due to blockers but with this hand I'm in the camp with Cammando, call.

Do you have a sizing tell or something on UTG that makes you believe that he doesn't have JJ+? If so, and with everyone being fairly deep, I'm inclined to 3-bet.

I´d strongly consider a 3! here especially if we could get a live read on UTG+2 that he is not strong. It´s nice to know that the CC'ers don´t have big pairs. Z is tight old geezer and should have a lot of fold equity here or OTF. Kind of a judgement call I guess. The drinking and party vibe makes a case for just calling. Raising to $50 or $60 and having it go 5 way to the flop would be kind of lame.

I´m confident Z just calls here.

I also was wondering about correlating his sizing to capped hand strength. I see enough smaller ep raises with AA/KK wanting to ensure action or induce that I tend to take the "smallish raise = smallish pair" sizing read with a grain of salt.

Grunch

Why is UTG+2 range for opening here any pair except JJ+? Does he limp JJ+? Or telegraph his hand strength with larger raise pre?

Pre: just call. The power in suited connectors like 98s is in their implied odds. IO is highest when you call, not when you raise.

tldr; emoticons in the op. it's like I am reading a blog entry on pininterest

I think we should have a polarized 3b range here: big hands for value and crap for bluffs. Stacks are deep, we're multi-way and in position with, presumably, superior post-flop skills. I think non-premium pairs, SCs and even suited aces have higher EV playing make-a-hand and gunning to stack one or more V's, even though that's obviously a long shot.

It would be a real bummer to 3!/fold this beautiful hand deep and OTB. I'm inclined to raise something like K2s here looking to end the hand immediately, but T9s OTB gives us massive IO's so just call.

Call. I hate turning a deepstacked high IO hand like 98s into a bluff. It falls into the category of too weak to value 3! and too good to bluff 3!. Expecting folds out of three people is unlikely. You have position on everyone and get to see a flop plus all three players act. The deception value of 3! a SC goes down because it's late in the night and it's 1/2.

I curious why you think no one has premium pairs.

im not sure i like turning hands that we have profitable calls with into bluffs. not sure id have a bluffing range here. probably zero hands in mine. id 3bet for value. call with what i can profitably. fold the rest. you can't bluff 8 players profitably. don't be polarized. your bluffs won't work enough. just fold your **** hands.

Grunching ...

Given your read on the PFR raiser (TT-), loads of scs in others ranges, and dead $, I'd
3b/fold. Calling 9s8s vs. these ranges can lead to RIO land. $65-$70.

If called, we obviously can narrow ranges and can control pot from the BTN depending on flop texture. Our hand is also disguised if we hit the flop.

I agree there's merit to a 3-bet given dynamic.

The original opener is so wide, per OP. We get a lot of folds.

I also agree with this in concept, but I can definitely make a case for 98s being part of a polarized 3-betting range here. 98s is pretty, but it's at best the bottom of a merged calling range. 9-high is not a powerful hand. 98s does play OK multi-way, but it's nothing like, say, QJs, which is more likely a calling hand here imo.

I think there's merit to calling and 3-betting. Have to think 3-betting is better per OP's reads. Both are OK. Call or 3-bet to 70.

I disagree (Not specifically here when we have 47 people calling before us), but as stack get bigger our 3bet range needs to shift to hands that make stronger hands post flop that aren't 1 pair hands. QQ is great to 3! with shallower stacks but you're really only going to improve a small amount of time by the river, and the times you improve to a straight/flush, there are 4 cards out there for it. As we get deeper, A5s-, and SCs should start to make their way into our 3bet range

All that being said, in his specific hand, as I alluded to already, I'm not sure we actually are getting a ton of folds, and getting 3+ calls doesn't serve us much purpose going forward

With this table dynamic UTG2 can count on several callers like he got. With JJ+ shouldn't he looking to narrow the field rather than set mine or play KK AA vs 5 players?

Nice hand to call with. 3! is an option but I would like to see a flop here. 3! opens the bidding back up plus is not likely to fold anyone out. So a 3! as a pot sweetener seems like spew.

Call >>> 3b >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fold

Move along.

I would call but with deep stacks, family pot and party atmosphere late at night this is going to be a RIO nightmare if you make a non-nut hand and get heavy action from another deep stack.

Agreed. Hard to find the ability to push two pair away after a JD on the rocks late at night.

However....I suppose if I am nursing it along gently......

A lot will depend on the stickiness of your opponents. If our ranges are correct and we know we can get folds, you could profitably 3-bet ATC. I use the example of Ax and Kx suited as candidates because it narrows the chance they have AK, KK, AA and thus will have a tougher time continuing on preflop or on the flop.

IMO, stuff like KJ suited isn't a really profitable hand in this spot if we flat vs. the world but we can turn it into a bluff and realize a nice profit. Plus, if we get called we have position, have a hand that can make strong nuttish hands, and we can also rep a ton of hands our opponents can't.

Not from what I've read in the past.

Of course you would! You're the 'kookiemonster!' & monsters don't like to share. They prefer to eat it all NOW!

I probably should have said we could discount the big pairs by 60% or more. I'm sure they don't raise that lite all the time only when they have pairs <JJ.

Hey! I resemble that remark! However, after reading many of yours & JohnnyBuz's posts, I've turned up the aggression a notch & loosened up a tad. Small steps for old men, that way they don't trip up.

Raising here is definitely an option. However, even with my rep, I don't think $60 would do it. If I'm going to raise here, it would have to $80. But that could just be Mr. MUBSY talkin'.

I could see someone calling $50 more with 99/TT with all that dead money sitting there. $80 would tell them I have KK/AA or AK some of the time. Or.....they'd get a read on one of those many face muscles I couldn't control & who knows......

My mistake here was thinkin' they'd play their big pairs like me. I'm not saying EP had a big pair, but I would only raise lite with a big pair in EP, knowing I was probably going to get a field of callers & a decent chance no raise, when I have been winning a lot & willing to lay down the pair otf when it's called for.

I think this is a very good argument for a raise pre. Also, a raise may/should get hands that I would be competing with to fold pre.

King Spew: The Jack Daniels & water back is for show.

I think everyone has covered all the bases and we can move to the flop.
However, in the spirit of a PAHWM I am going to wait 24 hours between streets as suggested.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get annoyed when I wake up, or finally get to 2+2 that day & find that the OP is on the turn 12-15 hours after he made the original post. I usually just ended up following along without making any comments.

So, I'm going to give everyone on the planet time to wake up

Hooorayyy!!

Booooooooo!!!